That term "salt water wood" puzzled me at first. They didn't say "drift wood" or limit it to drift wood in the Summit Manual about what not to burn. So did some searching and ended up here:
(broken link removed to http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/homillends.htm)
Turns out salt water wood is more encompassing.
The page essentially looks at the risks and uncertainty in burning dimensional lumber, pallet wood, mill ends, etc.
To summarize, what happens is that logs on the coasts are transported to the mills via salt water and the salt water is absorbed into the wood. Also other chemicals are added in the milling process and wood being porous absorbs these. Even if the initial concentration is low in the wood, the burning process concentrates these salts and chemicals in the exhaust gases. And they are very corrosive to metal stove and chimney components which have been observed to wear out far faster for those who regularly burn this type of wood. The problem is that there is no way (or no easy way) to know whether the wood is compromised or not.
Have seen lots of messages about burning pallet wood and mill ends, but have never seen any that mention any risks other than avoiding treated lumber or over firing more likely.
Something to think about. Not trying to tell others what to do. But now I understand better why my Century Stove Insert Manual said "cord wood only".
Lately have gotten in the habit of picking up the "free firewood" -- pallet wood and scraps a few times a week, mixing in with my next years not-fully-seasoned and more recently, just burning the pallet wood, for the small fires in the morning where I'd otherwise be using the propane boiler.
Now after reading the article am thinking about not burning until I have fully seasoned cord wood and only using pallet wood as kindling or otherwise rarely. Is that being overcautious?
(broken link removed to http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/homillends.htm)
Turns out salt water wood is more encompassing.
The page essentially looks at the risks and uncertainty in burning dimensional lumber, pallet wood, mill ends, etc.
To summarize, what happens is that logs on the coasts are transported to the mills via salt water and the salt water is absorbed into the wood. Also other chemicals are added in the milling process and wood being porous absorbs these. Even if the initial concentration is low in the wood, the burning process concentrates these salts and chemicals in the exhaust gases. And they are very corrosive to metal stove and chimney components which have been observed to wear out far faster for those who regularly burn this type of wood. The problem is that there is no way (or no easy way) to know whether the wood is compromised or not.
Have seen lots of messages about burning pallet wood and mill ends, but have never seen any that mention any risks other than avoiding treated lumber or over firing more likely.
Something to think about. Not trying to tell others what to do. But now I understand better why my Century Stove Insert Manual said "cord wood only".
Lately have gotten in the habit of picking up the "free firewood" -- pallet wood and scraps a few times a week, mixing in with my next years not-fully-seasoned and more recently, just burning the pallet wood, for the small fires in the morning where I'd otherwise be using the propane boiler.
Now after reading the article am thinking about not burning until I have fully seasoned cord wood and only using pallet wood as kindling or otherwise rarely. Is that being overcautious?
If I recall the 2200 manual has the same warnings. I think they're trying to cover all the bases. The salt water transport is an interesting bit of add'l info though...
