Anyone here burn any? I just had a cord delivered today and I’ve got half of it or so stacked. It sure does smell good! Even the wife commented on that when she got home. Very clean as well. I haven’t burned any in the past but I’m well aware that it tends to burn really hot. Even the guy that delivered it said he didn’t like it because of that, and it’s part of his business so that’s a fair warning I’d say. The reason I bought it is to avoid burning green wood. I’m planning to mix this in to stretch out what seasoned wood I do have, and experiment a little with it, probably all winter. It was either this or a ton of bio bricks or similar. My wife wanted the bricks but I’d rather stick to firewood, and the “seasoned” stuff you buy locally is just NOT and I have lots of that already. Believe me, I’m a little afraid of it and I’ll be approaching this very cautiously. Last thing I want to do is overfire my new stove and that’s one reason I chose this over bricks. It should be easier to just mix in. Just FYI I paid $330 delivered for what appears to be a real nice mix of hardwoods like maple, beech, oak, and a little cherry. That’s not cheap by any means but from what I understand it’s much higher just south of here. In any case I’ll try to keep you posted on how I’m doing with it this season for those who are interested. Since it’s so clean and dry I’m bringing it all inside and I’ll fill the wood ring near the stove from the covered stacks behind the garage where I can pull from a 2 cord mix of beech and pine. I’ll post those when they’re filled up. Last thing I should say is this is intended to be a one time purchase. Starting next year I’ll have enough of my own seasoned wood, and going forward from there good Lord willing. If I find myself having to buy wood in the future I’ll buy green 3 years ahead. Two down, one to go. This is what’s left...tomorrow’s project. I’ll have to get creative to find room for all of it. My 3 stacks will hold 112 cu ft according to my calculations so I should have about 16 cu ft left. I’ll squeeze it in somewhere. It ain’t staying out in the rain!
I burn some small kiln dried white oak pieces basically for kindling.....it does throw a good bit of heat....definetly keep your eye on it at least until you get familiar with it..
Last time we had a stove there was a small furniture manufacturer close by where we used to get loads of KD oak mill ends for next to nothing. They were anywhere from 2-12” or so in length. I still have about half of a 30 gallon barrel full left that we didn’t use in the fire pit. They’re great for getting a fire going just like you said and they do burn pretty hot.
Yep, be cautious. I had some R & W Oak 3x4 runners from some sheet metal pallets that I finished up last year. When I got them 4 years ago, I bucked then to firewood length and threw some in the stove... Pizzed like a muthah. Let them sit stacked in our oven of a tin shed for a couple years. Pulled some 2 years ago for the stove- Whoa! Even more last season. 3 pieces at 18” long on some coals had me scrambling to shut the air down quick-like! So be careful bud!
$330 for a full cord of Kiln Dried Firewood is a steal. They sell face cords (1/3 Cord) around here for $350. Good luck with it. I had some oak down to 12% MC a few years ago, that is the closest I have burned to kiln dried, it burned great.
If it tends to burn too hot for your comfort, put a little of the less seasoned / slightly green wood with it. They should burn fine together.
It just always seemed to me that fire is hot, so what problem can there be. It also always seemed to me that if a fire was choked for air, it smoldered as soon as the oxygen was used up. Then I put 2 and 2 together and came up with 22. In other words, I figure if a fire is hot, cut the air. Now on the newer stoves you may have to do more than just close the draft as they are built to allow a small bit of air to the firebox all the time so they may need to be plugged if a fire gets out of hand. I guess I'm fortunate in that the only time I've had a too hot stove is because some dummy forgot to close the draft...
I would think the newer EPA stoves would love the kiln dried firewood. They spec 15% for the best performance.
