Broadband Tech > General Questions > Is it unsafe to burn Pine in wood stove?

reply to signmeuptoo

Re: Is it unsafe to burn Pine in wood stove?

reply to manofsnow

reply to signmeuptoo
Fireplace & Stove Safety, Burn Smart
»www.oregonfireplaces.com/StoveStafety.htm

quote:

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Think "Fire Prevention"

1. Clear the area around the fireplace and chimney
2. Always use a fireplace screen
3. Never overload the fireplace
4. Keep a fire extinguisher on hand
5. When building a fire, place logs at the rear
6. Never leave fire unattended
7. Keep wood stacked, covered, and out-of-doors
8. Have your fireplace inspected annually

Think "Clean"

1. Have your fireplace inspected and cleaned annually
2. Choose the right fuel
3. Use seasoned wood
4. Burn smartly
5. Minimize creosote buildup
6. Make a fire that fits your fireplace
7. Keep your fireplace in good working condition
8. Read and follow the label when using firelogs
9. If your fireplace is equipped with glass doors, leave them open while burning a firelog

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reply to signmeuptoo
here in Montana, that's the major wood that is available to burn in firplaces, you have to cut it up and let it dry fully out to use it. if the chimmney has never been cleaned have it cleaned immediately and properly before use and if you use pine, during the winter have it checked and cleaned as needed.

reply to signmeuptoo

reply to signmeuptoo
I grew up using fire places and we used to cut our own firewood up in southern Oregon. We usually used douglas fir and Pine as our primiary wood. Pine is perfectly safe to burn. Your tree however isn't until it's properly seasoned and cut. In essance you are both right. No reason why you can't take the tree split it up to proper size and store for next season.
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Founding member, 2002-2003, 2005-2006 Director of Communications, 2004-2005 Secretary for the Crunchenstein Project

Oh pine is safe to use, but not as the sole fuel source.

reply to signmeuptoo

reply to signmeuptoo
Damn after reading this I realized that I might be a pine..I am soft, sappy, and hot...but can only last a minute.

But yeah wood stove (if I picture it correctly) is the covered metal piece thing with no real opennings but the chimney (and the flap to add more wood). That should be safe from sparks, but you will have to clean the flume more often.
Fire place on the other hand is more dangerous since pine sparks like a firecracker and if your screen is a chainlink gate then some of it might bypass the three foot fireprooffloor and hit the carpet...it did at my house.

reply to tmh

Just make sure you take all your wi-fi devices far far away first Routers that normally xmit 50 or so mW of power REALLY complain when they get hit with 1000W of power

reply to signmeuptoo
Burning pine in a fireplace will cause creosote build up in our chimney, and lead to a chimney fire, even if you clean the chimney once a year. Chimney fire is one of the scariest things I've lived through, the walls near the chimney get so hot you can't touch them. it's not worth risking your house, your stuff, your life, family, etc. a couple of pieces of seasoned pine(dried a year) won't hurt anything, but don't use it extensively.

reply to signmeuptoo
Burning softwood in a fireplace is not the same as burning it in a woodstove. The woodstove is much more airtight leading to a slower burning, longer lasting and more efficient use of your wood. Being slower burning though will cause creosote to build up quickly using softwoods. The reason it's OK to use them as kindling is that your dampeners are wide open when starting the fire allowing maximum airflow.
--
I'm folding and crunching to try to help prevent stories like »Update on my son who has cancer

reply to PolarBear03

said by PolarBear03:

Just make sure you take all your wi-fi devices far far away first Routers that normally xmit 50 or so mW of power REALLY complain when they get hit with 1000W of power

reply to peterponds
Agreed. You really have to see a full bore chimney fire to appreciate how dangerous they are.

You mean like chunks of burning creosote shooting 20 feet above the chimney, landing on your roof and catching that on fire too?

reply to signmeuptoo
I would like to take a second to educate everyone on this topic that i discovered after a google search.

there is absolutly no more danger to burning seasoned pine then there is burning seasoned oak, maple, hickory or anything else.

All species of wood have the same btu content by weight, the only variable being density. Pine produces no more creosote than any other wood, period.

Seasoned pine will produce the exact same amount as seasoned oak. The keyword being seasoned.

In many areas of the country including the Rockies, Alaska, Pacific Northwest, etc that is all that is avalible in some areas. I know people who heat exclusivly with pine who have NEVER had a chimney fire. Some of them clean their chimney less than me, and I burn maple, hickory, etc.

Yes, pine will pop more and throw sparks. So will other species of wood, even hardwood.

If you are burning wood to heat your house, I strongly urge you to do as much research as possible.

If you read the OP and the responses we don't need to edumacated. We said there is no danger to using pine. We mostly said don't use green pine as signmeuptoo said

reply to signmeuptoo
have burned pine for many years (not so much anymore, i'm someplace warm now) in addition to juniper, aspen, doug fir, and spruce. i've never had any issue with pine (specifically pinon, as that is what grew at the elevation i lived at). it wasn't my wood of choice, but would work well in a pinch, especially if i needed to heat my woodstove fast (i actually did a lot of cooking on my woodstove in colder weather).
in the length of time that i lived at that house (~15 years) we never had the chimney cleaned. a little trick that i learned was to burn a very clean wood (usually aspen)for a week straight week at the beginning and end of the woodburning season. this ensured that the creosote wouldn't stay in place from season to season. granted, we did have a very well built chimney, but never had a fire.

had the chimney cleaned this summer. guy who came out to clean it couldn't believe that we hadn't had it cleaned in nearly 20 years. good fireplace management is key.

q.
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those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it...

reply to signmeuptoo
just some info from a chimney sweep website

What REALLY causes creosote to build up? Creosote is the condensation of unburned, flammable particulates present in the exhausting flue gas (smoke). The actual cause of creosote condensation, is the surface temperature of the flue in which the flue gas comes in contact. Like hot breath on a cold mirror, if the surface temperature of the flue is cool, it will cause the vaporized carbon particles in the flue gas (smoke) to solidify. This condensation is creosote build-up. If the wood you are using is rain logged, or green, the fire will tend to smolder. Wet wood causes the whole system to be cool, and inefficient. But, dry wood means a hot fire! A hot fire means a hot flue, and a hot flue means much less creosote.

Back in the early 1980's, tests were conducted to discover which kind of wood created the most creosote in a regular "open" fireplace. The results were surprising. Contrary to popular opinion, the hardwood's, like oak and madrone, created MORE creosote than the softwoods, like fir and pine. The reason for this, is that if the softwoods are dry, they create a hotter, more intense fire. The draft created by the hotter fire moves the air up the chimney faster! Because it is moving faster, the flue gas does not have as much time to condense as creosote inside the chimney. Also, because the flue gas is hotter: it does not cool down to the condensation point as quickly. On the contrary, the dense hardwood's tend to smolder more, so their flue gas temperature is cooler. Thus, more creosote is able to condense on the surface of the flue. So, saying that "fir builds up more creosote than oak" just isn't true! It is a misunderstanding to think that it's the pitch in wood which causes creosote. It's not the pitch that is the problem, it's the water IN the pitch. Once the water in the wood has evaporated, that pitch becomes high octane fuel! When dry, softwoods burn extremely hot!