To split or not to split

rico7467

I have an outdoor wood boiler and get different answers on this. Do u guys recommend splitting the firewood or leaving it whole and for what reason?it is 150,000 btu mahoning with a 24inch by 24 inch door and 48 inch deep firebox with shaker grates for coal

Jack

I'd say that depends upon the wood and how dry it is. good dry wood will burn fine in log size with a good fire as a base. Splits will likely burn better as there is more surface area to ignite. Practice, observation and a good moisture meter tell the tale

hot_rod

Split it down to no larger then a 4" diameter. this assures it dries all the way through. Moisture meters are cheap and a good indicator until you get the "feel" of dry wood.

Many OWF manufacturers claim big, green, and even wet wood works fine in them, and burns longer.

Truth be told you need to get the moisture out before it burns. Efficiency goes way down, creosote way up when you burn wet and or green wood. It's worth drying the wood for a season.

Plenty of data on this at the various wood burning chat rooms and most of the forest resources labs and schools have firewood burning tips.


http://putnam.cce.cornell.edu/energy/heating-with-wood/storing-and-drying-firewood