How dry can seasoned logs get?

[Stereo]

Isn't it a fact though that a well seasoned log will dry out again quicker then a freshly felled one? Kind of irrelevant to the discussion but once you have your logs properly dry, it only takes a couple days stacked somewhere warm to drop the MC right down again which is different than a freshly felled log. That's my experience anyway.

[teepeeat]

unless wood is kept in a "dry" atmosphere, it will match the relitive humidity around it, remember it is a natural material, it will give up moisture to a drier enviroment, likewise it will take up moisture from a wetter one, forget moisture meters, if it rings when struck, it'll burn fine

 

Exactly.

No matter how dry you make your wood, if the custormer doesnt store it in some sort of controlled environment - and I dont think anybody is going to do that - it will adjust to current conditions.

Unless you are in a rush or dont have the space to store large quantities, kiln drying is a bit of a waste of energy me thinks.

Also find it difficult to see how it can give a decent return. At least a solar kiln uses free energy, but one that is powered - cant see it.

[mendiplogs]

Exactly.

No matter how dry you make your wood, if the custormer doesnt store it in some sort of controlled environment - and I dont think anybody is going to do that - it will adjust to current conditions.

Unless you are in a rush or dont have the space to store large quantities, kiln drying is a bit of a waste of energy me thinks.

Also find it difficult to see how it can give a decent return. At least a solar kiln uses free energy, but one that is powered - cant see it.

 

Hi Pete there you go mate your right in what you say thanks Jon

[MikeM]

Unless you are in a rush or dont have the space to store large quantities, kiln drying is a bit of a waste of energy me thinks.

Also find it difficult to see how it can give a decent return. At least a solar kiln uses free energy, but one that is powered - cant see it.

 

The return on imported kiln dried hardwood comes from low wages, low raw material costs and high prices based on a customer belief that the product is superior. I am sure it has its place in the market, but it should be promoted on the basis of fact not fiction and not by untruthfully running down the competition. This was my starting point in this thread.

 

I am a high volume user of logs, having switched from oil as my primary heat source. However despite environmental benefits if wood costs me more than oil I might as well switch back.

 

Currently I buy in volume and process for myself, but as I get older and without labour saving equipment this becomes less attractive and it is hard to source the raw material. Most wood cut round here is softwood, which I am continiously told is an inferior product as a heat source. It either ends up being transported on the back of subsidies to co-firing power stations to meet pointless government targets, or shaved up for high quality horse bedding, which is exported round the world.

 

Surely if wood has a real and sustainable place in the energy marketplace it needs to be produced and used close to source, be a competatively priced and good quality product which is marketed on a level playing field.

[cornish wood burner]

Isn't it a fact though that a well seasoned log will dry out again quicker then a freshly felled one? Kind of irrelevant to the discussion but once you have your logs properly dry, it only takes a couple days stacked somewhere warm to drop the MC right down again which is different than a freshly felled log. That's my experience anyway.

I would agree with this to a certain extent depending on the definition of warm. What surprises me is the comments about misleading people and then talking about MC in single figures or very low teens, presumably not kiln dried but going from a meter. If you suggest these sort of figures to your customers without verification are you not as guilty as the OP's importer?

[Logsnstuff]

I would agree with this to a certain extent depending on the definition of warm. What surprises me is the comments about misleading people and then talking about MC in single figures or very low teens, presumably not kiln dried but going from a meter. If you suggest these sort of figures to your customers without verification are you not as guilty as the OP's importer?

 

so are you saying all meters are wrong and the only way to give a moisture reading is to put it in an oven? I use 2 meters a £10 aldi and a £400 delmhorst and I show the customers the readings using 2 meters to me is verification, theres generally a 2% difference between the 2 meters.

 

If you think the advert is false I would say go ahead and report, the firewood industry is becoming so bad because nobody wants to report anything and the amount of people on here admitting they work for cash or beer money without fear of reprisals is quite amazing.

 

we are very reluctant to take cash payments and I'd say 99% of our customers now pay bank transfer and the rest are cheques, we get maybe 3 or 4 people a year who don't pay within a couple of days, also saves us arguing with traffic wardens when were trying to pay in at the bank.

[cornish wood burner]

Logsnstuff what I am saying is meters can be inaccurate and also will vary with how hard the spikes are pushed into the wood.

We sometimes buy chip in for our biomass boiler so we need to know accurately what the MC is. The meter I use for chip reads right between 25 and 35%. Above and below this band it reads drier than the wood actually is. I have checked it with microwave and scales many times so I know what to allow to obtain a fairly accurate MC.

Round wood is a different ball game. We use about 3000 tons of soft wood a year and after a couple of years stacked on a windy site at the end of the summer it gets down to about 25%, slab wood goes down to about 18% . Winter both rise about 5%. However I can get several % difference depending how far and where the spikes are pushed into the wood. Therefore I am suggesting we calibrate our meters and operating method.

I can see all here try to sell a quality product and it must be frustrating to be undercut by the beer money brigade but if you demonstrate to your customer that the MC of your logs is better than the completion then you should be confident in the accuracy of your meter and method.

[White Noise]

An average of 2 / 3% increase in moisture from my summer time reading of 19 / 20 % all barn stored .

[muldonach]

unless wood is kept in a "dry" atmosphere, it will match the relitive humidity around it, remember it is a natural material, it will give up moisture to a drier enviroment, likewise it will take up moisture from a wetter one, forget moisture meters, if it rings when struck, it'll burn fine

 

No it will not - moisture content in wood is an absolute figure - e.g. a Kg of wood at 30% moisture content is 700g wood and 300g water

 

Relative humidity is a measure of how much moisture air contains relative the the amount it can hold at its present temperature, the absolute amount of moisture air contains varies greatly with air temperature.

 

If the wood at 30% is at or about the same temperature as the sirrounding air it will continue to pass moisture to the air at any relative humidity of less than 100% - although the lower the relavive humidity of the air the faster the evaporation will take place.

[Mortimer Firewood]

No it will not - moisture content in wood is an absolute figure - e.g. a Kg of wood at 30% moisture content is 700g wood and 300g water

 

Relative humidity is a measure of how much moisture air contains relative the the amount it can hold at its present temperature, the absolute amount of moisture air contains varies greatly with air temperature.

 

If the wood at 30% is at or about the same temperature as the sirrounding air it will continue to pass moisture to the air at any relative humidity of less than 100% - although the lower the relavive humidity of the air the faster the evaporation will take place.

 

That might be the science but it's not the reality.

Wood takes back in moister over the winter months!