How Do You Know When Firewood Is Properly Seasoned?

If you heat your residence with wood, you most likely spend lots of time planning for winter. It’s a year-long job since firewood necessitates anywhere from six to twenty-four months to dry out.

Late winter and early spring are perfect times to cut and store firewood for the upcoming year. It lets the wood dry over the summertime, making it well-seasoned for the wintertime.

If you’re new to burning firewood as a heat source for your house, you might not have thought so far in advance. Regardless if you have to buy wood from a business that specializes in tree services or you plan to cut your own, it’s vital to properly season wood before using it.

Burning green wood can be lethal. It makes lots of smoke and may create a harmful creosote buildup over time. You have to know when wood is correctly seasoned. It will help you accurately and safely heat your home.

How do you know when firewood is properly seasoned?
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• Color. Over time color fades. Seasoned wood is less vivid than green wood.
• Shape. Splitting wood hurries up the drying process. If you want the wood to burn shortly, you want to buy wood that’s been cut: logs and unsplit firewood that are touching the dirt or near the center of the woodpile don’t dry out too much.
• Weight. As firewood dries, it loses its moistness and gets lighter. Softwoods possess great moisture content when they are green so that the weight difference will be more noticeable than hardwood varieties.
• Hardness. Drying wood becomes stiffer, making it harder to dent or split. Dry wood is more compacted and sturdier than green wood.
• Sound. When wood is wet, it makes a dull thud when hitting another piece. Dry wood makes a hollow sound when pieces bump together.
• Smell. Green wood has a robust aroma. The scent will be contingent on the tree type. As the wood dries, the sappy scent fades to a woody smell.
• Split test. Aside from being difficult to split, dry pieces of wood will be dry on the inside. You can test the moisture level of a piece of firewood by cutting it open to see

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​A local tree arborist can help you identify the trees in your yard and which trees might work best as firewood, contact us today.

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