Use and Care Guide

 Seasonwoodoutdoorsthroughthesummerforatleast6monthsbeforeburningit.Properlyseasoned

woodisdarker,hascracksintheendgrain,andsoundshollowwhensmackedagainstanotherpieceof

wood.

 Storewoodoutdoors,stackedneatlyoffthegroundwiththetopcovered.

 Burnonlydry,well‐seasonedwoodthathasbeensplitproperly.

 Startfireswithnewspaperanddrykindlingasdiscussedearlierinthemanual.

 Burnhotfires.

 Tomaintainproperairflow,regularlyremoveashesfromyourwood‐burningapplianceintoametal

containerwithacoverandstoreoutdoors.

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MoistureMeterInformation

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 Firewoodisreadyat10‐25%moisturecontent.

 Newly‐cutlogscanhaveamoisturecontent(MC)of80%ormore,dependingonspecies.Sincewood

shrinks,andcanalsosplit,twistorotherwisechangeshapeasitdries,mostwoodisdriedbeforebeing

used.Airdrying,or‘seasoning,’isthemostcommonmethodusedforcordwood.Inmostpartsofthe

UnitedStates,theminimummoisturecontentthatcanbegenerallyobtainedinairdryingisabout12

to15percent.Mostair‐driedmaterialisusuallycloserto20percentmoisturecontentwhenused

 Totestyourfirewood,simplypushthepinsintothewoodandwaitforareading.Remember,don't

juststickthemeterintotheendsofyourfirewood.Togetthemostaccuratereading,splitthewood

andtestthecenter.Thecenterofthelogwillcontainthemostmoisture.

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HowFarShouldIDriveNon‐InsulatedPinsintoWood?

 Tofulldepthifpossible.However,atmoisturelevelsbelow10%,itisusuallysufficienttomakegood,

positivecontactwiththewood.Athigherlevelsofmoistureandespeciallyifyouhaveasteepgradient,

fullpenetrationisamust.

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