Burning unseasoned Wood

Mojisola

highrisklowreturn wrote: »

Am looking to get a woodburner and the wood I could get is free, but unseasoned. I've nowhere to store it so cannot season it personally but am attracted to getting a woodburner because of free heat.

If you don't have room to store wood, you shouldn't bother getting a woodburner. You need enough room to store your free collected wood or else enough space to buy a load of wood. If you have to buy it in small lots, it will work out very expensive.

muckybutt

highrisklowreturn wrote: »

Question: Should this ever be done?


Am looking to get a woodburner and the wood I could get is free, but unseasoned. I've nowhere to store it so cannot season it personally but am attracted to getting a woodburner because of free heat.

If I got the chimney swept more often than usual wood this deal with any issues from 'wet' wood?


Thanks in advance

NONONONO !

Worst possible thing you can do is burn wet / unseasoned wood.

You will get dangerous build up of tar and creosote within weeks if not days !

I have personally known a 6" flue get blocked in a week, swept and smoke tested the week before then get a call 6 days later to say its smoking heavily, get there and the flue was completely blocked up with tar as was the baffle inside the stove and the stove walls. It took 3 hours to gently chip away at the tar to even get a flue brush inside.

The problem is the wet wood will produce steam, this steam as it rises condenses and this is when tar and creosote will be produced. All it takes is a spark and you'll have a fire on your hands, that or you run the risk of CO poisoning from inadequate draught.

For a wood burner you need storage for the wood, ideally season it for 18 months if its "green" when you buy it, seasoned wood still needs to be kept dry in a shelter where the air can get to it to stop it getting damp.

Even getting it swept more regularly is not the answer !

I would'nt even advocate burning unseasoned / wet wood in an unlined chimney.

I could go on but be warned NEVER EVER BURN UNSEASONED WOOD

muckybutt

A._Badger wrote: »

I'm not an expert (Muckybutt will know the answer if he reads this) but I'd say be very careful. It's not just a question of soot, as tar and creosote-like substances are released by green wood and they condense. I'm not sure how well that residue can be cleaned away with brushes.

You never get the residue away with just brushes, you can get the "crispy stuff" cleaned away...eventually but the creosote stays in a very thin layer / film, what I always do when I get a bad one is when its been cleaned I always say to light a hot fire and use a couple of sachets of chimney imp flue and chimney cleaner. Then get it swept again a week or so later, comes out like dust then and leaves everything nice and clean....well as nice and clean as you can get in a chimney.

highrisklowreturn

Do these rules apply to open fires?

I have to say I have personally felled several ash trees recently, and have been poppin 3-5 logs at a time into my oven and drying them there after having split them. This has reduced the moisture content of the centre part of the wood to 22-28% from 34-38%; the outer-middle bits of the log to around 18-25%; and the sides of the logs to under 15% moisture.

I assume these are good to be burnt? I have to add that I'm simply doing this by having them in at the same time as I'm cooking the dinner, so it normally takes two nights to get the wood to this moisture level (ie two dinners-worth: The heat stays in the oven for maybe 60-90 minutes after a 15-30 minute run).

Swipe

Just buy some seasoned wood and save the recently felled ash for next winter

muckybutt

highrisklowreturn wrote: »

Do these rules apply to open fires?

I have to say I have personally felled several ash trees recently, and have been poppin 3-5 logs at a time into my oven and drying them there after having split them. This has reduced the moisture content of the centre part of the wood to 22-28% from 34-38%; the outer-middle bits of the log to around 18-25%; and the sides of the logs to under 15% moisture.

I assume these are good to be burnt? I have to add that I'm simply doing this by having them in at the same time as I'm cooking the dinner, so it normally takes two nights to get the wood to this moisture level (ie two dinners-worth: The heat stays in the oven for maybe 60-90 minutes after a 15-30 minute run).

Yes same rules apply to normal chimeys, only today was re-educating a chap on the burnung of unseasoned wood, showed him the tar clumps I got down ....just waiting for a spark to start a chimney fire.

Ideally get the whole log down to 18% or less, the drier the better. Different way of drying out your wood though....never heard of that before....kiln drying goes diy lol

mysterons

This,
http://www.hobbyfarming.co.uk/firewood.html

The two old rhymes suggest Ash is ok to burn recently felled.
I should point out that last winter caught us out and we needed a load of logs delivered at the end of January as we'd run out. That delivery was very wet and though it did burn if given a lot of attention there was little heat given off.

muckybutt

mysterons wrote: »

This,
http://www.hobbyfarming.co.uk/firewood.html

The two old rhymes suggest Ash is ok to burn recently felled.
I should point out that last winter caught us out and we needed a load of logs delivered at the end of January as we'd run out. That delivery was very wet and though it did burn if given a lot of attention there was little heat given off.

OH DEAR ! I GIVE UP :eek:

highrisklowreturn

I'm hopefully going to get the woodburner in next week - so I'll be testing the efficacy of oven-dried wood. I know this sounds too simple a way of doing things to be true but I believe it works. I also think if you shave the bark off wood before doing this your results jump massively as the bark holds the moisture in tight and reduces surface exposure by the wood to the oven heat.

As I said, one oven run of 30 minutes gives you several hours heat into the wood. You can't get the wood to 0% moisture so why !!!! yourself trying? If some bits are 25-35, others 15-25, and some bits 5-15% you're doing good in averaging out the moisture that's likely to be kicked out in the stove.

782sirbrian

When burning just logs I get through a wheelbarrow full every day. I'd need a big oven to keep up with drying the them this way !
Brian