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Solution 3.4 Installation and Operation Manual
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 be careful
burning too much of these logs at the same 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.
