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I have purchased few cubic meters of already seasoned firewood and I have been hapilly burning them in my wood stove. They are stored in my detached, non-heated garage. Over time I realized that more smoke is coming out and they are making sizzling sound in the wood stove but there is no visible bubling on the sides.

I am thinking that moisture from my car (Often it is parked in the garage too even though it is wet) evaporates and gets absorbed by the firewood. This is my theory in terms of why firewood has degraded. Can it be true? Would it affect the moisture content that much? What can I do to lower the moisture content? I have let some stay in the house overnight but not much has changed.

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The moisture from your car is probably too little and it can't affect the wood.

You have to check if the roof is leaking water or the floor is wet. If the floor is wet then water may be coming from outside. In this case you should dig a small channel around the garage, which will help to drain water and don't let it go inside.

Also you need good ventilation to dry the wood. Here are some ways to store wood:

  1. We store our wood for burning outside, covered with a plastic sheet to protect it from the rain and snow. It is covered only at the top and the sides are open for air circulation.

covered burning wood

  1. Some people make a firewood shed which have a roof, but is opened on the sides.

Firewood shed

  1. For wood which is wet a firewood dryer can be used. Most simple ones have a transparent plastic sheet covering the wood which lets the sun warm the air inside and holes for letting in dry air and another one to take out the wet air. More complex variant have a fan which improves the air circulation.

firewood dryer

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  • Nice answer! OP, keep in mind that for any load of wood, portions of the load will possibly be at different moisture levels from the beginning, due to its previous storage methods and weather exposure, exposure during transport, and even differences between the natural moisture of varied species of, or individual, trees. Feb 4, 2016 at 17:16

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