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  • From: Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Firewood
  • Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:32:17 -0700


On Jan 15, 2009, at 3:10 PM, EarthNSky wrote:

A question for you...
What do you predict the moisture content of an unsplit white oak log 2
feet in diameter after 2 years of being stored under a tin shed(no
sides) VS a piece of split wood stored under the same shed for 2 years.
Bear in mind that our summers get quite warm, and tonight we should get
down to about 0, but generally we get lows in the teens...lots of
freezing and thawing...lots of wind...lots of sun.

I just flat don't know. My gut feeling is that split wood after two years will be at the average 24-hour humidity for the last month. How much wetter the unsplit wood might be, I just don't know. Smaller pieces of wood react more quickly to ambient humidity.

Ron's a woodworker. Maybe he has or can borrow a moisture meter. Or you can do it the hard way: weigh pieces, then cook them dry in your oven, then weigh again, then do the math.

Here's my last thought for now: splitting and stacking wood during
cold winter weather is easier on the body than during warmer weather.

<snicker>
This I know, but I have to get the split wood used up before I start
splitting more. Limited room near the house.

Ahah! A new factor to be added to the equation.

Btw, again just for you I have been researching. Some people say that, yes, wood can be too dry to be good firewood. But it seems that too dry means kiln dried or in a desert area with extreme low humidity.

As with woodworking wood, simple air drying only takes wood moisture content down to about 20-30 percent. That is suitable firewood humidity. Area weather does make a difference. Weather in the Northwest can make wood too wet to burn. Weather here in Phoenix makes wood too dry. I brought back a big chunk of sycamore for my neighbor- friend here and in only a couple months it had already split too much to be used as a cutting block.

Gene GeRue
www.RURALIZE.com








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