Wood Heat Thread ~ post pics

My madrone is up to 7 yesrs old , I don't buy the "too seasoned" bit , you mean not enough moisture content left to burn overnight ?

 

Isn't that the only thing that matters?overnght is the only time I care.

 

This is what I am burning now...lower piece to left is old stuff.

 

I'm in agreement with you Oz. Only reasons maple shouldn't last overnight is because the pieces are too small or the damper is left open to much. I can load my fireplace with pine about 9pm, and it is usually okay to about 1-3am. I've had maple to burn and that lasted me until something like 6am.

 

So where is the firewood? That isn't much more than kindling.

 

I use rounds for overnighters

7 year old rounds

 

20" long x6" kindling?

 

It may have to to with the type of wood, or maybe how it was harvested. Poplar will turn to pith if you let it sit too long. It needs a short seasoning period and then it needs to be used. Even so it burns fast and hot. If you season it too long you may as well not bother throwing it in the fireplace because it is gone in minutes.

 

Basically, yeah. It's completely dry. I haven't measured the moisture content, but like I posted above you can take a 6-8" split and light a fire with it from a completely cold stove, zero kindling. Just touch a match to it and off she goes. If I keep the stove dampered all the way down, it'll throw great heat, keep the house at 74-ish, and I'll be left with a couple of small coals in the morning. If I run the damper where I usually keep it, it'll overfire the stove (and possibly warp the internal cast iron bits), overheat the house, and there'll be nothing left but fine grey ash by morning (or by the time I get home from work)
You probably don't run into this problem in the PNW, where your ambient humidity is high enough that wood never 'overseasons' just because the moisture content in the air is never low enough for the wood to drop below 15-20% or so.

When I split this, I worked it up into 6-8" splits, which with a normal amount of seasoning (split in the spring and burned that fall/winter) works great for my stove. I can load the stove and it'll burn 8-10 hours, keep the house comfortable (68-74, assuming outside temps are around 20 above-10 below zero) and I'll still have coals left for a relight in the morning or after work.
But since this has been in under cover, split, and seasoning for so long it's got essentially zero moisture. So it doesn't last as long, gives a less controllable burn, and burns hot enough that if you're not careful you risk damaging your stove. Hence the term 'overseasoned.'
So yes, it's split too small for what it is now, but not for what it was split for originally. And it's not like I can glue them back together to make them bigger now that they're extra dry, lol. So what I've been doing for the last 1/3 or so of it is to mix in wood from this year to help slow it down a bit.

 

HAHA! Yeah, that's for sure. We burned poplar in our Maple Syrup evaporator one year. One year was enough, lol. It threw great heat and boiled sap like nobody's business, but you basically had to just stand in front of the firebox and constantly feed it, like a stoker on a locomotive running at top speed.

 

I used my moisture meter on my madrone a while back , the old stiff was all around 7-12% which is basically the same as kiln dried wood

 

Yeah, pretty close.

 

I have the same issue with red oak around here, difficult to get to dry. I cut standing dead or blow downs, split to 6-8" pieces and after a full season, if I split it again, it's still dark and MOIST in the center.

 

How long do you season it before burning ? Madrone which is dense like oak is minimum 2 years and longer is better

 

I'm in eastern WA, which actually has 4 seasons unlike wester WA which has 2 seasons (summer, then the rainy season). Pine is what I have easiest access to over here and what grows abundantly on my 10 acres. So 20"x6" if it is seasoned works great for kindling for me.

 

Wow, seems like big kindling. Do you have a outdoor wood burner or something?

 

Indoor fireplace on main floor with Welenco insert. It's big inside there. The opening is about 16x24 and the widest inside that is more like 28 wide by 20 tall.
I also have a Schrader woodstove in the basement that I have only used once in the 3 years I've lived here. That is far more efficient than the closed fireplace but getting wood to it is a pain in the ass. The only access is by the stairwell in the house. There are some small windows in the basement but that would be even more hassle getting wood in through there.

 

I always wondered how much mess occurs with the fireplace insert. Do you have to constantly clean around it from stuff falling off the wood? My stove is in the basement, and I am constantly sweeping up the shake off the wood. I can't imagine if it was in a living room.

 

The red oak now goes to a different pile all together, lesson learned. It takes 2+ yrs. Takes longer than some locust.

 

Yup, I have heard of the two year seasoning...try to tell that to a 72 year old man who happens to be your father that you are collecting wood with...lol. I said " Dad the bark is still on this , and it's heavy as shit!"