Combustibles question

[MountainStoveGuy]

One of the dangers of combustables to close to woodstoves is pyrophoric carbonization, which is what happens to wood over time that is exposed to heat. Basicly the wood gets moderaty hot, and over the years the wood gets a lower combustion point due to the exposure to heat, and eventually combusts at a much lower temperature then it normally would. Clearance to combustables for woodstoves are set up with this as a main consideration. They have a formula that translate surface tempertures of combustables to acceptable long term exposure.
Having a little firewood next to the stove doesnt hurt anything. You are not going to get that piece of wood 500* with a 6 inch air space between the wood and the stove, when the stove is 500*.. now if you left it down there for 5 years or so.. the combustion point of the wood might get down to 175* or something, then you would have a problem.

 

[Gooserider]

One of the dangers of combustables to close to woodstoves is pyrophoric carbonization, which is what happens to wood over time that is exposed to heat. Basicly the wood gets moderaty hot, and over the years the wood gets a lower combustion point due to the exposure to heat, and eventually combusts at a much lower temperature then it normally would. Clearance to combustables for woodstoves are set up with this as a main consideration. They have a formula that translate surface tempertures of combustables to acceptable long term exposure.
Having a little firewood next to the stove doesnt hurt anything. You are not going to get that piece of wood 500* with a 6 inch air space between the wood and the stove, when the stove is 500*.. now if you left it down there for 5 years or so.. the combustion point of the wood might get down to 175* or something, then you would have a problem.

I was aware of that, and it is the reason I was making the point that I mentioned about the CTC number being mostly about "permanent" structures... I don't have the same expertise as some of you pros, so I wasn't going into the details beyond saying that short term storage was unlikely to be a problem, especially playing it safer by not letting the wood get more than warm to the touch.

Personal confession time... We have two main inside wood storage places, my log cart that I use to bring wood in from outside, and a rack right next to the door of the stove. The rack is close enough that I have to put short pieces on the side of the rack closest to the stove, or it will interfere with the door opening. My practice is to burn the stuff in the rack first, then burn off the cart. When I'm ready to bring in another load with the cart, I transfer any remaining wood to the rack. Depending on how hot I'm running the stove, a hunk of wood will stay on the rack 12-24 hours maximum, unless it's warm enough that I let the stove go out. The hotter I'm running the stove, the less time a split will spend on the rack, cause it will get burnt sooner. Spot checking the ends of the wood closest to the door, I've never felt anything warm enough that I couldn't leave my hand on it as long as I wanted. I'm not worried about it.

Gooserider