New to Wood Burning - Wood Questions

[TomR]

I have been saving and just purchased my first Wood Stove. It's a fireplace insert - the Enviro Boston Model. Needless to say I'm very excited about switching from oil as my primary source of fuel for heat to wood. The stove is going to be installed on Tuesday.

Question 1 - Connecticut was hit with a very bad storm a few weeks ago and there is a tremendous amount of free cut up wood all over the place. I have been loading up my truck when I see wood that 'looks' good. However, I really don't know what I'm doing. If the wood is already cut and there are no leaves for identification is there some other way to know what I'm picking up? My primary concern is not picking up Pine. Is there an easy way I can tell the difference between Pine and other woods like Oak after the tree has been cut and there are no branches or leaves to help with identification? Any wood I collect this year I would hope to use next season. I realize that I need to use seasoned wood this year and have a Cord on order from a reputable business. (Note: So far all of the wood I have picked up splits very easily with a Maul - but I'm not sure if this indicates 'hard wood' or 'soft wood'.

Question 2 - Is it safe to burn Bio Bricks in a Wood Stove Insert. The owners manual on the Enviro says to only burn natural wood but I'm not sure if they are really trying to discourage people from burning odd ball stuff or if there is some reason that these Bio Bricks shouldn't be used in a wood stove insert.

Thanks for your help.

Tom

 

[wooddope]

Pine cut this time of year is pretty easy to ID. If your hands get all sticky when handling it then it's pine.

 

[bogydave]

Welcome
Learning to identify wood types takes some time & experience.
It's all BTUs so get what you can. Remember the key is to season it for a year (after it's cut ,split & stacked CSS) before it's good to burn.

BIO brick are fine to burn in any wood stove. They are Ground up wood, pressed into molds & dried. (No chemical added)

 

[granpajohn]

Pine cut this time of year is pretty easy to ID. If your hands get all sticky when handling it then it's pine.

Breath deeply. If you are inexplicably reminded of Christmas, why... it must be pine.

And keep that pine...it has use too.

 

[Gasifier]

Take any wood you can get, if you have the room of course. The guys on here can help you out to advise on cutting, splitting, and stacking (c/s/s) in the near future. The pine will burn fine as well. You just have to get it dried out, just like any wood. Type in wood id and tree id in the quick search field in this forum. You should come up with some threads that can help you out. Also, take pictures of some of the wood you have scored so far. Load the pictures up into a thread and ask for help to id the wood. Plenty of guys on here who can help you out. Learning how to put pictures up will help you through the learning process. And searching prior threads. Check out the stickies at the top and read how to load pictures.

 

[REM505]

Breath deeply. If you are inexplicably reminded of Christmas, why... it must be pine.
And keep that pine...it has use too.

I thought you were saying to take a deep breath and calm down! On second thought I think you are. But yes pine has the fragrance of a Christmas tree.

Some of my first wood was pine. I had a helluva time splitting some of that big knotty stuff.

 

[mdocod]

What's wrong with pine? That's all there is around here!

 

[Wood Duck]

If I were you I'd collect all the wood I could get. Right now is probably the easiest time you'll ever have getting free firewood. I'd try to collect 20 cords and be five years ahead, as long as I had the space to store it. There is no reason not to collect pine, it burns just as well as as safely as other woods. Collect everything, split it and stack it. You probably won't be able to tell oak from the other woods, but if you could I'd separate it. Oak seasons (dries out inside) slowly and so it usually needs two years or more to be really well seasoned, while most other woods including pine will be ready, or at least a lot closer to ready, in one year. Nevermind, just split it all and stack it where it can get lots of wind and hopefully sun as well. The oak should be OK next year.

You can't separate hardwood from softwood based on how hard it is to split. Some of the most dense hardwood tend to split easily, while sometimes light softwoods can be tough to split. Also, the difficulty of splitting a piece of wood has more to do with the individual piece than with the type of tree. Crotches, big branches, knots, etc. can make a pice hard to split, while wood from a straight, branchless part of almost any tree should be easy to split (with a few exceptions).

 

[TomR]

Thanks for all the replies so far I do appreciate it. A friend warned me against burning pine. He said that it will contribute to creosote buildup in my chimney vent and could lead to a fire....I don't know. I have read some mixed reports myself and just figured that while I am still new at this I would err on the side of caution and focus on the hardwoods. However, you guys seem to be the experts so I will go with what you say.

Also - I have tons of branches about an inch in diameter cut to 20" long - are these good for burning or not generally worth it...

 

[bogydave]

Thanks for all the replies so far I do appreciate it. A friend warned me against burning pine. He said that it will contribute to creosote buildup in my chimney vent and could lead to a fire....I don't know. I have read some mixed reports myself and just figured that while I am still new at this I would err on the side of caution and focus on the hardwoods.

