Burning dry pine for the shoulder

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SmokeyCity

SmokeyCity

Feeling the Heat
Mar 6, 2011
428
Western Pa
Pine has a bad reputation for wood stoves but I think pine is great for the shoulder season, especially if it is very dry like the stuff I'm burning to heat a single room that is only used a few hours at a time.

It burns fast and releases its heat very quickly. It is often the case that I don't need a long burning fire - just want some instant heat gratification for a few hours while I'm in the room and I don't care about keeping it heated it while I'm at work or somewhere out of the house. Dry pine is perfect for these short time intervals.

I can't prove it but I think the resins in the wood act as "volatiles" that add heat to the burn. I never have trouble getting a really hot fire going quickly using dry pine. Since it's easy to keep the fire hot I know I'm not depositing big gobs of creosote in my chimney when I'm cruising at 600-650 on the deck.

This little 13NC runs great on pine!
 
Yer gonna burn yer house down. I heard pine causes chimney fires :rolleyes:
 
Bah!, Humbug!
 
Pine good :)
 
SmokeyCity said:
Pine has a bad reputation for wood stoves but I think pine is great for the shoulder season, especially if it is very dry like the stuff I'm burning to heat a single room that is only used a few hours at a time.

It burns fast and releases its heat very quickly. It is often the case that I don't need a long burning fire - just want some instant heat gratification for a few hours while I'm in the room and I don't care about keeping it heated it while I'm at work or somewhere out of the house. Dry pine is perfect for these short time intervals.

I can't prove it but I think the resins in the wood act as "volatiles" that add heat to the burn. I never have trouble getting a really hot fire going quickly using dry pine. Since it's easy to keep the fire hot I know I'm not depositing big gobs of creosote in my chimney when I'm cruising at 600-650 on the deck.

This little 13NC runs great on pine!
Click to expand...

You are right..pine does have more potential BTU per dry pound that hardwood - I thiunk Jack ine is the best and is something in the order of 9500 vs 8600 BTU per pound, because of the energy in the resins. The figure for pine isn't necessarily right, as its a guess, but I know it is over 9000. But, as you noted, released quickly.
 
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HEY!! Don't be coming in here with your "my chimney is clean" and "my house didn't burn down" hoopla.

It's a known FACT that the only thing worse for burning in the shoulder season than kittens, is pine.

(I hate it for all those people out west who have to choose between the two every year..)

(also, I am not responsible for whatever just got sprayed on your keyboard)

;)
 
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Dakotas Dad said:
HEY!! Don't be coming in here with your "my chimney is clean" and "my house didn't burn down" hoopla.

It's a known FACT that the only thing worse for burning in the shoulder season than kittens, is pine.

(I hate it for all those people out west who have to choose between the two every year..)

(also, I am not responsible for whatever just got sprayed on your keyboard)

;)
Click to expand...
It's why I chose a Cat stove in the first place.
 
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Beetle-Kill said:
It's why I chose a Cat stove in the first place.
Click to expand...


yeah.... I've read the BK folks talking that their kitty cats just love to sip on that pine smoke. Must be nice to have the next best thing to a fusion reactor that will effectively and efficiently burn any crap wood you toss into it.
 
Pine is as safe or dangerous as any other wood. Burning seasoned pine is not going to cause any problems. Burning any unseasoned wood will cause problems regardless of what kind. All wood is fairly equal as far as btu's produced pound for pound of course it will take much more pine then oak or another dense wood. Plenty of people heat their homes with pine.
People with wood stoves that don't burn pine are burning something else. I would rather burn pine and save my "better" "hard" wood for another time.
 
I like using pine .It starts real easy and gets the stove up to temps nicely. About 1/3 of our stove use is from a cold start especially the basement stove, so having a good amount of the lighter woods is welcome here. The key is dry with all woods.
 
Half my fuel supply every year comes from standing dead, beetle kill pine. Got some cooking now, as a matter of fact!
 
So far this year I haven't burned anything but pine and can say in the fall and early winter it does great! I easily get 9 hours of usable heat out of a 2/3 load of pine and it doesn't over heat my house.
 
smiley-face-popcorn.gif
 
SmokeyCity said:
I can't prove it but I think the resins in the wood act as "volatiles" that add heat to the burn... I know I'm not depositing big gobs of creosote in my chimney when I'm cruising at 600-650 on the deck.
Click to expand...

SmokeyCity said:
I've read the BK folks talking that their kitty cats just love to sip on that pine smoke.
Click to expand...
I wonder what happens if it's not burned hot...could it be more of a problem than other woods as far as dangerous deposits? The reason I ask is because when I burn this Red Pine in the outdoor pit, I see a lot of black smoke...looks different than the grey smoke of other woods. Chock-full of volatile substances which could be deposited in a chimney during a cooler burn??
 
I just started burning pine. It seems to burn just fine also fast fire and heat in the morn when the stove is cold.
 
I guess since I'm fresh out off cats i'll burn pine. I burn alot of it and you do have to be careful not to do a hot reload. It doesn't get near the hours of hardwoods but in my country it's easy to get and available. It will heat and burn just fine. Expect about 75% of the burn time as hardwoods. A hot reload will take off (mostly because it's so dry) so avoid that and you'll be good. I got less than a cup of creosote from last years pine.
 
You haven't seen the true raging inferno of secondary action until you load up a stove with pitchy pine stumps. So heavy, they still feel wet!

The main reason it burns fast/hot is because of the rapid offgassing of its resins and other volatiles. Extra fuel needs extra air which results in extra heat!
 
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