When it comes to finding the best wood for your stove, you should have a good working knowledge of the various woods available, and what your preference is. You should also have a preference on whether to use seasoned wood or kiln dried wood.
But do you know the difference?
The main difference between seasoned wood or kiln dried wood actually very is very little. Technically well-seasoned logs should be dried to below 20% moisture content.
However, although some sellers may try and tell you the wood is well seasoned, this sadly is not always the case. You will be able to know if “well-seasoned” fire wood is not that well-seasoned if it struggles to burn, and leaves a blackened window on your stove.
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What is Kiln Drying?
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Kiln drying is the process of drying wood in a kiln. It is an artificial yet highly effective way of quickly drying out logs. Wood takes between 4 days and a week to be dried with this method. The process of kiln drying sucks the moisture from the wood, as opposed to seasoning, which can happen over 1 to 3+ years, where the wood will naturally release it’s moisture.
Kiln drying also kills insects during the process, it also requires little stacking space unlike when you season wood. Also with kiln drying, the moisture content of wood can be bought down to a specific level. However, the timber that has been kiln dried tends to be a little weaker when compared to air seasoned woods and of course costs more too.
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The Conclusion:
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There is no significant winner here. It’s all down to what you want as a stove owner. There are some significant advantages and disadvantages with both seasoned wood and kiln dried wood. From a commercial perspective kiln drying can be expensive but is very quick, and you can also select the level of moisture. However, it is not that environmentally friendly and the wood can be a little weaker too.
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Seasoned wood can take a very long time, and uses a lot of space. However, it is cheaper and much better for the environment than kiln drying. You can season wood yourself – all you need is some dry space, and of course wood and time. Even if you don’t season your own wood, you will tend to find buying ready-seasoned wood is slightly cheaper than kiln dried wood. To check the moisture level of wood you should use a moisture meter.
You can learn more about moisture meters here.
