First Post! Jumped the gun and bought a WS Absolute Steel stove at the end of March (picking it up end of June) as the VT rebate was expiring. Glad I did because the price went up another $600, so it's now a $1,100 swing. Happy to be supporting a local Upper Valley VT/NH business with great customer service. Anyways, playing a bit of catch up with wood for the 2021-2022 heating season and beyond. Though I do not have a wood lot, I do plan on hoarding enough wood to get on the three year plan over the next few years. My question is in year one, should I bite the bullet and go with kiln dried wood? Then the next year start testing some of the green wood I am getting this summer to see if it is ready/mixing in some kiln dried? I have a call into Colton in Pittsfield, VT for pricing. After year two I figure my wood I get this summer will be close, depending on how much oak. Since this is my first time with a wood stove, I don't mind overpaying for a year or two to get it right and not struggle with learning the stove + having wet wood. Also, I am skeptical of the "seasoned" wood offering I am seeing advertised locally. Thanks
If I were just starting out I would just order a bunch of already split wood. Like get 4 cords stacked. Then order another 4. I started out way too slow and it sucks running out of wood in the middle of winter. As for this winter you could get a few pallets of the bio bricks.
Welcome VTAbstoluteSteel , you’re gonna like it here, I guarantee it…we love dogs, pics and beer…We are good at enabling, love to spend your money on accoutrements we just know you need-Want something? Just ask and we’ll help you justify that need, it’s really that simple! Seriously, you’ve joined a great group of folks eager to lend advice and a hand if possible. Jump starting your hoard is a great idea, just deal with reputable folks and invest in a decent moisture meter…lots of shady characters out there that we have all encountered…seasoned to some is that “pretty wood”——Nice to meet you
Welcome to the forum. Most always the wood that is sold for seasoned isnt at all. If you can afford I think KD would be the way to go and also as Geoff said get two years wood ahead so it can be stacked and start drying. You also will find a wood moisture meter a great help. You will need to test on a fresh split. Congrats on your new stove. Im sure you will be happy with it using dry wood..
What mat60 means if you are presented with wood that is proclaimed as seasoned, split a split, if that moisture meter reads near 20%, you’re just about there-It depends on species. If you do that on red oak, chestnut, beech, ash, walnut, etc you’re good-if on locust, white oak, black or chestnut oak, hickory (all varieties, its a heavy wood) and it reads 30% or higher, it needs a year-Elm is a story of its own-I DONT EVEN BOTHER…some dont have a choice-Seasoned it is pretty good wood-I’d rather watch it rot…Again, welcome…
Welcome to the forum. Good luck with your first year and do not wait until you need the wood to get it, no matter how dry it is. When you get it, stack it (after splitting it) where it can get good air circulation and in the hot sun. If you find any dead standing wood, that is a great way to get started. Stay away from oak at first because that takes too long to dry. I really like soft maple to start with because it splits easy and then dries fast. Kiln dried wood can be helpful but will cost a bit more. You might find this helpful: Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage
Welcome! In addition to Colton, check down the valley with Tree Huggers for their kiln dried price. I also see a processor and drying bins at the Hartland depot, but do not know who is there. Mixing kiln-dried in with “seasoned” wood helps average things out the first year or two. Also watch for the occasional ad placed by someone who either just bought or sold a house and needs to get rid of a nice stack.
I'm a little bit of an outsider with this, but I've used compressed wood bricks for the last 4 or 5 years to offset the moisture content in the wood stove. I find that it's a huge help with getting the catalyst to perform appropriately and far prefer knowing I have a dry supply than worrying if I got rolled over by a wood seller. Personal preference, but one I stand by.
Yup, maple, especially soft maple (silver) dead standing ash, box elder, beech, etc, will dry down pretty quick after cut, split, and stacked (CSS) The top half of a dead standing ash can be ready to go right away...the rest in 6-12 months usually. Just stay away from the stuff that takes 2-3 years until you get 2-3 years ahead on your supply. Pretty much anything on this chart with 12 month or less dry times is what you want this first winter...get it CSS ASAP! Concentrate on wood with shorter dry times and higher MBTU values for year two...then after that you can start hoarding oak and stuff that takes 2-3 years... Firewood BTU & Drying Chart
Welcome to FHC. You'll like it here. This is a good read. Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage If you go up to the top you will see three lines. Click on that and go to resources. A lot of good stuff in there.
Welcome to the FHC VTAbstoluteSteel I live in the same state and have your stove big brother. I would order 1 cord of kiln dried ( just ensure it’s high BTU wood) and start splitting and stacking everything else in 2 categories! This year and Not this year. Poplar soft maple birch this year. Dead standing ash and Elm are your friends
Bump Ended up getting three cords of kiln dried and three cords of green to start the the hoard. Since it is my first year burning I wanted the stove to be the only struggle if I had one. Kiln dried wood is in the garage. Burned a few in the fire pit, wow super dry stuff. I thought I got shorted when is stacked all the kiln dried up but there was 0 air gaps in stack and I had a huge pile of bark in the dire way that came off the wood when the dumped it. The photo below is the green stack. Sprung for some plastic pallets. Guy I bought from threw in some extra oak because he feels bad selling green to people he knows will burn it that winter. Stack in facing southwest to maximize airflow. First attempt at cribbing went well, back woods savage had a great suggestion to build the cribbing with the pile, that helped a lot. Just waiting on some metal roofing to cover. I ended up stacking bark up just to stop myself from filling the air gaps. Thanks to everyone here for great advice. Just waiting on some cooler weather to have a break in fire!
Stick with 20% and under moisture content… the absolute steel does not like moisture. I fought the first year, almost sent the stove back. Last year was better , really looking forward to this year ! I might still get some bio bricks to try.
