Anybody use a wood moisture meter for your firewood?

[JustPlainJeff]

Hi guys. I'm just curious, obviously when cutting green wood, most people let it season for a year before burning or selling for firewood. But I've got a lot of standing dead on my property that I have started felling for fireplace wood, as well as for my outdoor wood boiler. Since I don't know how long the standing dead has been dead, I though maybe I'd spend 30.00 or so on a wood moisture meter. Has anybody else used one? If so, did you find it useful? Any links for one that may be better than other brands? Also, what do you like your moisture content to be at or below for the best burning? Thanks!

 

[oldfortyfive]

I'm curious too. Bought one last year, but have only played with it.

 

[Parkerpusher]

A moisture meter won’t help checking firewood that has already been split and stacked, since the reading at the ends will show drier than the middle of the piece while it’s still seasoning. But for dead standing stuff you want to cut and use for firewood, you can check the wood when you first make your cuts to see how far along it already might be as far as drying out and roughly calculate how many months fewer than normal it might take before the split wood would be ready to sell or burn.

 

[JustPlainJeff]

A moisture meter won’t help checking firewood that has already been split and stacked, since the reading at the ends will show drier than the middle of the piece while it’s still seasoning. But for dead standing stuff you want to cut and use for firewood, you can check the wood when you first make your cuts to see how far along it already might be as far as drying out and roughly calculate how many months fewer than normal it might take before the split wood would be ready to sell or burn.

Thanks. Ya, that would really be my intended use, for the standing dead. What moisture content do you like to be at or less for the wood that you burn though?

 

[ValleyForge]

Yes, I use one all the time to monitor the various firewood lots. There are a lot of factors that affect the moisture content and a lot of firewood is ready earlier than you think. I use a hand held Lignomat S/D meter.

 

[Parkerpusher]

Thanks. Ya, that would really be my intended use, for the standing dead. What moisture content do you like to be at or less for the wood that you burn though?

Honestly can’t remember the percentage. What I’ve done in past is check some very seasoned wood of the same species and compare With Green wood of same species and then again on a fresh cut in the standing dead wood to see how far along it already is. Not very scientific though.

 

[ValleyForge]

Thanks. Ya, that would really be my intended use, for the standing dead. What moisture content do you like to be at or less for the wood that you burn though?

My desired range is between 15 to 25 percent. Dead standing or split and stacked, that is what I shoot for. When I do dead standing to see what up I take a round from about 4 feet from the base cut and use that to judge the tree Then take a few random tests when I split it.

 

[JustPlainJeff]

My desired range is between 15 to 25 percent. Dead standing or split and stacked, that is what I shoot for. When I do dead standing to see what up I take a round from about 4 feet from the base cut and use that to judge the tree Then take a few random tests when I split it.

Got it. Thanks!

 

[Karrl]

I use to work in water mitigation and I can tell you that 30 dollar hygrometers are not super accurate. They’re fine for firewood testing but after using a 600 dollar unit I wouldnt trust a cheap one to check for possible mold.

They can give a decent idea of how dry your wood is though. You have to take a seasoned piece of wood and split it down the middle and make sure it’s at room temperature, temperature will greatly affect your reading. Once split stick the prongs in as deep as you can. This is about as good a reading as you’re gonna get.

My opinion is if you’re really interested try one. There’s guys who swear by em, you might be one of em.

 

[cookies]

To light easy and burn well you want no more than 17% moisture preferably 12-15%, I simply stick the probes in the wood or split a couple pieces from a stack then test their interior content %. I really only sell 3 species of wood and they are all oak, it can take over 3 years to dry green 6-8 inch diameter limb logs. I target dead standing or felled trees for wood so it can be sold or burned the following year or even the same season depending on the location harvested from.
When you get desperate at the

 

[ElevatorGuy]

I used one for a while and still have it but now that I’m 3 years ahead I quit checking.

 

[Parkerpusher]

I use a pretty expensive one sometimes, but I bought it for another purpose I don’t think I would have bought a good meter just for firewood. No experience with the cheap units. Usually just can tell by how it looks and feels if it’s ready to burn. I get a lot of wind at my house, if I stack green wood on the porch I can usually burn it in 4-5 months

 

[JustPlainJeff]

I use a pretty expensive one sometimes, but I bought it for another purpose I don’t think I would have bought a good meter just for firewood. No experience with the chap units. Usually just can tell by how it looks and feels if it’s ready to burn. I get a lot of wind at my house, if I stack green wood on the porch I can usually burn it in 4-5 months

Wow, from green to ready to burn in four or five months. That's pretty good!

