Drying firewood for my fireplace.?

They wood has to be dried out. Meaning the wood has to have been chopped and left for about a year before it will make a good fire. Water on you wood wouldn't ususally affect your fire because the flames dry the water up. It is probably because your wood is still green (also known as wet) meaning it was probably just chopped down not too long ago.

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You can kiln dry wood at home in your oven but there are difficulties with doing it.

Any insects in the wood will crawl out and be in your oven. Drying wood in an oven is very hazardous; bits of bark and stuff will fall off and get into the gas ports or on the heating coils and cause fires.

It stinks.

If you do it though, use the lowest heat possible. Put foil underneath the wood on the rack so nothing falls into the heating elements. Prop the oven door open a crack for ventilation with a potholder. Use a fan.

It's far easier to get the wood, "sticker" it in a pile outside (bark side up) and tie a heavy clear plastic tarp over it. Leave it for a month or two in a sunny area (like in a sheltered place by your garage). It will be a lot lighter and dryer and will burn better.

Next year, early in the summer call around and get a "rick" of firewood from a dealer and stack it bark side up. By the time you want to have nice fireplace evenings in the autumn, you'll have dry firewood.

Drying Wood In Oven

An electric oven you said.. I would not recommend it because there are generally coils that heat up and some of the wood chips might fall onto the coils and cause a fire... I really feel that you have no problem with the fireplace... put in a wood starter to get the fire going and the drying out will take place automatically.. I have done it many times when the wood was not quite as dried out as I thought it was.

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first off, start now. wood takes awhile to dry properly. find a level place that is protected from the rain. setup some kind of spacer to keep the wood off the ground. it doesn't matter how high, just make sure it won't get wet. then wait. depending on how humid your area is, the wood will take anywhere from a few weeks to a month to dry out all the way.

I cut all my fire wood and do it a year in advance. I would say go ahead and dry it in your oven, but make sure you have the hot dogs ready for your BBQ.

Honestly, pal...you bought firewood in a grocery store?

And you want to dry it in the oven? Priceless!

City Folk! God bless 'em. Thanks for this. You've made my day.

call the store manager and ask him why you are spending your hard earned money on green wood...he probably doesnt know the difference either...