Wood is still to this day one of the most common fuels. It’s used for many purposes, such as in stoves, ranges, open fires, chimineas, pizza ovens, camping stoves, grills, smokers, and power stations. Many populations around the world depend on firewood for their cooking and heating. Ireland has started to adopt firewood more and more over the last ten years. This move has come as turf supplies have dwindled and demand for stoves has skyrocketed. As we moved to wood, we discovered that all wood is not the same and we will take a closer look at it in this article.
Firewood
Wood has been used for all sorts of uses throughout the centuries, today though we will be focusing on firewood and not wood uses such as building material and other treated and industrial wood. When we talk about firewood, not all woods are great for burning it depends on the type of wood how it’s been dried, and sometimes the age of the wood all being determining factors in how it will burn generally for heat or cooking purposes.
There are various types of firewood used for burning purposes. But, the two most common types of firewood used worldwide are seasoned firewood and kiln-dried firewood. In this article, we’ll primarily focus on kiln-dried firewood and explain to you why it’s better than any other dried firewood. So, let’s get into it!
How Firewood is Produced
Firewood is simply wood that has been processed to be burned either in an outdoor or indoor place. It is untreated wood that has undergone a drying process, that reduces its moisture content. This is done either through natural or artificial processes. Most people consider firewood as a type of timber, but both are different from each other. Timer is treated wood cut to be used in the likes of buildings such as 2 by 4s for building purposes and not for burning purposes it’s been treated and may not be safe to burn.
Whereas firewood is an untreated hardwood cut into handy pieces (usually about one 10inchs long for the Irish market) and dried out. Firewood has been used worldwide and proved to be the most efficient renewable sold fuel. However, two types of firewood are commonly used; seasoned firewood and kiln-dried firewood. Below we’ve explained the difference:
Seasoned Firewood
Seasoned wood is any firewood that has been left to dry on its own. Yes, this type of seasoned wood is dried naturally through sunlight and air to eliminate moisture. To ensure that the seasoned wood is dried completely, it’s divided into smaller pieces and amounts (usually cut to 10inchs and staked in cubic meters). In this way, the surface area of every log increase; this makes the drying process bit faster.
Sunlight and air help to extract the moisture from the logs. The time that’s required for the wood logs to dry depends on the type of wood and on the environment as well. Which here in Ireland our three days of summer don’t do a great job of drying. Softer woods such as pine, cedar, and larch, usually requires less time, about 12-16 months. In comparison, hardwoods such as Oak, Hornbeam, Beech, take longer to dry, about 18-24 months. Some other Hardwoods such as Birch and Ash may dry a bit faster.
Kiln Dried Firewood
As its name suggests, kiln-dried firewood is a type of firewood that has been dried in a kiln. If you don’t know about kilns, here is a quick intro to the kiln: A kiln is a large oven or furnace like building or in some cases insulated shipping containers. This massive size commercial oven is used to dry and heat objects at high temperatures but on lower heat than a furnace. In firewood drying, the firewood logs are placed in a kiln that heats the wood logs at high temperatures (about 60°C – 100°C). In this way, the moisture is sucked out from the wood logs, making them ideal for burning.
Depending on needs, type of wood, and the capability of your kiln, it can take up to 4 to 6 days to remove the moisture from firewood (enough for burning). A typical un-treated greenwood is cut into handy-sized logs at the start of the kiln drying process, stacked into metal cages, and placed inside the kiln. The kiln consists of heating elements such as waste wood biomass boilers and fans that help speed up the drying process. They drive out the moisture from the wood through regular air circulation enabling most of the water in the firewood to be removed.
Kiln Dried Firewood Moisture Content
The Kiln Dried firewood always has a moisture level of less than 20% at least. In contrast, a standard green wood has a moisture level of at least 40%-60% not-ideal for burning purposes. However, in green woods, it depends on the area where the tree was grown, the type of wood, and many other factors play an important role in the moisture of green wood. The content of moisture in kiln firewood’s, makes them the ideal type of firewood ideal for any burning purpose as you get a consistent experience throughout.
Moreover, the moisture level in any firewood is important as the moisture level determines the efficiency of burning. According to the Environmental Protection Agency in the USA, efficient firewood should contain a maximum of 15%-20%, which will make the burning efficient and good for the environment. According to many tests, a typical moisture level in kiln dried firewood usually ranges from 14%-18%, ideal for burning purposes.
