Wood needs to be dried out before it can beused efficiently as firewood. Drying out firewood can be achieved through theseasoning process, which helps to naturally lower the moisture content of woodover time.
The seasoning process for firewood can belengthy, and so how long should firewoodbe seasoned before burning?
The timeit takes for firewood to season can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years,depending on a number of variables such as the starting moisture content of thewood, how well the wood is stacked and covered, and the climate. Firewoodshould be seasoned for at least 6 months before checking its moisture content.
We’ve discussed how long firewood should beseasoned for in more detail in the rest of this article, as well as explainingwhat affects how quickly wood seasons and how you can speed up your seasoningprocess.
How Long Should Firewood Be Seasoned?
In order for wood to burn effectively on afire it must be dried out to sufficiently low moisture levels.
The main method for drying out your ownfirewood is through the seasoningprocess, where wood is left outside to dry out naturally over an extendedperiod of time.
The time it takes for wood to fully season(dry out to recommended moisture levels) can vary between each situation, andthere are a number of factors that can influence how long the seasoning processtakes.
These factors can include the:
- Species of tree.
- Time of year the wood is cut.
- Starting moisture content ofthe wood.
- Time of year the seasoningprocess starts.
- How well the firewood isstacked.
- Whether the firewood isproperly covered over.
- How well the firewood is leftopen to the atmosphere and the weather.
- Whether the wood is stacked offthe ground or placed on a dry platform.
- Weather throughout theseasoning process.
All of the above factors can contribute tohow long it takes for wood to reach low enough moisture levels that It willburn efficiently in your fires.
TypeOf Wood
The type of wood can dictate both the startingmoisture content of wood and how long the seasoning process can take.
Hardwoods from deciduous trees, such as Oakor Ash, can typically take a longer period of time to dry out than softwoodlogs from evergreen trees, such as Pine.
Deciduous trees can take longer to growthan coniferous trees, and this leads to logs that are typically denser. Denserhardwood logs can therefore take a longer time to dry out compared to lessdense softwood logs.
Softwoodlogs being seasoned under the right conditions candry out after 6 months.
Hardwoodlogs being seasoned under the right conditions candry out to recommended moisture levels within a year.
Although hardwood logs can take a longertime to fully season, they have a number of benefits over softwood logs whenused as firewood. As hardwood logs can be denser, they can:
- Last longer on a fire.
- Produce more heat from each logburnt.
- Produce a cleaner burn leadingto less smoke being produced and less creosote being deposited.
TimeOf Year Wood Is Cut
Natural moisture content levels of woodwill vary throughout the year. Moisture levels will be higher during the springand summer seasons and be lower during the winter months.
The starting moisture content of wood willplay a role in how long it takes for the wood to dry out. The higher thestarting moisture level, the further the wood is away from recommended moisturelevels for firewood, and the longer it will take for the wood to dry out.
It’s therefore preferable to cut woodduring winter when moisture levels are at their lowest, and start the seasoningprocess in early spring.
The moisture content of ‘green’ wood candiffer between species. We cut a branch from one of the deciduous trees on ourproperty in late winter and tested its moisture content with our moisturemeter.
The moisture reading for this particularpiece of wood was 35%.
We also cut a piece of wood from the sametree in early spring and the moisture reading for this piece of wood showed 45%.
The Environmental Protection Agency recommends that firewood burns best at between 15% and 20% moisture content.
The piece of wood with the lower statingmoisture content would therefore have taken less time to season compared to thepiece of wood with the 10% higher moisture content. This could have added acouple of months to the seasoning process before the wetter wood would havebeen dry enough to use as firewood.
As the length of time required to seasonfirewood varies between each situation, using a moisture meter is the best wayto keep track of how well your wood is drying.
We’d highly recommend getting a moisturemeter if you don’t already have one. It will allow you to understand how wellyour firewood is seasoning and will help to ensure that you’re only burningproperly seasoned logs.
You can view our recommended moisture meters right here.
HowWell Setup The Firewood Is To Be Seasoned
Another aspect of how long firewood shouldbe seasoned for is how well it has been setup.
In order for wood to dry out effectively,at least one side of the stack should be left open to the atmosphere.
The key players that progress seasoning ofthe wood are the sun and the wind.By leaving one side of the wood stack open it allows the wind to dry out thewood throughout the year, even in winter, and the sun to help dry thewood more quickly during the summer months.
Here’s how we season our firewood:
We season our firewood stacked up againstthe back of our garage, which allows the wood to get the sun and the wind allyear round.
Our firewood is also placed in a concreteplatform. This helps to prevent moisture from the ground from seeping back upinto the lower layers of logs.
Placing your wood off the ground or on adry platform will help the wood to season and prevent it from going bad.
Seasoning firewood should also be placedunder a form of cover to help protect it from the majority of rain and snow.Our firewood is covered thanks to an overhang from the adjacent structure.
You can also use a sheet of tarpaulin tohelp cover your wood for seasoning, but the stack must not be fully covered andshould remain open on one side.
Can Firewood BeSeasoned For Too Long?
Due to the humidity of the atmospherefirewood will always retain some level of moisture and therefore can’t beoverseasoned.
Firewood can’t be seasoned for too long andsimply leaving firewood in the same place for a longer period of time once ithas fully seasoned won’t bring down the moisture content any further.
Once firewood has properly seasoned down toit’s lowest moisture content level then it won’t dry out any further, and cansimply remain where it is as storage.
If firewood is seasoned for too long in thewrong conditions then it can cause the wood to go bad and rot rather thanremain well-seasoned firewood.
If firewood is left seasoning for a longerperiod of time then it’s important to ensure that the wood remains dry.Constant contact with moisture will cause the wood to become unusable for use asfirewood.
To help keep firewood dry during theseasoning process and to remain dry once the wood has been seasoned and left inplace:
- Keep the wood raised off anymoist ground or placed on a dry platform.
- Leave at least one side of thestack open to the weather elements.
- Place the logs under some sortof cover such as an overhang.
Further Reading
How To Check The Moisture Content Of Firewood
Does Firewood Season In The Winter?
How To Tell If Firewood Is Seasoned
