Use a moisture meter to save even more money with your wood-burning stove

Once you have met the cost of installing a wood-burning stove, it’s down to the way you operate the stove to ensure it saves you as much money as possible.

One of the best ways to ensure you use your stove efficiently is to burn seasoned wood. This is wood that has been cut, chopped and left to dry and air for a prolonged period of time.

Ideally that means around 18 months sheltered by a car port-type structure.

Giving firewood that length of time to season before burning it can result in the moisture content dropping from a much as 45% to as little as 20%.

A warm home, faster

That makes a big difference when it comes to how well your stove works. Think how much work your appliance has to do to evaporate all the moisture from a piece of wood that contains 45% water before it can even start to heat up your room.

And that’s without considering the damaged caused to your stove, flue and the environment by burning wood with a high moisture content.

Monitor moisture levels in your fuel

The easiest way to ensure you are running your stove as cheaply as possible, and that you are not causing unnecessary damage to your stove, is to use a moisure meter.

This handy little device tells you exactly how much moisture is in a log before you burn it.

That means:

• You can check if wood you’ve left to dry is ready yet.
• You can verify whether wood you’re buying is as well seasoned as the salesman tells you.
• You know that you’re not releasing harmful gases into the environment.
• You can reduce the chance of creosote build-up in your flue or chimney.
• You can get your home up to a cosy temperature quicker.

Buy your moisture meter now.