My firewood can be TOO dry!!

[soupy1957]

This is an interesting article...........worthy of reading by all wood burning individuals. It talks about wood that can be TOO dry, and the effects that brings on.

http://www.woodheat.org/tips/drywood.htm

-Soupy1957

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Heard of it, never seen it... or should I say never noticed it.

Matt

 

[SolarAndWood]

Check back in January and see how many people are complaining their wood is too dry.

 

[soupy1957]

It makes sense of course, on some level. Wood that is too dry will burn more quickly (almost evaporate before my eyes), not giving the fire the time it needs to really heat things up before having to add more wood. There IS something to be said for hard woods, in that regard, as well; since a hard wood (like Cherry, for one example) will burn longer due to its density.

-Soupy1957

 

[SolarAndWood]

I've found that the super dry stuff goes up pretty quick with a roar in the old smoke dragon at the camp. At home, it lights off the cat just fine and burns perfectly. I don't have a moisture meter but I doubt even the stuff that has been under a well ventilated roof for decades is as dry as a 2x4.

 

[cmonSTART]

It can happen, but most of the time it's the opposite that is the problem.

 

[vvvv]

simplified chemistry for woodburn=
C-CO-CO2
C-CO=1 HEAT UNIT
C-CO-CO2=3.5 HEAT UNIT
if the wood is too dry & it gassifies too fast for the available amount of combustion air, the CO will exhaust without combusting thus losing a significant amount of potential heat

 

[Backwoods Savage]

In all my years of burning wood the only time we've had to be careful because of dry wood was when we've used cut-offs from kiln dried lumber. As for regular firewood we have never had a problem. The drier the better. Most folks on this forum are well aware that we have been burning 6-7 year old firewood for many years and it burns great.

This year will be a bit different around our place though as we have less than a cord of that old wood and we'll be digging into the wood that was cut during the winter of 2008-2009. No worry though as it is very dry wood which is mostly ash with a small amount of soft maple.

 

[summit]

thats the issue folks run into with the brick fuel (envio, bio, etc.)

 

[Rich L]

Ya I had picked up about 3/4 of a cord of wood last year from my tree guy and that wood was so dry it burned really quickly.I'm thinking I should of mixed it with some semi seasoned wood to make the burn last longer.As I look at my wood from last fall it looks gray from all the heat we've been getting.It's uncovered and I hoped it's not too dry.Even the two month old wood when split gives off that dry wood sound like a crack rather than a thud.This summer has been so hot and dry the dirt is like dust and the wood is baking.Give me some rain.

 

[oldspark]

thats the issue folks run into with the brick fuel (envio, bio, etc.)

That's an interesting point.

 

[rdust]

Only way I can see it happening is if you live in a desert or really dry area. Last year my old man gave me some elm rounds that were 22 years old that he couldn't split by hand back when he cut it. I split them and measured the m/c before burning them, I believe they were right around 14%. I don't think wood can get much lower then that in my area. Best burning wood I've put in my stove to date, Dennis wood is a close second though.

 

[vvvv]

in the case of uncombusted CO, the "problem" cant be "seen" because CO is invisible

 

[roddy]

i often burn the outs from our kiln dried maple production....at 6-8 % moisture ,all i can say is watch -out.just a couple of 1x6 x 12 inch peices and witha bit too much air,you get that weird smell comming off your stove that tells you maybe your getting a might warm....

 

[oldspark]

Ya I had picked up about 3/4 of a cord of wood last year from my tree guy and that wood was so dry it burned really quickly.I'm thinking I should of mixed it with some semi seasoned wood to make the burn last longer.As I look at my wood from last fall it looks gray from all the heat we've been getting.It's uncovered and I hoped it's not too dry.Even the two month old wood when split gives off that dry wood sound like a crack rather than a thud.This summer has been so hot and dry the dirt is like dust and the wood is baking.Give me some rain.

What kind of wood was it and rain is not going to put any moisture back into the wood, I have some 2 year old oak that was dead on the ground when I cut it and the 5 inch rounds are 17% on the inside, as the article stated (I believe) he has never seen wood below 14%. Having rotton punky wood is a whole other issue.

 

[Rich L]

Ya I had picked up about 3/4 of a cord of wood last year from my tree guy and that wood was so dry it burned really quickly.I'm thinking I should of mixed it with some semi seasoned wood to make the burn last longer.As I look at my wood from last fall it looks gray from all the heat we've been getting.It's uncovered and I hoped it's not too dry.Even the two month old wood when split gives off that dry wood sound like a crack rather than a thud.This summer has been so hot and dry the dirt is like dust and the wood is baking.Give me some rain.

