Know Your Firewood- Moisture Meter Test-Part 2

How do you know if your firewood is ready to burn? What can you do to test it to find out? When you purchase firewood, what should you look for? Woody from Obadiah's Woodstove's shows you some tricks to help you over the learning curve so you too can burn wood like a pro. Avoid chimney fires from Creosote build up in your chimney. Protect your home and family with a few key tricks before you burn. *NOTE* WE WILL BE DOING A REVISION TO THIS VIDEO. THE PROPER WAY TO TEST YOUR WOOD WITH A MOISTURE METER IS FROM THE SIDE, NOT THE ENDS.

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People & Blogs

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• Firewood
• Cordwood
• Fire Wood
• Cord Wood
• Burning Wood
• How To Burn Wood
• How to Burn Firewood
• How To Burn Cord Wood
• How To Use A Woodstove
• Woodstoves
• Wood Stoves
• Wood Cookstoves
• Wood Cook Stoves
• Burning Wood Safely
• Survival
• Remote Living
• Using A Moisture Meter
• Testing Firewood.

[hass008]

Opening splits to check the inside moisture is always a good idea... On rounds they can sit for 5+ years, the outside will be colorlesss and cracked with minimal moisture, but it inside will be as wet as the day it was cut. 4% ends and 40% inside is definitely possible on a round or a big split. Nice video though, definitely gets people going in the right direction. I also like that you didn't say that 5% is TOO dry to burn in a wood stove like some dummies say!

[WoodyChain]

@hass008 Thanks, I appreciate a little encouragement for doing these, but I sure don't know everything, the older I get, it seems the less I really know. Especially all these gosh darn newfangled gadgets:)

You'd think that maybe they'd give you a little better instructions when you buy a Firewood Meter.

Chinglish.....

Thanks again for your encouragement.

[WoodyChain]

OK Nate, I went out and tested my wood your way, you are correct. there is a big difference in testing from the side of the log instead of the end. On my really dry logs, no difference. On a log that was outside, about 10% difference.

I'm sorry, as a Journeymen Carpenter/Joiner for the last 35yrs, you'd think I'd know how to test wood for moisture, in the shop we would stick the probes in the ends, so that was how I was trained.

I bought this one for this video, normally, I don't use a meter.

[WoodyChain]

If you had a chunk of wood with 40% moisture inside and 4% on the the ends, I would be amazed! It would have had to just come out of the oven.

You would generally be able to tell the difference in the moisture content of the log, just by the weight. If your still not sure, do the crack test. If you want to it Nate's way, re-split every log and test it in the middle. Better yet, forget the stupid moisture meter, we'll let Nate do those videos.

[nate379]

If you are going to do a "how to" video, please show how to do it correctly. To correctly measure the moisture you would split the piece and measure on the face of the split, not at the end. You could have a piece with 40% moisture toward the center but be 4% at the end... it would NOT be seasoned enough to properly burn!

[WoodyChain]

Yes this is true, except in this case my intent was not to split hairs on which way is the best way to test the moisture content of firewood, but to simply show folks the different ways to check their firewood. Someone someplace always has a better idea on how to do something,

Instead of criticizing someone maybe you could contribute instead. A simple comment like, "you can also split the wood and check from the center and receive a more accurate reading", would suffice.

[Trvlrxxx]

You can a decent one at Lowe's called the "General" for $30.

[RTGRiCLuTcH]

What brand of moisture meter are you using and how much was it and where did you get it thanks?