If DRYING wood, why let it get wet??!?!?!

[wahoowad]

I'm posting this because my girfriend agrees...proving I must be right

I cover the top (and a few inches of each side) of my stacks with a tarp to keep the rain off. I keep the tarps loose and off the sides so everything can breathe. I want it dry every day for the year I am seasoning it. Why let it get soaking wet from drenching rains throughout the year? The way I see it, it can take several days or longer for the rain to evaporate so I can resume drying from where I was before it rained.

If I assume 17 days of rain, and 3 days to fully dry, I'm losing 14% of my drying days. I can be a little off on my rain days, and/or my drying time, but I'm thinking it is close enough for my area, humidity, etc.

That's why I do it.

 

[philaphire]

someone needs to do an experient with covered vs. uncovered wood.... I mean, you've got folks who don't cover their wood and seem to do just fine, and I wonder if those who cover their wood ever tried going topless to see if there's a difference. Me, I'm in the no-cover category given that's the advice I've gotten that it's more work to worry about your wood being covered than setting a week or more's supply on the porch or in the garage throughout the winter.

THis could be one of those never ending debates. Add to list of: stihl vs. husky, insert vs. freestander, cat vs. non cat, radiant vs. convection, cast iron vs. steel, am I leaving anything out????

 

[quads]

I never "dry" my wood. I let it "season".

 

[bruce56bb]

i do not cover mine. i've found that covering my woodpile limits the coriolis effect

 

[adrpga498]

someone needs to do an experient with covered vs. uncovered wood.... I mean, you've got folks who don't cover their wood and seem to do just fine, and I wonder if those who cover their wood ever tried going topless to see if there's a difference. Me, I'm in the no-cover category given that's the advice I've gotten that it's more work to worry about your wood being covered than setting a week or more's supply on the porch or in the garage throughout the winter.

THis could be one of those never ending debates. Add to list of: stihl vs. husky, insert vs. freestander, cat vs. non cat, radiant vs. convection, cast iron vs. steel, am I leaving anything out????

Smoke rises clockwise or counter-clockwise out the chimney.

 

[Corey]

I'm not exactly sure where the 14% comes in. You say 17 days of rain + 3 days for the rain to dry up = 20 days and 20 days / 14% = about 143 days. So this is suggesting that you are seasoning the wood a little under 5 months?

Anyway, covering or not covering can (and will ) be debated ad nauseum. Not that it is necessarily a bad thing, but it is kind of like religion...no internet debate will ever change anyone's mind. I can only offer my reason for going tarpless:

For the wood to dry or season, the air must be able to pick up moisture from the wood. When does this happen? Well, the technical answer would be "Anytime the air is below 100% relative humidity" Practically - the dryer the air, the more drying of the wood. So in a rainstorm, the air approaches 100% RH, so there is very little drying of the wood, even though it may be covered and dry itself, the air is full of moisture and has very little "room" to pick up any from the wood.

The second issue is wood getting wet in the rain. The answer is "yes it does" but since the wood is essentially dead at this point, the penetration of water is limited to a little osmosis at the surface and perhaps a little capillary action on the end grain. But unless your wood pile is setting in a lake, this is essentially surface water that will dry up at about the same rate as the ground, standing trees, etc around the wood pile.

The third issue is that the atmosphere offers a huge reserve for the moisture in the wood. Picture one 4' x 8' cord of wood sitting out in the open in a 5 MPH breeze. In one hour, the cord of wood is exposed to a horizontal column of air 4' x 8' x 5 miles long. Or about 845,000 cubic feet of air or about 14,000 CFM! That is one big natural blower!

My last issue is that as long as I keep my one year rotation schedule...cutting one season ahead...for the local climate and species of wood...I know that the wood will be dry in one year without a tarp. So no need to go to the extra expense and hassle of working with them.

So, to sum it up, (to my way of thinking) when it is raining, the wood isn't really drying regardless of being covered or uncovered. When the rain stops, the wood can start to dry, but will only really get "cranking" after the surrounding grass, dirt, trees, etc dry out...which would be about as long as it takes the woodpile to dry out anyway. So the tarp is really only helping for that tiny amount of time after the rain, but before the ground is dry - and that is the slowest portion of the drying process anyway.

