Best way to stop burning

[RandyBoBandy]

Thank you all for your input! I'm definitely a worst case scenario thinker but more and more comfortable everyday. Even slept with it running last night... baby steps hahaha. We had the chimney swept and stove cleaned but we went with more affordable option and they didn't know much about the stove. After learning more and more about the stove I'm thinking the people who came didn't actually clean/ inspect appropriately. After getting input from others in our area we're having someone very familiar with our stove come out for a full inspection/ stove cleaning and mostly to put my mind at ease. Looking forward to getting the hang of this. Thanks again everyone!!

Head over to the Vermont castings owners thread and do lots of reading. These are finicky stoves and expensive to repair. They are also a 3 thermometer stove. One for the cat temps one for the stove top (griddle top actually) and one for the flue.

 

[LMGCT]

Another question... can wood be too dry? We have a bunch that's been sitting 2+ years and is reading from 2-8%. Would love to burn it all but want to make sure it won't cause any problems

 

[kennyp2339]

Another question... can wood be too dry? We have a bunch that's been sitting 2+ years and is reading from 2-8%. Would love to burn it all but want to make sure it won't cause any problems

bring the wood inside, let it warm to room temp (1 day), resplit it and test the fresh face to get an accurate moisture %.

 

[Prof]

Another question... can wood be too dry? We have a bunch that's been sitting 2+ years and is reading from 2-8%. Would love to burn it all but want to make sure it won't cause any problems

Unless you kiln dry wood, you can't get the MC down in that range--especially how rainy it has been on the east coast this past year. As kenny stated, bring it inside, split it, and I'm willing to bet the farm that it is in the 10-15% range. This is a meaningless bet btw--I don't actually have a farm, just 3 cats and 2 kids. Seriously though, I think the wood will be fine.

 

[begreen]

We have doug fir that has been shed dried, 2 yrs and it is at 16% moisture content.

 

[Ashful]

Another question... can wood be too dry? We have a bunch that's been sitting 2+ years and is reading from 2-8%. Would love to burn it all but want to make sure it won't cause any problems

Just to spell out in plain English, what everyone here is saying:

1. Moisture meters measure ohmic resistance, and are calibrated near 70F. There are correction tables for many meters, accounting for temperature variation, but they usually fall off the edge of the earth at 32F, and below. You need your wood to be relatively warm to get a meaningful measurement.

2. The surface of the wood can be very dry, even on wood holding a lot of moisture. The normally-accepted procedure is to split it immediately before measurement, and test three places on the freshly exposed face, previously the inside of the wood. Those three places are the middle of the face, and about 1/4 of the length from each end. Average the three numbers together for your MC%. Orientation of the probes is not critical, as long as they're fully-penetrating face grain, and not plugged into the end grain.

3. Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC, to folks here) will run mid-teens in the mid-Atlantic region, varying +/- just a few percent throughout the year. That means that no matter how many years you dry the wood in open air, it ain't getting much below 15%, and it'll be wetter than that if not protected from rain.

4. If that wood was split and stacked under cover for 2 years, it's likely good. If it was out in this year's rain, if you got even a fraction of what we had this year, then God help you!

 

[LMGCT]

We had the stove/flue (VC Defiant) cleaned and inspected today. There was a nest even though we had it swept in late October and apparently the T cap (just learned what this was) was not present leaving an opening at the bottom of the pipe. So we got a new chimney cap with critter guard, new t cap and a cleaning and inspection. All appears to be well but my worst case scenario mind would like some peace so......

Can anyone tell me if it is normal to hear what seems like rushing air in the flue pipe? It's not a strong rush and happens intermittently. The temps when I was hearing it were griddle at 400, flue at 350 (magnetic thermometers). It is extremely windy and cold outside with a wind chill making it about -20. I haven't heard the sound after letting the fire die down. So should I be worried about this sound or is it just normal wind sound?

 

[kennyp2339]

Sounds normal for your windy conditions

 

[Ludlow]

When I was a kid, my Grandpap would blow across the top of a beer bottle. I though it sounded really neat.

 

[HomeinPA]

When I was a kid, my Grandpap would blow across the top of a beer bottle. I though it sounded really neat.

My nomination for most random post of the day!

 

[Ashful]

My nomination for most random post of the day!

Not so random:

Can anyone tell me if it is normal to hear what seems like rushing air in the flue pipe? It is extremely windy and cold outside...

When I was a kid, my Grandpap would blow across the top of a beer bottle. I though it sounded really neat.