If you can't boil a litre of water in a kettle on your stove-top in 10 minutes you need to ask yourself what you are not doing right. Most likely your timber is not dry enough. Moisture content for any firewood MUST be below 25% and really should be as low (10%?) as can be got. All felled wood will season naturally (by air drying) unless it is stored in a pond. Natural seasoning can take many years for timber left to its own devices, but crosscut billets and blocks, well managed, may dry to 15% in less than 12 months and split green timber will dry even more quickly, depending on storage and weather conditions.
I am obliged to Quora for the following which has been tailor edited for this article:- "A fully grown oak tree can transpire 40,000 gallons of water per year. Water is used during growth and is absolutely essential for tree metabolism. H2O is split in to H+ and OH- elements and both are used to manufacture complex organic compounds". Precisely how much water is thus utilized remains uncertain as of 2024, but transpiration experiments suggest 5% is a reasonable guesstimate in that 95% of water taken up from soil passes right through and is transpired back to the atmosphere. A typical tall tree about 100 years old takes up between 75 and 150 gallons of water a day.
Water will continuously evaporate from the tissues of felled timber until the contained water is balanced by the humidity of the surrounding air. At that moment it has reached its Equilibrium Moisture Content. Although EMC is both changeable and variable, 30% EMC is ballpark for the British Isles and wood above about 22% EMC will not be dry enough to fire properly. Living trees contain extraordinary amounts of water and the amount varies by variety and the ground under them. Moisture content varies from season to season in standing timber and also varies between different parts of the tree.
get in here and write the article about the felled tree and the planted saplings 15thOct24
Heat wasted in evaporating contained water causes stoves [and campfires!] to give off less radiant heat. The fire burns cooler and emits more smoke. This smoke causes a build-up of creosote in flues and solid particulates in surrounding air. This matters hugely in canal boats. Creosotes boil about 230ºC and flue temperature should be higher than 230º which in itself is a useful indication as to the minimum temperature for running a stove. At this point it is salient to note that charcoal comes with less than 1% contained water. Carbon (from Latin carbo 'coal') is a chemical element; symbol C atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent.
Freshly felled wood retains considerable (and measurable) quantities of water which is calculated as a percentage of the "Oven Dry Weight". Green Moisture Content indicates how dry the timber is at felling and during seasoning. GMC ranges between 30% and 200%. Between these extremes GMC depends on age when felled, species, growing conditions and the length of a piece of string.
Mature eucalyptus camaldulensis typically returns 45-50% GMC at felling which is MUCH too high for burning. A WARNING ... (Eucalyptus is not for indoor use; Bark and leaves give off toxic fumes!) ... although properly seasoned it is excellent for outdoor barbies due to the high oil content of the wood, Once the wood moisture content equalises with its surroundings it will contain about 10-15% water.
Above 25% most woods burn inefficiently, generate smoke and give poor heat. Wood periodically dampened (ie not specifically protected from rain!) dries quicker than wood in a dry environment. Surface dampness keeps cellular pathways open and moisture moves to the surface by osmosis, where it evaporates more easily during dry days. Thus, it dries more quickly and stays dry out in the weather than if stored indoors. Having said that of course once it is down to ODC it will stay drier inside but only by a tiny margin
ODC Oven Dry Weight indicates totally dry timber such as carpenters and joiners would use. Totally dry timber is deemed to contain no water though this is not always the case and depends on various factors such as species, age, the merchant who sold it before it was fully seasoned and the long-term humidity of its storage point.
It has been determined that a cubic metre of freshly felled oak contains over half a metric tonne (540L) of water. Water is held in the cellular structure of wood, which is made up of cell cavities and cell walls. 'Free' water is held in the cavities and 'bound' water in the walls.
There is no calorific difference between timber types based only on the Oven Dry Weight. But denser timber burns longer because of its higher calorific density. The only consideration for burning wood is that it should be as dry as possible.
If a tree is felled in winter, MINIMUM moisture content will be over 50% and, if felled in summer figures like 200% have been recorded for the wettest species. 'Wettest' coincides with types found by rivers and canals: poplars, willows, alders.
By splitting logs and/or cutting them to short lengths, drying rate is accelerated. But it is still going to take many months rather than few weeks. Cutting in winter when the sap has dropped into the roots is a good idea. The reason wood needs drying out is that when you put a log into a fire all the moisture must be driven off before the wood will burn because it must use heat from the fire to drive out all the moisture and sometimes it uses ALL the heat!
But there's a further problem
Wet/damp/moist wood will not burn cleanly. It will pollute the air with "solid particulates" and deposit corrosive tar in the flue creating future fire risk if the user later learns how to max the heat.
How dry the wood needs to be to burn well will vary from stove to stove, but the highest moisture content should be less than 30%. 20% is acceptable. 15% is ideal.
Drying to 30% usually happens within a year, 20% within two years and in ideal conditions those times may be halved.
How long it takes dry depends on how the wood is dealt with. Ideally it should be split as soon as possible, stored off the ground outside in a place where air can circulate through and stacked to avoid waterlogging. Vertical is good.
SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS OF TIMBERS
APPLE: Splendid. burns slowly and steadily when well seasoned, with little flame, but good heat. malus genera are all good
ASH: Excellent burning wood; in flame and heat, can burn while green due to low 50% GMC. Ash trees shed smaller and larger dead branches which gather underneath the tree. Dying before drying, these twigs and branches make great firing because of their very low GMC.
CEDARS: good only when seasoned.
little flame. much heat, beautiful scent.
CHERRY: Slow burner with good heat. scented and does not spit.
HOLLY: Good heat, will burn when green, but best when let dry a few months.
PEAR: Slow and steady, good heat
and a good scent.
PLUM: Good heat and scent.
WALNUT: Good heat and scent.
Aromatic wood!
YEW: Among the best. burns slowly,
with fierce heat and the scent is pleasant.
LESS DESIRABLE TIMBERS
ALDER: Opinion varies re usefulness, works best well seasoned and that takes time to dry because by nature it grows in swamps.
BEECH: Best when it is well seasoned. Fell beech for a future year.
BIRCH: Good heat, quick burn, bright flame. Nice smell. Works best when mixed with slow burners like pear cherry plum.
CYPRESS: Burns well but fast when seasoned, and may spit.
HAZEL: Good. has many other uses so you might not want to burn it
HAWTHORN: burns VERY hotly. This is a top timber but is slow to dry
HORNBEAM: Good, burns well
MAPLES: Good or bad! Depends on variety. Sycamore is a maple
OAK: Dry oak is excellent for heat, burning slowly and steadily. Season for 2-3 years.
PINES: Burn with a splendid flame, but apt to spit. Needs to be well seasoned. Give off a large number of resins.
PLANE: Burns pleasantly, but is apt to throw sparks if very dry.
RHODODENDRON: Thick old stems, being very tough, burn well.
ROWAN: Burns well
These woods are not recommended for use in wood burners
CHESTNUT: shoots embers. little flame, little heat.
DOUGLAS FIR: Poor. Little flame or heat.
ELDER: Mediocre. Very smoky. Quick burner, low heat.
ELM: Must be dry to use. Even then it smokes. more water than wood.
LABURNUM: Totally poisonous tree, acrid smoke, taints food. AVOID
LARCH: Crackles and spits, scented, heat fair, leaves oily soot in flue
LIME: Poor. Burns with dull flame.
POPLARS: Burn slowly with little heat – but make excellent matchsticks.
ROBINIA (Acacia): Burns slowly, good heat, acrid smoke. use with care
SPRUCE: Burns very quickly and with many sparks.
SWEET CHESTNUT: burns well but sends out sparks. Only use in stove with door closed!
SYCAMORE: Burns with a good flame and gives off moderate heat ... Useless when green.
WILLOW: Poor. GMC may be 200%. Willows must be dried to use and even then it burns slowly with little flame. Apt to spark.
I am obliged to Quora for the following which has been tailor edited for this article:- "A fully grown oak tree can transpire 40,000 gallons of water per year. Water is used during growth and is absolutely essential for tree metabolism. H2O is split in to H+ and OH- elements and both are used to manufacture complex organic compounds". Precisely how much water is thus utilized remains uncertain as of 2024, but transpiration experiments suggest 5% is a reasonable guesstimate in that 95% of water taken up from soil passes right through and is transpired back to the atmosphere. A typical tall tree about 100 years old takes up between 75 and 150 gallons of water a day.
Water will continuously evaporate from the tissues of felled timber until the contained water is balanced by the humidity of the surrounding air. At that moment it has reached its Equilibrium Moisture Content. Although EMC is both changeable and variable, 30% EMC is ballpark for the British Isles and wood above about 22% EMC will not be dry enough to fire properly. Living trees contain extraordinary amounts of water and the amount varies by variety and the ground under them. Moisture content varies from season to season in standing timber and also varies between different parts of the tree.
get in here and write the article about the felled tree and the planted saplings 15thOct24
Heat wasted in evaporating contained water causes stoves [and campfires!] to give off less radiant heat. The fire burns cooler and emits more smoke. This smoke causes a build-up of creosote in flues and solid particulates in surrounding air. This matters hugely in canal boats. Creosotes boil about 230ºC and flue temperature should be higher than 230º which in itself is a useful indication as to the minimum temperature for running a stove. At this point it is salient to note that charcoal comes with less than 1% contained water. Carbon (from Latin carbo 'coal') is a chemical element; symbol C atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent.
Freshly felled wood retains considerable (and measurable) quantities of water which is calculated as a percentage of the "Oven Dry Weight". Green Moisture Content indicates how dry the timber is at felling and during seasoning. GMC ranges between 30% and 200%. Between these extremes GMC depends on age when felled, species, growing conditions and the length of a piece of string.
Mature eucalyptus camaldulensis typically returns 45-50% GMC at felling which is MUCH too high for burning. A WARNING ... (Eucalyptus is not for indoor use; Bark and leaves give off toxic fumes!) ... although properly seasoned it is excellent for outdoor barbies due to the high oil content of the wood, Once the wood moisture content equalises with its surroundings it will contain about 10-15% water.