The wood type don't matter. I burned birch & had a chimney fire many years ago. Knowing what causes a creosote build up in a chimney is important to know.
Wet wood is the #1 cause, dry well seasoned wood (regardless of type/species) is essential.
Chimney designed to match your wood burning appliance is another key. Some allow the exhaust gasses to cool on the way up the stack & condense to the walls as creosote.
Chimney maintenance & inspection is key also.
To say "Pine" causes chimney fires is not true. Folks in the north west have been burning pine for centuries & still are with no issues.
Education, experience & knowledge will erase many "wives tales", beliefs & erroneous statements about burning wood.
You are on this site, "Great first step". The experience & knowledge here is a Fantastic place to ask & learn from "The Best". :zip:
From the old style "smoke dragons" to the new style efficient EPA stove, Catalytic & non-catalytics.
How to? properly season wood, burn wood, store wood, empty the stove, load the stove, clean the chimney, improve your system & so on....
Just need to "Ask" & someone here has had the same problem & knows the solution. You get the "Straight Stuff".
Welcome aboard!

 

[bluedogz]

Thanks for all the replies so far I do appreciate it. A friend warned me against burning pine. He said that it will contribute to creosote buildup in my chimney vent and could lead to a fire....I don't know. I have read some mixed reports myself and just figured that while I am still new at this I would err on the side of caution and focus on the hardwoods. However, you guys seem to be the experts so I will go with what you say.

Also - I have tons of branches about an inch in diameter cut to 20" long - are these good for burning or not generally worth it...

Do a lot of reading here, and you'll learn.

My vote is that those one-inchers will be great kindling. That's what I do, anyway. Just don't bother putting them in the splitter.

 

[mdocod]

Whether or not you want to save and stack and transport the little stuff is entirely up to you. Personally I have no qualms with saving and burning all the little stuff. Fuel is fuel. Little stuff is great kindling, makes for great flash fires, and can be used to provide continuous heat with frequent loading if you are available to do so. I purposely save my larger pieces for burns that I expect to need to run for long periods of time unattended. When I'm available to tend the fire I'm burning smaller scraps/branches/pallets/"junk"-lumber etc etc. Doing so requires attention to the fire about every 20-45 minutes but that doesn't bother me. Like many people, I look forward to an opportunity to tend to the fire.

 

[red oak]

Thanks for all the replies so far I do appreciate it. A friend warned me against burning pine. He said that it will contribute to creosote buildup in my chimney vent and could lead to a fire....I don't know. I have read some mixed reports myself and just figured that while I am still new at this I would err on the side of caution and focus on the hardwoods. However, you guys seem to be the experts so I will go with what you say.

Also - I have tons of branches about an inch in diameter cut to 20" long - are these good for burning or not generally worth it...

As several others have said, pine is fine! The main consideration with any wood is if it's dry. Properly seasoned, cut split and stacked for a year, pine will be a very good friend. I use the small stuff for kindling and firestarter, along with bark. It's not essential that you take it - that's up to you. But small wood does have its uses.

Welcome to the forum and keep the questions coming! Many intelligent folks on here are willing to help you out!

 

[weatherguy]

You can probably tell if its oak because it will be heavy, looks at some pics on this site and google oak and try to identify it by the bark. Put that aside for 2-3 years into the future because it takes a long time to season. Pines fine as long as its seasoned. While the gettings good around here get as much as you can and try to get 3-4 years ahead so you'll have nicely seasoned wood to burn for the upcoming years.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Thanks for all the replies so far I do appreciate it. A friend warned me against burning pine. He said that it will contribute to creosote buildup in my chimney vent and could lead to a fire....I don't know. I have read some mixed reports myself and just figured that while I am still new at this I would err on the side of caution and focus on the hardwoods. However, you guys seem to be the experts so I will go with what you say.

Also - I have tons of branches about an inch in diameter cut to 20" long - are these good for burning or not generally worth it...

The Eastern terror of pine I think is from the fact that until very recently with the advent of EPA stoves like we mostly all have here, people who heated their homes with wood mostly didn't season it but burned it sometimes right after they cut it down. Unless they clean their chimneys regularly, they'll have a chimney fire sooner or later even with hardwoods treated that way, but a lot sooner with green pine. And with abundant good hardwoods to burn, a myth grew up about pine.

But as lots of the guys here who live in parts of the country where pine and other softwoods are all there is will tell you, properly seasoned pine is perfectly OK to burn.

Where I live in rural VT, a lot of folks have heated with wood for generations, and so far I've only run into one or two who've figured out that seasoned wood burns better and more efficiently. Pretty much everybody else cuts their wood over the summer and burns it that winter, at best. Some folks literally don't cut a tree until they're running low on firewood and need some more. I'm considered an eccentric with silly city misconceptions for seasoning my wood before burning it.

 

[John the Painter]

Keep any and all wood 1 inch and bigger.It will all burn.Make sure it's dry.I suggest picking up a moisture meter then you will know if your wood is ready to burn or not.BTW saying Pine will cause creosote so stay away from it is like saying don't drive a Ford because it will cause an accident.Both statements can be true but if used correctly you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[JBinKC]

EPA stoves are designed to burn smoke so it takes away the risks of creosote formation provided the stove can quickly get to a high enough temperature to start the process. In order to get the stove to the right temperature quickly you need seasoned wood ideally 20% MC or less. If your firewood has a 20% MC or less anything [including pine] burns cleanly in the stove (unless you have a draft issue).

