Burning mdf

justwilliam46

Hello, I have moved to a house with an open fireplace and work with furniture making so I have an unlimited supply of clean, dry and Free mdf and chipboard off cuts. I have read many personal opinions that it is bad to burn due to the glue used to bond it together infact the only positive info I have found is on the government defra website where they say it is no worse than any other wood based material to burn.

It gives off good heat and once the fire is going well, there is no or very little visible smoke from the chimney. the room does not smell of smoke either so I need a pretty good reason not to carry on burning mdf and chipboard.

Any expert advise would be welcome and acted on.

Thanks.

CharlieBilly

You cant burn them as the glue inside could cause issues with smell and or may damage your chimney over time

muntjack

Spoke to Eric Ward, chartered health and safety consultant, he said be careful about your chimney lining. The residues could collect and cause a chimney fire. Burning any wood you should always be aware of resins building up in the flue and have it regularly cleaned.

muckybutt

A sweeps view : personally and I dare say many more sweeps would say the same - is dont burn either chipboard or MDF. As said both these boards are manufactured and contain all sorts of glue's and resins etc, I certainly would never burn either on my own stove or open fire for that matter.

I have swept up after chimney fires at customers houses and quite often its been the case of they have been burning pallets or MDF / chipboard, just because it burns well does'nt mean to say it burns clean !

Some folk seem to think the briquettes are the same as chipboard because they look similar - they are not !
Briquettes are formed by squeezing the raw chip / dust under extremely high pressure through a former, the lignin in the wood fibres "stick" the mixture together naturally, whereas chipboard the chip / dust is mixed with resins / glues etc then it is squeezed through rollers to form the sheets.

My advice - use proper wood or briquettes.

justwilliam46

Thanks for your reply's. Most advise I've read here and elsewhere seems to be that burning mdf and chipboard 'might cause this or may cause that' It don't seem to be proven and burning anything will give off poison fumes so, I am having the chimney swept this week and will also tell the sweep what I burn and see what he says.
As I have a free supply of firewood it may still be worthwhile burning it even if I have to have the chimney swept twice or more a year if sooting is the only problem.

wrightk

justwilliam46 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply's. Most advise I've read here and elsewhere seems to be that burning mdf and chipboard 'might cause this or may cause that' It don't seem to be proven and burning anything will give off poison fumes so, I am having the chimney swept this week and will also tell the sweep what I burn and see what he says.
As I have a free supply of firewood it may still be worthwhile burning it even if I have to have the chimney swept twice or more a year if sooting is the only problem.

or you could just take the advice of the sweeps on here?

its not just a case of soot either, yes you will get fumes and smoke from whatever you burn, but they will be minimal compared to burning a manufactured wood stuffed full of glue

muckybutt

justwilliam46 wrote: »

As I have a free supply of firewood it may still be worthwhile burning it even if I have to have the chimney swept twice or more a year if sooting is the only problem.

:wall: Taken from a well known Stove manufacturer :

You must NOT burn the following :
Under no circumstances may pressure impregnated wood,
painted or glued wood, chipboard, plastic or colour brochures be used as fuel. All these materials can create hydrochloric acid and heavy metals that are damaging both to the environment and the stove. Hydrochloric acid can also attack the steel in the chimney or the mortar in a stone built chimney.

On your head beit if you do burn MDF / chipboard cant say you havent been warned !

oldtractor

what if its swept twice a year though? If I had a free supply of wood I'd be burning it .

googler

All the DIY guides recommend a face mask when cutting or drilling MDF because of what's released to the atmosphere then.

Never mind what clings to the chimney, what on earth does it release to the atmosphere, to be breathed in by your neighbours, when you burn it?

greyteam1959

"All the DIY guides recommend a face mask when cutting or drilling MDF because of what's released to the atmosphere then."

This has nothing to do with the glues used it is because cutting MDF & chipboard produces a very fine dust that is harmful breath in.
In fact in an industrial setting MDF dust can be explosive.

alleycat`

mervyn11 wrote: »

"All the DIY guides recommend a face mask when cutting or drilling MDF because of what's released to the atmosphere then."

This has nothing to do with the glues used it is because cutting MDF & chipboard produces a very fine dust that is harmful breath in.
In fact in an industrial setting MDF dust can be explosive.

To be honest so can a lot of fine materials, i think talc is pretty much the same in terms of it can go "ba-da boom".

As to the OP.
The general consensus is that MDF is not a suitable fuel to be be burnt in a stove.

If you want to go ahead, then none of us are going to stop you.

My worry is a lot of people come on here asking for an opinion hoping to get the "right answer" and not a real opinion.

I wouldn't advise it, the sweeps on here don't advise it but you are an adult and the risk is yours