Firewood Moisture Content Tester

[GregLaROCHE]

It’s getting harder and harder for me to cut and split all the wood I use each winter. I am considering buying some, but know most for sale is not often seasoned long enough, no matter what the person selling it says.

So in this day and age of high technology, is there something inexpensively available to check the moisture content of wood?

Thanks

[redneck1]

Home depot has one for like $30. Its more then good enough for firewood .
Probably find one a few bucks cheaper on amazon .

[farmbif]

ive been checking moisture by splitting a piece and putting it upon to my cheek to check for moisture, not scientific but works pretty well when its good and cold out.
last winter I about ran out of dry firewood and found there a very few people that advertised firewood for sale that even had solid wood that was even close to dry,
I devised method of drying wood out by the stove on a inventory rotation. if I have problems again this winter I'm going to sell off this super high efficient wood stove for a big giant steel box stove or install an antique coal stove I have that will burn anything.

[Petrol & Powder]

The best way to solve the green firewood problem is to obtain next year's supply this year. You can obtain that supply by cutting your own, buying it or some combination of the two.
If you store that firewood a year in your own woodshed, you KNOW it's dry.

Unfortunately that's about the only way to guarantee the wood will be dry.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

The best way to solve the green firewood problem is to obtain next year's supply this year. You can obtain that supply by cutting your own, buying it or some combination of the two.
If you store that firewood a year in your own woodshed, you KNOW it's dry.

Unfortunately that's about the only way to guarantee the wood will be dry.

That is so true...and it is what I do.
BUT, I have a couple friends that cut wood in early fall, split it as needed...then wonder why it's so hard to light.

[GregLaROCHE]

I usually store my firewood for three years before burning it. If I cut and split in the spring and leave it in the summer sun, I can burn it the following winter (one year later). Half dry or even green wood can be burnt, but the heat given off is many times reduced. The only wood I’ve found to burn well green is maple. It has to be really cold and you’re burning it very hot.

What I am planning to buy now, I hope won’t be needed until next year. I just don’t want to pay a premium price for seasoned wood if it isn’t. I can pretty well tell how seasoned a piece of wood is by holding it in my hand, but it is a lot harder to argue with someone selling it that way.

What exactly is that type of tester called?

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I usually store my firewood for three years before burning it. If I cut and split in the spring and leave it in the summer sun, I can burn it the following winter (one year later). Half dry or even green wood can be burnt, but the heat given off is many times reduced. The only wood I’ve found to burn well green is maple. It has to be really cold and you’re burning it very hot.

What I am planning to buy now, I hope won’t be needed until next year. I just don’t want to pay a premium price for seasoned wood if it isn’t. I can pretty well tell how seasoned a piece of wood is by holding it in my hand, but it is a lot harder to argue with someone selling it that way.

What exactly is that type of tester called?

That makes sense.

https://www.efireplacestore.com/wood-moisture-meters.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAwMP9BRCzARIsAPWTJ_HYON55 13lSV786JDaIjmGxkYdFobMPSe7YeS18iVzQyYGBK3V4EE4aAs u9EALw_wcB&refnum=Nov-612-5003

[Der Gebirgsjager]

The best way to solve the green firewood problem is to obtain next year's supply this year. You can obtain that supply by cutting your own, buying it or some combination of the two.
If you store that firewood a year in your own woodshed, you KNOW it's dry.

Unfortunately that's about the only way to guarantee the wood will be dry.

Agree 100%. If you're going to quit cutting your own, then- if you've got the bucks- start by buying two year's supply and thereafter staying one year ahead.

I'm still cutting my own, from dropping the trees to splitting with handtools, and believe I use just right at 4 cords per year. I am a year ahead. When I moved here the former owners left a shed full of wood (threw it into the deal), but it's way across a pasture. The snow always hits 3 ft. deep and can go to 5 ft., and it was a mystery to me as to how they got it to the house in the winter, but since learned that they took the tractor down to snow blow the road and then put the bucket over the fence and filled it up from the shed.

I decided to go to a covered woodpile, and mine it out as needed. So far it has worked well, and the pile is covered with roofing metal over tarps, all held down with big rocks. This year I decided I'd better use the wood the former owners left in the shed, as it's been there for at least 5 years. The only wood we have here is lodgepole pine and aspen, 98% pine. Not the best firewood, but it will burn well between 2 and 3 years of aging. Less than that it makes a lot of black, gooey creosote, and more than that it's kind of like burning paper. So I stacked lots of wood from the shed on my front and back porches. Might not have been the best solution, because I've spotted a mouse on each porch, and they might have decided to winter in the stacks. Sure don't want the varmints in my house! I did cut a year's worth of wood this summer, but am using this old stuff first. Goodness knows, after hibernating most of the winter I need the exercise each summer.

My nearest neighbor, about 10 years younger than me, gave it up and bought a pellet stove. Seems foolish to me to live in a forest and use store bought pellets, but to each his own. If the Good Lord gives me a few more years I may have to follow his example, but for now I'm keepin' on keepin' on. I've thought about bringing in a 24 ft. shipping container to use as a woodshed, but it would have to be about where the present woodpile is, and would block my view out my office window.

Some photos:

The distant wood shed.
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The woodpile.
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Back porch, front porch.
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A thing of beauty in my office, a bit early this year.
271471

[Minerat]

I get mine from a mill that cuts beetle kill but that may have ended this year with the big fires around the mill in Grand County. I have enough on hand for thid winter and have not talked to them yet. If they have any ends or their cutting was limited this summer I may not get any this winter.

[MaryB]

We cut every fall and had 2 piles, last years and this years. Last years got moved close to the house and we kept 2 cords inside where it was warm and dry to work form. Soon as the in house pile was down to a cord more was brought in. This years was stacked and tarped on top so it could dry a year. All elm so if it was wet forget burning it!