How to Know if Firewood is Kiln Dried
Practically speaking, you can never distinguish between a kiln-dried and a seasoned logs at first glance. However, there are some ways that you can use to know if your wood is wet, properly seasoned or kiln-dried: here’s some fun ways you can test for your self and one that we recommend for a proper and fair test to see if the logs are kiln dried this one, we will highlight for you.
Soap Water
Not sure if this really works and iv not tested it but it goes as follows.
To distinguish between Seasoned and kiln-dried firewood using soap water as a test. All you’ve to do is place a small amount of soapy water on one end of the log. Now put your mouth near the other end and blow air from your mouth through the log. If your wood is kiln-dried, you’ll see tiny bubbles. It’s because kiln dried firewood has a moisture content that is around 16%, the water evaporates, leaving enough space to let the air pass through the log.
Note: after this test, best to dry your log out before burning.
Sound Test
In this test, all you’ve to do is to bang the two firewood logs together. If your wood log is kiln-dried firewood, then the sound of bang will be hard and ringing. However, if you listen to this type of sound, most probably, the moisture level in your log is less than 17%, at least that can be only achieved through kiln drying. A seasoned Log or wet log has a moisture level of at least 20% or greater, and its sound will also be different, more of a clunk sound depending how et it is.
Weight Test
The weight test is the best test to be sure if your log is truly dried out.
The easiest way to know if your firewood log is kiln-dried or seasoned is through the weight test. However, it requires the use of a weighing scales and an oven. Since kiln-dried woods have the least amount of moisture as compared to any other types of wet or dried firewood. This why they are light in weight, since all the water evaporates, making the log light in weight. Whereas, seasoned dried woods, or green wood’s usually have higher weight as compared to kiln-dried firewood and there for will lose a good bit of weight when in the oven.
So now for the test, simply weigh the log write the figure down, and then put the log in an oven for at least 12 hours and then reweigh the log if the weight is similar to that of before then the log is kiln dried and more importantly still as dry as it was leaving the kiln.
Benefits of Kiln Dried Wood
Fast Drying
Kiln-dried wood only requires about 4-6 days to dry completely, whereas regular seasoned drying process requires an extra-long time to dry the wood correctly, over 18 months to 24 months. It’s because kiln-dried firewood is dried under a controlled environment. At the same time, Seasoned logs is dried in an natural setting which takes much longer to dry.
Ready to use
Kiln woods are ready to be used. All you’ve to do is purchase a bag or crate of kiln-dried firewood, hey presto you have a fire no hassle no fuss when lighting your fire. That’s it! You don’t require any additional steps to use them.
Low moisture
The best and most highlighted positive of kiln-dried wood is its low amount of moisture. Currently, there’s no other type of firewood that can achieve the level of moisture levels you can get through kilning. Typical commercial kiln firewood provides a moisture level of about 14%-18% maximum. This level of moisture is perfect for burning purposes. At the same time, Good quality seasoned logs are only dry to a moisture level of 20% – 25%, whereas wet logs or logs that have been badly seasoned will be greater than 25% which isn’t good enough for burning.
Emit Very little Smoke or By-products
In green woods or seasoned woods, the moisture caused in the logs prevents the wood from burning properly as the heat first evaporates the water. This reaction produces smoke and by-products that causes build up in your stoves, which are harmful to human lungs and the environment.
Burning Efficiency
Since these woods have low moisture, they burn with ease with less airflow which means they can burn for longer. Hence, you get better efficiency, low smoke emission, no by-products, extremely high heat output, and fewer ashes. In comparison, green or seasoned wood contains a high amount of moisture and produces all the side effects that we’ve mentioned above.
Conclusion
Kiln-dried firewood has always been an ideal source of wood energy. Unlike any other firewood, kiln-dried firewood provides maximum efficiency, un-harmful for the environment, and many other benefits. If you also need to buy some wood logs for your stove or other burning purposes, kiln-dried logs may be a perfect choice for you. If you’re looking for quality! kiln dried firewood is your best choice for burning. Check out our shop now to buy our premium quality kiln-dried firewood.
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