Wood Diameter

[Bill]

Looking over my manual for my stove it recommends log diameter not to exceed 3.5 inches and not to burn gray wood. That's not a very large log, especially for overnight burns. Secondly I have some left over wood that is one year old and it is already gray. So my question is why would they recommend this?

 

[biggins08]

Weird. I think they are assuming grey wood is over seasoned but I have seen wood turn gray pretty quickly from exposure to rain and sun.

 

[mtarbert]

"Over Seasoned" does this mean really dry? If so it should put out more BTUs per pound (less moisture to eveporate) and the heat output should be able to be regulated by adjusting the air entering into the burn chamber.
Mike

 

[Todd]

Here is something I read in The Woodburners companion, by Dirk Thomas. "Firewood can be too dry. The National Chimney Sweep Guild recommends 15%-20% moisture content. Super dry wood would throw so much heat so quickly that you would shut down the air supply in order to avoid damaging the heating system and cooking yourself. The product of high temps and little air is smoke, lots of it. Smoke is creosote, and thats what you'd get".

I always thought drier was better but maybe it isn't. I also heard if wood is too dry it won't give as long lasting coals and just plain burns too fast. Anyway if you season your wood off the ground in good air circulation and sun, it should be around 15-20% after 1 year.

 

[jtp10181]

We reccomend people burn logs no larger than 6" in diameter. And maybe they are assuming grey wood is "punky" (aka rotting).

 

[begreen]

Sounds like one of those "grey" areas to me. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[DiscoInferno]

Here is something I read in The Woodburners companion, by Dirk Thomas. "Firewood can be too dry. The National Chimney Sweep Guild recommends 15%-20% moisture content. Super dry wood would throw so much heat so quickly that you would shut down the air supply in order to avoid damaging the heating system and cooking yourself. The product of high temps and little air is smoke, lots of it. Smoke is creosote, and thats what you'd get".

I always thought drier was better but maybe it isn't. I also heard if wood is too dry it won't give as long lasting coals and just plain burns too fast. Anyway if you season your wood off the ground in good air circulation and sun, it should be around 15-20% after 1 year.

I think probably that book is referring to the pre-EPA stoves, which actually let you smother the fire completely. New stoves won't let you adjust the secondary air, making it harder to smother a hot fire. Now the biggest risk with really dry wood is overfiring, which you can definitely do with lumber or pallet wood but shouldn't be an issue with even fairly old cordwood unless you live in a desert.

On the color issue, gray wood generally means sun exposure, which is good for seasoning. Can't imagine why anyone would have a problem with that; I wish more of my stacks got some sun.

 

[titan]

As for diameter,if I can't grip and carry it by the end with one hand.......I'll split it.

 

[Gooserider]

As for diameter,if I can't grip and carry it by the end with one hand.......I'll split it.

That's pretty much the standard I'm using as well, It has to be small enough in at least one cross section dimension for me to grab it and pick it up by the end with one hand. I also insist that none of the other dimensions be longer than the length of my hand. That said, I'm probably splitting to a larger average size this year than last, in the hopes that having more "all-night" chunks will give me more uniform burn temps and slightly longer burn times.

Gooserider