What kind of wood was it and rain is not going to put any moisture back into the wood, I have some 2 year old oak that was dead on the ground when I cut it and the 5 inch rounds are 17% on the inside, as the article stated (I believe) he has never seen wood below 14%. Having rotton punky wood is a whole other issue.

That wood was oak.It was solid but light in weight and burnt fast.This years wood that is graying is maple.I just went out and lifted some splits and they have good weight to them.So the graying is just a cosmetic thing.This wood will give a good long burn.Rotten punky wood I stay away from.I tell folks to smash it up with a sledge and use it as a peat moss or put it in the compost pile.Not a good burner at all.

 

[Rich L]

Only way I can see it happening is if you live in a desert or really dry area. Last year my old man gave me some elm rounds that were 22 years old that he couldn't split by hand back when he cut it. I split them and measured the m/c before burning them, I believe they were right around 14%. I don't think wood can get much lower then that in my area. Best burning wood I've put in my stove to date, Dennis wood is a close second though.

Your one of the few that I've read about who've had the same experience as me when it comes to burning dry seasoned Elm.It was the best burning wood I've ever had.I'll take Elm all day long even though I know the splitting by hand will be the hardest of the other woods I deal with.

 

[firefighterjake]

Check back in January and see how many people are complaining their wood is too dry.

Excellent point . . . in the two plus years I've been hanging around here I can't ever recall reading a thread about anyone complaining that their wood was too dry . . . now threads from folks complaining about wood still being unseasoned, difficult to ignite, creating creosote and blackening the glass front . . . yeah, seen more than a few of those threads.

 

[oldspark]

Ya I had picked up about 3/4 of a cord of wood last year from my tree guy and that wood was so dry it burned really quickly.I'm thinking I should of mixed it with some semi seasoned wood to make the burn last longer.As I look at my wood from last fall it looks gray from all the heat we've been getting.It's uncovered and I hoped it's not too dry.Even the two month old wood when split gives off that dry wood sound like a crack rather than a thud.This summer has been so hot and dry the dirt is like dust and the wood is baking.Give me some rain.

What kind of wood was it and rain is not going to put any moisture back into the wood, I have some 2 year old oak that was dead on the ground when I cut it and the 5 inch rounds are 17% on the inside, as the article stated (I believe) he has never seen wood below 14%. Having rotton punky wood is a whole other issue.

That wood was oak.It was solid but light in weight and burnt fast.This years wood that is graying is maple.I just went out and lifted some splits and they have good weight to them.So the graying is just a cosmetic thing.This wood will give a good long burn.Rotten punky wood I stay away from.I tell folks to smash it up with a sledge and use it as a peat moss or put it in the compost pile.Not a good burner at all.

Been burning oak for 30 years and the only "light" oak I hve run in to was punky, so not sure what you had.

 

[spirilis]

thats the issue folks run into with the brick fuel (envio, bio, etc.)

dunno, I burn those and I've noticed they seem to gas a little slower than cordwood, or at least the kiln dried variety I've tested. I think the compressed configuration of those bricks make them burn a little differently than you think (slower, I've found).

 

[vvvv]

thats the issue folks run into with the brick fuel (envio, bio, etc.)

dunno, I burn those and I've noticed they seem to gas a little slower than cordwood, or at least the kiln dried variety I've tested. I think the compressed configuration of those bricks make them burn a little differently than you think (slower, I've found).

gotta consider amount of surface area exposed, surface area is where the wood or brix will offgas when heated

 

[benjamin]

[/quote]gotta consider amount of surface area exposed, surface area is where the wood or brix will offgas when heated[/quote]

exactly, you can take a big elm round that's been close to the furnace the whole winter and it won't burn too fast in any stove I've seen. Not splitting your wood will cure that problem real quick.

 

[johnnywarm]

the smaller the split the more it will season.

 

[spirilis]

thats the issue folks run into with the brick fuel (envio, bio, etc.)

dunno, I burn those and I've noticed they seem to gas a little slower than cordwood, or at least the kiln dried variety I've tested. I think the compressed configuration of those bricks make them burn a little differently than you think (slower, I've found).

gotta consider amount of surface area exposed, surface area is where the wood or brix will offgas when heated

ya there's that, but with the splits I always noticed outgassing at the ends through the grain, whereas bricks only seem to burn at the outer edges it always seemed splits (once at full blazing temperature) shoot flames out the ends a lot, as if the smoke gasses were being produced deep inside and making their way out the end. might have an influence in the burn rate.

 

[vvvv]

water boils @ 212*f, woodgas @~600*, fire@~1200*