Driving around Maine in September, it’s easy to spot wood piles in yards and fields. Once freshly cut, or green, these logs were stacked at some point by owners seeking to dry, or season, their wood before burning it.

Good idea. But unless those logs are well covered or brought into a shed or garage very soon, they will contain too much moisture to provide maximum heat. Worse, wet firewood increases air pollution, creates creosote that can lead to chimney fires and defeats the technology of the cleaner-burning wood stoves coming on the market.

How can you tell if your wood is too wet? You can buy a cheap moisture meter. Or when you start a fire, do you hear the wood sizzle? Do you see bubbles on the log ends? If so, you’re boiling water.

Here’s what to do:

• Burn hardwood that has been seasoned for at least six months, but preferably a year. At the minimum, green wood should be stacked in early spring in a sunny, breezy location. If possible, get it off the ground, on pallets or old wood. A lot of the drying will happen in July and August.
• Cover your wood. What that means is subjective. One cost-effective approach is a good tarp, weighted down with logs or secured with rope to thwart wind-driven rain. Avoid thin, woven tarps that rip after one season.
• Consider storing wood inside a garage or barn to keep them dry and provide easy access during the heating season. No garage? Consider building or buying a wood shed.
• If it’s too late this year to dry your firewood, buy wood that’s already seasoned or even kiln-dried. As an alternative, try the various bricks and blocks made from compressed sawdust and mill wood. A ton of blocks on a pallet has the heat value of a cord of dry cord wood, but takes up half the space and there are no bugs. But they burn very hot, so stove makers worry about owners loading too many and “overfiring” the stove. Don’t do that.

A good way to understand these bio products is to look at online comparisons created by some retailers that sell and deliver them, such as Southern Maine Renewable Fuels and Paris Farmers Union.

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