Please help critique my wood burning process/struggles

[emt1581]

Just top cover the wood stacks. The sides should be open to allow the wind to blow through them.

What if I don't have enough room/time/ability to stack it and just leave it in a pile...is that an option? How do I ventilate a tarp draped over that?

Thanks

-Emt1581

 

[begreen]

No, that is a lousy option. Stacking takes less space than a pile and will be more pleasing visually if you are concerned about the township.

 

[emt1581]

No, that is a lousy option. Stacking takes less space than a pile and will be more pleasing visually if you are concerned about the township.

Well there's that, but I was thinking about this past winter and the VAST majority of the time there was a foot of snow on the ground and two feet on the way. No real way to stack it.

Thought certainly this will be my goal and I'll launch a pre-emptive strike over the summer. So hopefully I'll get around 3 cords stacked.

Thanks

-Emt1581

 

[begreen]

The sooner you can get the splits off the ground the better.

 

[Charles1981]

This is the link to the catalyst probe monitor, analog and digital

(broken link removed to http://www.condar.com/cat_meters_woodstoves.html)
(broken link removed to http://www.condar.com/digital_monitor_woodstoves.html)

Still have questions regarding your chimney:
1) How tall is the chimney?
2) Is the Chimney interior to the house or on an exterior wall?
3) Is the Chimney insulated?

You definitely want all your wood for the winter cut split and stacked ASAP. A pile on the ground is bad news...it just collects moisture and honestly would take years to season out that way except for the stuff on the top. I wouldn't even cover it until the winter, but winter coverage is most important to keep snow and ice pack off it.

I keep my stacks uncovered and then in September/October cover then with a tarp, but you don't want the tarp to overhang the edges more than a foot or so.

 

[emt1581]

This is the link to the catalyst probe monitor, analog and digital

(broken link removed to http://www.condar.com/cat_meters_woodstoves.html)
(broken link removed to http://www.condar.com/digital_monitor_woodstoves.html)

Still have questions regarding your chimney:
1) How tall is the chimney?
2) Is the Chimney interior to the house or on an exterior wall?
3) Is the Chimney insulated?

You definitely want all your wood for the winter cut split and stacked ASAP. A pile on the ground is bad news...it just collects moisture and honestly would take years to season out that way except for the stuff on the top. I wouldn't even cover it until the winter, but winter coverage is most important to keep snow and ice pack off it.

I keep my stacks uncovered and then in September/October cover then with a tarp, but you don't want the tarp to overhang the edges more than a foot or so.

It's around 20-24' high, along the exterior of the house and it's double walled stainless Duravent.

Yeah I think priority 1 is going to be stacking what I have and stacking another 2 cords ASAP. Seems like leaving it in a pile is basically the root of every problem I've experienced so far. At least we've potentially identified the issue. For that I'm very appreciative of all the replies!!

THANKS!!

-Emt1581

 

[fire_man]

You will be amazed at the difference good dry wood makes. I almost gave up on burning wood, I was having so much trouble heating my house with the woodstove. The wood was hard to light, made tons of coals, and had poor heat output.Even though I had stacked the wood (all beech) off the ground and gave it 2 years of top-covered dry time, the tarps leaked like sieves.

After another year of drying with good tarps, life was good.

 

[emt1581]

You will be amazed at the difference good dry wood makes. I almost gave up on burning wood, I was having so much trouble heating my house with the woodstove. The wood was hard to light, made tons of coals, and had poor heat output.Even though I had stacked the wood (all beech) off the ground and gave it 2 years of top-covered dry time, the tarps leaked like sieves.

After another year of drying with good tarps, life was good.

Wait...are tons of coals bad? I always liked the coals and keep at least 2-3 inches of them in the bottom of the stove. That way you drop new wood in and it catches within a few minutes.

Thanks

-Emt1581

 

[begreen]

You will find a bit less coaling with good dry wood and you will find that dry wood ignites a lot easier. With dry wood, if the house is warm you may be able to wait until there is just an inch or so of coals and still get a nice light off with the reload, especially if you drop in a couple smaller splits before adding larger ones.

