will my wood burn this season?

[turbotom1052]

just installed a recently purchased Hearthstone Heritage in a new to me home in southern Vermont. Have so far taken delivery of the first 2 cord of 6 cord of supposedly seasoned firewood. The wood delivery unfortunately arrived before the delivery of my moisture meter. After stacking the 2 cord my moisture meter arrived and i was able to get readings on a few splits. I made it a point to split a few 6 inch splits so as to read the center of a fresh split. Readings in the center of the fresh splits vary between 25 to 30 percent.
The wood is single row stacked, off the ground, spaced between rows and in an area that gets some sun. The tops of the piles have been covered.
My question is .... will this mix of typical northeastern hardwoods be burnable this upcoming season, or do I need to buy some compressed envirobricks, or incur the expense of kiln dried wood? My hope is that the 30 percent stuff will dry to 25 percent by October. Is this wishful thinking on my part?

 

[Jags]

It will burn, just not very well. 25% stuff is questionable stuff to burn. 30% is like trying to burn rolled up wet newspaper. Split the stuff small to give it the most surface area. It is gonna be a long winter with that wood, but you ain't the first person to be in this situation.

Make an effort NOW to get yourself ahead for next year.

 

[Babaganoosh]

I'd buy a pallet of bricks to mix in and look up the solar kiln threads. Might help you drive a few percentage points of moisture out if you do the shrink wrap deal.

It's a little hotter here in NJ but I had temps up to 150 in mine yesterday. I'd also resplit some of the bigger pieces

 

[Grisu]

Buy a ton of bricks and/or source some pallets and lumber scraps to mix those in with the wood. That way you may get through this winter kind of ok. Keep an eye on your flue and clean it every few weeks to prevent creosote buildup. You will have an easier time if you burn constantly as you will be loading a warm stove with a warm flue.

When going for kiln-dried ask what moisture content they are drying it to or test it yourself. Often it is only heated to kill bugs, not to get it below 20%.

 

[DougA]

I agree with the answers here. Split as much as you can smaller and stack very loosely or spread them out on a driveway for a few weeks. I find that lots air circulation and sunshine are the best. Cover your stacks with a tarp when it rains, otherwise, less the cover off - every little bit will help. Intermix the 25% stuff with bricks, wood scraps, etc. and you should be OK..

 

[Chimney Smoke]

I would burn the cheaper oil/gas this winter and let the wood sit for next year.

 

[turbotom1052]

lots of good info here guys. thanks much for the advice. Feel free to keep it coming. Will the remainder of the time left before burning make any appreciable difference in my moisture content if I were to resplit the larger splits and keep it stacked in single rows with circulation? Is there any half assed formula for how quickly the average hardwood will give up its moisture over time?

 

[Jags]

Is there any half assed formula for how quickly the average hardwood will give up its moisture over time?

Not that I am aware of. Too many variables. Temp/rain/wind/sun will all play into it. If you can forecast that with any accuracy I would suggest a move in job position to "weather man".

 

[DougA]

Will the remainder of the time left before burning make any appreciable difference in my moisture content if I were to resplit the larger splits and keep it stacked in single rows with circulation?

My guess is that smaller splits will go from 25% to 'good enough' (20-22) by Christmas. Why don't you try some and report back to us. Hard data is always useful.

 

[Seanm]

Is there any half assed formula for how quickly the average hardwood will give up its moisture over time?

No but if you have a choice as to what kind of wood you purchase you can have a quicker drying time. For example soft maple will dry way quicker than oak. Also don't be afraid to burn coniferous which will be ready sooner than many hardwoods but still should be dried down to 20%. You can look at the density/btus from a btu chart like this one.
(broken link removed) to help you along.

 

[Andy S.]

As one who suffered through your exact circumstance two years ago, I suggest sorting out the Oak (look for the medullary rays) and immediately setting it off to the side for (hopefully) next year and then resplitting and loosely stacking as much of the other stuff as possible in hopes of at least getting a chance to run that beautiful stove enough this season to see what it can do, get past the learning curve and let it sit otherwise unless you have the bricks suggested above. The funny thing is that even though I experienced the frustration of poor wood myself I type this knowing that I probably wouldn't follow my own advice and would STILL keep trying and blaming the stove when it didn't work. Good luck!

 

[illenema]

Thats not going to burn very well. Call the place and tell them what you found and dont bring any more (unless you use it next year)
Find another dealer or split the stuff into 2" squares and properly stack
15% Or lower

 

[turbotom1052]

lotsa good info. Does it make any difference that my intention is to keep this thing burning nonstop throughout the season? Now that I'm retired I have the ability to give the stove plenty of attention. It was my plan to burn this stove hot and nonstop. Does this type of usage make my not so great wood any easier to deal with?

 

[Jags]

Loading on top of an active coal bed will make the wood easier to ignite, but it won't help the "efficiency" of the burning wood. Your real enemy is burning off the excess water. It takes fuel to do that.

 

[brenndatomu]

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/my-hillbilly-solar-kiln-test.145057/
Also, google this ^^^, there is a very informative thread on this subject on another site. Doing a kiln might still get you into "good enough" territory...

or do I need to buy some compressed envirobricks, or incur the expense of kiln dried wood

You could go scrouge a bunch of old pallets, most places are glad to get rid of them for free. Some pallet wood thrown in with a load of marginal wood can really help get the party started.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

or stack a weeks worth by the stove while its running.

 

[Grisu]

lotsa good info. Does it make any difference that my intention is to keep this thing burning nonstop throughout the season? Now that I'm retired I have the ability to give the stove plenty of attention. It was my plan to burn this stove hot and nonstop. Does this type of usage make my not so great wood any easier to deal with?

A warm flue will attract less creosote but as Jags said, your heating efficiency won't be great.

 

[prezes13]

If I was you, and I was, four years ago and I didn't know about this side so I was trying to burn wet maple. I would stock all that wood for next year. This year I would burn compressed fuel bricks and pallets or other scraps of dry wood. Anything will burn if you will have enough of a temp and oxygen, but it will not be efficient. Just not worth it in my opinion.

 

[BradleyW]

Personally I think it's worth a shot. I wouldn't bother in October because you probably won't get a great draft, but if the next couple of months are relatively dry you might be ok by November. No, it won't be the most efficient burning and you will probably have to keep the air open more than you'd like. I've had my house for two years and I'm finally going to burn decent wood this year for the first time, so I've done it for two years. And my chimney is perfectly clean, didn't even have to have it swept after my first year burning. If you pay attention to your stove and your temps you can have a good experience with less than ideal wood imho. One caveat--I would forget about the oak for at least a year, if not two.
By the way, not sure where you are, but the Sunoco in Bernardston, Mass. is often trying to get rid of pallets. They could be of use.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

Fossil Fuel is the cheapest its been in 10 years, burn that and be ahead with dry wood. I guarantee it will not stay this low. If I had an option other than wood I would burn it this year. Buy low burn high.

 

[kennyp2339]

Like others have said - you may have a chance if you can separate the wood, I don't know what you have but I would look to keep the maple, ash, birch in the single rows and then find a long term spot for any oak. Single row stacking is the best because it provides more surface area for the sun /wind to hit it. I stack in single rows, I went to the supply store and bought black plastic rolls *36"wide and top covered my piles to keep the rain off, I just used a staple gun to hold the plastic to the wood, the covers haven't blow off yet and they have been there for a year.