How Long Does Firewood Take to Dry?
If you want to collect and burn your own firewood, you need to know how long does firewood take to dry and how to tell when firewood is seasoned properly. Seasoning firewood takes anywhere between six months and two years. Once fully seasoned, this firewood looks and feels different and burns far more efficiently.
What is Seasoned Firewood?
Seasoned firewood is wood that has been left out to air dry. Fresh wood, or green wood, has a moisture content of up to 50%. Once the wood has been seasoned, it should have a moisture content closer to 20%.
In order to dry your firewood in bundles, it should first be cut into manageable chunks of about 10 inches. These logs are then stored under a cover to keep the elements out. Not only does seasoning firewood lower the moisture content, but it prevents the wood from going moldy.
Seasoned firewood uses far less energy to burn. This means that more energy goes directly into heating you and also burning more cleanly. If you are using a stove or fireplace, seasoned firewood gives a cleaner burn, releasing the creosotes and resins better, and preventing their build-up in your chimney.
10 Tips on How to Tell if Firewood is Seasoned
Seasoning firewood is a process that varies in length. Different wood types and climates can affect how quickly your wood will become fully seasoned. We get into that more later, but for now, we need to know how to tell if firewood is seasoned and ready to burn.
The following are ten steps on how to tell when firewood is seasoned:
1. Look for Fading Wood Color or Darkening
What you are really looking for are signs that the wood has been aged. This can mean weathering or discoloring from being sat for a year or looking for other clues like dried sap and lots of cobwebs etc…
Seasoned wood has less vibrant colors than fresh wood due to oxidization. Much of the greens and strong browns leave as the wood dries and leaves a duller, less rich color. This can sometimes look like it is faded or like it is darkening depending on the variety of tree it was taken from.
2. Check the Ends
Check the ends of your logs again for signs of weathering and anything else you can gather. The ends of dried logs tend to be much coarser and rougher to the touch. Fresh logs also feel damp as moisture exits the log at the cut ends.
3. Splitting and Fractures
Through the drying process, wood often splits and cracks. Seasoned firewood is likely to have cracks running along the grain. This is not scientific proof as some green logs crack while some seasoned logs won’t. If the cracks look fresh then so might the wood be. If the cracks look discolored and weather then it is likely seasoned.
4. Density
Damp, fresh wood is far denser than dry wood which makes it much harder to split. If you attempt to split your wood and it is difficult, it may require more time to season. Once you have allowed some wood to fully season you will know it is ready if it splits nicely if you give it one good whack with your axe.
5. Weight Test
Fresh wood contains up to 50% moisture which is held in all the cells inside the living wood. This liquid makes the fresh wood far heavier than seasoned firewood. If you know the weight of the wood unseasoned and then go to move it after a year you will understand just how much weight can be lost throughout 4 seasons.
6. Sound Test
Because seasoned wood is less dense, it will sound hollow. If you hit your seasoned wood with something hard it will sound different from fresh wood. It will make a knocking noise, rather than a thudding sound and with experience can be a very fast and effective way to tell if your firewood is dry and seasoned.
7. Loose or Brittle Bark
The bark is one of the first indicators of drying wood. The bark is likely to become brittle or detached from the log itself as the wood dries. As you inspect your firewood try and peel off some bark. Does it have flex and moisture still left in it? If so you can almost guarantee that the wood in the middle of the logs will not be dry yet either.
8. Smell Test
Many trees have a distinctive smell. Pine, for example, has an obvious ‘fresh cut’ smell to it. That smell will diminish over time and seasoned wood is unlikely to have a strong smell. This is something that can only be mastered with experience so start smelling that wood once you cut it fresh so you can get used to the scent.
9. Core Sample
Logs dry from the outside, inward so sometimes you can tell from inspecting firewood whether it is fully dry or not. Taking a core sample, from the center of your log can give you a true indicator of how dry it is. For this reason, you should always take a small axe with you when inspecting firewood before placing an order.
10. Flame Test
If you think your wood is ready, try burning a small piece. Remember, smaller pieces dry quicker than larger pieces, so burning a shaving from a core sample is a good all-around test. If the wood smolders and smokes a lot, it’s likely too green to be used just yet. If it has a nice even flame that stays alight like a match then this is a good sign your wood is seasoned and ready for the fireplace.
Make sure you put out the fire of your test sample properly to avoid any kind of forest fire.
How to Test Moisture Content of Season Wood Easily and Fast
The most reliable way to test the moisture content of seasoned wood is by using a moisture meter. These are available in most hardware stores. When inserted into dry wood, these moisture meters should read somewhere around 20%.
These tools are a good idea if you are buying and burning a lot of firewood. This low moisture reading is especially important if you are burning your seasoned firewood on a stove or indoor fireplace.
How Long Should Firewood be Seasoned?
Different wood needs to be seasoned for different lengths of time. Wood absorbs and releases water as it grows. It does in a way that reflects not only the type of wood but also the surrounding environment.
This means that wood collected from wetter environments is likely to contain more wood when it is cut. Hardwoods and softwoods release their moisture at different rates as they dry. This rate also depends on the size your wood is cut to, with larger chunks drying more slowly than smaller pieces.
Here is a list of different types of firewood and how long they take to dry. This is based on the wood being cut in early spring so it can be dried over the summer.:
Tree Type | Drying Time |
Oak Wood | 24 Months |
Fruit Tree Wood | 12 Months |
Birch Wood | 10 Months |
Ash Wood | 6 Months |
Pine Wood | 6 Months |
Cedar Wood | 6 Months |
Softwood is less dense and releases moisture more easily as it dries. Softwood generally requires six months of seasoning prior to burning.
Hardwood holds water far more effectively and is denser than softwood. Most hardwoods need to be stored for at least a year while some may take up to two years before being ready.
The best time to cut your firewood is in late winter or early spring. This puts you straight into summer, which is obviously the most efficient time of year for drying firewood. A softwood might be ready to be burned the following winter.
How to Store Seasoned Firewood
Correctly storing your firewood will be the difference between perfect seasoning, and moldy, rotten chunks of wood which create toxic smoke when you burn them. Proper seasoning storage can also double as overall firewood storage, so you don’t need to move your firewood twice.
It may sound obvious, but you need to find somewhere dry. This means that your preferred storage area should be covered and protected from the elements. It should also be raised off the ground to avoid moisture seeping upwards.
The important part of covering your firewood is that you should encourage airflow. Your wood will need a constant stream of air flowing around it to wick away the moisture as it leaves. Poor airflow is the number one cause of dampness and mold in wood that is being seasoned.
You should store your firewood with enough space between chunks to ensure that air can flow freely around individual logs. You should also make sure the ends of the logs are exposed. Moisture is channeled out of the ends of the logs and needs to be carried away.
Is Seasoned Firewood Worth it?
Seasoning firewood is a practice that has been around for thousands of years and isn’t going anywhere. But it is a long process. It can be hard work and it can feel never-ending if you use a lot of firewood.
If you burn your wood on an indoor fireplace, it must be properly dried. High moisture content is not only inefficient but can coat your chimney in corrosive and potentially flammable substances. Outdoor fires will burn cleaner and more efficiently with treated wood.
There are alternatives to buying and seasoning firewood. Kiln-dried wood is very popular and usually has an even lower moisture content than seasoned wood. This comes with a cost, though, and may not be favorable if you’re on a budget.
We hope we answered all your question about how long does firewood take to dry but feel free to get in touch if you need more answers.
