Wood stove woes - wood moisture

[begreen]

You are not being unrealistic about moisture content, just a bit unrealistic about what wood sellers sell. There are only a few that will guarantee truly seasoned firewood. For others, seasoning can mean one week or 6 months. The inconsistency of the first ash delivery could be because the wood was split into a big pile. Ash usually dries quickly, but if it sat on the ground at the bottom of the pile it will take much longer to dry. There is a seller south of you that will guarantee dry wood, but they are sold out now. It's late in the season.
https://cordkingfirewood.com/
Start getting a couple years ahead on your firewood stash and you can go ahead and buy fresh cut at a lower price. In the meantime try to buy faster drying wood (ash, soft maple) and test a few splits off of the truck before they dump the load.

And clean your chimney once for every cord burned while burning this less satisfactory wood.

 

[showrguy]

Thank you guys for all the replies! Nice to know I'm not crazy or doing something wrong.

Here's what it looks like. It looks yellower in reality than in this pic.
View attachment 237967

The guy brought you GOOD wood, just not DRY wood...
I'd stack and cover for maybe next year, you can tell it's been dead awhile and might dry over a "normal" summer.... Not like the damp, rainy, humid, muggy one we just went through..

 

[TWilk117]

I would pick out the cleanest/ driest wood and bring as much of it in doors as you can, as stated before you could have a fan circulating air around it. Maybe even a space heater if you don’t mind paying the electric.
Also, thinner splits dry out quicker.

 

[Woody5506]

even if he did deliver mulberry and not black locust (they look similar) they are both top tier firewoods, so in that regard he certainly wouldn't be pulling one over on you.

You should ask sellers how long the wood has been split, I find typically they are honest with their answers because usually, to them, 6 months = seasoned. The only guy in my area (Rochester) who sells pretty decently seasoned wood claims he keeps it stacked in log form for a year before he splits it, then one year split, THEN puts it out for sale. I don't really buy wood but the two times I did, his stuff was pretty good, but a lot of the oak and hickory in it I set aside for the following year.

 

[bholler]

There's no someone selling wood doesn't know how to check properly for moisture content.

Are you bringing wood straight from outdoors to the stove? I've found having some wood near the stove for a few days helps a bit.

The vast majority of people selling firewood have absolutely no clue how to check moisture content.

 

[Woody5506]

Most people that dont read message boards like these wouldnt really give moisture content a thought.


My "professional" installer told me wood should ideally be at 0% moisture. I guess he thinks I should only burn pallet wood then.

 

[braley]

So most people selling firewood have no idea what they're doing? That's a little disturbing...

 

[wilsoncm1]

So most people selling firewood have no idea what they're doing? That's a little disturbing...

Oh they know the mechanical job of felling, bucking and splitting well enough.

 

[blacktail]

The vast majority of people selling firewood have absolutely no clue how to check moisture content.

Or how to measure a cord.

 

[tgumby4]

That looks like really nice wood even though the moisture content is high. If you have the available space I would keep the wood and season it for next winter so your not in this same situation next year.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Most people that dont read message boards like these wouldnt really give moisture content a thought.


My "professional" installer told me wood should ideally be at 0% moisture. I guess he thinks I should only burn pallet wood then.

Yep, I’ve had staff at a stove shop “test” a piece of their kiln dried wood with moisture meter I bought from them at 0. Not good.

 

[Dix]

Ah, I'm actually east of Albany, near the MA border. I appreciate the offer though!

My current plan is to call this guy and ask him to consider taking his wood back and giving me my money back. And then get my fourth cord from the original guy. His wood was wet, sure, but not consistently, and I'm at least able to heat my house with it.

As for stacking it near the stove - that's what I did with the first guy's wood (the ash). It works ok if it's close to being dry enough. I feel like it won't help much with this locust, what with it being such a dense wood and still green (as Kevin pointed out). When he dropped it off I was struck by the bright yellow color.

I'd keep it, & let it season for next year. Seasoned is a problem. I got a guy, but I'm on Long Island, butso is he

Get some bio brick types, and do what you can. Pallets, pine that's split ( you can burn pine if it's seasoned, and it seasons quick for me !!).

Get ahead, it's the only way.

 

[ShawnLiNY]

So most people selling firewood have no idea what they're doing? That's a little disturbing...

Hello Braley , as others have said “seasoned “ is a subjective term , your seller may have no issue at all burning wood from this batch he may be mixing with drier wood or splitting very thin . If you got the approximate quantity you paid for I’d say he has done his job ( sellers down here on Long Island mostly Craigslist guys) are notorious for giving very short loads and really green wood . Lay this stuff up for next season as everyone has suggested go on the hunt for palletwood , or check construction dumpsters if money is tight or buy a pallet of bio bricks or similar and use those to help burn the most dry wood you have for this season , I have a great guy in green county but no one has seasoned wood now good luck ( and split small and stack inside preferably 3-4 days worth)

 

[Ben Stark]

I’m sorry to say you aren’t going to be able to buy wood for sale that is actually seasoned and ready to burn.

Not in NY and not this time of year. Very few people truly understand what seasoned wood is. Your best bet is to assume all wood you buy from someone else is green wood, Semi-seasoned at best. It will be ready next winter if you stack it off the ground and cover it.

You can try to mix some of your existing wood in with cut up pallets. There’s no substitute for time when it comes to seasoning.

