Started using kiln dried about four years ago I live in a small city and only have room for one cord I heard it produces less particles and other emission dose anyone have knowledge about it.
Kiln dried
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If its truly kiln dried versus heat sterilized (required for international shipping) it is setting you up for clean combustion mostly due to high combustion temps. Think of it as prime steak from the butcher, its a start but give it to the wrong cook and is can still come out tough. Ideally you would be burning it in EPA stoves with secondary combustion or catalyst.
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Just because the wood had been kiln dried doesn't mean it was dried long enough to be under 20% moisture. Many places are just baking it long enough to kill any bugs. Regardless, it's no better than any wood that has been properly seasoned for a year or two.
Seasoned for a year or even 2 doesn't guarantee it is below 20% either though
Kiln dried if done properly is great, as you know you will pay dearly for it. If you can afford it then keep using it.
My thought since I am cheap is I would be looking for somewhere else to store the wood for long term to season it, then go get what I need, but that might not be possible in your area.
My thought since I am cheap is I would be looking for somewhere else to store the wood for long term to season it, then go get what I need, but that might not be possible in your area.
I concur with the above. I would also suggest to buy a moisture meter. Emissions depend on stove/chimney set up, stove operation, and wood dryness. The latter is measureable with a moisture meter. As said above, there are 2 types of kiln dried wood. One is still quite wet (but all bugs are dead). The other one is actually dried.
To make sure you get what you pay for, and to make sure you don't emit a lot of stuff, have a moisture meter and burn only <20% wood (as measured on a piece that is already in the home for a day so it's room temperature through out, then split in half and measured with the pins deep in the wood parallel to the grain on that freshly split surface).
Glad to see you are conscious of what exits your chimney!
To make sure you get what you pay for, and to make sure you don't emit a lot of stuff, have a moisture meter and burn only <20% wood (as measured on a piece that is already in the home for a day so it's room temperature through out, then split in half and measured with the pins deep in the wood parallel to the grain on that freshly split surface).
Glad to see you are conscious of what exits your chimney!
It depends on the wood seller. Locally I recently found a seller that has kiln-dried or green for sale. It's a big operation. They guarantee <17% moisture on the kiln-dried, tested properly.
What is magical about kiln dried fire wood vs. air dried wood that is at the same MC and why is it only used ideally in an EPA instigated stove? Air dried on your own time is trustworthy. What the wood merchant is offering is his word. Good luck with that much like controlling an EPA stove from an overfire.
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??? I don't understand. Dry wood is dry wood and any stove EPA certified or not should use wood that is 20% or less. It doesn't matter if it got there by air drying or kiln drying.
And you really are reading way to much into the over fire thing. Yes it can happen but it isn't nearly as common as you are making it out to be.
I'm new to all of this but will share my experience.
Don't have a stove, but when I used my fireplace for the first couple of weeks this season I bought 10 bags of Simple Simon kiln dried hardwood from Lowes. I took a MM to a fresh split and it was like 12%. Expensive as all hell and not practical, but I tell ya, it burned real clean. Just way too quickly and literally watched my money go up in flames. It would also frequently burn above the firebox and into the smoke chamber for the first 15 minutes or so, which to my understanding isn't ideal. I've been using "seasoned" wood that I got from various places now and I kind of miss the kiln dried stuff, just because it was reliable and burned the same way every time. I think if you have large enough splits it's great.
Don't have a stove, but when I used my fireplace for the first couple of weeks this season I bought 10 bags of Simple Simon kiln dried hardwood from Lowes. I took a MM to a fresh split and it was like 12%. Expensive as all hell and not practical, but I tell ya, it burned real clean. Just way too quickly and literally watched my money go up in flames. It would also frequently burn above the firebox and into the smoke chamber for the first 15 minutes or so, which to my understanding isn't ideal. I've been using "seasoned" wood that I got from various places now and I kind of miss the kiln dried stuff, just because it was reliable and burned the same way every time. I think if you have large enough splits it's great.
