All right. I know there's some sticklers here regarding the time they season their firewood before burning it. But this year, my first year burning, I was not able to get a full season of drying for my maple, cherry, apple, cedar mix of a wood pile. Started in early June, finished by early July. Good sized splits. The stuff burns great - easy to start, no smoke out of the stack as soon as I get it going, burns hot, excellent secondary burn, great coals for restarts. I know we had a very dry Sept-Oct here in NE, but because of space concerns I had to stack it very tightly. So my question is: how is wood seasoned longer going to be better than what I have? Why does everyone go bonkers for 1+ year seasoning times??
Who says you need "seasoned" firewood?
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I've got locust I cut in May, split through out the summer, burns great. Dosn't start as good as my year old walnut or maple, but seems to burn longer and hotter.
The simple answer is that any water contained in the wood has to leave your stove in the form of steam, and steam takes a great deal of energy to produce. Steam exits your system through the chimney, so that's energy that you don't benefit from. Put another way, the higher the moisture content of your firewood, the more you'll burn for the same amount of heat. It's a pretty simple calculation.
I could burn dead green wood in my old boiler and heat the house, mainly because the boiler had a blower. However, it took about twice as much wood to get the same amount of heat as if I'd burned dry wood.
Any anecdotal stories about how well, long, and hot green wood burns have to be viewed against the backdrop of the realities of the physical world. It simply isn't possible for green or wet wood to produce as much heat as dry wood.
The one-year thing is just a rough guideline. After one year, you can be pretty confident that you have dry wood if you stored it properly so that it had the opportunity to dry out. It's entirely possible that your wood was drier than average to start with, and that you benefitted from the hot, dry summer. Some species, such as ash, contain less water to begin with, and thus can be burned green or partially dry with better results than some other species, such as yellow birch.
I could burn dead green wood in my old boiler and heat the house, mainly because the boiler had a blower. However, it took about twice as much wood to get the same amount of heat as if I'd burned dry wood.
Any anecdotal stories about how well, long, and hot green wood burns have to be viewed against the backdrop of the realities of the physical world. It simply isn't possible for green or wet wood to produce as much heat as dry wood.
The one-year thing is just a rough guideline. After one year, you can be pretty confident that you have dry wood if you stored it properly so that it had the opportunity to dry out. It's entirely possible that your wood was drier than average to start with, and that you benefitted from the hot, dry summer. Some species, such as ash, contain less water to begin with, and thus can be burned green or partially dry with better results than some other species, such as yellow birch.
Eric pretty much summed it up. Green wood will burn OK, assuming the fire is hot enough...forest fires burn incredibly well with green wood. But that water is stealing your energy. By waiting for it to dry, you're getting the maximum heat output for your energy or monetary input.
Not to mention that steam & moisture being burned out & up the chimney cools & condensates and creates creosote as it cools near the top. No brainer there.
Because you're better safe than sorry and after 1+ years there's no question. I have enough wood ahead that I'm 2-3+ years. There's no question I'm burning dry. If you can do that why chance it?
The more seasoned out the wood is also helps with not having feed the beast to keep it going all day/night. It is a very pleasing feeling to see just a few coals glowing red, and I mean a few, and you can just toss in a well seasoned piece of red oak or locust and not have to worry about opening up the air vent. Hakuta Matata. As stated earlier you probably got luck with drier than normal wood to start with. To test your theory that it doesn't take that long, get some really green wood and try the 6 month thing and see how it works. It's been my luck that is is like burning a wet towel in my stove. Too much fuss and muss. Seasoned 2 + years and you will be living the high life.
I guess you guys on the east coast have a harder time seasoning your wood then we do out west. Must be the humidity which we have none of. If I cut oak and split by May its dry ( 20% ) by Oct if stacked in the sun and well ventalated place. I usually run 2 years out but 1 year wood is ready to burn if need be.
I guess my biggest problem is space. A little over one seasons worth of wood is about all I could store (unless I get a divorce). So I will have 9-12 months seasoned wood every year, but not really much more than that. Could be worse though....... I could be paying $400 a month in gas to heat the house.
the wood species you mentioned are mostly softer woods, they tend to season faster than oak , hickory, locust and similar, that wood may well have been at least somewhat seasoned by now.
Been burning April til October wood for a lot of years. Some years I couldn't cut and split until the 4th of July. Yeah I put a few splits of three year old stuff in the stove the other night and it was a pretty sight to see. But ya burns what ya gotta burn when it gets cold.
This may actually be the first year in my life that I am one year ahead. Winter will dictate. We shall see. Right now I am burning straight pine except for the three year old Oak I sacrificed to the Burning Gods the other night.
Side Note: My neighbor buys his wood from a supplier down the road. They dumped three cords a few weeks ago. I stopped to take a look at it. The sweetest, dryest hardwood you ever saw in your life. Two days later it started raining on that pile of wood and poured down rain for four days on it uncovered.
What a stinking shame.
This may actually be the first year in my life that I am one year ahead. Winter will dictate. We shall see. Right now I am burning straight pine except for the three year old Oak I sacrificed to the Burning Gods the other night.
Side Note: My neighbor buys his wood from a supplier down the road. They dumped three cords a few weeks ago. I stopped to take a look at it. The sweetest, dryest hardwood you ever saw in your life. Two days later it started raining on that pile of wood and poured down rain for four days on it uncovered.
What a stinking shame.
I have a hunch that you just don't know how good it really can be with drier wood. I thought the same thing about my less than dry fir that I burnt last year. It worked fine but it gets better.
Be sure to save some wood form this year to get really good and dry so that you can see what you're missing.
Be sure to save some wood form this year to get really good and dry so that you can see what you're missing.
very informative thread. I know the feeling about the pile of wood that gets rained on. Happened 2 me 18 times in the last 2 yrs.
I have some of my wood under cover now , 2 two 30 x 8 foot rooms & 1- 8x8 shed, so that is my dry wood & 3x that much wood (240 oak pallets) outside that just got rained on.
Have 2 go out with my sledge as soon as daylight hits & see how many wet pallets I can break up in 1 day & get the pieces into dry storage.
just time 4 breakfast before its time to start swinging the sledge.
I tried using the chain saw, but the chains stretch after cutting 12 pallets & need to be readjusted. Much less to go wrong with the sledgehammer.
I have some of my wood under cover now , 2 two 30 x 8 foot rooms & 1- 8x8 shed, so that is my dry wood & 3x that much wood (240 oak pallets) outside that just got rained on.
Have 2 go out with my sledge as soon as daylight hits & see how many wet pallets I can break up in 1 day & get the pieces into dry storage.
just time 4 breakfast before its time to start swinging the sledge.
I tried using the chain saw, but the chains stretch after cutting 12 pallets & need to be readjusted. Much less to go wrong with the sledgehammer.
I got back from Euorp specifically Romania a couple of weeks ago. It is colder there than it is here in Ohio and they are heating now. I saw several trucks with freshly cut - unsplit logs being dumped along the roads near homes and then the older men come out, cut the wood and take it in.
SMOKEY - the entire villages were smokey.
No seasoning there unless you count the truck ride! :smirk:
SMOKEY - the entire villages were smokey.
No seasoning there unless you count the truck ride! :smirk:
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