I copy and pasted the text below from www.woodheat.org Can Firewood Be Too Dry? Yes, although it is not a common problem Properly seasoned firewood still has a fair amount of water in it, say 15 to 20 percent of its weight. That water regulates the combustion process along with a few other factors like piece size, load configuration and combustion air supply. The higher the fuel moisture, the slower the wood breaks down when heated because of all the heat energy soaked up in boiling the water out of the wood and raising the temperature of the steam. Conversely, the dryer the wood, the more quickly it breaks down when heated. By breaking down, I mean the vaporization of the volatile components of the wood; that is to say, it smokes. The dryer the wood, the more dense is the smoke at a given heat input rate. Since wood smoke is fuel, we want to burn it as completely as possible and that means mixing with adequate oxygen in the combustion air. The problem is that a firebox load of very dry wood produces far more smoke than the air supplies of stoves are designed to provide. Besides, even if you could supply enough air, you would produce an inferno that would howl in the stove and make everyone in the house nervous. Fires that intense can seriously damage the stove's innards. Wood that is very dry produces a fire that is hard to control without making a lot of smoke. Kiln-dried wood is down around 10 percent moisture. Depending on climate and conditions of storage, normal firewood won't dry down to kiln-dried moisture because of normal outdoor humidity. For example, I've never measured wood below about 14 percent in my firewood supply. But I suppose that firewood could get very dry by natural seasoning in desert conditions. Or firewood stored in old barns, which are like kilns in hot summer weather. The right band of firewood moisture is between 15 and 20%. When you get much over 20% you start to see symptoms of sluggish ignition and the inability to turn down the air without extinguishing the flames. Towards 30% the wood sizzles and fires are very sluggish and it is hard to get a clean burn until the wood is almost to the charcoal stage. Above 30% water bubbles from the end grain when the wood is heated and it is very hard to burn at all. Species like poplar/aspen, which have very high native moisture content are virtually non-combustible when not adequately seasoned. The main difference between EPA low-emission certified stoves and conventional stoves is that you can turn down EPA stoves for a long burn without extinguishing the flames. That is, they are better at producing a clean, controlled fire. The EPA test method requires wood with a moisture content between 16 and 20 per cent (19 - 25% dry basis) and when the wood is outside this moisture band, the stove's emission rate goes up. So even the best wood stove's performance will suffer if the wood is not in the right moisture range. If you have some very dry firewood, like kiln-dried cut offs or old wood stored in a hot place, mix it with regular firewood to raise the moisture content of a full load.
They sell it in Vermont, if you are going to get State assistance LIHEAT program. You have to use kiln-dried wood so they know that you have enough heat to get through the winter. I get a lot of kiln-dried, from a furniture manufacturer. And it definitely Burns hot and fast unless you really damper down the stove. It's great to burn down coals so you can reload without half your fire box being red-hot coals..
Thanks for all the great information guys! I appreciate it very much. I’m definitely planning to be very careful with this until I know exactly how it burns for me. I’ll start by mixing one piece in at a time and see how it goes. The brick manufacturers usually recommend bricks on bottom in a mixed load so I’ll start with that, on top of decent coals of course. If I remember right that’s how we used the mill ends most effectively in the past. I’ll try to remember to document my experience here as I go. I finished getting it all inside this morning and cleaned up by about noon and that did me in for the day. I’m feeling pretty good about getting it done in 2 days though, it feels good to be getting something done again after so long not being able to. I just need to pace myself and not overdo things. I still have lots to do before snow. By Maine state law firewood can only be sold by the cord at 128 cu ft, and these guys were right on it. I’m very satisfied with the load of wood I got. I have quite a pile after filling the racks.
Very nice looking wood! When I first fired my Ideal stove I had super dry cherry wood (10% MC) and with a new cat, it did get hotter than I wanted a few times if I loaded the firebox full. Since then my cat is not as active and I burn really dry wood (10% - 16%) with no issues. Just don't over fill your firebox as you get use to playing with the stove.
Maina , I'd love to see an actual moisture reading of your kiln dried, if you can. I've been using kiln dried cut-offs from a furniture place for years as kindling. I keep a couple cords in the basement. There is a place about 1.5 hours from here that sells KD firewood, Gish logging
Nice looking wood! Debarked, you are getting more wood per cord than standard firewood. Given that you had to buy it because you needed it, I think you got a good deal. Did you slide it on a chute into the basement, or carry it down?
$330 a cord is cheap. That would be roughly equiv to HHO at $2.25/gallon. The garden centers around here sell kiln dried starting at $250 for 1/6 cord. $500 for a cord, iirc. If I check craigslist prices do drop going north so location, location, location.
Many CL listings have a cord of wood for $165 - $190. I just don't think folks burn much in these parts and I guess more north is more competition. I may actually buy a cord for $170, free delivery within 10 miles, am only 6 miles away!!
