Wood that you should not burn ?

Gloomendoom

It makes you wonder what sort of stuff burning coal creates.

Greenfires

There are a whole cocktail of chemicals in any smoke I guess - breathing in woodsmoke probably wouldn't be the best thing for your health if you did it all the time. I think the thing with burning treated wood and mdf etc is that there are some very unpleasant compounds created which are even more of a health hazard. Some people may argue that this sort of stuff goes to incinerators all the time, but they work at far higher temperatures than any domestic stoves, and this ensures that toxic compounds are broken down to their individual component atoms.

A._Badger

Gloomendoom wrote: »

It makes you wonder what sort of stuff burning coal creates.

You can get carried away by this sort of thing. In parts of the USA (California - the crazy ward - for example) woodsmoke has been deemed highly carcinogenic and burning wood domestically is banned.

We do need to keep a sense of proportion, and that is inclined to go out of the ('green') window these days.

A._Badger

A note about chestnut. I won't accept this when it's offered because although the log sellers always say 'it's fine on a stove' I find it spits the moment you put it on a hot fire, which makes loading the stove a risky operation (especially if you've got some decent rugs or a carpet in the vicinity!).

SG27

At work we have a lot of rolls of compressed cardboard packaging. Basically like giant toilet rolls but much thicker an heavier. The supply is unlimited so might have a go at burning a couple. The only problem I can think of is that they may have some sort of glue holding them together although it doesn't look like. Any think these might cause problems?

Greenfires

I would think there'd be some kind of glue or binder in there somewhere for starters - which could be anything from PVA to phenolic resin. As far as burning them goes, I'd expect a great deal of ash.

SG27

Greenfires wrote: »

I would think there'd be some kind of glue or binder in there somewhere for starters - which could be anything from PVA to phenolic resin. As far as burning them goes, I'd expect a great deal of ash.

Well burnt a couple today. Barely touched 300c before dropping. Won't bother with those...

duggo1

I've chopped up some heat treated pallets for kindling, but on some of the pallets the little blocks you (to create the height between the two layers) are made of some sort of compressed sawdust. Would these be ok to burn?

Greenfires

No - they're made essentially of chipboard which is full of glues that will send a bunch of unpleasant toxins up your chimney.