Beech burns HOT! Late first fire of the year for me.

[stee6043]

Well yesterday was the big day for me. Finally...a bit later than I would have liked...I got my boiler up and running. It was a fine day to start burning wood. Mid 60's outside, sunshine, warm breeze and a forecast calling for 1-3" of snow 24 hours later.

This is my first year burning beech. And based on how my cold tanks/boiler responded to it I suspect it's burning quite a bit hotter than my usual load of black cherry mixed with oaks and maple.

As most folks with storage know the first fire of the year is usually a bit of a struggle. Much of the boiler output is being consumed by the boiler itself to keep return water up to temp. My bottom tank temp was 59 degrees when I started, 64 at the top. It's a slow process getting the heat to the bottom of the tanks.

A typical year for me will see output temps hover around 160-175 during this start-up period. Yesterday I was pushing 190 for much of the burn with my pump on high. I also had to throttle my air back significantly more than normal to keep my stack temps reasonable. All in all, very pleased with the burn I was getting from these loads of beech. I'm heating my house this morning with 180 degree tanks top to bottom.

Want to see stratification? This is after 3+ hours of burning. This is what a painfully slow mix will get ya.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheapinebriant/8211353924/

 

[711mhw]

Your picture of the tank storage is very telling, I had no idea. I got a bunch of Beech myself. Good wood. We have a Beech badk disease here with some of our trees, ya gotta get em before they start to get punky.

 

[Fred61]

About 30 years ago I ordered a 6 cord load of tree length firewood. What the guy delivered was a load of beech saw logs that the mill would not accept because the had sat on the landing too long and were checked. As soon as I saw what had been delivered I called and asked if he had another load like that. The next day I took delivery of a second load. All 12 to 20 inches in diameter, straight with no knots. I was in heaven both in processing and in burning.

 

[BoilerMan]

I burn almost exclusivly beech here. It's my choice wood, does make more ash than hard Maple (close second choice). You saw in my fire starting thread the load of Beech. Fast-growing and higher than Maple of the btu chart!

TS

 

[woodsmaster]

Wow ! kind of a late start I've been heating my house for over a month. You must have some very good solar gain!

 

[stee6043]

Wow ! kind of a late start I've been heating my house for over a month. You must have some very good solar gain!

Nah, I heat with natural gas during the shoulder season. I typically fire up my boiler around Halloween. Somehow life got in the way of a timely kick-off this year. Nevertheless, we're off the gas now and living large again.