Have you turned the heating on yet? We’ve had the radiators on a couple of times in the past week or so. We mainly have the wood-burning stove chuffing away in whatever room we’re spending most of our time, rather than heating the entire house.
We also have our new Esse stove that needs feeding with logs a few of times per day. Its instruction manual stresses how important it is to only use dry material. Wood that is too wet can ruin the stove and coat the flue and create build-up. It’s recommended that you use logs with no more than 20% moisture content.
The only way to be absolutely certain that your fuel is dry enough is to test it with a moisture meter. It’s the same tool that surveyors use to test walls for rising and penetrating damp. Simply stick the prongs into the centre of the log and the LED display will tell you if the wood is ready to be used.
Moisture meters are relatively inexpensive – £15 to £30 in general. We actually bought #1; it’s affordable and comes with spare pins and battery. A small price to pay to ensure that our stove and wood-burning stoves are being treated with care and heating the house effectively and efficiently.
- Dr. Meter digital wood moisture meter with 2 spare sensor pins and one 9V battery: £16.99 Amazon
- Faithfull damp & moisture meter LCD display Faidetdamp: £18.00, Travis Perkins
- Brennenstuhl moisture detector MD: £20.39, Machine Mart
shop moisture meters
Some of the links on our blog are affiliate links. We may receive a small commission - at no cost to you - if you click through and make a purchase.
Prices & links correct at time of publication.
