Why is green wood bad?

[Yamaha_gurl]

If you have green wood mixed with dry wood, and you get your flue temp up to a good high temp then is there anything wrong with this method?

Green wood is bad because you can't get your flue temp up to a good range....is this correct?

I have some wood that was sold to me "seasoned" which it really isn't, so I cut up some pallets of wood and am burning both together, watching my temps and so far my brick is still tan, and my glass doesn't get dirty :D

 

[Pagey]

My understanding is that the higher moisture content in green wood can reduce the temperature of your flue gasses, causing the conditions favorable for the formation of creosote.

 

[Yamaha_gurl]

green wood can reduce the temperature of your flue gasses

Exactly, but what if my temps are still high because of the pallets? Also, if I keep my air more open, I get a higher flue temp as well.

 

[fossil]

Moisture content. You're burning a lot of wood to create the heat required to turn liquid water into steam. You benefit from none of that fuel consumption. The flue gases going up the stack are carrying more moisture within, so the likelihood of creosote condensation in the flue system is increased. Rick

 

[ControlFreak]

You're going to lose a lot of heat from boiling off all of that moisture in green wood, and your dry wood will need to burn faster to make up for the heat loss. Eventually the green wood will dry out and burn. I would think that until the green wood is dried out, you'll have difficulty keeping the secondary combustion going, so you'll be sending creosote up the chimney. I guess it depends upon how much dry vs green you're burning.

 

[Yamaha_gurl]

Thanks all. Fyi, I'm not epa approved...see sig :D

 

[Pagey]

Thanks all. Fyi, I'm not epa approved...see sig :D

My dad mixes "green" with his seasoned in his Fisher Papa Bear that he's been burning since the late 70s. Now, when I say green I don't mean cut live, split, and stacked 30 minutes ago. But he'll mix stuff that's 3-4 months C/S/S with stuff that's anywhere from a year to two years old. In fact, he prefers to burn his stove this way. To my knowledge he's never had any excessive creosote problems, either. But he'll tell you that today's stove do burn much, much cleaner.

 

[Pagey]

Thanks all. Fyi, I'm not epa approved...see sig :D

My dad mixes "green" with his seasoned in his Fisher Papa Bear that he's been burning since the late 70s. Now, when I say green I don't mean cut live, split, and stacked 30 minutes ago. But he'll mix stuff that's 3-4 months C/S/S with stuff that's anywhere from a year to two years old. In fact, he prefers to burn his stove this way. To my knowledge he's never had any excessive creosote problems, either. But he'll tell you that today's stove do burn much, much cleaner.

guessing he's got a new stove which he can compare results with same wood mix?

He replaced his mom's Papabear with a Liberty back in November. He was getting 3 coal scuttles of black, shiny creosote every 3 weeks. Now it's clean after months of burning.

 

[Pagey]

No, he still has some buildup in his flue, but he's never had anything that looks like some of the horror stories you see posted from time to time. The Fisher doesn't burn anywhere near as clean as the Liberty. Now, granny was prone to leave a smoldering, choked down fire burning 24/7, hence the massive amounts of creosote. Now she's mastered the Liberty and gets a nice, clean burn.

 

[Pagey]

We drop it on foreign nations just before invading! Actually, I have no idea what he does with it. I can't recall. They live on my mom's brother's 165 acre cattle farm, so he can put it darned near anywhere.

 

[Pagey]

LOL. He's got half a cord of so of 2 year old red oak that I'd LOVE to get into. But it's been in the 60s and even 70s here for the last week. Stove is cold, and it's driving the kids crazy.