People tend to underestimate just how much moisture firewood contains.

Nothing will cause your stove to function less efficiently than to fill it with green wood, so to avoid this problem you should begin the seasoning process in the early spring if you want your wood to be ready by the next winter.

If you plan to use any wood that is larger than normal, you will need to set it out to dry even earlier. Essentially, you should be harvesting your wood about 18 months in advance of when you actually plan to burn it, if you want to guarantee that it will be properly seasoned. Read more