It's the wood Stupid

Four hours into the burn and still rolling along on three splits. The difference between last years wood which was C/S/S for 8 months as compared to this year's wood at 16 months C/S/S is amazing. Longer burns, using less wood, higher temps, no smoke coming out of the flue, much longer secondary burns.

 

Yep, you will have that!! I had a friend of mine who refused to cut and split his wood early as his Grandpa told him it wasn't good for it to dry to early. One day he was at my house while I was loading the stove and he couldn't believe how quick the wood caught fire and how fast I had the stove shut down and burning like a champ. Long story short I sent him home with some of my 3 year old oak and he called me telling me it only took minutes to get the stove lit up and running where as it would have been an hour or more of fiddling with it using his wood...... He now has a few years worth of wood stacked up at his house.

An added benefit to your wood that is more dry will be way less worrying about your chimney!

 

I'll do pretty good this year but after that I will be in excellent shape

 

'Nuff said.

 

Around here, I see a lot of the same chimneys billowing solid smoke every year, I don't think these people are stupid, just not informed. I'm glad I'm informed.

 

That's lookin pretty good Mitch! What type of wood was that?

 

Oh, I see what you did there.

 

Four hours later on 3 splits, and what was the stove temp?
I can't quite tell in the pic.
Have you tried placing the stove thermo on the riser just below the flue?
I have an older steptop and that's the hottest spot on the stove.
Just a suggestion.
Oh yeah, it's the wood.

 

My stove is burning just great with two-year dry woods. I've also got some larger splits of Red Oak, dead standing, that I stacked about the same time....I should toss one of those in and see hiw it does....

That all make sense to me except the 'longer burns' part. How can dry wood burn slower? You have to burn with more air to get the same amount of heat, so the wet wood is actually gone sooner?

I was stupid enough to not figure out for twenty years that you can't burn Red Oak that's only been stacked three months. I finally said to myself, "Since you appear to be a cretin, why don't you just stand on the shoulders of the smart people?"

 

I believe all three splits were Ash.

 

I think the thermo shows just a little over 300. Which was fine cause up stairs the house was 71. But it held at over 300 for several more hours til I re-loaded for over night. AS you can see in the picture the front air control is all the way down. And when I re-loaded, it was only four splits. With better seasoned wood I don't have to over work or over fill the stove at all. I've been checking those cheap thermos with the IR gun and they are right on. I have set the thermo on the riser and the hottest part of the flue is a little higher than that on this stove.

 

Another reason to use dry wood - it is lighter. Sure that's a small thing, but over the years and thousands of splits we have moved around, it has to add up to a chunk of work saved. Add this to the list of "reasons to use dry wood"?

 

Ive often wondered that myself last year with my wet green wood I was loading the stove a couple times a day then I bought some kiln dried and it lasted all day Im still scratching my head as to how that works but I wont argue with it. Im seeing amazing differences this year compared to last year its all about the wood.

 

I'm with ya Matt

 

This year will be better than last year, but I wasn't sorting and have little idea what is in the stack for this year. Next year will be much better, it is all sorted and pretty good quality stuff that will all be fully seasoned and ready to burn.

 

Most wood burning problems trace back to the wood.
Most wood burning successes trace back to the wood.