"wet" wood and secondary burn

[ICY99]

I've noticed that people say that you get more creosote build up if burning wet wood. Ok.

But lets say for example that you are burning some not ideally dried wood and still getting secondary combustion and relatively smokeless burns. Why would you have to worry about the chimney more than when burning fully seasoned wood?

 

[DBoon]

I was a first year woodburner last year, and my wood wasn't completely dried. I split it smaller and put more pieces in, and only put larger pieces in on hot coals. I usually got good secondary combustion. This spring when I cleaned the chimney, I only had about 3 cups of powdery creosote. So I think you will be ok.

 

[mellow]

When burning with wet wood it will bring your firebox temps down due to having to use energy to remove the moisture from the wood first before it burns, thereby reducing your firebox temps and killing secondary burn and creating creosote.

 

['bert]

What type of temps are you able to achieve with your stove. If you are getting in that 500 - 600 range you should be fine depending on your stove. Burn for a bit and check / clean your chimney, better to know for sure then to trust the internet.

 

[ICY99]

I don't burn unseasoned wood. I was asking a question that seems like many have just assumed the answer too. I think that if you are getting secondary burn and no smoke, then it doesn't matter what the moisture content of the wood is.

 

[mellow]

If your burning pallet wood then throwing in some not so seasoned wood you should be fine as long as you keep your firebox temps up. We have all been there and done it and one point and time, just keep an eye on it.

 

[firefighterjake]

I've noticed that people say that you get more creosote build up if burning wet wood. Ok.

But lets say for example that you are burning some not ideally dried wood and still getting secondary combustion and relatively smokeless burns. Why would you have to worry about the chimney more than when burning fully seasoned wood?

Probably not a really major issue . . . it may take a bit longer and you may need smaller splits to get the wood up to temp as the heat BTUS that could be used to heat the home will instead be "wasted" driving the moisture out of the wood . . . and in some cases if there was too much moisture cutting the air could kill the secondary action and fire . . . but it sounds as though you would not have any real issues if you've got secondaries firing and you can sustain them.

I will say I would still check the chimney monthly and clean when needed.

 

[ControlFreak]

What I've done at a time when my wood was a bit wet was to load up the firebox, placing the sharp edges of the fresh wood into the bed of coals and shutting the damper off completely. There is minimal smoke - only from the little bit of wood that's touching the coals. After sitting like this for an hour I found that the wood was good and dry and there were still enough coals to get things going again. Then open the draft, get a flame and watch it rip. Kind of like kiln-drying your wood on the fly.

I found that although this was not desirable, it was better than loading it up and immediately expecting to get the wet wood to burn, fighting with it trying to keep a flame going, and having a nasty smokey fire for about the same amount of time it took to "kiln dry" it.

 

[gpcollen1]

If that were the case and the stove temps were hot, I would not worry.

NOW for reality, this is not the norm when burning wet/green/not properly seasoned wood. There is a MAJOR difference between the types of wood, however. Burning fresh ash [not so bad] and burning fresh oak[wet blanket] are two totally different creatures. I have burned wood that has not been properly seasoned and the splitting it smaller and having to wait triple the time to get it up to temp are not worth it...

 

[Greg123]

Because the terrible summer we had my seasoning of my wood was terrible this year, the majority of my wood is ASH, but I’m still getting some pieces that sizzle. I’m having no problem keeping the stove temp between 500 and 600, and I’m getting great secondary burn. The only visible smoke I see is during startup once the stove reaches about 250 to 300 I can go outside and see no visible smoke coming from the chimney. I’m still going to do monthly inspections and cleanings if needed.

 

[paulie]

If you are getting secondary burns, and your temp is staying up ,you are correct you don't have to worry about the build up, it will be fine. On a hot bed of coals the energy to get the moisture out is mimimal.

 

[Brian VT]

Because the terrible summer we had my seasoning of my wood was terrible this year, the majority of my wood is ASH, but I’m still getting some pieces that sizzle. I’m having no problem keeping the stove temp between 500 and 600, and I’m getting great secondary burn. The only visible smoke I see is during startup once the stove reaches about 250 to 300 I can go outside and see no visible smoke coming from the chimney. I’m still going to do monthly inspections and cleanings if needed.

Same here. I cut standing dead ash last Dec.-Feb. and it didn't dry well this year. 25-30% moisture. :down: I wish I had covered the top of the stacks.
I've got my 1st fire going tonight. I was very disappointed to see/hear some sizzling at startup. I stoked her up on the 2nd load and she's cruising nice at
500 stovetop and 600 flue with no smoke out the chimney. Whew. I thought I might be in trouble for this winter.
I'll still plan on cleaning the chimney once a month, though.

I bought 2 round racks for just outside the door to stage wood under my deck before bringing it inside.
I may bring one of those racks inside in hopes of drying the splits a bit more before burning. Hopefully that doesn't bring too many bugs in.

