Blackcomb Installation and Operation Manual
15
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.
You could buy a wood moisture meter to test your
firewood.
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 use caution in the number of these logs burned at one 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.
