Using wet firewood

[robert5495]

Hi all,

Excuse my bad English I am French

I purchased 3 steres of firewood tu use it in my fireplace this winter, however I noticed after purchasing it that the wood was unseasoned and still has a lot of moisture (the wood is one and a half year old according to the seller). So I am not able to burn it. People adviced me to purchase dry wood and keep this one for next winter but since I am moving next winter it's not a viable solution for me.

Does anyone have any tip on how to use this wet firewood ? I have tried to put some wet logs inside the fireplace where dry logs were burning to dry them, but the just become "black" (like charcoal) and when I try to burn them afterward the fire doesn't catch fire.

I have also tried to cut the wet logs to expose dry wood inside, but it is the same, the cut log don't catch fire.

Any tips or solutions ?

Thanks

 

[toddnic]

Wish I had good news for you but there really isn't a way to make the wood useable in such a short time. What I did my first year when we installed our woodstove was to exchange wood with a neighbor. I had a neighbor that was not going to winter in our area and he had a lot of wood that was very seasoned. I replaced the wood that I used with fresh cut wood since he was not going to be using his woodstove that season. It really made our first season with our new woodstove bearable.

 

[kennyp2339]

Maybe make an equal trade with someone that has and ample supply of dryer wood?

 

[jatoxico]

Hi Robert sorry about your trouble. Not sure it the solutions we normally offer will work for you but if you can get any scrap wood from building or wood from shipping pallets and use that to mix with your wet wood it will help. Here we also have compressed wood bricks which can also be mixed with wet firewood.

Other than that, split your wood to smaller pieces and give lots of air. Bring as much as you can into the stove room to help dry as you go. Good luck.

 

[heavy hammer]

As others have said try to get dry wood, it will make life much easier.

 

[maple1]

Is it split?

You might get some heat out of it, if you re-split it quite small, and stack it loose in your warm stove room, with good air circulation (a small fan blowing into the bottom of the stack during the day would help), for a couple of weeks. You would need to keep a good rotation of wood going - bring in new stuff as soon as you have room for it. So you'd also need room for a couple of weeks or so worth of wood. Would be some work, and wouldn't be the ideal situation, but would likely help.

 

[Hasufel]

I agree with the other recommendations to split small and store inside to dry. Do you know what kind of wood it is? Some species (like pine and poplar) will dry faster than others. Oak takes a long time to dry. Good luck!

 

[CheapBassTurd]

Go scrounging, my friend. Look for some dead stuff. Also, do this:

We ONLY do this while nearby for safety reasons ! ! If you are leaving or going outdoors, be certain
that the wood is far enough away to be warm but not hot. I do final dehydration, then load them in.

I know the patched ash drawer looks crappy but it's sealed. No runaways.
That whole underneath is packed with a sand and cement mixture.

 

[maple1]

Go scrounging, my friend. Look for some dead stuff. Also, do this:
View attachment 191764
We ONLY do this while nearby for safety reasons ! ! If you are leaving or going outdoors, be certain
that the wood is far enough away to be warm but not hot. I do final dehydration, then load them in.

I know the patched ash drawer looks crappy but it's sealed. No runaways.
That whole underneath is packed with a sand and cement mixture.

Don't think I'd go that close. Further away but with a small fan slowly moving air over might be better.

 

[CheapBassTurd]

Maple,
Disclaimer:
I / we NEVER leave it that way long. Our minimum safe distance is 18-20" in while
literally in the stoveroom, which is where we hang out. TV/familyroom/ gaming room, etc.

Otherwise it leans against the wall which also prevents any from touching during an accidental tipover.

Keepin' it safe,
CheapMark