This isn't accurate. Even dry wood contains around 20% moisture and the by products of complete combustion are CO2 and water.
Well if you want to get really technical. True steam is actually invisible. It is only when it hits cool air that it condenses and we see the vapor cloud that is white. So in a well built fire you should not see any “steam” when you burn firewood. We will have to agree to disagree.
What you are seeing is the superheated exhaust coming out the stack make contact with the outside air which does contain water vapor. In this “contact zone” the water vapor in the air heats up and then very quickly condenses and cools right back down again as it travels out and up and becomes visible to us. If the exhaust source was from a steam generated power plant you can witness the exhaust steam. As it hits the air it cools and condenses and creates a big white cloud. Many people erroneously call this “smoke” including the media that presents this as a big smoking pollution factory but it’s only water vapor. If you witness this from a wood burning fire it tells you you have too much moisture in your fuel. Yes of course technically there is a little bit of steam emitted from burning wood, but if you can see it with the naked eye it’s a clue that your wood has too much moisture in it. There should not be so much steam or smoke that it makes a neighbor file a complaint. Yes, maybe he is an ash hole neighbor but if you are burning efficiently when the county shows up you should be able to point at your stack and say, “Smoke? What smoke? Do YOU see any smoke?” Case closed.
Ok Mr. Literal. But not enough so that your neighbor files a complaint with the county health department. That is simply not good burning. Good burning methods do not result in this even with an ash hole neighbor.
There are a lot of different variables in this discussion. Humidity of the outside air, moisture content of wood, temperature of fire and air, etc etc. Long and short: a well built fire complete with well seasoned firewood and burning methods should emit very little visible smoke, especially with a cat equipped stove. It should not give any credence to a complaint filed with the county if they come to see for themselves.
My gawd you people are strange. Burn away your steam producing firewood then. Enjoy the pissed off neighbors. I will burn my non-steam producing firewood. And we will all live happily ever after. This isn’t rocket science.
Well that may, or at least should be true. I think most folks here are priding themselves on their clean burning technique and by doing it right shouldn't have a problem. On the other hand, if you google wood burning and health there are some screwball anti-wood crusaders out there who would never be satisfied no matter how diligent are conscientious you were. Couple that with someone who doesn't know what they're looking at when looking at your stack and even the conscientious burner could have a problem.
Hmmm...I'd say you are the strange one here...because the rest of us get "steam" out the chimney for a while after a reload...and I'm burning 3-4 year CSS Ash, so it is anything but wet.
Same deal though...combustion equals "steam" out the stack whenever the temp and humidity are right...
Ok, not taking it personal. But that doesn’t change a thing about what I am saying. But if you want to play the scientifically accurate statement game —we can do that. Actual steam is an invisible gas not visible to the naked eye. The white cloud you see is water vapor not steam. So if you want to be accurate about what you are seeing call it water vapor not steam. That is accurate. It is you making the inaccurate statement.
You want to massage and back track have fun. No big deal. you didn't express yourself as well as you could have it's fine. But the statement was completely inaccurate.
If he/she is an environmental attorney, I dunno if nit picker is the description I'd use...just sayin...
This thread is like discussions on a barbeque site I'm on. Aside from smoke when you add splits to the firebox, you should barely see any smoke, if any, from your smoker. I also reduce smoke when adding splits by pre-heating them on top of the firebox on my offset.
Remember the Neely's on The Food Network. He was barbequing something, opened it, and a ton of smoke poured out around him. He exclaimed, "that's what I'm looking for!" No. That is not what you are looking for. Twit.
