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General Obs and Banter Away - Will It Be A November to Remember?


HimoorWx

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wrt to the pine debate, what do you think they burn out west?  Their abundant supply of oaks and maples?

The real issue is taking care of your chimney, stovepipe, etc...I would have to imagine that people out west burning wood with a lot of sticky sap clean their chimneys often and always.

I burn ~4 cord of hardwood in a wood stove every year. I could clean it myself, but I opt to pay someone to clean and inspect it every year. I also use some chemical  chimney cleaner every couple weeks. It seems to dry up the creosote. Maybe.

Anyway, if you are burning pine, particularly if it'n not seasoned, you need to make sure your chimney is clean. You're not going to burn down your house by burning a little pine now and then unless you don't clean the chimney, or, more likely for some, you just have no idea if your chimney is safe or not. A little crack in the flue and a little creosote burning up can be a big problem.

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creosote build up from pine causes chimney fires, don't burn pine inside. Hardwoods seasoned only

 

 

 

You DO NOT want to burn pine indoors, There is plenty of other wood that is safer, You want wood that burns hot

 

If you're cleaning your chimneys annually, you can pretty much burn any kind of wood.  With cleaned chimneys, the primary problem with pine is the low btu capacity. 

 

The key is to keep the chimney's cleaned. We have two stoves that burn 24/7 and we use two of our fireplaces occassionally and have each flue cleaned annually.

What about pressure treated wood?

 

Hell no.  I think it's illegal, too.

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What about pressure treated wood?

lolz, :lmao:  :facepalm:

Once in a great while a piece or 2 of p.t. wood gets into the outdoor fire circle that I have.

 

West of the Mississippi most of the wood they burn is pine,this is a pretty good site for  anything wood burning related.

For people who have plenty of free wood OWB'S outdoor woodboilers are the shiz

 'S

http://www.arboristsite.com/community/

Those things are used all over in my area.  They are very controversial in some areas, including my town.  They made one guy build a 40'-50' chimney to keep the smoke from going into the neighbor's property.  It's funny to see this crazy stack going up through the air.  When the furnace up the road is running on full tilt you literally drive through thick smoke as it settles from it's 7 or 8 foot high exit point.  The other issue is controlling what people burn in these things.  Garbage, tires and all kinds of other crap are thrown in to them.

 

Almost killed the whole house the other night, closed the flue too early and woke up to the CO detector... Whoops.

lol.  As much as it kills me to know that even more heat is leaving the house through the chimney after the fire is finished I usually wait until the next morning to close the flue for the very reason you state.

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If you're cleaning your chimneys annually, you can pretty much burn any kind of wood.  With cleaned chimneys, the primary problem with pine is the low btu capacity. 

 

The key is to keep the chimney's cleaned. We have two stoves that burn 24/7 and we use two of our fireplaces occassionally and have each flue cleaned annually.

 

Hell no.  I think it's illegal, too.

 

Unfortunately, A lot of folks are not as religious about getting the chimney sweep to visit annually, I see a few chimney fires up here every year, Also, Pine is low btu, Might be fine in a stove a few sticks, I don't even burn it in the outdoor pit unless you don't care to much about holes in your clothing, And PT, Not even in an outside pit or pot, To toxic

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Unfortunately, A lot of folks are not as religious about getting the chimney sweep to visit annually, I see a few chimney fires up here every year, Also, Pine is low btu, Might be fine in a stove a few sticks, I don't even burn it in the outdoor pit unless you don't care to much about holes in your clothing, And PT, Not even in an outside pit or pot, To toxic

 

An ounce of prevention.....

 

The other thing is to be sure your chimneys are appropriately lined.  When you move into an older house, you need to have those carefully inspected before stoking it up.   We had three fireplaces thermocreted a couple years back.  An expensive undertaking, but well worth the expense.  Fortunately, the other chimneys were okay.

 

Obviously, you're good with your stove pipes as long as they're cleaned. 

 

 

My mantra regarding burning is this:  "if it grows and I can cut it, I can burn it".

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An ounce of prevention.....

 

The other thing is to be sure your chimneys are appropriately lined.  When you move into an older house, you need to have those carefully inspected before stoking it up.   We had three fireplaces thermocreted a couple years back.  An expensive undertaking, but well worth the expense.  Fortunately, the other chimneys were okay.

 

Obviously, you're good with your stove pipes as long as they're cleaned. 

 

 

My mantra regarding burning is this:  "if it grows and I can cut it, I can burn it".

 

True dat..  Though things like aspen and pine only go through the stove when they fall in my dooryard or right next to the road to the house.  The pitchier or wetter the wood, the more open the vent and flue should be, to encourage hot fires.  I draw the line at wet balsam poplar, however, recalling a line from an Allagash logger while discussing which wood to burn green, "You couldn't afford the oil it would take to burn Balm o' Gilead!"

 

I've used wood as the primary heat source (various oil burner backups) since buying our first house in 1977, anywhere from 4 to 6 cords, the larger in our back-settlement Ft.Kent place 1981-85.  All but 4 of those years (that 81-85 period), we had Jotul stoves, and due to their well-engineered front vent, I either don't have a damper (on the 602 and 118 box stoves) or don't use it (my current combi-fire, on which I never use the open-door "combi" option.)

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An ounce of prevention.....

 

The other thing is to be sure your chimneys are appropriately lined.  When you move into an older house, you need to have those carefully inspected before stoking it up.   We had three fireplaces thermocreted a couple years back.  An expensive undertaking, but well worth the expense.  Fortunately, the other chimneys were okay.

 

Obviously, you're good with your stove pipes as long as they're cleaned. 

 

 

My mantra regarding burning is this:  "if it grows and I can cut it, I can burn it".

 

I burn all kinds of wood in my evaporator for maple sugaring.  I have a 12" pipe which I think also makes a difference.  My goal is a hot roaring fire so I tend to burn a mix of hard wood and pine.  My wood is well seasoned too - at least 2 but usually 3 seasons so it burns quick and hot.  If it's wood and natural, I'll burn it.  Despite all the pine I burn, I've never had a problem in the chimney but again, I think the pipe size matters and I also tap the pipes when they are cold to loosen anything in them.

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Man, 2 hrs of raking leaves and I feel like I barely made a dent. I might have easily 40 yard bags of tightly packed down leaves when all is done.

I used to do that in my other house-it was insane.  Some towns around here allow you to push them to the road and they vacuum up...   Yard is too big here, so hire someone, best $300 I can spend....

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What's left of mine are pouring down today. Should be done with yard work this week. Hideous brown oak leaves on top of the snow today. Makes you feel a  little queasy when you look at it

Yeah same here, although minus the snow. They are raining down. I literally have drifts of leaves. 

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I used to do that in my other house-it was insane.  Some towns around here allow you to push them to the road and they vacuum up...   Yard is too big here, so hire someone, best $300 I can spend....

 

Unfortunately I don't live near the woods on my side of the street which sucks, but oh well. Good excuse for cardio.

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Yeah same here, although minus the snow. They are raining down. I literally have drifts of leaves. 

I'd say 97% of mine are now down..The last 3-5 days they really emptied out what was left. One more blowing, blow out all the flowerbeds..and then mow grass short so blades don't stick up thru snowcover..and it's over till Morch or April

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