 

[Parkerpusher]

I split it small, and it blows wind all the time. I only bring wood there for myself though, the rest of everything sits at least a year back at the shop.

 

[sand sock]

Hi guys. I'm just curious, obviously when cutting green wood, most people let it season for a year before burning or selling for firewood. But I've got a lot of standing dead on my property that I have started felling for fireplace wood, as well as for my outdoor wood boiler. Since I don't know how long the standing dead has been dead, I though maybe I'd spend 30.00 or so on a wood moisture meter. Has anybody else used one? If so, did you find it useful? Any links for one that may be better than other brands? Also, what do you like your moisture content to be at or below for the best burning? Thanks!

It doesn't matter with a boiler. Dead is dry enough. As long as the ends cracking. You are golden.
Wood stoves I do like a few weeks if it's dead. Most of what I burn is 1 month to a year dry. It just depends on the weather

 

[Bbqman]

Dries quick in san Antonio....no need for it

 

[trains]

I have a few cheap 15 buck ones from fleace bay, some uses a 9v batt, the others are smaller and use 3x lr44 batts.
they all read within 1% of each other, really handy when chasing dry wood, for us thats under 10% moisture.
As previously mentioned, to test, you need to check freshly cut, or split wood to get a reasonable reading, rather than just picking up a piece, and putting the prongs in on the outside of the piece, and thinking thats your reading.
Getting readings from the middle of the piece will let you know what its real moisture content is.

usually we just cut, split and stack, and leave it to season for 2-3 years, as the dense aussie hardwood dries out very slowly.
Even dead wood thats been on the ground for 5-10 years will be 30% moisture, as it wicks up moisture from the soil just laying there, or a standing dead tree will still have high moisture content due to the natural capilliary action, and thus, will need at least a year or more to proerly dry out.
So, yeah, they can be handy, and have their place if you need to burn below a certain percentage.

Some may be happy burning at 15% or more, but for us with a wood stove with hydronic back boiler, if we burn wood over 15%, the boiler tubes block up, and if we get a wet piece by accident where water has dripped on it, it can block up the stove real quick.
So annoying on a cold day to put more wood on the fire, only to find the last piece is just smoldering away, and the heat has gone out of the firebox, grrrr.

When its dry, the fire burns with more heat, and its much longer between cleaning/ sweeping the thing out.

so, they can have their place as a useful item on the wood shed shelf.

 

[JustPlainJeff]

I have a few cheap 15 buck ones from fleace bay, some uses a 9v batt, the others are smaller and use 3x lr44 batts.
they all read within 1% of each other, really handy when chasing dry wood, for us thats under 10% moisture.
As previously mentioned, to test, you need to check freshly cut, or split wood to get a reasonable reading, rather than just picking up a piece, and putting the prongs in on the outside of the piece, and thinking thats your reading.
Getting readings from the middle of the piece will let you know what its real moisture content is.

usually we just cut, split and stack, and leave it to season for 2-3 years, as the dense aussie hardwood dries out very slowly.
Even dead wood thats been on the ground for 5-10 years will be 30% moisture, as it wicks up moisture from the soil just laying there, or a standing dead tree will still have high moisture content due to the natural capilliary action, and thus, will need at least a year or more to proerly dry out.
So, yeah, they can be handy, and have their place if you need to burn below a certain percentage.

Some may be happy burning at 15% or more, but for us with a wood stove with hydronic back boiler, if we burn wood over 15%, the boiler tubes block up, and if we get a wet piece by accident where water has dripped on it, it can block up the stove real quick.
So annoying on a cold day to put more wood on the fire, only to find the last piece is just smoldering away, and the heat has gone out of the firebox, grrrr.

When its dry, the fire burns with more heat, and its much longer between cleaning/ sweeping the thing out.

so, they can have their place as a useful item on the wood shed shelf.

Very informative answer. Thank you.

 

[Dennisthemenace]

I use the Stihl moisture meter now and then just to check and am happy with 20 % or less for my simple wood heater. I try to split and stack in the open air for 18 mths and that seems to be enough for here in SE Australia.

 

[LesL]

only issue I’ve had with my brand of cheap ones is they drain the battery even when switched of.
I use them for testing wood for woodturning.