If the conditions were different and I needed to shave a few percent off the drying time, I might start looking into the tarp option. Same could go for you...if you think your wood is dry months ahead of time under the tarp, you may try eliminating it on the next small pile of wood. If that wood is still seasoned in time for use, then the tarps are just an extra expense and hassle that you could probably go without

Corey

 

[nshif]

someone needs to do an experient with covered vs. uncovered wood.... I mean, you've got folks who don't cover their wood and seem to do just fine, and I wonder if those who cover their wood ever tried going topless to see if there's a difference. Me, I'm in the no-cover category given that's the advice I've gotten that it's more work to worry about your wood being covered than setting a week or more's supply on the porch or in the garage throughout the winter.

THis could be one of those never ending debates. Add to list of: stihl vs. husky, insert vs. freestander, cat vs. non cat, radiant vs. convection, cast iron vs. steel, am I leaving anything out????

Smoke rises clockwise or counter-clockwise out the chimney.

Doesnt that depend on weather you are north or south of the Equator????

 

[ourhouse]

someone needs to do an experient with covered vs. uncovered wood.... I mean, you've got folks who don't cover their wood and seem to do just fine, and I wonder if those who cover their wood ever tried going topless to see if there's a difference. Me, I'm in the no-cover category given that's the advice I've gotten that it's more work to worry about your wood being covered than setting a week or more's supply on the porch or in the garage throughout the winter.

THis could be one of those never ending debates. Add to list of: stihl vs. husky, insert vs. freestander, cat vs. non cat, radiant vs. convection, cast iron vs. steel, am I leaving anything out????

Smoke rises clockwise or counter-clockwise out the chimney.

HUSKY ;-)

 

[BrotherBart]

Freestanding, steel, non-cat!! Poulan!

 

[suematteva]

Hey Earth & BB,

Thanks for the laughs!!

 

[DeanBrown3D]

I think about the annoyance factor. Here in NJ, it can rain for days and days and if like me you live in a jungle everything stays damp for ages, since NJ is flat and there's poor drainage from the clay soil. Any wood that I leave uncovered has huge mushrooms and fungus growing all over it. All the wood that I cover up looks perfectly fine and dry. Anyway, when it rains, it annoys me that my wood is not drying.

Part of the reason I think there is such a difference of opinions on this is where you live. If you live where I do, you NEED to cover the wood. Maybe in a dryer (drier?) state, its different.

Just my 0.000002 c.

BTW: Stihl, hands down.

 

[BrotherBart]

I think ya gotta cover it. The weathered stuff really burns great but where we are it is wet all winter and that means the stuff has to live in the house a while before your burn it. Screw that. The woodpile is the woodpile and the house is the house. We cover it.

BTW: Old Poulans rule. They are just heavy as a Volkswagen.

 

[ourhouse]

HUSKY!

 

[nshif]

I think its where you are. Out here ( west ) we have little or no humidity in the summer. I can season Oak in 6 months to 25 to 30 % MC. In the fall I move all that years wood under the deck ( about 5 cords ) andIm set for the winter. Next years wood sits out in the rain/snow some split some in rounds. Split the rest in the spring and leave it out till fall then move it under the deck for winter.
That said I am planing to build a woodshed to house next years wood but not because of weather but just for ascetic's

 

[Roospike]

Stacking your wood pile in the shade and also stacking next to a out building or fence is going to make a big difference from stacking in the open and in full sun.

 

[precaud]

That said I am planing to build a woodshed to house next years wood but not because of weather but just for ascetic's

Yeah, them "ascetics" are deeply offended by bare woodpiles...

 

[colsmith]

Although we have most of our aged wood covered, we are wondering how useful that is. Our wood under cover tends to grow the most lichen and moldly looking stuff, because it isn't getting as much air. Some of the big hunks of wood that haven't been covered at all seem much drier than the ones that are covered. I live near the top of a hill, so we get a lot of wind. No matter how much we try to keep airflow going under the tarps, it obviously isn't as much as if there were no tarp involved. Keeping the wood elevated off the ground seems much more important to me than covering it. Loss of direct sun and air seems to be about equivalent to keeping the rain off the wood, so I don't see a net gain by covering in general, at least during the spring, summer, and fall. I wouldn't want snow sitting on my wood all winter of course. We do cover/uncover the wood sometimes when we have a long dry or wet spell coming on, to get the best of both worlds. We wouldn't cover so much of our wood except Menards gives away free-with-rebate tarps all the time so we figure we might as well. Anyway, that is my answer to why letting your wood get wet sometimes actually makes it drier, namely it gets MORE dry in the not wet times than the covered wood.

