Helpful or Not to Bring Green Wood inside Cellar & Rank to Quicken Dry Time ?

[H60 Hawk Pilot]

Just Checking for Advice on trying to Quicked the Dry Time of (oak & locust mostly) Green Wood.

I'm heading (from FL) to PA to live this Winter; was not my planning to live in PA this winter but family matters come first.

I have a Big Cellar and walk out entrance. I have enough dry wood to do me for about a month and heat with a coal & wood broiler furnace.

My Idea.... bring in the Green Wood and rank it three ranks and leave space between the ranks. The temperature would be around 70 to 75 degrees in the cellar.  I'd try a couple sticks of green wood mixed in with the dry stuff when the fire was hot.

Has anyone done this before.. tried to dry their wood quicker by placing it in a warm building ?

I hate to go out & buy wood when I have 158 acre's of it, it would hurt my heart to buy firewood at any price.

Thanks'

Avery

[Jasperfield]

The firewood will certainly improve by just being in a dry place, not to mention the heat.

You'll need to keep an eye on the humidity level in the basement. The moisture has to go somewhere.

[beenthere]

Will also help to split it to smaller size too.
But there are no easy answers. 

[breederman]

Alot of green wood in the basement may make the house smell like fire wood. It is hard work throwing it all back out again! ;)

[H60 Hawk Pilot]

I did not think about the fire wood smell of green wood nor moisture build up in the cellar.

I have a dehumidifier that I could use but do not have a moisture problem in the basement at present but not drying wood there either.  The cabin is built on ten ft. high blocks and nice concrete floor. I could bring in a smaller amount of wood, say 3/4 cord or so and see what happens.

Also, considering standing some wood on end by the furnace to pick up the surface heat off the big furnance. I'm retired now and have lot's of time on my hand and trying this or that is on my day to day menu.

I'll use coal for the night fire to hold/ keep the heat till morning. The house has a (tied in) in oil fired broiler to heat with and was intended as the primary system. I'm dead set against $2.XX per gal. heating oil. I'll buy a 100 gal's. of oil for leaving the place for a few days but that's it for burning oil to heat this place !

I never lived in this cabin (house size) and inspected the heating system 3 weeks ago. The house has a lot of busted pipes that were busted on purpose by the people that lived in there before (done on purpose); another story and not for the FF to hear.

Thanks' for the input's, did not think about smell (my smeller works only 50% at 62)  &  humidty factor.  Maybe that big wood & coal furnance would counter act the humidty in the basement. When a furnace that size is cranked up.... it throws off a lot of surface heat as well.  

Next year, I'd like to install a outside heating system and think this place is a perfect choice. The cabin setting is right in the middle of 46 acre's of pine and some hard wood tree's.

Thanks'

[John Mc]

Oak is one of the worst to try to get to dry quickly. It starts with a lot of moisture, and holds on to it more than other species. My first suggestion is to start with some other species (any standing dead trees you can cut that aren't already rotten?)

The shorter you cut the pieces, and the smaller you split them, the quicker they will dry

The key to fast drying is warm temperatures to drive the moisture out of the wood, and air flow to carry the moisture away. Your cellar sounds as though it has the warmth. I doubt it has the air flow.

I don't know if I'd try bringing 3/4 of a cord into a small enclosed warm space. There is a lot of water in that wood. A fresh cut cord of black locust or white oak has several hundred gallons of water to lose before it's down to optimal burning range. Maybe you've already lost some of that water, but it's still not going to be a trivial amount. A lot of moisture in a warm, not so well ventilated place is a recipe for mold problems. In a pinch, I've been known to put a few days worth near my furnace or wood stove, but I try not to go much beyond that.

If you are set on burning wood this winter, and you don't have anything standing dead that you can cut up, consider buying some wood (as much as it pains you) and saving what you have for next season... properly stored, you'll have some good stuff to burn by then. It will also help you stay ahead of the game ... so you can cut your wood a year ahead of time, rather than scrambling for it at the last minute.

Something to keep in mind: burning green wood is going to form creosote at a faster rate. Keep an eye on your chimney - you may need to clean it out partway through the season. I'd hate to see you lose the place to a chimney fire!

John

[H60 Hawk Pilot]

John Mc

Your Advice is on the Money.

I have a lot of tree's that are dead... several locust that blew over in a wind storm, down for over two years. Some of the tree's are right along the road and have been dead for quite some time, big ones too. I had thse dead tree's ear marked as my 1st choice to cut. 

The creosote issue is something I'm aware of and >> flu fires's can take the house down. I have a good chimley cleaning brush set at home and going to clean the chimley and inspect it with a good light.  I think a mix in of a little green (dead trees) wood with the good stuff will get me there. I'm using one month old oak here in FL in a fire place and having decent luck. I don't see any smoke (to speak of)  use dry stuff and then stick in a green stick or two, it's all split to around 3 to 4 inches. 

Thank's John Mc

[WH_Conley]

Bring a couple of days worth at a time, say 2 days worth, every day, if the smell/moisture is too much, slow down.

[Den Socling]

Locust and white oak are about the toughest wood to get dry. Even standing dead.

Warming up dead wood can introduce bugs.

Burning green wood is not only difficult, it's inefficient. The water in the wood uses some of the heat to evaporate.

Just a couple things I've been thinking about.

[John Mc]

I have a lot of tree's that are dead... several locust that blew over in a wind storm, down for over two years. Some of the tree's are right along the road and have been dead for quite some time, big ones too. I had these dead trees ear marked as my 1st choice to cut. 

Tree length logs will not dry as quickly as those that have been bucked to stove length, but at least it will give you a start over green trees... and maybe two years is enough.

One thing to watch out for: if the trees are in ground contact, they may not have dried much at all (they can tend to wick moisture up out of the ground), or they may have started rotting (though both Oak and Locust tend to be rather rot resistant). I'd look first for standing dead trees, or for trees where the terrain or branches held most of the trunk up off the ground.

[red oaks lumber]

back before outside wood stoves, i would cut and split in the fall my wood supply throw it in the basement stack it up about 15 ricks have a fan blowing in the direction of the wood, never had any problems with moisture ,bugs ,smell nothing. the big thing with wood stoves in the basement it makes your whole house very dry so any moisture just dissapers fast.
thats just my own experiance for what its worth..

[barbender]

My experience has been that indoor wood stoves really dry out a house, too dry. A lot of folks around here put green wood in their basements and let the stove dry it out. I'd just start with a smaller amount, maybe 1/2 cord, and put a box fan by it to keep the air moving. Then just keep an eye out for moisture.

[WH_Conley]

I have an Ashley wood/coal stove in the basement. Also have a large stainless pan on top of the stove. Evaporates 2 gallons of water in 24 hours, house is still on the dry side.