Rough anecdotal testing showed a 3% difference between 35º and 72º, so maybe add 3%? Or just bring in the heaviest log occasionally the night before and test in the morning.
The importance of seasoned wood - Dry vs Wet
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That sounds like the MM is out of calibration. 6% is extremely hard to achieve. It's lower than flooring or cabinetry wood that has been ideally stored indoors for a long time. It's well below where kiln-dried would come out.
On hot coals and when adding DRY wood, I don t turn the air up at all...l put wood in with air all the way down results in a bit slower take off but I feel it eliminates the potential of "taking off" and potential overfire...the time it takes to "catch" would be similar to the time I would need to monitor and turn down if I had turned up the air at reload time....I do t think there is any dow side to this approach , but maybe there is? I am doing this in a PE fp30 "tube" stove
A potential downside is that a "raging" fire of that duration may have less emissions than a smoldering of that duration before it catches?
I open the air all the way before opening the door just to warm the flue a little more and help re-establish draft so when I reload there's less chance of smoke spillage. On a hot reload with good dry wood I'll be shut down to cruising position again pretty quickly.
lml999
Minister of Fire
lml999
Minister of Fire
So...the professionals showed up and did their thing. Cleaned the liner from below, inspected from above. Gave me a bill.I'm okay to wait for the professionals.
There was a good amount of creosote in the liner, and the cap was somewhat blocked with (paper ash, i think). All the creosote came down nicely, was not stuck to the liner. The sweep didn't think anything was wrong, other than my wood isn't dry enough and I've been using too much paper to get fires going.
I've been burning for a while and just got sloppy. I know better. That's why I stopped and called the sweep.
So...I have a half cord of two year old oak that I can burn, plus three cords of green wood, and another half cord of green wood that needs to be split. Remind me not to get behind in my wood bank... (my wife just doesn't understand why I need more wood if we already have all this wood stacked...)
Will have our first fire tonight in a couple of weeks...
Show your wife some wood sheds from this site to show what's normal.
I (plan) to only burn 2.5-2.75 cords a year. This is my 3 year shed. (It's full now.) 8 ft deep, avg 7 ft tall, 18 ft wide.
![[Hearth.com] The importance of seasoned wood - Dry vs Wet](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/290/290244-5bb243e8f7517af1abd4d29fcac06242.jpg?hash=EGpeJG7hcO "[Hearth.com] The importance of seasoned wood - Dry vs Wet")
I (plan) to only burn 2.5-2.75 cords a year. This is my 3 year shed. (It's full now.) 8 ft deep, avg 7 ft tall, 18 ft wide.
lml999
Minister of Fire
Oh, shed porn.
Show my wife what's normal?
Uh oh.
Several years ago I asked the question "how many cyclocross bikes does someone really need?"
Turns out, for me, the answer was five.
Normal?
Normal isn't my issue. (It *is* a concern of my wife...) Real estate is the challenge. I just don't have good space to bank more than about five cords, and yes, I am planning on building a shed in the spring...
lml999
Minister of Fire
Why are you using so much paper to start fires? Get some super cedars, you won't need any paper. I'm lot challenged to so you have to get creative to get enough wood on your lot to season properly.
The other night I loaded my stove with 4 dry splits that had no bark, temperature was in the teens and 15 mph winds had a pretty good draft going. Wood caught on a hot bed of coals quickly, I closed the by-pass, started turning down the primary. At about 75% closed I checked the STT (600) and flue (410 single wall) then realized the fire was picking up in intensity and I fully closed the primary. STT rose to 620, flue to 420 and then they started to decrease and secondaries were sustained. 10 minutes later I realized the glass had gotten very dirty, i could see the box was full of smoke and STT was 715 and flue was 445. secondaries were firing hard and fumes were being ignited all over the box not just at the 2ndary inlets. Those were the peak temperatures I saw.
I'm wondering what I did that caused the glass to get so dirty? Should I have cracked the primary open slightly after peak temps were hit initially, or was I just slow on shutting down the air?
This was the first load I have burned that I ensured all splits were dry, and that didn't have any bark on them (wood was white ash/hickory/elm)
I'm wondering what I did that caused the glass to get so dirty? Should I have cracked the primary open slightly after peak temps were hit initially, or was I just slow on shutting down the air?
This was the first load I have burned that I ensured all splits were dry, and that didn't have any bark on them (wood was white ash/hickory/elm)
I think you closed the primary too much at once. Doing it in smaller steps (and starting a bit earlier) may help.
lml999
Minister of Fire
Just got some Super Cedars, will try them tomorrow.
Stove is much happier with the clean liner, d'oh. I saw some strong secondaries yesterday that I hadn't seen in a while!
...and yea, I'm continuing to plan a shed project for the spring... (gotta finish the inside projects first!)
lml999
Minister of Fire
JamesGuido
Feeling the Heat
You have to measure on a freshly split surface. The surface this was measured on is dried out but the inside will be much wetter.
Take a few splits inside, let them get up to room temperature in a day or so, then resplit them, and measure with the pins parallel to the grain, and press them in much much deeper.
Yes, if this way (in the video) measures 16-18 pct, the wood will be too wet.
Take a few splits inside, let them get up to room temperature in a day or so, then resplit them, and measure with the pins parallel to the grain, and press them in much much deeper.
Yes, if this way (in the video) measures 16-18 pct, the wood will be too wet.
JamesGuido
Feeling the Heat
Now, a martini...just pass that vermouth cork over the top of the full glass. That's plenty wet. [Sorry to bump an old thread, but I hope you'll forgive me.]We are talking about wood here, right?
Me . . . I like my steak nice and juicy . . . but was raised by my mother cooking it until it was a dry piece of shoe leather.
Again at the risk of bumping an old thread, dry wood solves a lot of problems. A whole bunch of problems.
It'll burn and produce heat, but it won't be great. If it's all you have, get it hot fast and don't be too fast turning the air down... Speaking from personal experience.
Ctwoodtick
Minister of Fire
If you bring that wood indoors, after about a month it will be closer to 20 percent
Marginal at best. It will burn, but if you can bring it indoors even for a week it will burn better.
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