[Goldfinger]

The wood that's been cut, split and stored in our covered store for a year now, still seems to not be dry enough?  :blink:

Is it because we haven't had a 'decent' summer to do some serious drying, or is it just me?....

[Growster...]

Reckon it's just you Goldfinger; don't worry, all wood keeps a little moisture, and as soon as you chuck it on the fire, that goes pretty soon afterwards!

I like the sound of slightly damp wood too, as it hisses a bit and takes a little longer to settle down...;0)

[Yorkie]

I have a sneaking suspicion that John (site owner) may have a moisture meter for the wood he burns on his fire.

Might be worth a forum search to see if it throws anything up which will help you to tell whether the wood is sufficiently dry.

[Growster...]

I have a sneaking suspicion that John (site owner) may have a moisture meter for the wood he burns on his fire.

Might be worth a forum search to see if it throws anything up which will help you to tell whether the wood is sufficiently dry.

The wood we burn, Yorkie, is mainly offcuts delivered from a shed firm.

Most of that has to be bone dry, and it gives an immediate - if not lasting, burst of heat which goes on for some time!

If John has a moisture meter for his wood, then why is he living in North Wales...;0)

[Yorkie]

All I was doing was trying to be helpful.  Won't bother next time.

[ilan]

Yes not a good summer  for seasoning wood and it may take a couple of years from "green" to dry it needs to have a good draught thro it as well so a stack with a tarp over the top is ok . If you burn it green it gives less heat off and this in turn causes the chimney to tar up a bit  good for keeping the fire in over night . tho if its ash burn it green or seasoned its one of the best .

[arugula]

For the first time ever, some of our wood this season has been dry stored prior to coming to us. It doesn't seem to make any difference in the way it burns. We use a little bed of coal under the logs if we need an extended or hotter burn.

[John]

It's really quite simple, the greener or wetter the wood the more energy is taken in driving out the water when burning so giving less heat to the room. Also burning at low temperatures means more tars condensing on the inside of the chimney which (if you don't have the chimney cleaned frequently enough) presents a risk of a chimney fire.

arugula mentions burning on a bed of coal which will increase the temperature thereby abating the chimney fire risk but you're still wasting energy driving out the water.

It's not wetness in the sense of rainwater on the wood that is the problem, it's the sap water in the wood. Dry stored is usually better but the important thing is a draft sucking out the damp from the wood.

We have too much wood to store it all indoors and the tarp on the top has been shredded in the wind. So it's loose stacked outside and then moved undercover when the indoor store starts to empty. Before using we stack it by the stove so it's pretty dry when it goes onto the fire.

Damp meters can be picked up on ebay for a few pounds - I think I paid about £6.00 - and they give a fair guide as to how things are going with the drying. Also tell you how bad the damp in the house is

[Trillium]

We're in the same boat as John - more wood than we can store indoors so it's out under tarps. This year we weighted down the new tarps better so they can't flap about but we still bring in wood to dry for a few days before needed. Tarps (in good shape) really do help.

If the weather is consistently wet/damp then the wood can't dry well. You'll know by weight if it's ready to burn. The right dryness is reasonably light while wet sap wood is quite heavy. It also depends on the type of wood as well with fresh cut maple/acer and oak taking about 18 months to properly dry.

You can dry out a few pieces indoors first then try them out, but if it's a sizzling fire then you'll need to wait another few months. The creosote buildup just isn't worth it.

[sion01]

Be very careful if burning wet/unseasoned wood on anything that has a metal pipe carrying the smoke from the fire,wood burning stove,raeburn etc.

A elderly couple who live near to me were complaining of headaches,joint pain and tiredness.I went there to clean their chimney for them and couldn't get the brush up the pipe at all.Tar had almost clogged up the pipe completly.They had to get a new pipe as it couldn't be cleaned and what would have happend if they had carried on without havig the chimney cleaned doesn't bare thinking about.The longer the pipe the easier it is for this to happen and a pipe that is at an angle is also susceptible to this happeing

[ilan]

this can also happen if you have a piece of mesh fitted to the top of the stack to prevent birds etc the holes soon clog up 

[John]

A elderly couple who live near to me were complaining of headaches,joint pain and tiredness.

Hence the sense (as well as legal requirement) for a CO2 monitor. Normally I get a bit fed up of nanny state rules & regs but these monitors are so cheap - like smoke alarms - and can literally save your life.

[Growster...]

Years ago, we used to have a very old Rayburn No 1, and used the oven to dry great chunks of oak!

The scent was divine, and only once did it get a bit too hot, and actually began to smoulder...

(If anyone's ever managed to cook anything in a stove like this, in under three days, then they're doing pretty well...:0)

[arugula]

(If anyone's ever managed to cook anything in a stove like this, in under three days, then they're doing pretty well...:0)

The aroma from some woods burning is lovely.

Given certain conditions, our multifuel/wood burner can produce a good line in charcoal which will then go on to burn nicely.

[Growster...]

(If anyone's ever managed to cook anything in a stove like this, in under three days, then they're doing pretty well...:0)

The aroma from some woods burning is lovely.

Given certain conditions, our multifuel/wood burner can produce a good line in charcoal which will then go on to burn nicely.

We had a load of apple a few years ago, and I kept a few pieces back, just to light them and waft them around the place, for several years after...

Gorgeous scent!


Edit to fix quoted text.