Starting out if the wood is free and you have plenty of room to store it I probably wouldn't be such a wood snob with exception to taking perhaps large rounds of elm, sycamore and sweetgum since they seem to take conservatively 10 times more effort to split by hand.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I have been saving and just purchased my first Wood Stove. It's a fireplace insert - the Enviro Boston Model. Needless to say I'm very excited about switching from oil as my primary source of fuel for heat to wood. The stove is going to be installed on Tuesday.

Question 1 - Connecticut was hit with a very bad storm a few weeks ago and there is a tremendous amount of free cut up wood all over the place. I have been loading up my truck when I see wood that 'looks' good. However, I really don't know what I'm doing. If the wood is already cut and there are no leaves for identification is there some other way to know what I'm picking up? My primary concern is not picking up Pine. Is there an easy way I can tell the difference between Pine and other woods like Oak after the tree has been cut and there are no branches or leaves to help with identification? Any wood I collect this year I would hope to use next season. I realize that I need to use seasoned wood this year and have a Cord on order from a reputable business. (Note: So far all of the wood I have picked up splits very easily with a Maul - but I'm not sure if this indicates 'hard wood' or 'soft wood'.

Question 2 - Is it safe to burn Bio Bricks in a Wood Stove Insert. The owners manual on the Enviro says to only burn natural wood but I'm not sure if they are really trying to discourage people from burning odd ball stuff or if there is some reason that these Bio Bricks shouldn't be used in a wood stove insert.

Thanks for your help.

Tom

Question 1: I'm sure by now you know that pine is fine. You do need to learn what types of wood is in your area and how to identify it. The very best way to learn is to ask experienced people and best if in person. You may have to ask more than once and just continue to learn. If you learn only one or two types of wood this year and another couple next year an so on, you will do just fine. Trying to learn them all at once is a nightmare at best! Another way to learn is to take pictures and post them on this forum asking for ID. Realize though that it is best to take more than one picture; nice to have a couple parts of the tree and a picture of leaves if possible.

Good for you knowing that most wood needs a year of drying but don't count the drying time until it has been split and stacked in the wind. Also, stack it off the ground and if you cover the wood, cover only the top of the stack.

Question 2: It should be okay to burn bio bricks but more experienced folks can answer that better than I as I've never used them.

Good luck Tom.

 

[firefighterjake]

Pine cut this time of year is pretty easy to ID. If your hands get all sticky when handling it then it's pine.

. . . or fir, spruce, hemlock or one of the many other softwoods that have a bunch of pitch in them.

 

[firefighterjake]

Pine cut this time of year is pretty easy to ID. If your hands get all sticky when handling it then it's pine.

Breath deeply. If you are inexplicably reminded of Christmas, why... it must be pine.

And keep that pine...it has use too.

. . . or it could be balsam fir . . . around here we tend to see far more folks going with balsam fir for their Christmas tree.

But yeah, as mentioned . . . pine is fine . . . just season it for a year. I love watching pine burn . . . especially in the shoulder season.

 

[firefighterjake]

Thanks for all the replies so far I do appreciate it. A friend warned me against burning pine. He said that it will contribute to creosote buildup in my chimney vent and could lead to a fire....I don't know. I have read some mixed reports myself and just figured that while I am still new at this I would err on the side of caution and focus on the hardwoods. However, you guys seem to be the experts so I will go with what you say.

Also - I have tons of branches about an inch in diameter cut to 20" long - are these good for burning or not generally worth it...

Your friend is wrong . . . . . . either that or I am putting myself and my family in grave peril and risking a fire . . . as a firefighter I certainly wouldn't want to do that . . . and then again . . . neither would thousands of our wood burning members out west who mostly burn softwood.

As for the size . . . one inch for me is a bit small . . . but you can keep some for kindling . . . I usually limit myself to 2-3 inch wood in the round (and even then many folks think I'm wasting my time . . . I just hate to be wasteful.) Stuffing a whole firebox full of small stuff can be bad . . . very bad.

 

[firefighterjake]

Oh yeah, almost forgot . . . I'm not so sure that every stove manufacturer is on board with the bio bricks and other brick style wood . . . I know Jotul did (maybe they still do . . . or maybe they've changed) forbid the use in their woodstoves . . . not really sure why that is. Best bet in my opinion would be to double check with your manufacturer or local stove shop that sold you the stove.

 

[Wood Duck]

I agree with Jake that stuffing your stove full of small-diameter pieces of wood is not a good idea. Smaller wood whether small branches or big pieces split small will burn fast and hot. Maybe too hot. Still the small pieces are nice to mix with bigger pieces to make a fire that takes off fast (small pieces) but burns long (big pieces). If you're atarting a fire with small diameter wood, don't fill the whole firebox. Start small fires to see how it burns, then slowly increase the amount you add. It won't take long to get the hang of your stove and figure out how to get it hot but not too hot.

What stops me from keeping all the small stuff is the time it takes to cut. If the branches are very straight without too many side branches, then I will cut wood an inch in diameter. However most of the time wood that small is hard to work with so I don't bother.