The OFFICIAL Firewood Hoarder's Club thread!!!

No response, no worries. Seems like I'm the only one awake on a number of forums!

If I'm not mistaken it sounds like we are saying the same thing. Regardless of the numbers, it sounds like we are utilizing energy to heat and then cause a phase change to water, which is then sucked out the chimney when the aforementioned phase change is occurring inside of the stove. If that same phase change were to occur with water on in a pot on your stove the energy consumption would be the same but the heat captured in the steam would be dissipated throughout the room/house (at least some of it. Does that sound correct? Thus the net transfer of energy from the fire to the water is the same, but one is lost, one is retained.

Am I making sense to anyone? Am I even on the right track?

As to the amount of heat used to change phases I found this chart, which may or may not be factual, but I believe it lends itself well to the discussion.

 

You pretty much have it. Steam heat works to same way. Steam goes up the pipes and to your radiator, it give off heat and cools in the process, returning to a liquid and running back down the pipe to your boiler to do it again.

Another wet wood problem is with wet wood is that you can't get the fire hot enough to get full combustion do you wing up producing a lot of smoke. That smoke is lost potential because it didn't burn.

 

Dude just trust us it dont work!! Wet wood equals less heat to you and your house and more creosote for your chimney. The only reason people talk about it is cause of the old smoke dragons that leaked air. To make them burn longer they put wet wood in there to cause a smoldering fire. The bed of coals was large enough to over come the wet wood and they gave off so much heat from being warmer from more wood that it worked.

I invite you to buy a modern epa stove and spend one week dead of winter no other heat and struggle with wet wood. Sure it will work you will reload it and have to leave the door cracked for 10 mins each time and possibly open it mid load to toss In note wood for either more heat or to dry out your next load. Then go one week with dry wood. You will get all kinds of heat and be able to cut your air wag down and get longer cleaner burns from less wood.

Been there done that!

 

I do, and I do.

And I quote.. twice:

To further clarify, I am completely on board with the notion that burning wet wood does not yield as much heat as dry wood. I'll be honest, I don't know any other way to say it, I am at a loss for words at this point. I am just looking to better understand the science behind this phenomenon.


And thank you all again for the input! Its is very much appreciated.

 

Well the math can get complicated but the biggest problem is that water doesn't burn. So it needs to escape the chimney as steam, which is a process requiring energy in the form of heat. To be exact, 1 btu is the amount of energy required to raise 1lb of water by 1 degree F. The heat potential of the fuel in your stove can be used to heat water or your room. The more water it needs to heat, the less available for your house.

 

So I think we're all on the same page here. Wet wood does not bend some strange law of chemistry and/or physics, the implication is that you are expending an exorbitant amount of BTU's to "dry the wood in-stove" and sending the excess water and those precious BTUs up the Santa chute..

Do I got it now?

 

I know you didn't mean that in a bad way ? Believe it or not, I used to tutor many of my differential equation classmates during my undergrad. I could only imagine what you could with a class like that! I felt like a dummy considering my professors kid was in my physics class when he was like 14 or something.

 

No, you will not recover the heat used to boil the water out of the wood by recovery through things like the stove pipe wall.

Sorry all, I see I was late to respond this time.

 

I think we can put a nail in that question. Thank you all again for your input!

So what do we think about my 2nd question. What is the reasoning behind leaving a layer of ash in your stove? (and not cleaning it out completely between burns)

 

My guess is that some leave a layer of ash for insulation and so they dont burn out the fire bricks as soon on the bottom. Thats the only reason I can see. I clean mine as good and clean as I can when it goes cool. But it doesnt go cool to often in the winter.

 

Not sure why but my stove instructions definitely tell me to leave some ash.

 

Hmm that's not a bad idea, I am going to see if I can find a manual for my stove.

 

I got mine on line. These days that is most often the easiest way to find a manual.

 

Scored this BL last weekend. Just a little slow getting pics up as I needed to get the after pics today. Just need to pick up the pace on getting all this split. I've got BL that's been sitting around for 4+ years that still needs split.

I've been a bad girl.

 

Allrighty now....You go girl....

 

Is that a multi trunk or a single that but looks huge!