Rhododendron ok to burn in a wood stove insert?

[Brian26]

I removed about 8 huge completely dead Rhododendron bushes at the house I just bought. It seems to be very dense and is definitely dry. My moisture meter showed around 15%.

Only info I could find is from the UK where they claim it burns awesome. I have soo much of it would hate for it to go to waste. Like a massive amount of it all cut up. Otherwise its going to the town dump. Anyone ever burn it? It would be burned in a Drolet 1800i insert.

 

[Oldhippie]

Usually rhododendron doesn't get big enough to be anything more than kindling around my area, but if I were you and it was as dry as you say it is,then I would throw load in and see how it burns. I doubt it can hurt anything.

Must have been old scraggly bushes of it.

PS welcome to the forum, stick around and enjoy the info and banter. How about some pics of that wood? There's actually a separate section here"The Wood Shed" for the wood cutting/hoarding topics. This thread might get moved there by a moderator, and you might have better luck getting an experienced answer.

 

[jharkin]

Just make sure its really rhododendron, not mountain laurel. We have both and the dead branches are hard to distinguish.

 

[BobUrban]

if it's made out of wood it burns

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

How about a fire-pit....

 

[jharkin]

As long as you are sure its not mountain laurel it should be fine to burn anywhere.

 

[Brian26]

It is definitely rhododendron and I have a ton of it. Mt laurel is actually the state bush of CT so I know what it looks like. I test burned some in a outdoor fire and it burned very well. Actually went up like crazy and burned hot and long. I have a massive pile of it cut to stove size and will probably burn it.

 

[ridemgis]

As long as you are sure its not mountain laurel it should be fine to burn anywhere.

Just curious, why not mountain laurel if it's dry?

 

[jharkin]

Oh sorry i shoulda elaborated...Mountain laurel is a poisonous plant. If you burn it the fumes are toxic.

 

[Ansky]

It is definitely rhododendron and I have a ton of it. Mt laurel is actually the state bush of CT so I know what it looks like. I test burned some in a outdoor fire and it burned very well. Actually went up like crazy and burned hot and long. I have a massive pile of it cut to stove size and will probably burn it.

Welcome. I grew up in branford.

 

[whiskeypete]

Oh sorry i shoulda elaborated...Mountain laurel is a poisonous plant. If you burn it the fumes are toxic.

Rhododendron has the same toxin as Mountain Laurel. I don't know what happens when you burn it though.