so what can't you burn ?

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There are some tropicals that are a pain in the keester- like ipe- almost fire resistant until you get really hot.

Pressure treated wood- bad idea.

Salt water driftwood- could cause corrosion long term.

Unseasoned wood- you're asking for creosote.

Watch out for thin split pine from a bundle of edgings or 2x4's as you could overfire if not careful, but they can be burned as well.
 
Garand06 said:
Stevebass4 said:
plain and simple.. unseasoned wood
Click to expand...


I gotta admit I'm sick of seeing that statement

I read alot on here but don't post too much as I'm still a newbie to burning wood.

The reason that comment P!$$es me off is that due to poor planning on my part (I didn't think I'd actually get the stove IN this year) I did not spend any time this summer stocking up on wood.

WELL, long story short: My furnace has been run for a total of less than 45 minutes since Oct. 1, and ALL I've been burning is unseasoned ash and maple!!!! I let the stove go out completely and check/clean chimney about every 2 weeks. So far I've only brushed out probably 3 large coffee cans worth of creosote.

Yes, I know I'm burning more wood and have to work harder to get the stove up to temp, but my house has NEVER been as warm and comfortable! Last weekend it was 5* F in the a.m. and it was 75* F upstairs and 82* F in the basement were the stove is. I figure that so far (thru January), my savings on not buying propane have already recouped ~ 1/3 of my total install cost.


Do I think seasoned wood is better: ABSOLUTELY! But, I'll NEVER tell someone that green/unseasoned wood can't be burned.
Click to expand...


:D tell you what - get ahead a few years on your wood and them come back and talk to me..

Yes ash burns when it's fresh... would i burn it? nope. no need. i am burning buring three year old wood now and the stuff is plain awesome in my EPA stove..

if you wanted a non helpful answer - EVERYTHING BURNS....
 
I do know one thing. This is my second year burning and last year my wood supply was not seasoned enough and I never want to have that happen again.

This year its seasoned good and it is night and day burning compared to last year.

To Garand06 there is no reason to get pissed off. Just state your opinion everyone has one. There is a lot of years of experience on this forum and most are just trying to help the burning world learn and get better. I know this forum has been so helpful to me I can not describe. If you want to or recommend burning un-seasoned wood so be it. I know I will never never ever ever again go thru that.

I used to get upset about little things and I have learned finally its not worth it.
 
Garand06 said:
Stevebass4 said:
plain and simple.. unseasoned wood
Click to expand...


I gotta admit I'm sick of seeing that statement

I read alot on here but don't post too much as I'm still a newbie to burning wood.

The reason that comment P!$$es me off is that due to poor planning on my part (I didn't think I'd actually get the stove IN this year) I did not spend any time this summer stocking up on wood.

WELL, long story short: My furnace has been run for a total of less than 45 minutes since Oct. 1, and ALL I've been burning is unseasoned ash and maple!!!! I let the stove go out completely and check/clean chimney about every 2 weeks. So far I've only brushed out probably 3 large coffee cans worth of creosote.

Yes, I know I'm burning more wood and have to work harder to get the stove up to temp, but my house has NEVER been as warm and comfortable! Last weekend it was 5* F in the a.m. and it was 75* F upstairs and 82* F in the basement were the stove is. I figure that so far (thru January), my savings on not buying propane have already recouped ~ 1/3 of my total install cost.

Do I think seasoned wood is better: ABSOLUTELY! But, I'll NEVER tell someone that green/unseasoned wood can't be burned.
Click to expand...



Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. I also didn't stock up on wood, I wasn't sure the install was going to take place due to finances, etc., so most of my really dry stuff is gone, too. I just have to write this year off as a light burning year, and do what I can to plan for next year. Who knew that what the dealers call seasoned wood is really quite wet for optimum burning? And if you are like me, it is impractical to climb on the roof and clean your own chimney every month, let alone remove the baffle or move the stove out. But it is still cheaper than oil.
As far as wood to burn, I think pretty much anything is burnable as long as it not treated in any way. I am working on getting the nerve to ask a neighbor for some downed pine. I know he will give me strange looks, as "everyone" knows you don't burn pine. I am not going to educate him, though, I don't want my secret out or all of the discarded pine will be disappearing from the landscape :)
 
HighHeat22 said:
There is a lot of years of experience on this forum and most are just trying to help the burning world learn and get better... If you want to or recommend burning un-seasoned wood so be it... I know I will never never ever ever again go thru that.
Click to expand...


