gyrfalcon said:firebroad said:I love how dealers tell you it is "seasoned and ready to burn". This guy that is delivering tonight insists that his wood (Oak) is cut from "Dead trees, so there is no sap left in them. I burn it myself, just let is sit for about three weeks." I did not argue with him, but it was hard not to laugh.
I don't know what the situation is in your neck of the woods, but where I am, a very large number of people heat with wood, and only a small fraction of those are using EPA stoves. Most are working with ancient "smoke dragons" that will burn anything. A large number have their own woodlots and cut their own fuel, plus a few extra cords to sell to their neighbors who don't have woodlots. They do not cut it and stack for two years before burning. (Some of these larger, drafty old farmhouses with inefficient old stoves burn as much as 20 or 25 cords a year.) Many don't cut until they run out.
Bottom line, the accepted standard around here, and I suspect in most rural parts of the country, for "seasoned" is wood that was cut down in the spring or early summer. I've had more than one person shake their heads sadly at my insistence on having dry wood, telling me it won't burn as well and won't give as much heat.
So before you decide somebody is cheating you, consider that their definition of "seasoned" wood may well be the old one, not the one we minority of new-fangled EPA stove burners use.
There are actually few wood sellers stupid enough to deliberately cheat a potential regular new customer.
I ran a 1985 VC Resolute "Smoke Dragon" and it burned lousy on unseasoned wood. Even the old stoves run better on seasoned wood, it's just a matter of degree and the laws of physics.
But I agree, the definition of "seasoned" is subject to interpretation, so the buyer has to ask all the right questions for his particular situation.