this could get intersting... ideas on storing firewood

[vasten]

I have fire wood that I am storing inside and outside. I have been told by several local people that your wood shoud be stored inside to best proctect it from moisture. Even the person I purchased the wood from moved it into a barn as he split it.

What I am finding is the wood that is stored inside the shed everything just seems to be damp. I even went out there one time and found logs frozen together. When I say damp, I am refering to the cardboard that I keep stored in there as well to start the fires with, as well as the interior walls of the shed.

My thought on this is that the wood is releasing the water and there is no place for it to vent to hence the damp card baord and moisture on the walls. Which is in turn slowing the wood from further drying.

With the wood stored outside the wind and sun may dry the wood, but I was told that will only work up until the first frost then the water freezes in the wood and will remain frozen until spring. There by locking in any mositure remaining in the wood.

I know that the wood is not as seasoned as it should be, as it doesn't throw the heat it should. And we have discussed it in other posts.

What thoughts to we have on moving the wood back outside VS leaving it inside...

 

[ClydesdaleBurner]

Good question. I've never thought about that... if its below freezing and the wood is frozen how is the frozen moisture in a split supposed to escape?

I will say that I store all my wood outside with tarps covering just the tops of the piles, but I bring in a weeks worth of wood to my garage and I notice it seems to thaw in the garage and burn slightly damp... I'm new to all this so I can't be sure whats better inside or outside, but I'd be curious to here about how frozen moisture gets removed in the cold air.

I suppose those days when it gets above freezing and the wind hitting the wood pile helps to remove moisture, but what about those cold days?

 

[jpl1nh]

Wood will still release moisture and dry even when the temps are well below freezing. The process of ice evaporating is called sublimation. In general the drier the air, the warmer the air, and the more air movement there is, the faster the rate of drying. It does sound as if your wood is not yet completely seasoned. Wood that is not yet seasoned will continue to release a lot of moisture. You need the most air movment you can provide and you need to protect the wood from additional rain or snow. To dry wood as quickly as possible, I always recommend stacking your wood loosely like a # sign, ie 2 pieces with space between them one way, then two pieces at a 90% angle the other way and keep on alternating which allow LOTS of air to move through. Stack in long rows one split wide in the breeziest, sunniest location you have and cover the top only. When you get your wood truly seasoned then conventional parallel stacking in a shed or barn would be fine. A good wood shed should still allow a lot of air movement.

 

[Todd]

Your right, frozen firewood doesn't dry til spring in my experience. I like to keep mine outside in as much sun and wind as I can get. I cover when it looks like a good soaker, but leave the tarps off most of the time til late fall, then leave them covered. Also best to get 1 or 2 years ahead if you have the room.

Now that those overgrown pines to the left are gone, I'll have a good southern exposure on my stacks.

 

[JimWalshin845]

It sounds like a metal shed and condensating moisture, am I wrong here?

 

[Lignums]

The tobacco farmers have their barns set up in such a way that the outside of the barn/shed or what have you, has 'vents' in the sides. The barns typically are made of 12" oak boards that are hung vertically in lengths of 12 ft, up to 20". Every 4 feet or so they have a wood board set up with hinges that swing open to allow the air to get at the drying tobacco. You did not state if your shed has any openings, but maybe a roof vent combined with a small vent near the ground, will allow a thermal chimney to develop, and stop the moisture trap. When the wood stays moist like that, mold will be a problem further down the road. Bringing that crap into your house will not be good.

 

[vasten]

Thank you for all your replies, the shed is an all wood shed that is attached to the house, and the exterior was wrapped in tar paper by prior owner, still scratching my head on that one....

What I am noticiing is that the pieces of wood that I do have stored on my front porch, even though they get covered in snow and rain due to cross winds, once i bring them in for a day or two they seem to burn better than the ones from the shed.

What I have thought of was instead of pulling all of that wood out, 3-4 face, I wondered if putting buckets of damp rid (calcium chloride) in there would help by acting as a dehumidifier, and allowing more moisture to be released into the air.

general consenus being outside until we know it is seasoned then inside to protect it from reabsorption of water?

 

[fishboat]

Calcium chloride would be a waste of time...you'd be trying to dry out the world & you'll never do it. You need to get some air in there & out of there. Try a roof vent, solar powered with a fan would be better.

 

[JimWalshin845]

Well, if you haven't taken the tar paper off the building maybe you should. With the lack of ventilation and the moisture from the wood the water will rot the exterior siding and eventually the sills too. Wood has to breath. Maybe get some larger inexpensive soffit vents and install them at both the top and bottom of the 3 exposed walls and one or 2 roof vents. You should see a huge difference, even during the winter months.

Good luck!