I fully agree that kiln dried is not magical, sorry if you got that impression, a cord of wood that is air dried to the same moisture content is going to burn similar to same cord kiln dried. The hassle is "kiln" dried is a generic term for drying wood with a device called a kiln. The kiln is a tool to get to a desired moisture content with respect to wood. In order the use the tool to get desired effect kiln schedules are available. That is one of the reasons I made the differentiation between sterilized wood and generic kiln dried wood. Heat sterilized wood to meet USDS APHIS standards may be kiln dried but there are no requirement for moisture content. It also can be steam sterilized. I dont claim to be a kiln drying pro but have been told that some folks who start out and ignore the schedules can initially "cook"the wood blocking the pores so it takes longer to dry the wood. The schedules also need to minimize the splitting warping and cracking, a typical firewood buyer could care less about splitting warping or cracking.
The one facility that kiln dry's firewood that I know of it Ossipee Mtn Lumber in Ossipee. Their packaged firewood is quite dry. I bought a load of "seconds" from the firewood operation, and they were near to point where they could be lit with a match.
One additional thing to consider...if you care about the overall impact on the environment, use of energy, etc....then air dried has the advantage.
I season my wood for a minimum of 2 years (3 years for white oak, man is that stuff dense) and ensure that I always maintain a clean burn. 2 years does not guarantee proper MC. But I randomly test some of the big splits, and of course I will notice high moisture very quickly just by watching how my fires burn.
I season my wood for a minimum of 2 years (3 years for white oak, man is that stuff dense) and ensure that I always maintain a clean burn. 2 years does not guarantee proper MC. But I randomly test some of the big splits, and of course I will notice high moisture very quickly just by watching how my fires burn.
Most efficient way to do it on a small lot would probably be to buy a cord of seasoned wood in the spring. Store it in a small solar kiln for the summer then burn it in the winter. The solar kiln is your storage, weather protection and extra drying.
Buying kiln dried wood might be efficient in your stove but all the energy that went into drying the wood before it got you you would mean the whole thing is a net negative vs just burnig seasoned wood. Kilns are industrial equipment and who knows what they use to dry the wood. A gas heater, electric, sometimes actually a wood furnace, who knows.
Buying kiln dried wood might be efficient in your stove but all the energy that went into drying the wood before it got you you would mean the whole thing is a net negative vs just burnig seasoned wood. Kilns are industrial equipment and who knows what they use to dry the wood. A gas heater, electric, sometimes actually a wood furnace, who knows.
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Agreed, though I think you meant to say 20% or higher moisture content.
I had to re read it a couple times but I was correct. (Any stove EPA or not) should use wood that is 20% or less.
But I completely agree it was not said very well
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
There have in the past been some folks selling "kiln dried" cordwood that was actually only kilned long enough to kill the insects, the wood was still too wet to burn well in the middle. I don't think RI was among the states that came up a few years ago, but was mostly a New England thing if my brain is still working.
I do agree the OP should get a moisture meter. The kind that has two pins and runs on a 9V battery, in the $30-50 range. No need for anything more expensive.
Local to me we have a vendor selling kiln dried birch. It is produced with "excess steam" (wonder who pays for that) by one of the local electric plants. I haven't handled any, but local reviews are uniformly positive. The price is concerning to me. I just got 400 gallons of oil for my boiler delivered last week. Once I learn my current price per gallon I can do some math to figure out what a cord of wood is worth to me. The kiln dried stuff from my local power plant is ready to burn, but the cost savings per BTU is pretty small.
Whether cord wood is air dried or kiln dried or freeze dried doesn't make a hoot of difference to the stove.
I do agree the OP should get a moisture meter. The kind that has two pins and runs on a 9V battery, in the $30-50 range. No need for anything more expensive.
Local to me we have a vendor selling kiln dried birch. It is produced with "excess steam" (wonder who pays for that) by one of the local electric plants. I haven't handled any, but local reviews are uniformly positive. The price is concerning to me. I just got 400 gallons of oil for my boiler delivered last week. Once I learn my current price per gallon I can do some math to figure out what a cord of wood is worth to me. The kiln dried stuff from my local power plant is ready to burn, but the cost savings per BTU is pretty small.
Whether cord wood is air dried or kiln dried or freeze dried doesn't make a hoot of difference to the stove.
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