Judging Firewood Moisture Content; Manufactured Logs - Drolet Austral II DB03031 Installation And Operation Manual

Austral II Installation and Operation Manual

3.2.6 Judging Firewood Moisture Content

You can find out if some firewood is dry enough to burn by using these guidelines:
cracks form at the ends of logs as they dry,
•
as it dries in the sun, the wood turns from white or cream coloured to grey or yellow,
•
• bang two pieces of wood together; seasoned wood sounds hollow and wet wood
sounds dull,
dry wood is much lighter in weight than wet wood,
•
• split a piece, and if the fresh face feels warm and dry it is dry enough to burn; if it feels
damp, it is too wet,
burn a piece; wet wood hisses and sizzles in the fire and dry wood does not.
•

3.3 Manufactured Logs

Do not burn manufactured logs made of wax impregnated sawdust or logs with any
chemical additives. Manufactured logs made of 100% compressed sawdust can be
burned, but be careful burning too much of these logs at the same time. Start with one
manufactured log and see how the stove reacts. You can increase the number of logs
burned at a time to making sure the temperature never rises higher than 475 °F (246 °C)
on a magnetic thermometer for installation on single wall stove pipes or 900 °F (482 °C) on
a probe thermometer for installation on double wall stove pipe. The thermometer should
be placed about 18" (457 mm) above the stove. Higher temperatures can lead to overheat
and damage your stove.
14
You could buy a wood moisture meter to test your
firewood.