What is Seasoned Firewood? And 6 Other FAQs


What is seasoned firewood

It’s strange to hear the word “seasoned” used to describe wood, since we most often associate seasoning with herbs and spices in the kitchen. But for firewood, seasoning means something completely different, and it has a huge impact on heat output and efficiency.

So, let’s get right to the main question: what is seasoned firewood?

Seasoned firewood is wood that has been dried to a moisture content of below 20%. The opposite of seasoned firewood is “green” wood, which has a moisture content of 60% or above. When firewood is stacked properly, it takes at least 6 months (e.g. a season) for it to become properly seasoned. 

Now, if you’re looking at a pile of firewood then you’re going to need more than the above definition. Unless you have magic wood powers, you’re not going to be able to suddenly identify the moisture content percentage, just by staring at a piece of wood.

However, there are a couple techniques you can use to determine if wood is dry enough to burn. In the rest of this post, we’re going to answer 7 of the biggest firewood questions, including how to tell if a piece of wood is sufficiently seasoned. See the table of contents below for the full list:

1. What Is Seasoned Firewood?

As mentioned above, for firewood to be seasoned, means that it has been dried to a moisture content below 20%. In other words, seasoned firewood = dried firewood. There is no other requirement for a piece of wood to be seasoned, other than being sufficiently dry. 

It may seem strange to use the term “seasoned” to describe that wood is simply dry. But it makes more sense if you understand the background of the term. Here’s how the term “seasoned” firewood originally got it’s name:

Back when firewood was the only way to heat your home, the typical process was to stack wood in the early Spring, and let it dry all summer until the temperature dropped in the late Fall. In other words, you’d let your wood dry for a full season (or longer) before it was ready to use.

Next, let’s briefly cover why it’s important for you to burn seasoned firewood.

what seasoned firewood means

2. Why Does Firewood Need to Be Seasoned?

People have been drying and burning firewood for ages, and there are several important reasons that this is such an important step. There are also some risks associated with burning unseasoned wood, that range from dangerous to simply inefficient. Let’s start with the benefits:

Benefits of Seasoned Firewood

  1. Burns hotter and produces more BTUs than unseasoned wood
  2. Smells better because the natural wood odors are more noticeable
  3. Starts easier, the drier the wood, the easier it is to light
  4. Burns more efficiently than green woodbecause less heat is consumed by drying out the remaining moisture content in the wood.

Dangers of Burning Green (Unseasoned) Firewood

  1. Produces more smoke compared to dry wood, which can be annoying or even dangerous without the proper ventilation.
  2. Creates creosote build-up in chimneys, which can lead to chimney fires if it is not cleaned out. 
  3. Produces more ash waste and your stove or fireplace will require more cleaning.

To summarize, seasoned firewood produces more heat, is safer to burn, and will create less mess in your stove compared to green wood. As a side effect of these factors, seasoned firewood can also save you money in the long run.

benefits of seasoned firewood

3. How Can You Tell if Firewood is Seasoned?

Now that you understand why seasoned firewood is better compared to undried wood, you’ll need to know how to identify if firewood is actually seasoned or not. This is important for inspecting your own wood supply, and for evaluating options if you plan to buy your firewood.

The University of Tennessee has a helpful document, that describes 4 indicators that can be used to determine whether a piece of wood is seasoned or not. The first three indicators are manual techniques you can use, and the last one uses a tool. Here’s a brief summary:

  1. Weight: Seasoned firewood is lighter than green wood of the same size/species.
  2. Sound: When hit together, two pieces of seasoned wood will make a louder hollow-sounding knock, but green wood will make a quieter thump.
  3. Cracks: dry firewood often has cracks on the ends that formed during drying, but this is not always the case.
  4. Moisture meter: this is the easiest and most accurate approach for determining if wood is thoroughly seasoned. You can buy a good moisture meter on Amazon for cheap, that will give you a pretty precise measure of the wood’s moisture content. If you want to take this approach, then you can use our affiliate link to jump straight to this popular moisture meter on Amazon

So, you can check things out the old fashioned way using 1-3 above, or you can use the help of a moisture meter. That’s pretty much all there is to it. 

4. Kiln Dried vs Seasoned Firewood?

This is another common question. Some firewood sellers will advertise “kiln dried” wood. This raises the question, what is kiln dried wood? And is it better than seasoned firewood?

As you might guess, kiln dried wood is firewood that has been dried in a kiln. But here’s what you really need to know: the only difference between kiln dried vs seasoned firewood is how it is dried.  In fact, kiln dried firewood is technically seasoned firewood also.