Above 25% most woods burn inefficiently, generate smoke and give poor heat. Wood periodically dampened (ie not specifically protected from rain!) dries quicker than wood in a dry environment. Surface dampness keeps cellular pathways open and moisture moves to the surface by osmosis, where it evaporates more easily during dry days. Thus, it dries more quickly and stays dry out in the weather than if stored indoors. Having said that of course once it is down to ODC it will stay drier inside but only by a tiny margin
ODC Oven Dry Weight indicates totally dry timber such as carpenters and joiners would use. Totally dry timber is deemed to contain no water though this is not always the case and depends on various factors such as species, age, the merchant who sold it before it was fully seasoned and the long-term humidity of its storage point.
It has been determined that a cubic metre of freshly felled oak contains over half a metric tonne (540L) of water. Water is held in the cellular structure of wood, which is made up of cell cavities and cell walls. 'Free' water is held in the cavities and 'bound' water in the walls.
There is no calorific difference between timber types based only on the Oven Dry Weight. But denser timber burns longer because of its higher calorific density. The only consideration for burning wood is that it should be as dry as possible.
If a tree is felled in winter, MINIMUM moisture content will be over 50% and, if felled in summer figures like 200% have been recorded for the wettest species. 'Wettest' coincides with types found by rivers and canals: poplars, willows, alders.
By splitting logs and/or cutting them to short lengths, drying rate is accelerated. But it is still going to take many months rather than few weeks. Cutting in winter when the sap has dropped into the roots is a good idea. The reason wood needs drying out is that when you put a log into a fire all the moisture must be driven off before the wood will burn because it must use heat from the fire to drive out all the moisture and sometimes it uses ALL the heat!
But there's a further problem
Wet/damp/moist wood will not burn cleanly. It will pollute the air with "solid particulates" and deposit corrosive tar in the flue creating future fire risk if the user later learns how to max the heat.
How dry the wood needs to be to burn well will vary from stove to stove, but the highest moisture content should be less than 30%. 20% is acceptable. 15% is ideal.
Drying to 30% usually happens within a year, 20% within two years and in ideal conditions those times may be halved.
How long it takes dry depends on how the wood is dealt with. Ideally it should be split as soon as possible, stored off the ground outside in a place where air can circulate through and stacked to avoid waterlogging. Vertical is good.
SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS OF TIMBERS
APPLE: Splendid. burns slowly and steadily when well seasoned, with little flame, but good heat. malus genera are all good
ASH: Excellent burning wood; in flame and heat, can burn while green due to low 50% GMC. Ash trees shed smaller and larger dead branches which gather underneath the tree. Dying before drying, these twigs and branches make great firing because of their very low GMC.
CEDARS: good only when seasoned.
little flame. much heat, beautiful scent.
CHERRY: Slow burner with good heat. scented and does not spit.
HOLLY: Good heat, will burn when green, but best when let dry a few months.
PEAR: Slow and steady, good heat
and a good scent.
PLUM: Good heat and scent.
WALNUT: Good heat and scent.
Aromatic wood!
YEW: Among the best. burns slowly,
with fierce heat and the scent is pleasant.
LESS DESIRABLE TIMBERS
ALDER: Opinion varies re usefulness, works best well seasoned and that takes time to dry because by nature it grows in swamps.
BEECH: Best when it is well seasoned. Fell beech for a future year.
BIRCH: Good heat, quick burn, bright flame. Nice smell. Works best when mixed with slow burners like pear cherry plum.
CYPRESS: Burns well but fast when seasoned, and may spit.
HAZEL: Good. has many other uses so you might not want to burn it
HAWTHORN: burns VERY hotly. This is a top timber but is slow to dry
HORNBEAM: Good, burns well
MAPLES: Good or bad! Depends on variety. Sycamore is a maple
OAK: Dry oak is excellent for heat, burning slowly and steadily. Season for 2-3 years.
PINES: Burn with a splendid flame, but apt to spit. Needs to be well seasoned. Give off a large number of resins.
PLANE: Burns pleasantly, but is apt to throw sparks if very dry.
RHODODENDRON: Thick old stems, being very tough, burn well.
ROWAN: Burns well
These woods are not recommended for use in wood burners
CHESTNUT: shoots embers. little flame, little heat.
DOUGLAS FIR: Poor. Little flame or heat.
ELDER: Mediocre. Very smoky. Quick burner, low heat.
ELM: Must be dry to use. Even then it smokes. more water than wood.
LABURNUM: Totally poisonous tree, acrid smoke, taints food. AVOID
LARCH: Crackles and spits, scented, heat fair, leaves oily soot in flue
LIME: Poor. Burns with dull flame.
POPLARS: Burn slowly with little heat – but make excellent matchsticks.
ROBINIA (Acacia): Burns slowly, good heat, acrid smoke. use with care
SPRUCE: Burns very quickly and with many sparks.
SWEET CHESTNUT: burns well but sends out sparks. Only use in stove with door closed!
SYCAMORE: Burns with a good flame and gives off moderate heat ... Useless when green.
WILLOW: Poor. GMC may be 200%. Willows must be dried to use and even then it burns slowly with little flame. Apt to spark.
