Green wood

Green Wood, a term used to describe wood products that have been recently cut, and have not had an opportunity to season (dry) by evaporation of the internal moisture. The term is used often in describing the relative moisture content of wood products such as firewood and lumber. 'Green wood' being recently cut and high in moisture relative to 'seasoned wood' being lower in moisture because of drying due to the passage of time (seasons) or forced wood drying as in kilns. Green wood is considered to be or 100% moisture relative to air dried or seasoned wood which is considered to be 20%. Available BTU charts for wood fuels tend to use air dried as their reference, thus oven dried or 0% moisture content can reflect 103.4% BTU content, exceeding the mean value. When green wood is used as fuel in appliances, it releases less heat per unit of measure (usually cords [ [http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/XL/438/438-3.htm] ] or tons) due to the heat consumed to evaporate the moisture. [NH Forest Market Report 1988, page 22] The lower temperatures resulting can lead to higher amounts of creosote being created which are later deposited on exhaust flues. These deposits can later be ignited when sufficient heat and oxygen are present to cause a chimney fire which can be destructive and dangerous.'Green lumber' presents it's own characteristics as well. Some species of wood are better utilized green due to less splitting when nailed green. Others tend to shrink excessively leaving voids between the individual pieces when allowed to dry. Often wood to be used for fine products such as furniture will be 'kiln dried' to stabilize it and reduce the shrinkage/ expansion of the finished product.

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