 

[DavidV]

right now I am burning the last of a pile that has been completely covered since summer 2004. It was cut soon after Hurricane Isabell in 2003 and split over the winter by hand. I have other stacks that were not covered completely covered, only the top. They all seem to grow lichen in the summer and also some odd bronish fuzzy stuff, but when the humid months of summer end it all dries out and the wood is seasoned.....REALLY DRY. Stuff that is left open doesn't seem to get as dry. Also it's been raining so much here lately that the wood that isn't covered completely is too wet to burn. I may end up burning from a different pile I made last fall that has an old pool cover on it. That stuff dried very well.

 

[BrotherBart]

right now I am burning the last of a pile that has been completely covered since summer 2004. It was cut soon after Hurricane Isabell in 2003 and split over the winter by hand. I have other stacks that were not covered completely covered, only the top. They all seem to grow lichen in the summer and also some odd bronish fuzzy stuff, but when the humid months of summer end it all dries out and the wood is seasoned.....REALLY DRY. Stuff that is left open doesn't seem to get as dry. Also it's been raining so much here lately that the wood that isn't covered completely is too wet to burn. I may end up burning from a different pile I made last fall that has an old pool cover on it. That stuff dried very well.

I wish I knew what that brown fuzzy stuff is. If showed up all over my oak this year.

 

[wingnut]

The more wood gets wet and drys, gets wet and drys, gets wet and drys the faster it starts to rot! gets soft and looses its BTU content. Just lay a few 2x4s out in the weather some covered and some uncovered and see what happens.

 

[quads]

The more wood gets wet and drys, gets wet and drys, gets wet and drys the faster it starts to rot! gets soft and looses its BTU content. Just lay a few 2x4s out in the weather some covered and some uncovered and see what happens.

Sounds like you better cover your firewood then! I'll save my covers for my 2x4s.

 

[Rhone]

I cover the tops of my piles, I don't have a lot of time to dry before burning, and we've had some wet summers my wood wouldn't be ready to burn by winter otherwise. Watching the neighbors who get it the same time but don't cover, they have white smoke coming out their chimney (water).

 

[begreen]

right now I am burning the last of a pile that has been completely covered since summer 2004. It was cut soon after Hurricane Isabell in 2003 and split over the winter by hand. I have other stacks that were not covered completely covered, only the top. They all seem to grow lichen in the summer and also some odd bronish fuzzy stuff, but when the humid months of summer end it all dries out and the wood is seasoned.....REALLY DRY. Stuff that is left open doesn't seem to get as dry. Also it's been raining so much here lately that the wood that isn't covered completely is too wet to burn. I may end up burning from a different pile I made last fall that has an old pool cover on it. That stuff dried very well.

I wish I knew what that brown fuzzy stuff is. If showed up all over my oak this year.

Sounds like the stove is giving you a warm, brown fuzzy feeling this year. Got a picture?

 

[jjbaer]

Ok folks......no voodoo or old wives tales.....here's the definitive answer from the Univ of Kentucky College of Agriculture found here:

http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/for/for35/for35.htm

"Regardless of the species being dried, the drying process can be speeded up by splitting the wood and stacking it in the open (not next to a wall) so that good air circulation exists around and through the stack, and stacking it in full sunlight to take advantage of solar energy. Cover the top of the stack to protect it from rain and snow. Do not cover the sides as you will cut off the air exchange needed for the wood to dry. Designing a solar collector to maximize the solar energy potential is a great way to dry firewood. Just remember to allow for plenty of air flow through the firewood (Figure 2). "

So, all old wives/fisherman's tales aside....protect it from the rain...LOL

 

[Eric Johnson]

In my experience, leaving wood out uncovered for at least one full year will allow it to dry out thoroughly at some point, even though it may re-absorb some water in wet weather. However, once firewood has dried completely, it easily loses the water it re-absorbed after just a short time under cover or indoors, or in a stretch of dry weather. Therefore, I don't tarp my wood until Fall, usually mid to late September. And I only tarp the wood I plan to burn that winter. By the time I haul it into the barn in late October or early November (OK, late November this year), it's dry as a bone.

Keeping it covered from the get-go is not a bad idea, especially if you're going to burn wood in the fall that you cut over the summer or the previous spring, but it's not necessary for wood that's been through a complete drying cycle. Personally, I think tarps are a pain in the ass, and so I deal with them as little as possible.

As alluded to by others, air circulation is the key, covered or uncovered. Dead air results in science projects.