Wood: what to buy and how to check it
Moisture is the specification, not species. A well-seasoned softwood beats wet oak in a stove every time. Species affects density and therefore how long a load lasts, but moisture affects whether the fire works at all.
How to check. Split a log and press the meter's pins into the freshly exposed face, across the grain. The outside of a log dries first and reads low while the core is still wet. Under 20% is the target EPA names.
Buying "seasoned" wood. The word carries no enforceable definition. Treat it as a claim to verify with a meter rather than a specification. If you buy green wood, buy it a year early and stack it now for next winter.
Stacking. Off the ground, covered on top only, sides open to the wind. A wood pile wrapped in a tarp is a wood pile that stays wet.
Buying by the cord. A full cord is a stacked volume of 128 cubic feet, typically 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet. "Face cord," "rick," and "truckload" mean whatever the seller wants them to mean. Ask for the stacked dimensions you are buying and measure the delivery.
Running the stove
Build the fire top-down. Larger splits on the bottom, smaller above, kindling and firestarter on top. It lights cleanly, produces far less smoke in the first fifteen minutes than a bottom-lit fire, and does not need rebuilding.
Get to temperature, then reduce air. Let the load establish a strong fire before you cut air. Cutting air on a cold, wet load is what produces the smoke and the creosote.
Watch the chimney, not the fire. A properly running stove shows heat shimmer and little to no visible smoke after the first few minutes. A steady plume of visible smoke means the fire is starved, the wood is wet, or both. This is the one diagnostic that needs no instrument.
Use a stove thermometer. Flue or surface, per the manual. It converts "seems fine" into a number, and it is how you learn where your stove wants to run.
Reload on coals, not ash. Rake coals forward, load onto them, open the air to re-establish, then reduce.
On a catalytic stove, respect the engagement temperature. The manual states a temperature below which the combustor must stay bypassed. Engaging a cold combustor fouls it, and combustors are a consumable with a real replacement price.
Pellet stoves: a different set of habits
Fuel quality varies more than buyers expect. Ash content and fines differ by brand and by production run. A high-ash pellet means more frequent burn-pot cleaning and faster ash buildup.
Keep pellets dry. They are compressed sawdust and they disintegrate when damp. Bulk storage needs a genuinely dry space.
Clean the burn pot on the schedule the manual gives, not when it stops working. A clogged pot changes the air-to-fuel mix and the stove starts behaving badly in ways that look like a mechanical fault.
Plan for outages. The auger, igniter, and blowers all need power. If your grid goes down in winter, a battery backup is not an accessory, it is the difference between having heat and not.
Maintenance, from the first season
- Sweep and inspect the flue on a schedule, starting the first year. How fast creosote accumulates depends on your fuel, your burn habits, and your stove, which is exactly why the inspection is what tells you your interval rather than a rule of thumb.
- Check door and glass gaskets annually. A gasket that no longer seals lets the stove pull air it cannot control, which makes damping ineffective.
- Empty ash into a metal container with a lid, kept off any combustible surface and away from the house. Coals stay live in ash far longer than people expect.
- Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms at the start of every heating season.
Why this matters beyond your fuel bill
EPA is direct about the health stake: "The biggest health threat from smoke is from fine particles, also called fine particulate matter or PM2.5." Exposure can cause "burning eyes, runny nose, and illnesses, such as bronchitis," and can worsen asthma or trigger heart problems. EPA names children, teenagers, older adults, people with lung or heart disease, outdoor workers, and people of low socioeconomic status as most at risk, and notes children are especially vulnerable because "their respiratory systems are still developing" (EPA, wood smoke and your health).
Burning dry wood hot is the same practice that keeps smoke out of your neighbor's yard and your own lungs. The efficiency argument and the health argument point the same direction.
The first-season checklist
- Installation inspected and signed off by the jurisdiction.
- Insurer notified in writing that the appliance exists.
- Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms installed and tested.
- Manufacturer's break-in fire sequence completed, windows open.
- Moisture meter bought and used on the actual fuel you have.
- Stove thermometer fitted.
- Ash container with a lid, stored outside, on a non-combustible surface.
- Sweep and inspection scheduled, not just intended.
- Manual read, specifically the clearance and combustor pages, and kept where you can find it.
Methodology and freshness
Fuel moisture, seasoning time, and prohibited materials are quoted from EPA Burn Wise. Health statements are quoted from EPA's wood smoke and health page. Operating practice reflects standard manufacturer guidance and is presented as practice rather than as a cited specification: your appliance's own manual governs, and where it disagrees with this page, follow the manual. Refresh cadence: annually, before the heating season.
Corrections: if guidance here conflicts with a manufacturer specification or a local requirement, tell us and we will correct it.
This page is a reference directory, not installation, safety-certification, or legal advice. We do not sell, install, or service stoves and we do not arrange installation work.