Wet wood and higher stack temps.

[n8hutch]

I'm getting down to the Nitty Gritty on my wood, I still have lots of Wood around but I can't get to it due to the snow in my Yard.

Last night I was blending in some wet slabs and split poplar that was wet with some seasoned hardwood. The result was a Hotter fire than I've had all year , only thing I can think of is that the evaporating water is releasing oxygen further down the burn cycle and heating up towards the back of the arch/flue pan. Does that make sense?

[ecolbeck]

If your fire was operating in excess of 5400 degrees F there would be significant splitting of water into oxygen and hydrogen. However, I suspect your entire rig would vaporize at that temp. At any rate, any oxygen liberated would just recombine with the hydrogen and form...... water.

I suspect the actual cause may be related to the size of the wood splits or that the seasoned hardwood was the cause. ANY moisture in wood serves only as energy wasted converting water to steam.