Burning Softwoods Pine, Cedar etc

[Timberwerks]

I'd like to get your opinion on burning Pine, Cedar etc. I was told a while back that you should avoid burning Pine in your fireplace because of the residue it leaves. I have access to a number of Pine logs that would be perfect for splitting and burning. If mixed in with hardwoods would it be of to burn Pine on ocassion? I figure I could offer Pine and hardwood cords at a reduced cost. I'd hate to see this go to waste.

Thanks
Dale

[Deerlope]

 Pine does leave a lot of cresote behind. If you could use it your self in and outdoor furnace I'd say go for it and sell the better wood to your costumers. I burn some in an outdoor furnace along with cedar& tamrack.

[Tom]

When I was a small boy, my Granddad burned anything he could get his hands on.  We burned a lot of pine.  It was well seasoned and dry, burned fairly quickly, very hot and made a pretty yellow fire.  It was followed with sticks of hardwood, usually oak, which made a longer lasting fire.  Granddad told me one time that "Oak is for heat and Pine is for Love."

I've read that any wood burned wet or green will produce creosote in a chimney.  The better it is cured, the less it produces.

I don't remember having cedar on the fire, though we burned myrtle and prunings from yard shrubs.

I have seen firewood sold here as "mixed" which contained pine, "mixed hardwood" which contained Oak, maple, bay and anything else the guy could find.  Pure Oak or Maple or Bay firewood is sold as species.  Even the Oak is divided up into Live oak firewood, Oak firewood (Water, Laurel) and Blackjack firewood (turkey oak that is preferred by Bar-B-Cue houses)

I, personally would have no trouble with mixed hard and softwoods for my own use.  There are probably many others who wouldn't mind either as long as they knew what they were getting.  You may find some people allergic to aromatic woods like cedar.and bay.  You definitely want to keep the cooking woods species specific.

It would definitely need to be taken as a marketling  experiment to see if it would fly in your area. A catchy phrase like my Grandad used or a "name" that would minimize their concerns would surely be helpful.

[Mark M]

Burn hot fires to get more complete combustion. You should avoid choking down to stove to get a slow burn as that is when the most creosote is formed.

[Bro. Noble]

Eastern Red Cedar makes really nice fireplace wood,  but you got to be careful because it does a lot of snap, crackle and popping.  That and the smell is what I like about it. 8)

[rebocardo]

A lot of people with stoves, which get much hotter then a normal fireplace, will burn anything. The thing is to clean the pipe every year or before a new season.

All wood has basically the same BTU per pound, it is just oak and other woods that have more pounds of it per square foot.

From experience, some woods like birch appear to burn much quicker and hotter because their bark is like kindling. My favorite way to start a fire is take a piece of dried birch, light the bark, and watch the hot fire take off.

If I burned Pine I would make sure it was very dry and not green to cut back on cresote build up. I think it is better to run a small stove very hot (within reason) then run a large stove warm. One thing that was worked is putting a thermostat on the flue pipe. That gives you a really good idea about the fire and how it is burning.

[SwampDonkey]

Some folks burn white birch and aspen in the fall in the kitchen stove if they don't want it real hot. I don't think pine, if its seasoned, will give any trouble. Softwood like pine and fir will burn hotter and faster because of the resin in the wood. Tamarack will warp a kitchen stove, as will alder. On the northwest coast of BC folks burn cedar, hemlock and spruce, there's no hardwood 'cept red alder, aspen, cottonwood, big leafed maple , white birch and douglas maple. Douglas maple looks like red maple, except its mainly a shrub growing in clumps.

Douglas Maple

Big Leaf Maple

Red Alder

[Ianab]

Most of the firewood used in NZ is Pine, as offcuts from the sawmills is the cheapest source. A few other species are used as well, Macrocarpa cypress and Port Orford Cedar are my favourites, they burn a bit slower and have a nice smell. Eucalytus species and some of the native hard and softwoods are also used. Manuka is a small hardwood tree that burns very hot.
As mentioned the pine needs to be dry (but at least it is easy to dry), the fire should be kept nice and hot, and the flue needs cleaning occasionally. I think the NZ woodfires have also been designed with burning softwoods in mind so that may make a difference.


Ian

[Ron Wenrich]

Actually, the softwoods have more BTUs than the hardoods pe lb.  BTUS for softwoods is 8800 BTUs while the hardwoods are 8000.  But, it takes more volume to make a pound of softwoods.

I have burnt softwoods with no ill effects.  I had a larch that blew down last year, and it burnt real well.  I've also burnt white pine, hemlock and red cedar.  No problem, but burnt them when I just wanted to knock off a chill, not when I wanted lots of heat.

The trick is to keep your stack temperature up around 300 degrees.  When you burn green wood, most of the heat is used to dry out the wood so it will burn.  That lowers your stack temperature and creosote condenses on your chimney or pipe walls.  Get a stack thermometer and burn at the suggested rates.

The only chimney fire I've ever had was from burning old locust fence posts.  I had the draft set too low.

You could cut it up as kindling and sell that with your firewood.  It gets rid of your softwood, and gives your customers something they need.  Best of all, you don' t have to lower your cordwood prices.  

[bull]

Dry your wood, clean the flu, and check the stack regulary..
Those are the secrets to creasote......  I have more of a problem with oak burning to slow creating creaosote than pine
The pine burns faster and cleaner... I have a Newyorker forced hot water indoor furnace and it preforms better on pine.....

You should be able to identify the species of wood you're burning by the smell of the smoke you produce.... If your smoke smells like coal or tar your creating creaosote. also the color of the smoke is an indicator.....

get your chimney sweeping tools and keep your flu clean and burn anything you can get your hands on that won' t get you cash any other way..... 8)

[slowzuki]

We have burned pine, eastern white cedar, spruce, fire, poplar, white birch, alder and a bit of tamerack the last 3 years as our traditional hardwood supplier had none.

It all burns well and we have less creosote (and ashes!) than we used to.  We use about double the cords of wood but its so much lighter and easier to split!   Plus you can chuck in a 12" diameter piece and it will burn just fine.

This is in 2 sizes of airtight lakewood stoves.

[Furby]

I have a couple of family members that are allergic to pine when burned in campfires. It's mostly limited to green wood, but a longer exposure of burning dry wood does have an effect.

[SwampDonkey]

Some folks are even allergic to balsam fir Christmas trees too.