Treated wood and chimney

anon_ymous

Now I wouldn't do this given I don't fancy poisoning my neighbours, but people obviously do burn treated wood. Also imo, a wood stove is far more of a lifestyle choice if you didn't have it in the house to begin with and it isn't cheap compared to say a heat pump or even gas half the time 

Would burning treated wood also damage your chimney / flue lining? 

Looking online, it suggests it does but I've not seen anything concrete. It'd be good to know for definite especially if it does damage your chimney. I say because I'm in a couple of log burner groups and you regularly get people saying "It all burns. Forget what the government says", so it'd be nice to have some concrete evidence of it causing damage to their chimney / flue too

QrizB

It does depend on how it's been treated.

Lots of pallets, for example, have been heat treated to kill parasites but haven't had any preservative added. On the other hand "outdoor timber" like fence boards could have had all sorts of nasty stuff applied.

35har1old

anon_ymous said:

Now I wouldn't do this given I don't fancy poisoning my neighbours, but people obviously do burn treated wood. Also imo, a wood stove is far more of a lifestyle choice if you didn't have it in the house to begin with and it isn't cheap compared to say a heat pump or even gas half the time 

Would burning treated wood also damage your chimney / flue lining? 

Looking online, it suggests it does but I've not seen anything concrete. It'd be good to know for definite especially if it does damage your chimney. I say because I'm in a couple of log burner groups and you regularly get people saying "It all burns. Forget what the government says", so it'd be nice to have some concrete evidence of it causing damage to their chimney / flue too

Unseasoned logs can have the same effect

John_the_Boy

AI says this:

Treated wood damages a flue liner by introducing corrosive chemicals and creating acidic condensation that leads to accelerated corrosion and premature failure of the liner. Burning treated wood also produces tar-like deposits that contribute to restricted airflow and increased fire hazards, while the toxic fumes and chemicals are a serious health risk. 

Corrosive Damage to the Flue Liner 

• Chemical Corrosion:

  Preservatives in treated wood contain chemicals like arsenic and chlorine. When wood is burned, these chemicals mix with combustion gases and moisture, forming highly acidic compounds.
• Acidic Condensation:

  When a wood burner runs cool, combustion gases can cool too quickly inside the flue liner. The acidic condensation created from the burning of treated wood mixes with these gases, leading to the formation of compounds that corrode the metal of the flue liner over time, weakening it and shortening its lifespan.

anon_ymous

John_the_Boy said:

AI says this:

Treated wood damages a flue liner by introducing corrosive chemicals and creating acidic condensation that leads to accelerated corrosion and premature failure of the liner. Burning treated wood also produces tar-like deposits that contribute to restricted airflow and increased fire hazards, while the toxic fumes and chemicals are a serious health risk. 

Corrosive Damage to the Flue Liner 

• Chemical Corrosion:

  Preservatives in treated wood contain chemicals like arsenic and chlorine. When wood is burned, these chemicals mix with combustion gases and moisture, forming highly acidic compounds.
• Acidic Condensation:

  When a wood burner runs cool, combustion gases can cool too quickly inside the flue liner. The acidic condensation created from the burning of treated wood mixes with these gases, leading to the formation of compounds that corrode the metal of the flue liner over time, weakening it and shortening its lifespan.

Guessing that's similar if someone burns rubbish in there? I saw someone suggesting that they should be burning their rubbish in their firepit instead of leaving it (in the case of Birmingham City Council at least) 

anon_ymous

35har1old said:

anon_ymous said:

Now I wouldn't do this given I don't fancy poisoning my neighbours, but people obviously do burn treated wood. Also imo, a wood stove is far more of a lifestyle choice if you didn't have it in the house to begin with and it isn't cheap compared to say a heat pump or even gas half the time 

Would burning treated wood also damage your chimney / flue lining? 

Looking online, it suggests it does but I've not seen anything concrete. It'd be good to know for definite especially if it does damage your chimney. I say because I'm in a couple of log burner groups and you regularly get people saying "It all burns. Forget what the government says", so it'd be nice to have some concrete evidence of it causing damage to their chimney / flue too

Unseasoned logs can have the same effect

Thanks. Is there any proof of both these and treated woods harming the liner? Other than AI? 

anon_ymous

QrizB said:

It does depend on how it's been treated.

Lots of pallets, for example, have been heat treated to kill parasites but haven't had any preservative added. On the other hand "outdoor timber" like fence boards could have had all sorts of nasty stuff applied.

Yeah that's a fair shout. I'm not referring to heat treatment but rather when they're adding preservatives or even when people use wood that's got bits of varnish on it