Yes, the first statement is true, however if you read MOST of the comments, they are sorta calling you a moron if you do/have to burn unseasoned wood.


Never said I recommend it, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do!


AND, yes, if I can at all help it, I'll never be in this situation again.


Just trying to make the point that it IS doable.
 
Driftwood pulled from the ocean . . . due to the salt content and possibility of messing up the chimney, stove, etc.

Telephone poles and railroad ties . . . unless you want to throw a whole bunch of bad stuff into the air and see what an atomic bomb explosion looks like in your living room.

Petrified wood . . . rumor has it that this wood is too well seasoned.

Unseasoned wood . . . most modern woodstoves do much better and are safer when fed good fuel. Garbage in, garbage out . . . in other words you can burn unseasoned wood, but you will find it more difficult to get a fire going, will waste a lot of potential BTUs in getting the fire going and will have to keep a closer eye on the chimney as it can get gunked up quickly.

Household furniture . . . simply because your spouse really is partial to the dining room set that they inherited from their great grand mother.

Painted, stained, pressure treated and plywood/OSB, etc. . . . again for the gunk this could toss up in the air.

As for particular wood species . . . I haven't met a single species of wood yet that I haven't liked . . . all wood is good . . . in its own time. I burn poplar and pine regularly . . . but I don't rely on them for those long, overnight fires . . . but they're perfect for shoulder season fires or when I'm just relaxing at home and don't mind filling up the woodstove a little more often.
 
Garand06-- Sorry, I guess I misunderstood. thanks for clarifying.

Boy, I do not want to get in that situation of burning unseasoned wood again also.

Happy Burning !.
 
firefighterjake said:
... Garbage in, garbage out . . . in other words you can burn unseasoned wood, but you will find it more difficult to get a fire going, will waste a lot of potential BTUs in getting the fire going and will have to keep a closer eye on the chimney as it can get gunked up quickly...
Click to expand...

Your three statements above are quite true, but my garbage has saved me almost $1000 on propane so far this first year of wood burning compared to what I spent by the same time last year.

Not to mention, I'm keeping the house a whole lot warmer than the 67-68 F that I used to keep the thermostat at!


Until I get ahead next year, I'll happily burn "garbage"!
 
Garand06 said:
firefighterjake said:
... Garbage in, garbage out . . . in other words you can burn unseasoned wood, but you will find it more difficult to get a fire going, will waste a lot of potential BTUs in getting the fire going and will have to keep a closer eye on the chimney as it can get gunked up quickly...
Click to expand...

Your three statements above are quite true, but my garbage has saved me almost $1000 on propane so far this first year of wood burning compared to what I spent by the same time last year.

Not to mention, I'm keeping the house a whole lot warmer than the 67-68 F that I used to keep the thermostat at!


Until I get ahead next year, I'll happily burn "garbage"!
Click to expand...

And just wait until next year when you burn truly seasoned wood . . . I thought I did pretty well burning semi-seasoned wood in Year One . . . until Year Two and I was burning wood that was cut, split and stacked for over a year. Holy crapola . . . I couldn't believe how much more heat my stove put out -- in fact the first time the secondaries really got going I was a bit nervous.

Get by this year . . . and then fall in love with your stove all over again next year when you have very good wood.
 
Wow, I can't wait until next year!!
Seriously!
 
firefighterjake said:
Get by this year . . . and then fall in love with your stove all over again next year when you have very good wood.
Click to expand...


That's the plan! ;)
 
The firewood I burn is well seasoned, in fact almost too dry, so I don't have any reason to burn unseasoned wood. But I still break one of the cardinal rules by burning scrap wood that might be stained or painted, and I even burn OSB once in a while. I'm only useing this stuff for firestarter scraps (kindling), I don't heat with it, so I don't use much and it always gets burned in a hot fire.
I do a lot of reno work around home and cutting these scraps up and burning them saves me throwing it in the landfill, and provides me with some firestarter fuel that I'm gona need anyway. What doesn't get used in the stove usually gets burned outside.
I do however have my limits, I won't burn preserved wood because of the aresnic fumes, and I won't burn (almost wood) products like laminate flooring for basicly the same reason (man that stuff smokes and stinks bad, don't ask me how I know :red: ). I won't even burn these things outside, it goes in the landfill.
 
Witches! You can't burn them anymore but maybe you can build a bridge out of them (sorry old Monty Python reference for those that have denied themselves that humor:)
 
So my question is

Is there any wood that is absolutely a no no for burning?
Click to expand...


Um, morning wood. ;-)
 
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