When you cut your own wood, you don’t always have the necessary stock for the winter. And damp wood is prohibited. So how can you speed up the drying time of your firewood?
Summary
Why is it important to have well-dried firewood?
In order to burn well and provide high heat output, firewood should have less than 20% moisture content. Beyond that, heat is lost (disappearing as water vapor), contributing to air pollution, and posing health problems.
In fact, green wood releases toxic fumes for the lungs when burned. And a freshly cut tree contains around 50% moisture.
Therefore, it is essential to dry your wood before using it when you cut it yourself, or to buy dry wood ready to use. In both cases, you will need to keep your wood dry.
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Keeping your firewood dry
Dry wood is good, but wood that remains dry is even better! To keep your wood dry, we recommend that you:
- Store your wood in a ventilated place: to keep your wood dry, store it in a ventilated area, protected from moisture.
- Space your logs properly: stack your logs in a way that allows air to circulate between them, to prevent potential mold (and toxic fumes). To do this, evenly space them by crossing your rows.
- Elevate your wood stack: avoid placing your wood pile directly on the ground; use a clean and dry wooden pallet to elevate your wood and let it breathe.
- Protect your wood stack: if you store your firewood outdoors, protect it from rain with a tarp, but allow air to pass through the sides!
Speeding up the drying of your wood
Depending on its type, <strong freshly cut wood can take between 12 to 24 months to dry, or even 36 months for oak. Hardwoods (recommended for their high heat output) will take the longest to dry, followed by softwoods, and finally resinous woods: the fastest, but unfortunately not recommended as firewood.
If you don’t have a dryer or drying oven, you can naturally reduce the drying time of your wood by cutting it to the right dimensions.
Indeed, the thicker the wood, the longer it takes to dry.
Choose logs between 25 and 40 cm in length to promote drying, and place them as close as possible to your fireplace, 50 cm away from the fire to avoid any risk of fire. Finally, a ventilated solar greenhouse can be a good investment if you need a large quantity of wood for the winter.
- Preparing your firewood for winter
- Applicable regulations on the sale of firewood