 

[BrotherBart]

In 2006 when I replaced the old stove I was still in the "cut it in the spring and summer and burn it this year" mode. Bought the 30-NC and got a lot of heat and monster secondary burns with no smoke from the chimney after around 500 degrees stove top. But had a hell of a time regulating the burn. And considering what the pre-EPA stove laid in the chimney it wasn't too bad. I cleaned it at mid-season. And went through the same five+ cords of wood that the old stove would burn in a season. While this was going on the Forum was preaching dry wood to me so I got a year ahead.

Every since then I have only used three cords, got an easier to control stove and half the crud in the chimney that I had that first season with the stove.

Yep. It will burn. But not in this house ever again.

 

[Russ in Chicagoland]

My wood will not be properly seasoned this winter, but any heat coming off that stove is far cheaper than the Gas going thru the furnace, no? Perhaps I'll have to clean the chimney more often this winter, but I made my splits smaller and am crossing my fingers. Only about 4 months seasoned at this point...

 

[BrotherBart]

My wood will not be properly seasoned this winter, but any heat coming off that stove is far cheaper than the Gas going thru the furnace, no? Perhaps I'll have to clean the chimney more often this winter, but I made my splits smaller and am crossing my fingers. Only about 4 months seasoned at this point...

Ya burn what ya got. In March that can include furniture.

Edit: Well this year that gas furnace may be the cheapest game in town. I just don't happen to have one.

 

[Brian VT]

In 2006 when I replaced the old stove I was still in the "cut it in the spring and summer and burn it this year" mode.

I got my 1st chainsaw last Thanksgiving and started cutting then. I thought I'd be fine. Especially cutting standing dead ash and cherry.
I've cut a little over a cord in the last couple weeks and hope to get a few years ahead this year. I'll be covering the tops of these stacks
in case we have another Oregon summer here in VT next year. LOL

 

[BrotherBart]

In 2006 when I replaced the old stove I was still in the "cut it in the spring and summer and burn it this year" mode.

I got my 1st chainsaw last Thanksgiving and started cutting then. I thought I'd be fine. Especially cutting standing dead ash and cherry.
I've cut a little over a cord in the last couple weeks and hope to get a few years ahead this year. I'll be covering the tops of these stacks
in case we have another Oregon summer here in VT next year. LOL

Yep. Top cover the stacks and leave sufficient air space between the rows and you will have ya some really dry wood. If you use pallets only put two rows per pallet and let the room between them be a wind tunnel. Don't be surprised if the ends don't have a bunch of checks in them. That happens when the ends dry faster than the middle. I have some three year seasoned 15% stacks with hardly any checks in them at all.

 

[Brian VT]

Yep. Top cover the stacks and leave sufficient air space between the rows and you will have ya some really dry wood. If you use pallets only put two rows per pallet and let the room between them be a wind tunnel.

That's exactly how I stacked my splits last winter, minus the top cover (because of what I read on here somewhere).
It was a freaky wet summer here so it just didn't dry.
I have a nice burn going now, even though it's 55 deg. out. I am getting some chimney smoke , though, since I threw some bigger chunks in.
I'm experimenting before the cold weather gets here.
I don't know how to tell if the Resolute secondary is burning. I am nervous about the smoke I'm seeing.
I guess I'll be on the snowy roof with the brush a bunch this year. Better than buying oil, though.

 

[deck2]

Is this a new club on Hearth.com-- Wet Wood Burners Anonymous, "My name is Joe, I was a first year burner a few seasons ago and I burned wet wood." (group-- "High Joe") There is a program and it starts with admiting you have a problem-Wet Wood!

 

[Crabby]

You know, almost every year I burn wood that is not fully seasoned or wet just because i get to cutting late or my damn tarps fly off piles all the time. I had and old EarthStove burned hot all the time, i always clean the chimney once a month just to be safe and it take 15 to 20 mins to do. Chimney was always pretty clean just my cap was the worst but still not that bad. and that was all with somewhat wet wood. New Englander 30 this year and my wood i have for this year mostly have been down for a year then cut and split. I have some red oak that has been down for about 3 or 4 months and already started changing to the darker color and cracked on the ends. Thats good enough for me, or that's how everyone where i live burn wood.

 

[Badfish740]

I'm still figuring this whole thing out myself. The other day I threw some pallet wood (that had been uncovered all summer through the monsoon) in the stove that actually starting foaming at the end! Most of my cord wood has been split, stacked, and covered at least since May, but since I'm a scrounger I only cut deadfall, so most of it has been down and dead for at least two years. I've only been burning for a week now so I figure the weekend after next I'll take the top 18" section off the chimney and peek down the flue to see what's going on.

 

[rdust]

I think there are different levels of what I consider "green" wood. If it's been cut a month ago and tossed in the stove it's obviously not going to work well, if it's cut in the spring and the moisture content is a little on the high side 25%-28% I think it'll burn the moisture out pretty quick. A lot of people say you "can" burn fresh cut ash and the moisture content is around 30% from what I've seen when cutting. As BB stated it'll burn it will just be harder to regulate the burn.

This is my first year and cut most of my wood in the spring, I split a lot of it smaller knowing it would not season well if I left it big. The ash I cut is low 20's the rest that I've checked is mid to upper 20's, it might not be ideal but I think I'll be able to make it work. This cool dry/windy air is helping right now.