Is burning pine in a wood burning stove. Really that dangerous as they say ? I heard as long as it is dry it shouldn’t be a problem. My question to you is, who burns it in their wood burning stove. I want your feedback !
Burning pine.
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I burn pine or any other wood I get. I don't go looking for pine but if I need to cut it it's going through the stove.
And no there is absolutely no truth at all to the idea that it is dangerous
Ok that's not going to be ready to burn this year unless it's already really close to dry
Dix
Minister of Fire
Nothing wrong with pine. It has to be seasoned, like any other firewood. On the plus side, it seasons more quickly.
On the negative side, it'll burn quicker, so less burn times.
Great for shoulder season, and something to keep in your arsenal.
On the negative side, it'll burn quicker, so less burn times.
Great for shoulder season, and something to keep in your arsenal.
DuaeGuttae
Minister of Fire
I, too, simply enjoy burning pine. I enjoy oak as well, of course, but when it builds up coals, it’s great to have some pine to run through the stove to help burn them down.
Living now in south central Texas a bit to the west, I don’t have any pine. The Ashe Juniper/Texas Cedar serves the same purpose around here.
My mother lives on a wooded property in Virginia, and she has used all sorts of wood from her land in her forty-six years of heating. Her pine [mostly loblobby, I believe] is one of her favorites. She does tend not to split white pine for the stove as she says it doesn’t have enough density. She hauls that into a pile in the woods.
Living now in south central Texas a bit to the west, I don’t have any pine. The Ashe Juniper/Texas Cedar serves the same purpose around here.
My mother lives on a wooded property in Virginia, and she has used all sorts of wood from her land in her forty-six years of heating. Her pine [mostly loblobby, I believe] is one of her favorites. She does tend not to split white pine for the stove as she says it doesn’t have enough density. She hauls that into a pile in the woods.
Burned it for Years in BK King. Zero Problems. Went to Pellet Stove in 2018. I loved Cedar the best when I could get it or Red Fir.
I burn all sorts of seasoned dry pine, Starts and burns great, just not very high density. I have never had any stove or chimney build up.
Poindexter
Minister of Fire
Out west of the Rockies "we" burn a lot of softwoods. I am running 6-8 cords annually, all spruces for several years. Spruce-Pine-Fir is the new burner's friend because it seasons quickly.
Only last year I started burning some hardwood (birch) in the shoulder seasons because birch has a long coaling stage and can provide a little bit of heat for a long time when it isn't that cold outside.
In the depths of winter I like spruce because the coaling stage is short. When a load of spruce burns down I got plenty of room in the firebox to make another full load and give my catalytic combustor something to chew on again for the next several hours.
Having some softwood and some hardwood (both well seasoned) is a fine thing. I don't know your work schedule, your insulation envelope or your microclimate. Nor do I know your spouse's expectations. The number of times I have mixed softwood (spruce) with hardwood (birch) in the trailing 12 months is one time, because a mixed load was what I could use to fill the firebox without going outdoors.
My local finding is spruce dried to 16%MC makes less ash in the firebox and less crud in the chimney compared to burning birch at 16% MC. YMwillV.
Only last year I started burning some hardwood (birch) in the shoulder seasons because birch has a long coaling stage and can provide a little bit of heat for a long time when it isn't that cold outside.
In the depths of winter I like spruce because the coaling stage is short. When a load of spruce burns down I got plenty of room in the firebox to make another full load and give my catalytic combustor something to chew on again for the next several hours.
Having some softwood and some hardwood (both well seasoned) is a fine thing. I don't know your work schedule, your insulation envelope or your microclimate. Nor do I know your spouse's expectations. The number of times I have mixed softwood (spruce) with hardwood (birch) in the trailing 12 months is one time, because a mixed load was what I could use to fill the firebox without going outdoors.
My local finding is spruce dried to 16%MC makes less ash in the firebox and less crud in the chimney compared to burning birch at 16% MC. YMwillV.
Poindexter, would this be Black Spruce and White (paper) birch? I assume so as you’re in Alaska. You seem to have very similar wood choices to mine. I have been told that white birch seasons fast. I have cut my first ever cord of it this year, as I was lucky to discover a stand. Just observing so far, the ends are already showing visible cracking from drying out. It’s only been split and stacked for a couple months, and drying out already, faster than my spruce even. Is this what you observe as well with your birch? I live in a very dry air climate.
BKVP
Minister of Fire
Burn Pine! I do and I especially like it when I was burning maple, locust, walnut because they are all very high on the specific gravity chart.
Stacking some dry pine on the coals helps to burn them down!! Just yesterday I was eying a stand of dead black pine, 6" diameter trees. Easy access and easy to cut.
BKVP
Stacking some dry pine on the coals helps to burn them down!! Just yesterday I was eying a stand of dead black pine, 6" diameter trees. Easy access and easy to cut.
BKVP
buc74
Burning Hunk
We always keep a few face cords around of Pine or Poplar. Dries fast, easy to handle, and always free.
SpaceBus
Minister of Fire
90% of my firewood is "pine" (actually fir and spruce)
Not sure exactly why it has a bad reputation, but pine burns just fine. The issue is that for a given volume pine is less dense than many "hardwood" species. On the other hand Larch/Tamarack have a fuel density of 21m btu/cord compared to birch at 23m btu/cord. Most "softwood" pine species are going to be closer to 16m btu/cord.
Not sure exactly why it has a bad reputation, but pine burns just fine. The issue is that for a given volume pine is less dense than many "hardwood" species. On the other hand Larch/Tamarack have a fuel density of 21m btu/cord compared to birch at 23m btu/cord. Most "softwood" pine species are going to be closer to 16m btu/cord.
4 to 5 cords yearly, very little creosote and can still get a solid 8 hour burn time.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Pine is not fir or spruce. I am just finishing up a log load that was supposed to be fir but had a maple log and a pine log in it. I’m not upset about the pine. It’s not as good as fir but it’s really easy to split.
its surprisingly hard to light when its still wet. I've been trying to clear firepits of stacked branches and brush. This memorial day i needed to use a whole super cedar puck to light a load off.
Todd
Minister of Fire
I have lots of Jack And Red Pine available here and I have no problems burning it. The Red is mostly used for my sauna stove, it lights off fast and burns hot quickly. The Jack Pine seems more dense and I’ve used it in my cabin stove with good results. Either one works great for the shoulder seasons.
Green wood of any species is likely to create a lot of creosote. Pine or Fir is no different in that regard. When there is a lot of moisture being boiled off of the wood, it cools the flue gases. The creosote is created by cool flue temps, allowing the flue gases to condense on the pipe. Last year I took in an 8# split of green doug fir into the house. In 3 weeks it had shed 2# of weight. That is a lot of water.
I would think white pine would just be worse if not seasoned based on how sticky the sap is and how well it burns but maybe it doesn’t make a difference. Most inexperienced people around here won’t even think about pine unless it’s for camp fires or maple syrup production because of the reputation it has for chimney fires.
I do like hemlock though, it seems to burn very hot and fast but Is better than the white pine.
I do like hemlock though, it seems to burn very hot and fast but Is better than the white pine.
Hemlock is great too! Its a bit brittle as dimensional lumber for my tastes to build with, but it'll always have a spot in my wood pile!
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