Seasoned vs. unseasoned wood.

[onion]

Well I learned the importance of seasoned wood this weekend. I got my insert installed a week ago and have been burning some wood in the 20-25% range. I was very happy with the stove's ability to keep the living areas of the house warm and toasty even with sketchy wood.. The biggest problems I was having were getting a long burn (>6 hours), temps maxing out at ~ 500 and massive coaling.

Well on Saturday I decided to go out and cut a leaner and a deadfall. I had cut a bit of the leaner off earlier this year but that section was way punky, not to mention that I was a little concerned about the proper method for taking it down safely. However, it was leaning close to the driveway and I had the saw running so I decided to move it after reading some felling tips here. Turns out the majority of it was extremely dry and not punky at all. Split it up (about 1/2 cord) and the new splits were reading around 16% moisture. Yesterday afternoon cleaned out the ashes and loaded the insert with wood from that tree. Built a top down fire and it took off like a rocket! within 45 mins the stove was cruising at 600 degrees with the air damped all the way down and secondaries firing off like crazy. I was concerned for about 15 mins that I was going to lose control of it but cranked the blower on high and all was well. It was great to be able to go back outside and know the house would be well into the 70's by the time I came back in.

The good news is that I have enough of this wood to at least build overnight fires with for the rest of the season and let the other stuff dry out some more. The bad news is that I don't have 4 cords of it for next year already .

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Onion. That was a great post. It is another instance of someone waking up to the real benefits of good dry wood. Most folks are simply amazed at the difference between good and marginal wood but once they actually see it in their own stoves then the become believers.

 

[firefighterjake]

Welcome Brother Onion to the realization, the Eureka moment, that BS described . . . the moment when you realize there is a big difference in the marginal wood and well seasoned wood . . . once you see the difference in terms of heat output, ease of starting and reloading and how you can turn down the air and get very long burn times you will never look at wood in the same way. So again, welcome fellow Brother Onion to the Holy Order of the Burn Only Truly Seasoned Wood in the Woodstove.

 

[ChillyGator]

Welcome Brother Onion to the realization, the Eureka moment, that BS described . . . the moment when you realize there is a big difference in the marginal wood and well seasoned wood . . . once you see the difference in terms of heat output, ease of starting and reloading and how you can turn down the air and get very long burn times you will never look at wood in the same way. So again, welcome fellow Brother Onion to the Holy Order of the Burn Only Truly Seasoned Wood in the Woodstove.

Amen

 

[savageactor7]

Good testimony onion..your lucky that you have a lot of dead fall you can rely on. Since it sounds like you have some lebensraum let me tell you once you get 2 years ahead it becomes way super easy to get 5+ years ahead working half as hard or less, No pressure and the task becomes fun...almost.

 

[Retreadsme]

I'll bet the glass was cleaner too !

 

[stanleyjohn]

I'm still trying to get super dry wood with mixed results.A good chunk of wood that I'm burning this year is 2 year old oak that has been stored in a ventilated wood shed.Some of this wood still sizzles out some moisture at start up :-S .

 

[pyper]

I've been cutting various hardwoods (pecan, birch, and something else). I keep telling my wife I need to take down a few pines to burn next year, because all these hardwoods won't be burnable for two years.

That's it -- dry wood or furnace.

 

[lexybird]

yep ,theres a huge difference no doubt ..anytime you can cut the air and still have the high heat your going to get long efficient burns
which means less wood use

 

[wood spliter]

First year with my own stove and a late start. I'm trying to keep up with good wood. I do have a great supply for next year though!

 

[FLINT]

yes, this is our third year burning wood, and each year our wood gets drier, and the fires get hotter. The first year sucked, I thought we had massive draft problems - but it was just wet wood.

now my wood is properly dry so I've realized that my stove is way too big and is cooking us now!!

 

[ecocavalier02]

I'm still trying to get super dry wood with mixed results.A good chunk of wood that I'm burning this year is 2 year old oak that has been stored in a ventilated wood shed.Some of this wood still sizzles out some moisture at start up :-S .

gotta let that oak sit outside for at least 2 summers out in the open and then the shed. my oak has been outside tarped with airflow spacers on top and no a sizzle at all. no more than two rows either i put 6 inch spacer between stacks as well.

 

[fmer55]

as for me that is it for the year......stacked a cord of "seasoned" in the garage on sunday, was ready to go because i was a week without out wood. first time burner here and never even was of aware of proper seasoning times. well needless to say i have been gfighting black glass and a dimished fire for two days of burning fully opened adn i have now hung it up for the year. just ordered two more cords for outside and am going to let the one in the garage stay until next year. goodnite gracie