Question regarding firewood drying time

Question

After I cut up a live tree into firewood, what is the amount of drying time required before it is ready to be used?

I heard that one year should do the trick

Answer 1

Depends on the local climate, how you dry it, whether you split it, and what you are burning it in.

Pulling a piece from the pile, splitting it, and using a moisture meter on the freshly-split face is a typical approach of careful woodburners checking on moisture content. Folks that know what they are doing and who use gasifying woodburners tend to be picky about moisture content as it can negatively impact the clean and efficient burn they are looking for.

Unsplit dries slower than split. Unroofed dries slower than roofed. Tarped over dries slowly if at all (no air movement.) Actively solar heated (with vents) dries faster than not. Stuff dried in a climate with a low dew point dries faster than stuff dried in a climate with a high dew point...

In many places, 1 year is not really enough with typical firewood storage practices. In other places or with other practices, it can be sufficient.

Answer 2

Mostly depends on the type of wood.I its 16to18in and split 1 year is plenty of time to dry as long as its under cover.Go ahead and stack it,it will get plenty of air.Thers only a few speices that would require a little longer drying time.Hardwoods are desired

Answer 3

Depends on when you cut it, and how you treat it afterwards, and what your climate is like -- tends to have much higher moisture in the summer, but leaving the leaves on will reduce that.

As an example: We cut northeastern hardwoods in the winter. We buck them reasonably quickly, and leave them in a well-ventilated pile with a cover to keep the rain off for 3-6 months until checks form in the wood. We then split it and put it into a well-ventilated pile until the following winter. Final seasoning is accomplished by having it sit in the basement for 2-3 weeks; better quality is obtained by letting it season for another year.