seasoning firewood

laxeylady

Hi Guys,

we have a multifuel stove in our new house and because we had no stored wood we bought some kiln dried from a local supplier. This burnt beautifully but was pricey so my tight husband had me phone another supplier who advertised barn stored seasoned hardwood for sale. Well we bought 2 dumpy bags and they delivered it when he was in bed off nights. Take what I got off him when he got up and saw it. It is quite wet!! He is going to build a store for it and season it for next winter (or the one after that !!) Can anybody offer their wisdom on any possible pitfalls or give advice on how to season this effectively? If I brought a fire's worth into the living room and kept it near the fire would it dry properly or is that cheating? :idea:

Puffin_Man

Laxeylady I've just been looking to top up our dwindling supply of firewood and came across several sites offering logs for sale and most give advice about storing etc.
If you ggle 'logs for sale in ..........' (your area) you should come across plenty of info on websites regarding this, some of them even give advice about how to store etc.

If you struggle, I seem to remember the following..

Most suppliers quote a moisture content for firewood logs at less than 20 or 25% moisture content, so worth checking this for future orders.

2 yrs seems to be the length of time that many suppliers claim they have 'seasoned' their logs for, so yr after next would be ideal for yours, if you can wait that long.

The way to tell if a log is dried out sufficiently is to pull the bark off. It should almost drop off, with little effort.

If you try to dry logs out by storing in your house near to the fire, the moisture goes into the atmosphere making it damp, which is a potential hazard for asthmatics etc and not too healthy for any of us.

Burning damp logs is supposed to create more smoke and less of a flame (i.e heat).

As I say, I'm no expert, just trying to be helpful, so if you do a search, as I mentioned above, hopefully you'll find the answers to all your questions.

Hope this helps a bit

LittleVermin

laxeylady wrote: »

barn stored seasoned hardwood for sale.
............
It is quite wet!!

Why not get a moisture meter and see how wet it is? .. and if the supplier tells you their "barn stored seasoned hardwood" is below xx% moisture maybe you can get the supplier to remove it and refund your cash? And save you having to store it under cover for 1/2 .. years.

Useful link: http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/firewood-moisture-meter.html

Someone - crphillips - who instals stoves for a living - and does well out of sorting out bodges it seems! - recommended a cheaper one in another thread (he'd tested it against pricier models):

http://cpc.farnell.com/1/1/7885-moisture-meter-st-125.html

andyrpsmith

I chop and season wood for our lounge open fire. I store it in an open garage and allow 12 months min for it to season. Hard dense wood such as OAK takes the longest to season. Do not ever burn wet wood it will tar up the chimney and increase the risk of a chimney fire. As above the moisture content should be less than 25-20%

PennyForThem_2

I find it is worth paying extra for well seasoned wood. My supplier will sell partly seasoned a little cheaper for drying off over the summer.

If you have the space then going for cheapest logs to season off yourself is also a goer.

This table gives an idea of what types of wood are 'best' for heat output:

http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/woodburning_chart.html

LittleVermin

PennyForThem wrote: »

.............
This table gives an idea of what types of wood are 'best' for heat output:

http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/woodburning_chart.html

Bit worrying when this chart includes this statement (about elm):

"A good firewood but due to its high water content of approximately 140% (more water than wood!)."

Sounds like footballers, etc giving 110%. How?

Maybe Stovesonline sells moisture meters going up to - and beyond! - 140%. Somehow I doubt it. I wonder what reading their meter would give with a bucket of water? (Clue: should be 100%). Moisture meters seem to read in the range 5-40% (sometimes 0-60% - depends on intended range of uses).

laxeylady

Thanks for the replies and links - very useful. We do have a meter which gave readings of 35% on average - which is why I got in trouble! I don't have the neck to complain or haggle so even if I had checked it upon delivery I would have been too drippy to say owt. We found pics of log stores on this forum so hubby will build one similar and has sworn not to let me take any deliveries ever again! Suits me fine.

LittleVermin

laxeylady wrote: »

... We do have a meter which gave readings of 35% on average - which is why I got in trouble! I don't have the neck to complain or haggle so even if I had checked it upon delivery I would have been too drippy to say owt. We found pics of log stores on this forum so hubby will build one similar and has sworn not to let me take any deliveries ever again! Suits me fine.

Er, laxeylady, why isn't your hubby sending the wood back? Or going to Trading Standards (yea, I know "barn stored seasoned hardwood" is not too precise!).

Why not try your moisture meter on him? You say you're "too drippy" - does that mean 100% moisture rather than the usual (about) 65% for a human? (only joking - after the 140% for elm).

I really don't see why your hubby should have to build an ancillary drying unit for a dishonest supplier... and pay full price for something that he didn't order.

PS Men's bodies have more water than women's - says here: http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2000-05/958588306.An.r.html

laxeylady

Oh I know he's all mouth and no trousers. We have just put it down to experience unfortunately. Wetter than elm the pair of us. :rotfl:

crphillips

The main aim of a log store is to keep the driving rain from the wood.......place somewhere where it doesn't get so much rain......it's important that the sun and wind can get to the wood.

You don't even need to build anything to put the logs in.....you can free stand them:

welda

Now thats a wood pile!!! I must be turning into an anorak, I find myself taking pictures of W/P's when I'm in France

On a different note, log store I made, I fitted that fine mesh stuff, same stuff you find fitted to Herris fencing at building sites, adds that extra barrier against driving wind and snow, also handy to keep the bugs at minimum.

:beer: