What should not go in the woodstove/insert

[Gazing in Wonder]

Are there any kinds of wood (besides green) which should not go into a woodstove or fireplace insert? Dry christmas tree (grand fir)? Prunings from kiwi vines or cotoneaster? I would guess that so long as it's woody and seasoned, it would be okay, but I wanted to check with the experts.

I haven't bought it yet, but I'm considering the Morso 5660 or the Regency Alterra. I'd hate to burn the wrong stuff and harm a new insert. Thanks.

 

[begreen]

I've read that live skunks are not a good plan. :lol:

Highly flammable items like the dried branches of a christmas tree are not advised either. But you certainly could burn the trunk of the same tree once dry. Prunings would be most suitable for kindling.

 

[olsonbri]

What about furniture? We have a broke wooden stool, probably w/ a coat of polyurethane. Okay to throw in the EPA fireplace?

 

[nate379]

It'll be fine.

 

[blacktail]

Drift wood. That's the one thing the stove shop told me not to burn.

 

[andrewdee]

I buy my wood from Ethan Alan !!

 

[hemlock]

Any treated wood, ie from decks, railway ties, etc...

 

[joecool85]

Drift wood. That's the one thing the stove shop told me not to burn.

Agreed, and that's only due to mineralization of the wood.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Gazing in Wonder.

Good question on what not to burn. An even better question might be what should you burn!

Most folks tend to buy and install a stove and then consider buying fuel. That is opposite the way it should be done. Most wood needs to dry for a year.....so get wood ASAP. Also, we tend to not agree with 99.9% of all wood sellers. They like to tell you the wood is seasoned and ready to burn. Most either do not know what good dry wood is or else just don't care.

 

[Ken S]

I know a guy who burns bowling balls.I didn't say he is a friend I just know him.My maintenance man says the guy throws them in his stove when it is cold and it stinks and produces terrible black smoke but lots of heat and the police and fire dept get called.Don't burn bowling balls

 

[coverdome]

Whats the thinking on burning plywood scraps? Got a ton of them left over from years of projects.
Was thinking of cutting 'em up into 4" X 18" strips and nailing 3 or 4 together.
Yea or Nay?

 

[jatoxico]

Whats the thinking on burning plywood scraps? Got a ton of them left over from years of projects.
Was thinking of cutting 'em up into 4" X 18" strips and nailing 3 or 4 together.
Yea or Nay?

Nay.

 

[Gary_602z]

I know a guy who burns bowling balls.I didn't say he is a friend I just know him.My maintenance man says the guy throws them in his stove when it is cold and it stinks and produces terrible black smoke but lots of heat and the police and fire dept get called.Don't burn bowling balls

Hard to stack too! :lol:

Gary

 

[olsonbri]

Dang it! We should have burned the old deck we took down this summer. Instead our city hauled it off. We were a bit shy due to any arsenic residues in the wood... but probably wouldn't have been a problem: up the flu in the z42.

 

[nate379]

I would not in a stove with a CAT, I'd be worried all teh glues would be tought on it. On a reg "smoke dragon" I'd load it up.
Since my stove is a CAT stove I burn the plywood scraps in the burn barrel. I just make a stack and throw it in when I burn the trash.

Whats the thinking on burning plywood scraps? Got a ton of them left over from years of projects.
Was thinking of cutting 'em up into 4" X 18" strips and nailing 3 or 4 together.
Yea or Nay?

 

[Joey]

Bowling Balls????? ..now thats a first, does he season them first??? Or just put them in green????? :bug:

 

[fprintf]

I just replaced the planking on a cedar deck that had started to rot. So I've cut up all the planks and now have a huge supply of kindling wood that gets my fire going really quickly. It doesn't have enough stain in it to make it smokey or dangerous, so I burn it. Man I love seeing that $1.29 / LF stuff going up in smoke!

 

[jatoxico]

I burn vinyl tiles, they are faux wood style so it's ok.