Valiant FIR421 Digital Moisture Meter for Firewood Timber and Brickwork, Black

Such a handy little gadget around the size of an old Nokia mobile phone. I was surprised that it showed the bark on some kiln dried wood was damp and required further drying by my fireside.It boots up instantly giving the choice of testing wood, masonry or ambient temperature. The attached lanyard prevents any accidental drops and you just need to keep the rubber cap safe while you test your logs. The most accurate readings come from pushing the prongs a little further into the wood rather than the very outer surface and it’s worth testing different areas of a log (particularly any bark) to get an average picture of dryness.I chose this meter because it uses 2x1.5 V AAA batteries rather than the larger, expensive 9V models. Please note that the protective cover is no longer supplied (confirmed by a call to customer service at valiantfireside.com).Highly recommended and no problems experienced after a few weeks of wood testing. Best of all, no more damp hissing from my log burner!

Bought to replace my old cheapo firewood moisture tester which gave up on me after 5 years' use. Quite small and lightweight but seems to be reasonably constructed and with probes that appear not to be directly soldered to the circuit board but have added reinforcement first so much less stress on the internal connections. The outer case is smooth plastic and is a little bit slippy to hold, especially when you're pushing the probes into wood so I have added some tape to the edges for extra grip. The display is quite good but does tend to fade if the unit is moved to a different angle. The 3 screen colours are a good idea especially when you're trying to read the numbers upside down but be warned; when the unit is turned on the display shows 'Lo' which I initially thought was referring to the batteries I had put in (none supplied) however it was not the case as 'Lo' does in fact seem to indicate the moisture content and will show as such whether or not the probes are actually in contact with anything. Overall though I'm happy with this little tester at the price I paid.

Backlight Green for low humidity, Amber for moderate humidity and Red for high humidity which gives instant indication if there is a problem. Text is large, clear, easy to read and it also shows the temperature in C or F.Only minor limitation is that when you reach very high levels of dampness (above 50%) it stops showing the percentage and just indicates Hi on a red screen. Control switches are simple, clear and logical.

I buy/scrounge/scavenge quite a lot of wood during the year, and i try to remember which was stored first so hopefully better seasoned. However, my memory isn't what it used to be, and this gadget saves me a lot of stress, I can test each log individually as I fetch them in for burning.This has resulted in our woodburner working much more efficiently, the glass stays remarkably clean.

Primarily purchased this meter to ensure that the wood I was burning on my multifuel stove was dry and properly seasoned. Burning wood with a moisture content of above 20% produces excess moisture and acids that will attack a stainless steel flue liner, or my my case a twin wall flue. Both costly and inconvenient to replace in the case of soot damage and corrosion. Easy to use meter to ensure that firewood is dry to the recommended below 20% moisture content prior to burning.