Technically, it’s easier to dry wood in a kiln, which means it could be more dry than seasoned firewood. But if you use a moisture meter and two types of wood have the same moisture content, then they are the same regardless of how they were dried.

Here’s an example to hopefully drive the point home: Kiln dried firewood that has 18% moisture content, is EXACTLY the same as seasoned firewood with 18% moisture content. 

If you are drying wood yourself, then the biggest difference between these two drying techniques, is that kiln drying is much faster. Depending on the type of kiln you have, you could dry firewood in a few days, whereas it takes a few months to dry firewood the old fashioned way.

5. How Long Does it Take To Season Firewood?

The amount of time it takes to season firewood is dependent on a number of factors, but a good rule of thumb is to plan for at least 6-8 months to season your firewood.

If you want to do your firewood seasonally, like they did in the old days, then you’d want to get your firewood split and stacked in March, for it to be ready when the temperature drops in October or November.

Depending on the temperature and humidity where you live, those seasons might be different. But that should still give you a good idea of what to expect. Now that I’ve given you some ballpark numbers, it’s important to understand the factors that will effect drying time.

Specifically, let’s look at the impact of wood type, stacking technique, and environment on wood seasoning times. Let’s start with wood type:

Softwood vs hardwood

The typical moisture content (and the required drying time), will vary based on the species of wood. The moisture content of wood can actually go up above 100%, which means there is more water than wood fibers contained in the wood.

Typically, Hardwood is denser and takes longer to dry than softwood. If you have short timelines, then softwood is your best bet, because you can season it in 6-8 months. For hardwoods it can take over a year to get fully seasoned. 

If you’re not up to speed on your wood types, here’s a quick list of common hardwoods and softwoods:

Common Hardwoods Common Softwoods
Oak Pine
Maple Spruce
Hickory Cedar
Ash Redwood
Apple Cypress
Walnut Douglas

Wood stacking

stacking seasoned firewood

Another key factor for the time it takes to season firewood, is how well you’ve done with your splitting and stacking. Let’s talk about this in a little more detail.

Whole logs trap moisture and take much longer to dry, compared with split wood. And in general, smaller pieces of firewood will dry faster than larger pieces, because there is less space for water to hide from the sun and breeze.

When you stack wood, your goal is to create air flow, and to expose the wood’s surface area to the sun. Two keys to doing this, are to elevate your firewood stack off the ground with some scrap wood or pallets, and to separate stacks from buildings and other stacks of wood.

The elevation of the wood pile creates more air flow, and the separation from other stacks/buildings enables airflow and allows more sunshine to hit the wood. If you do a good job splitting and stacking, you can significantly decrease your firewood’s drying time.

Environmental conditions

Firewood dries faster in Texas than it does in Oregon. If you live in an area with lower temperatures, less sunshine, and more rain, then it’s probably going to take longer to season firewood. 

This one might go without saying, but it is important to remember that firewood is a product of nature. And nature works differently in different climates and regions. 

6. Should I Pay More for Seasoned Firewood?

If you’re buying your firewood, then you may have the option of buying your firewood pre-seasoned, green, or what is sometimes called “semi-seasoned”. FYI: semi-seasoned is basically wood that has been drying for a few weeks/months, but still needs several months of drying.

In my opinion, you should always try to plan far enough ahead, that you can buy green wood and let it dry before you will need it. The only situation in which it’s probably worth it to pay more for seasoned wood, is if you need wood right away because you’re short on your winter’s supply.

You should NOT pay more for seasoned wood as long as you have enough time to let green wood dry.

7. How Much Does Seasoned Firewood Weigh?

truck seasoned wood weighs

According to data from the University of Utah State extension office, a cord of seasoned wood ranges from 1,900-4,800 pounds, and the average weight for a cord of seasoned wood is around 2,900 pounds.

Using the same data set, we can learn that a cord of green wood weighs between 2,800-5,600 pounds, and has an average weight of around 4,200 pounds. 

So, comparing these numbers to seasoned wood, we can tell that a cord of seasoned wood weighs about 1,300 pounds less than a cord of green wood (4,200 – 2,900 = 1,300). In other words, as a cord of wood dries, it is losing an average of roughly 1,300 pounds in water weight before it is fully seasoned. That’s a huge difference.

Alright, that brings us to the end of our seasoned firewood FAQs. 

If you found something in this post helpful, please share it with a friend who might also find it helpful. Thanks for reading, now go do something awesome!

JJ

JJ is a firewood enthusiast, an Eagle Scout, and an avid learner and teacher of outdoor skills.

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