Burning Pallets, Battens and More in Wood Burner?

GDB2222

Our neighbours, as part of their refurbishment, have just drilled 150m wells for their new ground source heat pump. At an average heat gradient of 25C per km, the water they extract should be about 4C warmer than the average soil temperature near the surface, so about 15C, say. 

We are on London clay, but I assume that 150m down they must be into something much more porous. 

I’m not sure what the pay back period will be on this installation, though. 

Woolsery

We wouldn't need to go that deep for GSHP, but I looked into the maths and concluded payback was much longer than I have left! Also, it was 'bleeding edge' technology then, as a friend found out. Successfully sued the installers of her ASHP system, only to find the firms assets were mostly hired and they were bust.

ariarnia

we have a few pallets from the building work that we've been doing. there currently being used as platforms for the 'extra' wood we've bought that doesn't fit in the log store (with a tarp over it). plan is that the wood inside will be used first. then the wood from the stores brought inside to be used and the wood on the pallets moved to the stores. at the end of winter when that's all used then we'll probably burn the pallets as well. don't really want them hanging around into next spring. especially if it's a long winter or a later cold snap and we're running low on 'decent' wood we'll use them a but at at time to make it stretch. 

Maxson

Woolsery said:

Maxson said:

Wood burning stoves are a bad source of pollution in suburban areas. You should only be burning specially dried wood certified for home heating.

Youe advice is unclear, What exactly do you mean by 'specially dried?' And if the wood is 'certified,' who does the certifying?

I believe you can buy wood that is specially dried for home wood burners. Any other wood won't be dry enough unless you have the ability to dry it out in a wood shed for years.

Maxson

GDB2222 said:

Wood burning in homes produces more small particle pollution than all road traffic in the UK, according to revised government data.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/15/wood-burners-emit-more-particle-pollution-than-traffic-uk-data-shows?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Exactly. I didn't realise it was so bad until living next door to a 'wood' burner. We can smell whatever they are burning when we are in the garden and it can overpower any flowers we might grow. Mostly smells like they burn coal despite all the noise, mess and fuss he has made about gathering and cutting up various kinds of wood. It is better now they have a taller flue, thankfully. Then I read about all the particulate pollution it causes, not just smells bad but it is actually bad for everyone's health.

Woolsery

Maxson said:

Woolsery said:

Maxson said:

Wood burning stoves are a bad source of pollution in suburban areas. You should only be burning specially dried wood certified for home heating.

Youe advice is unclear, What exactly do you mean by 'specially dried?' And if the wood is 'certified,' who does the certifying?

I believe you can buy wood that is specially dried for home wood burners. Any other wood won't be dry enough unless you have the ability to dry it out in a wood shed for years.

Yes, it's possible to buy wood specially dried in kilns at a higher price and one would expect this to be guaranteed in some way to be below a certain moisture content, but it's not necessary to do that.

You've maybe become confused by the voluntary and privately run Woodsure scheme which puts people in touch with reputable suppliers of correctly stored firewood. This wood is stored by the supplier in the correct conditions and for long enough that the consumer doesn't need to do further seasoning. This is obviously better than kiln drying which requires additional energy to drive out moisture artificially.

As it happens, my supplier is a member of Woodsure and his/her logs may be burnt right away, though I usually start the season with my own logs dried in an open shed for around 2 years, as they're usually better than anyone else's for moisture content.

Woolsery

Maxson said:

GDB2222 said:

Wood burning in homes produces more small particle pollution than all road traffic in the UK, according to revised government data.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/15/wood-burners-emit-more-particle-pollution-than-traffic-uk-data-shows?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Exactly. I didn't realise it was so bad until living next door to a 'wood' burner. We can smell whatever they are burning when we are in the garden and it can overpower any flowers we might grow. Mostly smells like they burn coal despite all the noise, mess and fuss he has made about gathering and cutting up various kinds of wood. It is better now they have a taller flue, thankfully. Then I read about all the particulate pollution it causes, not just smells bad but it is actually bad for everyone's health.

I live next door to a coal burner. It's maybe a matter of personal preference, but I find the smell of wood smoke easier to live with than coal, but then my wood smoke is minimal. I thought when certain house coals were banned that my neighbour's open fire smoke wouldn't be so unpleasant, but this season I can detect no significant difference.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Maxson said:

Wood burning stoves are a bad source of pollution in suburban areas. You should only be burning specially dried wood certified for home heating.

I believe you can buy wood that is specially dried for home wood burners. Any other wood won't be dry enough unless you have the ability to dry it out in a wood shed for years.

That's a bit different to saying you should only burn wood that specially dried. 

In England all firewood sold at a QTY of less than 2 cubic meters must be less than 20% moisture and there's a system called Ready to Burn covering this. Not sure if other parts of the UK have similar laws? 

That however doesn't mean there's anything wrong with buying wet wood at greater volumes and air drying it, or indeed burning wood you gather from trees that have come down, so long as the moisture content is below 20% when you burn it. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

GDB2222 said:

Wood burning in homes produces more small particle pollution than all road traffic in the UK, according to revised government data.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/15/wood-burners-emit-more-particle-pollution-than-traffic-uk-data-shows?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I'd have a lot more respect for that article if it didn't include the below sentence:

“My in-box is filled with people who are concerned about the wood smoke that is filling the bedroom of their asthmatic child or ill elderly relative.”

The desire to be overly emotive and dramatic to demonstrate their viewpoint raises credibility issues in my view. 

Woolsery

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

GDB2222 said:

Wood burning in homes produces more small particle pollution than all road traffic in the UK, according to revised government data.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/15/wood-burners-emit-more-particle-pollution-than-traffic-uk-data-shows?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

I'd have a lot more respect for that article if it didn't include the below sentence:

“My in-box is filled with people who are concerned about the wood smoke that is filling the bedroom of their asthmatic child or ill elderly relative.”

The desire to be overly emotive and dramatic to demonstrate their viewpoint raises credibility issues in my view. 

It's the Grauniad, so the agenda is set . Being independent of certain lobby interests is why I'm not concerned from a personal perspective if the lights go out this winter; the wood burner will see us through. There are those who shape narratives who find people like myself an inconvenience, especially if we eat meat and get together to share goods and skills . We are not so easily nudged and controlled as others.