Can firewood be too dry?

[Hinerman]

Yes, firewood can be too dry. I thought this was common knowledge, but I guess not based on some of the comments above. Most stoves sold these days are optimized to burn wood with a moisture content of 15-20 percent. Wood that is extremely dry--say 10 percent--is less desirable than wood in the optimal range. You will get more creosote and the stove will be harder to control. Here's a brief explanation:

Can Firewood be too Dry?

All of the comments bashing customers helps to remind me why I cut and season my own firewood. :msp_tongue:

Doug

Interesting article. Nice read. What I took away from it is,,,unless you buy kiln dried wood or live in the desert your wood should never be too dry. Since the customer in the OP lives in TX (which can be like a desert) I will give him the benefit of the doubt. The thread starter needs to advise him (the customer) to water his wood down like the other guy in a later post. Problem solved. Lesson learned.

 

[EXCALIBER]

Guess I am in trouble then because all my wood measures around 11% moisture after about six months or less. However when the wood has snow on it, it does not burn right so I dunno maybe bs?

 

[Typhke]

Yes, firewood can be too dry. I thought this was common knowledge, but I guess not based on some of the comments above. Most stoves sold these days are optimized to burn wood with a moisture content of 15-20 percent. Wood that is extremely dry--say 10 percent--is less desirable than wood in the optimal range. You will get more creosote and the stove will be harder to control. Here's a brief explanation:

Can Firewood be too Dry?

All of the comments bashing customers helps to remind me why I cut and season my own firewood. :msp_tongue:

Doug

I came across that website a little earlier today and wanted to post it but you've beat me to it . My mother was burning oak (pure oak, no mix) last winter and she complained regularly that it seemed like it was too dry. It wouldn't burn as easy as some building leftovers (especially lighting it was hard, also caused by a bad technique). The oak had been split and stacked under a roof, single row, for around 8-10 years. She has an old insert and I cleaned the air passages to improve the air flow but you better kept the air passage a little open to get the best burn. I thought about the fact that the wood may have been too dry but that sounded silly. Sounds right that there was just too less air for a perfect combustion. So I think I can back-up the theory.

 

[luckydozenfarm]

I'll have to go and get me a moisture meter. I'm interested to see what my wood specs out to be. The actual complaint is that it burns too fast, and I was assuming it was b/c it was too dry. Now that I think about it, maybe the guy didn't know to shut his vents a little once its roaring. Anyway, we have a guy who uses some of our wood to smoke briskets and when it gets too dry I know he soaks a few logs in a cattle trough overnight.

I was just wondering if you guys had ever heard that one before. That was a new one to me.

 

[zogger]

I'll have to go and get me a moisture meter. I'm interested to see what my wood specs out to be. The actual complaint is that it burns too fast, and I was assuming it was b/c it was too dry. Now that I think about it, maybe the guy didn't know to shut his vents a little once its roaring. Anyway, we have a guy who uses some of our wood to smoke briskets and when it gets too dry I know he soaks a few logs in a cattle trough overnight.

I was just wondering if you guys had ever heard that one before. That was a new one to me.

That is common with some guys, to soak the wood. They want it to smoulder/smoke, not burn hot.

 

[Hinerman]

That is common with some guys, to soak the wood. They want it to smoulder/smoke, not burn hot.

+1. I think if you buy a bag of wood chips for smoking meat the instructions on the bag tell you to soak the wood in water overnight or for a certain amount of time.

 

[Wood Doctor]

... The oak had been split and stacked under a roof, single row, for around 8-10 years...

That's the problem. She outlived a soldier that finally rotted away and gave up waiting for her to wake up.

 

[Hedgerow]

Dryer the better... If you can't control the air in your burning unit, then without the aid of evaporation, the "fuel stick" will burn faster than you want...
Less moisture = More heat...
But ya gotta be able to control the air...

I burn anything and everything in my stove...
Never had anything that was too dry for my liking.

 

[BrokenToys]

+1. I think if you buy a bag of wood chips for smoking meat the instructions on the bag tell you to soak the wood in water overnight or for a certain amount of time.

Yeah; and even my own personal store of wood chips for the smoker I soak in a pail a day or two before using. For firewood for heating the house tho I don't think you want the same effect.

 

[deepsouth]

Yeah, you just turn theair down on the wood stove and it burns hot, makes lots of coals and lasts ages for dry seasoned wood.

I have cut wet seasoned wood recently - wet because it has been out in the winter rains in a paddock and it burns not as hot until the water evaporates, burns slower and isn't as good due to that water.

These are logs that were left by a logger probably 5 years ago on the ground in a grassy area. No bark, not green at all.

I cut one load in summer, beautiful and dry. I cut another about 2 weeks back and they are just soggy. Get them stacked and split at home and they will dry ok though :hmm3grin2orange:

And there's at least a couple more loads where they came from.

 

[Dirtboy]

I cant imagine someone complaining about dry wood. Every year I watch my neighbor get a load of fresh cut monster rounds dumped on the lawn about April. Than usually around July, they get some poor friends to come over and split these things, usually going into the later part of August. Everything gets thrown in a pile and rained on in the fall. I look out my front window during the winter and watch the billowing smoke coming from the chimney of their woodburner, wondering when that creosote is going to ignite. They are not the kind of people that take suggestions-so I mind my business.

 

[huntindog1]

Dry wood will actually burn longer as it enables you too shut the input air down on the stove to its lowest settings and get it shut down quicker. Wood with too much moisture takes longer to get the secondaries going in the new modern stoves. As you have to build the heat up in the stove to light off the secondary air tubes. Moisture in the wood slows down the building of the heat in the stove so your leaving the air open longer or leaving the door cracked open longer trying to get the heat up in the stove. By the time the heats gets up you have burnt alot of your main wood load. Its usually the poor quality wood thats high in moisture that makes a person leave the door cracked. When the door is cracked open your flushing heat up the flue at a higher rate. so your at a higher burn rate and more heat is going up the flue as the wood isnt burning very well. Then once you do get to the point you can shut hte door and then shut the air down you cant shut the air down as far as your compensating for the too much moisture. You have to let the fire burn at a higher rate to keep things going as the wood isnt the best. So with good dry wood you can get things going quicker get the stove shut back down quicker before using all of your main load of wood and you get to shut the input air down too the stoves lowest setting for a slower burn rate. With the air shut down too the lowest setting there is less air flow thru the stove thus the heats stays in the stove longer and has more time to radiate out into the room before its gets flush up the flue. Its all about building the heat in the stove and flushing as little as you can up the flue by getting the input air shut down. Good quality small split kindling helps also as it will burn hot and fast to get the heat built up in the stove very quickly letting you get the secondary flames going alot quicker and then getting the stove shut down faster. What you wil find using good kindling is you burn up less of your main wood load as the kindling gets the heat up more quickly and leaves the main wood load there to last all night.