Can I burn this indoors?

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haus

New Member
Mar 19, 2017
4
NJ
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Hello all,

Completely new to the world of wood burning and fireplaces. I recently bought a home with a masonry fireplace, and the previous owner left the wood pile seen in the attached pictures. I have no idea how long it has been sitting there, but the wood looks like it has mold on it so I was wondering if it was safe to burn indoors?
 
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Short answer YES
 
There's not much that grows on wood that won't burn if dry. Punky soft wood is not worth the effort. If it hasn't been under cover you may want to get some indoors so any moisture under the bark can dry up. Those larger rounds could stand being split in half or quarter.
 
Looks like pine (or spruce) to me.
I would split the big ones, get it up off the ground, let it dry, cover it and burn it.:)
 
Pine or spruce, for sure...burn it to your hearts content.
 
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Awesome, thanks for the feedback everyone. I wasn't sure if it was ok to burn the moldy pieces for health reasons, but it sounds like the consensus is that this wood should be fine. Thanks again.
 
I recently got a pickup load of split moldies from churchbud.
Already dry (mostly), they are going a few at a time from the
outdoor pile right into the firebox with no "indoor time" to be
releasing spores into the house. Yes, it burns great nice and old.
The regular porch and indoor tote system is still in place. I just
grab 3 moldy splits on my way in the house and immediately
start the cremation process to slow greatly the standard rotation of feeding.
I'm out a good few times a day and time it with the stove's need
for another maintenance dose of fuel. It was free and wood is wood,
Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeap.
 
Looks good to me
 
The mold is not a factor, the dryness of the wood might be. The general rule of thumb around here is under 20% moisture content tested on the inside of a fresh split.

Welcome! Great info here and great group of guys.
 
The fire will burn up the fungus, plus you shouldn't be breathing the smoke anyway. There isn't much firewood that doesn't have some fungus in it or on it.
 
Just had the chimney cleaned and inspected this week. I plan on splitting some of these logs this weekend to let it properly dry. In the meantime, I'm going to grab some wood from a nearby farm with a good reputation for seasoning their wood. Unfortunately it's going to be 70+ degrees here this weekend.