Burning pine vs western hardwoods

[ironmanco]

Some background: I've been burning most western hardwoods for the past several years with a couple of years mixing in some pine but still mostly hardwood. I have a 44 elite wood fireplace (catalytic). Out here in Colorado the availability of our hardwoods is significantly less than what is available to what I used to be able to get back east.

That being said, beyond the potential creosote build up and the lower btu capacity of the fuel, any other things I should be concerned about burinng solely (well seasoned) pine?

 

[Whitenuckler]

Some background: I've been burning most western hardwoods for the past several years with a couple of years mixing in some pine but still mostly hardwood. I have a 44 elite wood fireplace (catalytic). Out here in Colorado the availability of our hardwoods is significantly less than what is available to what I used to be able to get back east.

That being said, beyond the potential creosote build up and the lower btu capacity of the fuel, any other things I should be concerned about burinng solely (well seasoned) pine?

From some reading I did before getting my pellet stove, pine has a bad rap for starting chimney fires. The theory is that the person was burning moderate hardwood fires, and then for some reason put on a fire of pine. The heat was too much, and set off a chimney fire. My understanding is that if you don't fall into that trap, burning pine should be fine.

 

[begreen]

Poorly seasoned wood and cold flues cause creosote to accumulate, not pine. The main thing to watch out for is that dry pine takes off quickly. It burns fast and hot.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

And leaves you very few ashes… less maintenance like emptying ashes!

Pine is great to burn!

 

[Highbeam]

I've burned a good bit of pine and I think the risk is that even wet pine burns pretty well but can produce horrendous amounts of creosote. Once the pine is dry it burns clean. Sometimes the btu isn't much lower, it's really not a bad wood and in some places it's all they have.

 

[EbS-P]

Pine dries fast but soaks any water that hits it like a sponge. You have to top cover with a good overhang. If you even get a single hole in a tarp a good portion of the stack can be wet.

 

[djlew]

I burn a lot of pine. I try to cut it smaller and that helps me regulate it a bit better but it definitely takes off. I mainly use to get the fire going before a load of hardwood if I have it. Seems to work for me so far. Biggest thing is making sure it's dry.

 

[highanddryinco]

I'll get the occasional dead ash if a neighbor loses a tree, and recently got some locust when the tornado hit my in-law's place in Highlands Ranch. Other than that, it's pine, pine, and more pine. You know how dry it is out here...nothing dries quicker than pine. Where we're located, I don't even worry about a cover. A little rain or snow disappears very quickly and affects the split moisture minimally. Start with a good clean chimney, burn it hot, and don't look back.

 

[hobbyheater]

Yellow pine has a btu value very similar to Douglas fir .30 years ago when I was running log loader would set the yellow pine aside for firewood ! White pine is more common but half the btu value.

This picture is 40 years old and is firewood ,snag and windfall logs were considered to be pulp so in the small community where we lived it was firewood for the employ's !

 

[Slimdusty]

Yellow pine has a btu value very similar to Douglas fir .30 years ago when I was running log loader would set the yellow pine aside for firewood ! White pine is more common but half the btu value.View attachment 338607This picture is 40 years old and is firewood ,snag and windfall logs were considered to be pulp so in the small community where we lived it was firewood for the employ's !

That truck load of firewood is likely much better wood than we can get nowadays in the box stores for lumber.

 

[Slimdusty]

Around my region, most people shy away from pine but I like to have it as an option in my woodpile. Need to scrounge some more!

 

[Pinesmoke]

Hobbyheater I agree on the yellow pine, I like it. Big difference between it and white. I probably have 90%/10% white to yellow down here and save the yellow for colder days. It coals out nicely in the comparison.

Back to the OPs question. I run pine only during the day and save oak and beech for night loads. I run it in a cat stove so I'm sure it helps but I've never seen any buildup that is concerning. When I was running a non-cat I didn't run it since it wasn't available often compared to other wood so I can't add info from that angle.

 

[CatfishHunter]

I run a Haughs stove from the early 90s use pine (white & red) for most of my kindling. I also use pjne exclusively in the sauna stove because it is a short, straight pipe that is easy to clean. Birch is used almost exclusively in my cabin because the pipe is very tall and hard to clean.

That said, I rarely see a creosote difference between the two pipes when I clean them. I make sure to burn hot and then let the fires die out. You should be fine as long as the pine is seasoned well. You can watch the wood burn and see if any pine sap bubbles out when it burns. Then you'll know if its well-seasoned or not.

 

[hobbyheater]

That truck load of firewood is likely much better wood than we can get nowadays in the box stores for lumber.

These logs came out of the same setting!