Can firewood be too dry?

[goanin]

My moisture meter finally arrived in the mail!

I split a few large pieces and checked them out..
Turns out that the pines I cut this July and split in September have 20% moisture! That means they're good to burn already?!?! The seasoned wood that I have ready for this winter has 2% moisture.
Hahaha These days I'm splitting&stacking my softwood for next winter. It's gonna go down to 0% by then.

Is it too dry?
Can wood be too dry, or the drier the better?

 

[Phil_Marino]

My moisture meter finally arrived in the mail!

I split a few large pieces and checked them out..
Turns out that the pines I cut this July and split in September have 20% moisture! That means they're good to burn already?!?! The seasoned wood that I have ready for this winter has 2% moisture.
Hahaha These days I'm splitting&stacking my softwood for next winter. It's gonna go down to 0% by then.

Is it too dry?
Can wood be too dry, or the drier the better?

The drier the better.

The drier it is, the easier it will be to light, the more heat it will generate, and the less chimney residue it will produce.

It will also burn faster, but, if you have a properly working stove, and know how to adjust it, that won't be a problem.

Phil

 

[avalancher]

My moisture meter finally arrived in the mail!

I split a few large pieces and checked them out..
Turns out that the pines I cut this July and split in September have 20% moisture! That means they're good to burn already?!?! The seasoned wood that I have ready for this winter has 2% moisture.
Hahaha These days I'm splitting&stacking my softwood for next winter. It's gonna go down to 0% by then.

Is it too dry?
Can wood be too dry, or the drier the better?

2% moisture?I think you need to either calibrate that moisture meter again, read the owners manual, or question the reading.With most air dry applications, the best that you can really expect is around 12% or so, and that is going to take time exposed in ideal conditions.I assume you dont have a kiln to dry your firewood.
I know weather may be very different where you are at, but generally speaking pine does not dry to that level in a month unless MAYBE it was subjected to very very low humidity,high temps, high winds, and had been left exposed to the weather.


Even in the lumber industry, furniture grade lumber is dried in a kiln to around the 12% mark, and further drying may occur before it is used if kept in a low humidty area.

There is no such thing as 0% moisture in wood,it will adopt the moisture of the air around it,and will fluctuate according to the weather.The lowest reading I have ever taken on a chunk of wood was a piece of walnut left by the shop stove for almost six years,stored up on a shelf and it read 4%.

What kind of moisture meter did you buy?

Here is some reference for you.

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplrn/fplrn226.pdf

 

[goanin]

2% moisture?I think you need to either calibrate that moisture meter again, read the owners manual, or question the reading.With most air dry applications, the best that you can really expect is around 12% or so, and that is going to take time exposed in ideal conditions.I assume you dont have a kiln to dry your firewood.
I know weather may be very different where you are at, but generally speaking pine does not dry to that level in a month unless MAYBE it was subjected to very very low humidity,high temps, high winds, and had been left exposed to the weather.


Even in the lumber industry, furniture grade lumber is dried in a kiln to around the 12% mark, and further drying may occur before it is used if kept in a low humidty area.

There is no such thing as 0% moisture in wood,it will adopt the moisture of the air around it,and will fluctuate according to the weather.The lowest reading I have ever taken on a chunk of wood was a piece of walnut left by the shop stove for almost six years,stored up on a shelf and it read 4%.

What kind of moisture meter did you buy?

Here is some reference for you.

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplrn/fplrn226.pdf

The 2% reading was with 2 years sesoned wood.
The few monthes seasoned wood read 20%..

I got a very cheap MM on Ebay. I know it's not accurate, but it still gives an estimate.. Summers here are VERY dry. And we're in the middle of an October heat wave.. I'm not that surprised. I'll take some more readings though..

 

[avalancher]

The 2% reading was with 2 years sesoned wood.
The few monthes seasoned wood read 20%..

I got a very cheap MM on Ebay. I know it's not accurate, but it still gives an estimate.. Summers here are VERY dry. And we're in the middle of an October heat wave.. I'm not that surprised. I'll take some more readings though..

Its entirely possible, I have no idea what kind of humidity,heat, etc you have there.I was Israel only once 20 years ago, and I remember it was hot and humid,but that was on the coast.Maybe big time different where you are.But I would question any meter that gave me a 2% reading on air dried wood.

 

[pipehead]

My moisture meter finally arrived in the mail!

I split a few large pieces and checked them out..
Turns out that the pines I cut this July and split in September have 20% moisture! That means they're good to burn already?!?! The seasoned wood that I have ready for this winter has 2% moisture.
Hahaha These days I'm splitting&stacking my softwood for next winter. It's gonna go down to 0% by then.

Is it too dry?
Can wood be too dry, or the drier the better?

I don't know about too dry, but a fire can be too hot. Bone dry wood will burn hotter than normal, so maybe adjust your air accordingly. Too hot a fire can damage the stove.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Its entirely possible, I have no idea what kind of humidity,heat, etc you have there.I was Israel only once 20 years ago, and I remember it was hot and humid,but that was on the coast.Maybe big time different where you are.

It's very different. Goanin, you're near Jerusalem, aren't you?


If so, it's much drier.

But I would question any meter that gave me a 2% reading on air dried wood.

Yeah. But then, the Egyptians preserved mummies for thousands of years. After decades of research, they finally figured out the secret - dry air. I mean REALLY dry air. We don't have anything like it in the U.S. Not even in our deserts.


Hmmm. I just checked Jerusalem's weather. 26% humidity. That ain't bad. You sure aren't going to get 2% wood in that kind of weather.

http://www.weather.com/weather/today/Jerusalem+Israel+ISXX0010

 

[Mike PA]

Split that piece and try it again. 2% is hard to believe.

 

[slofr8]

Split that piece and try it again. 2% is hard to believe.

I get a much lower reading when I check a piece on the end. I check the middle along the grain.
Splitting like MikePA said would be even better I would think.
Dan.

 

[J.W Younger]

I've never had or used a moisture meter but where I live about 1 1/2 yr for white oak and a year for red,everything else 9 mos or less is sufficent in a normall year.Last year was a wet one for us,this year the opposite and hickory and oak cut early this year allready has the bark seperating/ends checking.Anything over 2 years just gives the insects more time to eat it.IMO.