Is it okay to use in a wood stove or does it burn to hot? I watch burn temperature via a stack thermometer and never go into the "too hot" zone.
Kiln dried firewood?
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Poindexter
Minister of Fire
It really comes down to how dry and how big are the pieces? Douglas Fir construction lumber at the home store with the KD stamp on it is going to be, likely, still 20% MC in the middle, but 2x4 scrap is just too much surface area on fire at once in current wood stoves.
The lower limit for my Blaze King at my house is about 12%MC. Fuel drier than that is hard to control because it burns too quickly. Kiln Dried hardwood from the lumber yard is going to be +/- 8% MC, or was recently, and is simply no bueno as wood stove fuel.
Kiln dried cordwood splits, great fuel, how dry are they really? In some jurisdictions, I am thinking of some of the New England states, cord wood has to be heat treated in a kiln to kill bugs before it can cross state lines, but has been sold as "kiln dried" even though the actual product is too wet to burn cleanly.
The thing to do is split a piece open, stick your own moisture meter in it and then decide for yourself if the product is worth the price.
The lower limit for my Blaze King at my house is about 12%MC. Fuel drier than that is hard to control because it burns too quickly. Kiln Dried hardwood from the lumber yard is going to be +/- 8% MC, or was recently, and is simply no bueno as wood stove fuel.
Kiln dried cordwood splits, great fuel, how dry are they really? In some jurisdictions, I am thinking of some of the New England states, cord wood has to be heat treated in a kiln to kill bugs before it can cross state lines, but has been sold as "kiln dried" even though the actual product is too wet to burn cleanly.
The thing to do is split a piece open, stick your own moisture meter in it and then decide for yourself if the product is worth the price.
Yes, in our stove I would be careful with kiln-dried 2-4" splits. But with thicker splits not so much so. Besides the wood species and split thickness it depends on how the kiln drying is done. Some places do a shorter kiln drying which may not dry out the core of the wood.
FYI, There is different types of kiln drying. There are drying procedures to kill off potential invasive species where the wood has to be heated for some set period of time at a certain temp. That process really does not make dry firewood. A business that kiln dries forewood works on volume and they are not going to make the wood bone dry, as getting that last moisture out take time and temperature. If the wood is heated too quickly it can also "seal" the pores and slow the dry time. So caveat emptor that kiln dried wood may not be as dry as you think.
There is a local business here where they claim their kiln dried firewood is 5% MC and they say it's fine for burning in a stove. Ooook...
Probably wont get big pieces or oak. It burns ok but its a crap shoot....Measure the biggest logs...
Some loads it might be under 16 percent and then next time 22 percent... Most likely they cheat at the kiln time and mix the wood depending on demand. If you buy a stove before getting any firewood its a great choice. Even the brands HD and Lowes sell are high in moisture and depends if they left them outside. I like it because it kills the bugs and clean to leave inside...but I wouldn't just get kiln dry because i need the big logs too...
Some loads it might be under 16 percent and then next time 22 percent... Most likely they cheat at the kiln time and mix the wood depending on demand. If you buy a stove before getting any firewood its a great choice. Even the brands HD and Lowes sell are high in moisture and depends if they left them outside. I like it because it kills the bugs and clean to leave inside...but I wouldn't just get kiln dry because i need the big logs too...
In my first season of burning, I didn't have any well seasoned wood on hand so I went to a place that sold pallets of kiln dried wood. The first pallet of wood burned very well. The second not so well. Part of the problem is that they wrapped the wood in plastic around the sides to hold it on the pallet but there was nothing on top. Then they left the pallets where they were exposed to the elements.
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