[GregLaROCHE]

I just looked around for a moisture meter. I’ve found them from $11-$111. Whats the difference? There must be a big difference for the hundred bucks difference. Or is there. Anyone have first hand experience with specific brands?

I have a lot of beech and chestnut on my property. My favorite to burn used to be ash, but I’ve already cut most of it. I still plan on trying to cut wood, just maybe not that much.

I’ve been looking into an oil furnace to supplement. I already have radiators that are heated by a wood cook stove, as well as a big wood burning furnace. Last year we didn’t use the big furnace at all. We did have to keep feeding the small stove a lot more often and sometimes restart it in the morning. The big furnace is what I may change to fuel oil. With the way the world economy is looking, I don’t think oil prices are going to be going up much in the near future.

[alfadan]

I bought a moisture meter from Horror Freight. Works well enough when my curiosity about my wood's dryness gets to me. About 15 bucks or so.

[jonp]

Buy it green and let it sit for the next year. you will always be one year ahead. Wood cut in the winter and split that year then sit over the summer can be burned that year.

[Brokenbear]

THIS like the man said ..it works well

https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=moisture%20meter

Bear

[GregLaROCHE]

Well I just ordered one. We’ll see how it works.

[FISH4BUGS]

Here in NH we are hard core wood burners. We do about 7 cords each year.
I usually buy 7+ cords just to be sure. Our 1600 sf house is nice and toasty all winter.
Our wood dealer splits green in April and delivers 1 1/2 cords per trip.
That month is used by me to stack the wood on pallets next to the barn and covered ONLY on the top with a tarp.
That allows air to circulate around the stacked wood to help dry it.
By the time October/November rolls around, the wood is easily plenty dry to burn. Any leftovers start the next season.
The key is finding a good and honest dealer. Our dealer does around 1000 cords a year.
I send him $1000 deposit in mid-March which sets us in line for the upcoming season and helps his cash flow.
Nothing like a good wood stove in a howling New Hampshire winter snowstorm.

[Shawlerbrook]

Been cutting and burning it for 25 years now. I have a larger 12x16 woodshed and a smaller area that was my old kennel when I raised beagles. Probably have about 4 years ahead and my concern is just the opposite- too dry, especially the wood in the rear of the large shed. I usually cut in June and July and split and stack in August and September. At 63, it is starting to get a little more challenging.
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[leadeye]

I've heated the house with wood since we built it in 2010. Cut dead trees in the forest, split small and cover the piles with black plastic. Dry firewood about forearm size has an almost musical sound when you tap it against something hard.

I will say this, when it comes to getting a lot of wood split small quickly, you can't beat Timberwolf splitters.

[LAH]

I've heated the house with wood since we built it in 2010. Cut dead trees in the forest, split small and cover the piles with black plastic. Dry firewood about forearm size has an almost musical sound when you tap it against something hard.

I will say this, when it comes to getting a lot of wood split small quickly, you can't beat Timberwolf splitters.

I use one myself along with a conveyor.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/h244/Creekerpics/Firewood/11-7-11/.highres/002.jpg
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/h244/Creekerpics/Firewood/.highres/Picture032.jpg
https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/h244/Creekerpics/Firewood/.highres/Picture188.jpg

[GregLaROCHE]

Been cutting and burning it for 25 years now. I have a larger 12x16 woodshed and a smaller area that was my old kennel when I raised beagles. Probably have about 4 years ahead and my concern is just the opposite- too dry, especially the wood in the rear of the large shed. I usually cut in June and July and split and stack in August and September. At 63, it is starting to get a little more challenging.
271571

Your firewood can never be too dry as long as you can close down your stove enough. I know some people us greener wood at night to slow the fire so there are still coals in the morning. As long as the stove is an airtight type, you should be able to close it down enough and not need greener wood. The dryer wood is, the more heat you get out of it. It’s a law of physics. If there is moisture in the wood it has to be evaporated and that cools the fire and you loose BTUs. Seasoning wood for an extra year will save you money, because it will give more heat and you will burn less. The higher the moisture content, the sooner you’ll have to clean the stove pipe or chimney too.

[bedbugbilly]

Moisture meters have been around for years. I used to have one to check the moisture content of hardwoods that I bought from various suppliers when I had my millwork shop. I got mine through forestry supply if I remember correctly. I used it often to check on the moisture content of the firewood I cut (I would cut a year ahead). There must be some cheaper versions out there now. A quick google should give you some results.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

maybe Shawlerbrook meant "too seasoned", instead of "too dry".
Besides Moisture, wood has esters and/or resins that provide BTUs, besides the cellulose. If the wood is seasoned so long that the esters and/or resins have left the wood, it burns faster with less overall BTUs per hour.

[Markopolo]

Alder burns green fairly well.. our problem here is the rainforest is damp... all our firewood is damp a bit even if it sits under cover for several seasons...only the real cold weather drys in out completely.. i have tried all of the above methods, and the wood we have is just damp. it drys enough to burn pretty well, but not like you guys have.. i burn about 12-15 cords every year.

[snowwolfe]

In my experience you can generally tell if wood is dry by the weight and the sound it makes if you bang two pieces together. Wetter wood has a dull thunk to it why dry has a sharper sound. Moisture meters are still the best way though.

[DickelDawg]

I've been using firewood to heat my house for 34+ years. My test for moisture content is, throw it in the woodstove - if it burns, moisture is low. If it doesn't - it's too wet.
Never heard of a moisture tester for firewood. By golly, what won't they think of next?

[GregLaROCHE]

I got a $25 meter in the mail this morning and bought he 9 volt battery it needs this afternoon. I can’t wait to try it tomorrow.