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Especially if galvanized or coated with, well, anything. Then you can't know what kind of funky stuff was slopped onto those pallets during their use. Pallets are often treated with fungicides, insecticides, or other chemicals to help them hold up.
Catalysts can be ruined by being exposed to things other than the smoke from clean firewood. You can ruin a 250$ catalyst by trying to save a few bucks on firewood.
The BK thermostat system, the OP is running a BK, will open up as the load dwindles to try and maintain a hot stove. That will even out the output and mask some of that indication.
Having a flue meter is pretty dang helpful, more so than the cat meter which does a great job of telling you when to close the bypass.
Fair point. I would say that if I'm going to spend 5000 on 8 cords this winter, replacing a cat each winter is still worth it.
PS, I am hoping to burn that much to bring my propane bills down, but we'll see how well it goes. this Jan-Feb-March each saw 1600 in propane monthly, with neighbouring months in the 600-1000 range. It was just too much.
I've also found a way to cut the pallets which minimizes time to cut them up: I cut them in half, and make 2-3 little pallet "trays", on which I stack the other half of the pallet I sawed up. That means I have 2-3 little trays of pallet wood, meaning can carry them/stack them/etc. and don't need to saw up those trays.
Thoughts are welcome - the reward is a considerable amount. I'm estimating likely 80-100h of sawing, though it might've been more splitting regular firewood.
I need to replace the catalyst every other year anyway, with burning "bad" stuff you may kill the cat in one week. Then you will have to make a choice. I suspect that many many operators run BK stoves with dead cats because they just don't realize it. That doesn't mean the stove will stop making heat though. You're almost talking about a survival situation where burning trash or furniture is required. If required, you bet I'd burn trash to prevent dying and deal with replacing the cat when the emergency is over.
Other than killing a cat prematurely, I can't think of any other bad side effects of burning bad stuff.
Your wood cost is crazy high. I buy log loads, real logs loads on log trucks with 40 foot logs, and make firewood. Is that possible for you? I only burn about 5 cords per year and sell the balance of the log load as firewood to almost pay for the logs. It's not for everybody but I really like running chainsaws.
If you are spending $625 a cord than you are doing something wrong. Oil gas or electric would be cheaper. Even kiln dried isn't that expensive.
After redoing our roof, we had a lot of 2x1" batten. In Sweden this type of construction wood is completely untreated. Super easy to cut to length. I started off to remove the nails, but quickly realised, that it is too much work and very inefficient.
Fast and hot burning woud, I normally did the 1st and 2nd inlay with it after coming home from work, then changing over to regular firewood.
After reading above comments, I wood not do so in a cat stove. But in Europe cat stoves are close to unknown.
Not knowing in advance how good this wood was, unfortunately the roofers had already taken a lot to the municipal waste collection. Our municipal uses it for the combined heat and power plant (CHP cogeneration) providing for the people in town (buying votes).
In Sweden using demolition wood for heating is not allowed for private people.
Fun fact: redoing roofs from a churches scientists took 200-300 year old wood and tested the energy content, heating energy. Still the same as newly dried wood.
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my oil bill the first year here was 11,000. I'm up in the NWT in northern canada. If you combine a big house, in a northern climate, with lots of windows and a heated garage... there you go!
After that winter, I took out the old/inefficient oil boiler and replaced it with a propane on-demand, and the wood stove.
The next winter (most recently), I used the wood stove moderately: every day, but not reloading halfway down, I would reload at the active line. I substituted remaining heat needs with propane. I did use the heated garage more (propane). Total cost was still 11,000. about 3000 in wood and 8000 in propane.
This winter, the idea is to burn the free pallet wood I'm cutting up. I already have a facecord which was about 2h of work. If I can get 8 cords, and burn the whole thing, as well as use the heated garage just for the Jan-March period, my wood cost will be zero (just time) and my propane cost could be like 5000, which would more than halve my total heating bills.
That's the idea at least.
around me -state side, pallets are heat treated (to kill bugs) but not kiln dried. the bulk of common pallets are soft woods, heavy transport types are mostly hardwoods. eons ago I used to get 6x6 blocks of cut offs from a pallet mfg, told they were hard wood- well no, they were very hard conifer material. With a full load in the stove one time I had an over fire situation, to the point that inside double wall flue was starting to glow almost to the ceiling of the mobile home. Melted a few parts of the stove. So be a bit carefull about stuffing pallet wood in a stove. I have never run a full load of compressed blocks, just 4 stacked tightly together. 2024-25 winter a full pallet of blocks were running about $475 usd in my location. not a cat stove, secondary burn type
Unlike most noncats with wide open and uncontrolled secondary air, the BK design can almost entirely shut off combustion air. That said, stuffing the firebox with fine split softwood is going to create a lot of rapid out gassing that will reduce burn times and could create excess smoke.
I have loaded over 10 energy logs at once. 13 maybe? And the burn was controlled in my BK. Pallet wood is different.
I have loaded over 10 energy logs at once. 13 maybe? And the burn was controlled in my BK. Pallet wood is different.
True, on the current stoves ,non cat, the secondary burn is wide open with no control. ( Thanks EPA) At times I get high winds so I made an adjustable shutter for my secondary air intake. Thought about adding a damper to the flue , but then I can't clean from the bottom up . My roof is quite steep not something you want to be trying to walk up, although that is the easy part. Coming back down is basically a Wily Coyote escapade. I do not bounce well any more.
So lots of us run the sooteater bottom up right on past the key damper. I definitely like the key damper to tame the draft to my noncat stove on very cold and windy days. Didn’t need it at all on the BK since with that design you actually have control.
With that type of energy costs I would get a firewood processor and buy logs.
It’d pay for itself in one year. $11k even in CAD is absolutely unreal. That’s like a commercial heating bill of a business not a house
Highbeam’s suggestion, log length truck loads makes the most sense to me. I can’t imagine cutting up 8 cord worth of pallets. Are these cut up pallets stored in a big piled mound? I don’t think they would stack worth a darn? If your wanting the most pounds of wood possible in the shortest amount of time and being as economical as possible, I dont think a log truck load of pulp type wood delivered can be beat?
The propane bill is unreal- what kinda cost per gallon is that there? With that usage amount, I'd think it should be low.
Here in SE CT, the rate where I work is 2.49 for wholehouse heat, and if you use a lot, its less (2.10-2.25). That is a market price rate, it goes up and down, perhaps a dime or two per gallon in the heating season. Propane price has been steady last few years here. This must be a big house too you are heating? Geez.
Here in SE CT, the rate where I work is 2.49 for wholehouse heat, and if you use a lot, its less (2.10-2.25). That is a market price rate, it goes up and down, perhaps a dime or two per gallon in the heating season. Propane price has been steady last few years here. This must be a big house too you are heating? Geez.
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