 

[Woody5506]

Funny thing is that eventually firewood dealers will almost HAVE to evolve to selling actual seasoned wood years from now assuming more and more old smoke dragon stoves get phased out for new ones. New stoves quickly teach people the importance and necessity of truly seasoned wood.

 

[jetsam]

I am guessing mulberry on that picture. Not sure though, I have never split much of either one.

I don't think the bark would have all fallen off of the locust before it even hit 30% mc?

Someone who lives in an area with more locust will know.

 

[AlbergSteve]

Thank you guys for all the replies! Nice to know I'm not crazy or doing something wrong.

Here's what it looks like. It looks yellower in reality than in this pic.
View attachment 237967

If the splits are bright yellow or yelowish-green, its probably just recently split and therefore still wet. The locust I split in the spring went from bright yellow to beige quite quickly after being split.

 

[TWilk117]

I am guessing mulberry on that picture. Not sure though, I have never split much of either one.

I don't think the bark would have all fallen off of the locust before it even hit 30% mc?

Someone who lives in an area with more locust will know.

Honestly I think locust is more likely to shed its bark soon on

Locust trees break and fall apart easily in storms and snow, the bark falls off just as easily.

 

[edyit]

Ah, I'm actually east of Albany, near the MA border.

that's not upstate, that's central wet wood sucks try getting a few packs of these and mix them in with it

(broken link removed)

 

[braley]

that's not upstate, that's central

Haha. I'll give you that.

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to stack this wood, cover it, and hang onto it till next year. Appreciate the tip on bio blocks as well. As it stands, I have about a cord and a half left of the semi-dry ash the first guy gave me. It's not ideal but like I said, at least I can heat my house with it. With such a mild December it was plausible that I'd be able to squeak by this winter with just that much, but now that the really cold temps are here, I'll need to look for more. I'm waiting to hear back from guy #1 and will look into bio blocks.

Crazy that getting seasoned wood is such a struggle! It's so easy to check moisture and all you have to do is let it sit longer!! Not exactly rocket science.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

This is my second season with a wood stove. I have one of the newer EPA stoves made by Pacific Energy. I believe it was installed in 2004. Last winter I did not have many issues, but this season has been a real headache. First I got 3 cords delivered by the same guy as last year. Mostly ash. About 1 cord was bone dry and burned well, about 1 cord soaked to the touch, and 1 cord about in between. Only the driest stuff (which I've used up by now) burned well - the rest takes a long time to get hot and sizzles/drips out the ends. Well, I called this guy up and he told me I was being "unrealistic" about moisture content. He offered me $25 off.

I still needed another cord, so I found someone else. This guy assured me that the moisture was below 20%. He dropped it off yesterday, a big load of locust. However, I'm having an even worse experience with this wood. Even after placing the wood on top of a big bed of coals raked to the front of the stove, I can't get the temperature (measured on stovepipe) over 200 degrees. It makes a lot of popping sounds but burns very slowly with almost no flame. Meanwhile there is a ton of smoke coming out of the chimney. This is with the air control all the way open. I've had it fully open for 2 hours now.

So I contacted guy #2 and he assured me that neither he nor any of his customers is having any trouble with this wood. I told him I had an EPA stove and he had no idea what that meant. He says he has an "old cast iron stove".

Am I getting screwed here? I don't have enough experience to know what the issue might be. Meanwhile the coldest days of winter have hit. This is all very frustrating. Please help!

Your issue is your relying on somebody to season your wood. Seasoning wood is verry simple and easy to do. Stack it in a sunny location and let it sit there and let the sun beat down on it for 2 summers. Your purchasing the wood anyway so how hard would it be for you to get next years wood delivered and start seasoning it. Your unseasoned wood issue is not going to go away untill you start seasoning it your self. You need to be a little more proactive. Its mid January get some bio bricks and work on solving next years issues so you dont have them any more.. get some type of wood shed or wood storage going now and get more wood delivered

 

[weatherguy]

I would take more than two days worth into the house and put the next load close to the stove for a few hours, only do this if you are there to watch it, mix in a couple bio bricks and youre golden.

 

[kborndale]

Haha. I'll give you that.

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm going to stack this wood, cover it, and hang onto it till next year. Appreciate the tip on bio blocks as well. As it stands, I have about a cord and a half left of the semi-dry ash the first guy gave me. It's not ideal but like I said, at least I can heat my house with it. With such a mild December it was plausible that I'd be able to squeak by this winter with just that much, but now that the really cold temps are here, I'll need to look for more. I'm waiting to hear back from guy #1 and will look into bio blocks.

Crazy that getting seasoned wood is such a struggle! It's so easy to check moisture and all you have to do is let it sit longer!! Not exactly rocket science.

Getting seasoned wood is not a struggle. You just have to let it sit for a year. For wood sellers that are selling dozens of cords a year, how could they possibly sell ready to burn wood? Just splitting it and leaving in a pile only gets the top layer ready to burn. They would have to split and stack dozens of cords and let them sit around for a year or two. That just isnt going to happen so if buying wood you need to stack it and let it sit for at least a year. Thats the only way to guarantee getting ready to burn wood. "seasoned" does not mean ready to burn.

 

[jaoneill]

that's not upstate, that's central wet wood sucks try getting a few packs of these and mix them in with it

(broken link removed)

To down-staters anything north of the Westchester County line is "upstate".....

 

[ShawnLiNY]

To down-staters anything north of the Westchester County line is "upstate".....

As a Long Islander I can say this statement is 100% true and we consider north of Albany ( Canada ) And the Adirondacks are past the arctic circle