3 Methods for How to Dry Firewood Quickly

How to transform your wet firewood to get it ready for the wood stove

Freshly cut wood has a lot of potential, but often needs time before it's ready. 

That's true whether you've milled lumber using your portable sawmill or cut firewood using your own LS218 2-Way Log Splitter or other device.

But wouldn't it be easier if your wood could dry faster so you can put it to use more quickly? Thankfully there are methods for turning green wood into seasoned dry wood faster.

Here are the basics of drying wood and how to get your wet wood dry more quickly.

Why does firewood take so long to dry?

Like any type of wood, firewood begins to dry immediately after it's been cut down. While you can burn wet wood, it often takes longer to get started and can be much more difficult than burning seasoned, dry wood.

While firewood may seem dry on the outside, it retains moisture content on the inside. When you're milling logs for lumber, they're often cut into thin layers that makes it easier to dry. Often homeowners will keep their firewood as stacked logs before splitting them, but this can extend the drying process by keeping moisture inside.

One of the best ways to speed drying is to split your firewood as soon as it's been cut, since smaller pieces will dry faster than solid rounds.

What are ways to speed up drying my firewood?

So you are looking for ways to turn your fresh green logs into seasoned wood for burning? There are a few different methods, so let's get into it:

Outdoor Wood Pile

Most landowners store their firewood outdoors or in small wood sheds. A covered roof to prevent rain or snow from getting to the wood is often the easiest way to speed up drying.

But stacked wood, especially if it's tightly packed, doesn't have a lot of room to breath. Oftentimes densely packed firewood in a wood shed or outdoors has poor air circulation that causes a longer drying period.

An easy way to improve your outdoor firewood storage is by loosely packing your firewood to allow for more air to get between each round. You can also place your wood pile in an area with more wind, to allow for natural air movement to assist the drying process.

Firewood Kiln

Kiln dried firewood is ready much faster than firewood stored outdoors, because you can control humidity and air circulation much better.

A great firewood kiln is sealed with no way for moisture to get in, and often uses a heat source and a method for air circulation. For most landowners this can be as simple as a space heater and fan to move air through the rounds.

Smoking Your Firewood

If you own a meat smoker or wood stove, you have a great environment to produce wood for burning.

A lot of landowners use their smokers as DIY firewood kilns, because they already produce low heat that slowly dries out the wood, without worrying about it accidentally catching fire.

Don't own a smoker? Anything that generates heat can be used to help rounds dry. For example, some wood stoves have a storage area underneath where you can store a handful of loose rounds to help them dry faster too.

What other tips should I follow for producing firewood quickly?

In general when making firewood you should always follow best practices:

• • Fresh cut wood doesn't like to burn, so start the drying process as soon as your timber has been felled.

  • Split wood will dry faster, since you're cutting the round into smaller pieces that won't take as long to dry. That's why even if you have a large wood stove, it's wise to split your rounds anyway.

  • Wood heated via kiln can dry at various speeds, depending on the age of the wood and its moisture level when it was cut. When sampling your wood pile to check its moisture content, use plenty of pieces to get an accurate idea of the whole lot.

  • Burning wood is a practice that's as old as mankind, but take advantage of modern technologies like moisture meters and household appliances like fans to speed up the process.

  • Wood stacked tightly won't dry as quickly, so leave some gaps between rounds to let air flow through. Consider stacking your rounds in one direction, then put the next layer on top facing perpendicular to maintain air circulation between tiers