Is a 0% moisture reading possible? I just started moving this years wood supply closer to the house. I put the MM on about a dozen pieces. I had readings 11.4% to 0%. 0% on about three pieces and couldn't get a reading on several repeated attempts. These were surface readings. Will the low moisture content cause me any burning problems? Should I mix it with some higher moisture, 17% to 19% wood? This wood is going to the back of the stack for Jan. Feb. burn.
NO. Problems with it? NO. I would not worry about mixing it. Simply put, this is one reason they put draft controls on a stove. Just dial it down as needed. Many times we've burned cut-offs and/or old lumber that was super dry. For instance, I tore down a building a few years back that had stood for at least 100 years and was in a remote cemetery. We burned the wood with no problems and that wood was about as dry as you will find anywhere. It did give nice heat.
After I'm done with my pizza oven for the night, I load it with wood for the next burn. If it isn't 0% after sitting overnight from 400 to 200 degrees, it is really close. It burns wonderfully, better than any air dried wood. If it is still warm when I light it, I can literally light the log with a match. So no, there is no problem with wood being too dry. As pointed out above, that is what the draft control is for. As far as the first part of the question, no, it isn't 0% air dried in Ohio and it never will be.
If you open the door on your stove after the load is half burnt, you might get a 0% reading on a split....
I didn't think 0% was obtainable, At first I thought I had a meter problem and still may. Three pieces at 0% with several readings and the other readings better than expected. My stacks were stacked in a North/South orientation. Prevailing winds are from the west. The stacks get full sun all day long. The 11% and 10% readings were lower than expected but I felt possible. Subsequent readings on other bucket fulls were in the 8% to 12% range. The wood is mostly Ash and was cut into logs in 2015. Cut to rounds and split Dec last year and Jan. this year.
Loaded question.... Answer, wood will bot dry naturally past the ambient average humidity.... desert wood dries more than swamp wood, obviously. Kiln drying or applying or other forms of drying can certainly reach zero but it sure will take time to get that dry.
Just a simple question.... did you split those pieces to get a true reading of the moisture? The outsides are going to get dryer than the inside.
