Dismantling pallets to burn

ericonabike

My stove has been fed a constant diet of pallets for two winters now with no ill effects on it or me. Yes, it's kiln-dried, so burns quicker, but it's free and you can to some extent control the burn rate with the air intake controls. I use a circular saw and bow saw to cut them up, with a day's work yielding a month's supply of wood. I don't use painted pallets, but other than that anything else is fuel.

As for being poisoned by galvanised nails - show me the science please!

Gloomendoom

ericonabike wrote: »

As for being poisoned by galvanised nails - show me the science please!

Google "zinc metal fever".

Zinc vapour is toxic. However, given the quantity of zinc on the average galvanised nail and the fact that the vapour is being exhausted up the chimney, I don't think that there is much to worry about.

mumf

Splitting pallets is easy. Hammer and sharp cold chisel. Takes 'em down-no problem. As for burning, weather it, like any other wood. Burning nails? The fumes go up the chimney. Keep the chimney swept. Cannot see a problem.

UsernameAlreadyExists

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Google "zinc metal fever".

Zinc vapour is toxic. However, given the quantity of zinc on the average galvanised nail and the fact that the vapour is being exhausted up the chimney, I don't think that there is much to worry about.

wiki wrote:

Exposure usually arises through hot metalworking processes, such as smelting and casting of zinc alloys, or welding of galvanized metals

How hot do the stoves get? Zinc needs 419.5 °C to melt!

Gloomendoom

UsernameAlreadyExists wrote: »

How hot do the stoves get? Zinc needs 419.5 °C to melt!

Have you never seen red hot nails or cast iron fire bars in a stove or an open fire?

The fire needs to be a lot hotter 419.5°C to achieve that.

new_owner

cheap circular saw. couple of mins per pallet

Trumpeter

The more you do, the quicker you get, You actually get used to the "anatomy" of the pallets, ie, where they come apart & where they dont. I've been using pallets on 2 log burners to suppliment my oil fired boiler. I think I've saved about £2000 over the last couple of years on oil costs. I have the chimneys swept each summer & have never had any adverse comments about deposits or too much soot etc.
Also, as another poster wrote, look for the HT code as these have simply been heat treated.

greyteam1959

Been chopping up & burning pallets for 2 or 3 years now.
Don't think I have ever seen a galvanised nail in any of them yet !!