Hey all, will be coming into my first FULL season burning wood. My stove was installed December last year and I wasn't really prepared. Had to make due with last minute wood deliveries of whatever I could get. I ended up having some seasoned wood leftover at the end of the winter and have added a few more cord to the stacks since then. I've rotated it so the oldest (most seasoned) wood will be burned first, etc. Ideally I'd like to keep my outside stacks uncovered all year as it gets sun all year long. But once the snow starts flying I'm not sure I want to mess with covering and un-covering, etc. to keep the snow off. My question is, once the moisture all freezes up, does the wood continue to season? Does it matter if the stacks are covered in the winter? Better to just cover for the winter season and uncover once things dry out in the Spring? Either way I'd still just cover the tops, and I still need to access the stacks to bring wood inside when needed. I do keep a face cord in my basement basically all the time and re-fill as needed. What's the best practice for outside stacks in the winter? Thanks!
Does wood season all year?
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My outside stacks are covered year around
Nothing like trying to get wood in that's uncovered after an Ice Storm!!
Nothing like trying to get wood in that's uncovered after an Ice Storm!!
How much detail would you like?
www.nature.com
Singular sublimation of ice and snow crystals - Nature Communications
Ice sublimation is a common, yet little-studied, heat and mass transfer problem with climatic and industrial implications. Here, the authors show that the sublimation of ice crystals is purely diffusive and is unaffected by the underlying crystalline lattice.
www.nature.com
Stove Cricket
Member
Down here around latitude 37°N, wood cut/s/s’d in Jan/Feb exhibits quite a bit of checking, drying, stack settling and off gassing, through early spring when top covered but exposed to sun and wind (no permafrost here).
Prof
Minister of Fire
So the short answer is yes. I wonder how all of the variables associated with cellular moisture in wood would factor in.How much detail would you like?
Singular sublimation of ice and snow crystals - Nature Communications
Ice sublimation is a common, yet little-studied, heat and mass transfer problem with climatic and industrial implications. Here, the authors show that the sublimation of ice crystals is purely diffusive and is unaffected by the underlying crystalline lattice.
I remember my grandmother would make me hang clothes in the winter. She wasn't especially sadistic, so I really believe that she thought clothes dried in the cold. They may have to some extent, but I remember standing a pair of pants against a wall--stiff as a board. In hindsight, I don't think it was worth it, though I do suspect some moisture was removed.
fvhowler
Feeling the Heat
I think there are two main factors to the original question. 1) geographic location and 2) keeping wood dry. I don't have to deal with snow and frozen precip as much many of you north of me. I also have more sunny/warm days during winter. All my wood is top covered all year which does a good job at keeping the entire stack dry. Those two factors give me good seasoning year around. When I'm preparing to burn a stack, I cover the dried wood with a tarp completely so rain does not touch the wood.
I keep my stacks top covered all year long with salvaged roof tin. It seems to me like melting snow soaks in to wood more than rain does; perhaps because it melts off over a few days as opposed to a 1 day rain storm. And at least for the past couple of winters here in PA, the weather rarely stays below freezing for a week or two, so melting snow/sleet/freezing rain happens a few times a winter. That makes it pretty likely that I would have a soaked stack when I needed to get wood in.
All of my wood is outside and uncovered until about September. At that point I top cover this year’s wood.
Yes wood dries in the cold but only if it doesn't have rain or melting snow dripping down on it. It's much smarter to keep it covered all the time.
I top cover everything all year round. Don't see a reason not to. Also keep in mind different species dry at different rates. Year one of Oak or Beech uncovered during the summer probably does not make a difference as you are not going to burn until year 2 at the earliest.
Woodsplitter67
Minister of Fire
The answer is definitely yes.. How much depends on species. I did a thread a number of yesrs back. In the dead of winter you can get poplar to fully season in a couple months. I split some in February one year and was burning it a few months later during shoulder season. Oak on the other hand will only season like .25 to .35% per month.. This wood was located in a shed open to the drying winds and absolutely no water getting on it I did just some random testing through the stack.. If its watm you may get .5%. I did some mini kiln testing through the winter and this mand a significant increase in drying per month. it could be 45 degrees out and almost 80 in the kiln..
A way that worked for me before I built the woodshed was to cover the pile with a little overhang using a tarp or scrap roofing fabric, the kind used on fllat roofs, and fastening it down with a few cleats. These are just small pieces of scrap wood or plywood screwed or partially nailed through the tarp to the the face of pieces in the stack to keep it from blowing off. The stiffer coated roofing worked better when clearing off snow. Covering and fastening that way could work OK as you replace that face cord in the basement.
cadyfatcat
Member
There is a (broken link removed) on this the USDA has with different species air drying in different locations throughout the country at different times of the year. The upshot is if you're in an area that gets to freezing temperatures during the winter, there is some drying but it is very very little compared to the warmer months. Below is an excerpt of the amount of time in days it takes to dry 5/4 read oak lumber in Burlington, VT to different moisture contents, based on the day it is cut/stacked.
I would definitely cover it unless you're in a very dry or relatively warm area.
![[Hearth.com] Does wood season all year?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/screenshot-2023-12-06-at-6-58-03-pm-webp.320286/ "[Hearth.com] Does wood season all year?")
I would definitely cover it unless you're in a very dry or relatively warm area.
We get drier air here in the fall/winter than in summer. As long as it's above freezing it can dry as much or faster than in summer.
Caw
Minister of Fire
There are a lot of factors that go into the seasoning time for any species of wood. I stack in two side buy side rows, almost touching each other. With a few log ties between the rows to connect them. I don't want anything getting between them from the top. Leaves, rain etc.
I have a free standing peeked roof above the rows, extending 6" overhanging the sides. The top cover doesn't touch the wood. The sides are exposed to the sun and wind. It's a work in progress, but very solid with very little maintenance.
I have a free standing peeked roof above the rows, extending 6" overhanging the sides. The top cover doesn't touch the wood. The sides are exposed to the sun and wind. It's a work in progress, but very solid with very little maintenance.
cadyfatcat
Member
I am not sure if that's the case, take a look at the linked study above. It's about relative humidity, not absolute. The air's capacity to remove moisture from wood is greatly enhanced during warmer months because even if there is a much higher absolute humidity, the relative humidity (which corresponds with the air ability to hold moisture) is a lot lower, and that allows moisture to be pulled from wood at a much higher rate. In colder months, the effect is opposite.
Wood seasons year around. Summer warm air blows through the stacks dries the wood. In winter the air is dry. Dry air looks for moisture and pulls it out of the wood. Cover your stacks on top not the sides.