 

[fire_man]

Wait...are tons of coals bad? I always liked the coals and keep at least 2-3 inches of them in the bottom of the stove. That way you drop new wood in and it catches within a few minutes.

Thanks

-Emt1581

Wood that is improperly seasoned tends to build up a heavier coal base and throw less heat than dry wood. Yes, you need a coal base to relight the next load, but with improperly seasoned wood, I'm talking about a coal base that is so big it starts to prevent you from fully reloading when the house is getting cold.

If you can reload on 3 inches of coals and keep a warm house in the coldest part of winter, your stove must be plenty big for your house. I need to burn down further so I have more room for a reload .

 

[Kosmik]

Yeah I think priority 1 is going to be stacking what I have and stacking another 2 cords ASAP. Seems like leaving it in a pile is basically the root of every problem I've experienced so far. At least we've potentially identified the issue.

I made the mistake of taking a week to stack my last pile, and leaving it piled on the ground with tarp over it in fall. Then there was some that stayed piled for two weeks. I tried to remove the tarp when it wasn't snowing/raining...
But when I got to some that had been stacked from the get go, it was better.

The only real solution is to take care of all of that during the good months (spring/summer) and be done with cutting, splitting, stacking once winter hits. Since you are in a township, I'm sure a neighborhood kid could be hired for extra labor at reasonable rate.

The Holz Miete doesn't store more than a cube, but the rounded edges are more aesthetically pleasing:
"The right word for this structure is Holz Miete and they don't have a center pole. They are not drying the wood faster either. The web site www.holzmiete.de recommends, that the wood has to dry like this for a minimum of two years! It's just a space saving way to store wood that looks good!" http://www.woodheat.org/firewood-follies.html

There is really no way around the need for space to store your fuel. One advantage of higher priced gases. Pellet stoves can somewhat ameliorate that problem as fuel comes dry and bagged, but you still need to store a years worth from weather, or be subject to fuel price/availability problems.

With most combustion, the quality of the fuel is usually the culprit.

 

[Jags]

Ameliorate? Really?

 

[Kosmik]

Wait...are tons of coals bad? I always liked the coals and keep at least 2-3 inches of them in the bottom of the stove. That way you drop new wood in and it catches within a few minutes.

Too many coals (too deep a bed) can aid in overfiring. With my wetter wood, the coals would stay bigger and not be fully ?offgassed?, so when the coals got going again they'd light my pine up in no time, and take longer than I thought to break down.
If you pay attention when you put in some dry wood, versus somewhat dry, you'll see the difference in the coaling on the same type of wood. The drier mine was, the easier the coals would split apart and break down into a nice bed. The whiter, lighter the ash would be.

Wet wood = PITA

 

[Kosmik]

Ameliorate? Really?

Sorry.
I mean 'reduce'.

 

[bluedogz]

Others mentioned the fire not burning hot enough. But, other than being absolutely sure the wood is dry enough, what can I do to increase the efficiency, draft, temp?

I've been in the same canoe...

For starters, despite your lack of storage, get yourself some KNOWN bone-dry wood- pallets or BioBricks are fantastic. Mix those with your wettish wood, and you'll limp along a bit faster as your wood stacks dry. You can even sawzall the pallets completely and burn the whole shebang- better than furniture...

Second, never EVER trust a wood guy. Not gonna cast aspersions but this "good" one has already got you twice- fool me once...

Third, there is no "other than being sure that the wood is dry"- that's not negotiable.

 

[Waulie]

Wood actually is a sponge. If you are really getting sub 20 percent wood, just keep it dry! I just moved some wood that would have been just fine to burn last fall. Due to leaky covers and over 20 feet of snow this winter, there was plenty of it that I would not have wanted to burn now. Solid-covered wood storage cannot be beat, especially with already seasoned wood. Tarps suck.

 

[Charlie2]

What if I don't have enough room/time/ability to stack it and just leave it in a pile...is that an option?

With all due respect, burning wood is a labor intensive alternative to buying readily available higher priced commercial products , it requires all of "enough room/time/ability".