Burning pine for firewood. Not a simple answer

[FirewodGuy]

https://youtu.be/EDsFkZHV-Hk

[werner.reiche]

That is a load of hooey. Secondary burn area? WTF??? There's no catalytic convertor on a stove.

The only problem with burning pine - and this goes for green hardware as well - is airtight stoves,
where people shut the airflow down so it's a very slow burning oxygen starved smokey fire.

[gbk]

Absolutely not challenging the OP-You do a great job on Your videos.

As far as burning pine -once i spent some time on this topic on another Forum(as a guest)
I stopped reading all the No and the few Yes, when a guy from Alaska posted:

If i do not burn pine in Alaska.....i freeze to death .That is all we have...........
Yes-one needs to know what to do it though.

PS-back in Europe we were burning(every household)coal(all kind of good and even more of the poor quality )then any kind of wood we put our hands on, then most of the combustible garbage(plastic bags,small plastic bottles)all kind of cardboard ,heck-corn when there was no coal available(corn is awesome to burn-just gives way to much heat thus can crack your stove)and even many times old torn clothes .
The garbage man had little job ,at least til the mid 90-ish.
Not saying that was good for the environment ,just everyone was doing it. Poor man's world.

Only trick we had up our sleeves-the chimney sweeper.
They were mandated (we paid thru property taxes)to come and sweep every chimney(and inspect the chimney too)once a year.

They did look like those from the movies

[WillieBeno]

That is a load of hooey. Secondary burn area? WTF??? There's no catalytic convertor on a stove.

The only problem with burning pine - and this goes for green hardware as well - is airtight stoves,
where people shut the airflow down so it's a very slow burning oxygen starved smokey fire.

I've seen them advertised with catalytic converters. My Grandfather bought a catalytic converter sometime in the 80's for the stove at the cottage, the thing worked mint once the stove got up to about 750 degrees you engaged it (similar to a damper) and it would slow the burn right down and throw the heat. It was called a Smoke Master I think he paid more for it than he did the stove. Here is a link to it.
https://www.woodmanspartsplus.com/68...ster/9259.html

[oaknut]

Maple, Oak, Hemlock, Spruce, Poplar.... I don't care, the smoke goes up the chimney just the same. Burn it good and hot once a week and don't worry about it.

Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk

[WillieBeno]

Maple, Oak, Hemlock, Spruce, Poplar.... I don't care, the smoke goes up the chimney just the same. Burn it good and hot once a week and don't worry about it.

Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk

Me too, I used to load her with cardboard once in awhile to clean the glass.

[JoePa]

I burn mostly hard wood - very little pine - I don't need to clean my chimney - what happens over the summer months the creosote falls off of the sides of the chimney and lands in the clean out shelf I built at the bottom of the chimney - I use to clean it but found out I didn't need to - love burning wood -

[smitty55]

That is a load of hooey. Secondary burn area? WTF??? There's no catalytic convertor on a stove.

The only problem with burning pine - and this goes for green hardware as well - is airtight stoves,
where people shut the airflow down so it's a very slow burning oxygen starved smokey fire.

Actually some high end stoves do have a catalytic converter, my neighbour has one and it will bring temps up quite high even when the stove is damped down. Saying that I have no idea what his chimney looks like after season. They are basically a ceramic honeycomb with a massive surface area and sprayed with precious metals that react with the smoke once temps get up to 500°F. I wouldn't ever buy one, you need to follow specific steps when using them including a bypass at first till the stove gets going well, then you have to damp the stove down to a minimal burn as the converter can only handle so much smoke and if the fire gets too hot it will bypass it and go up the chimney. Plus there is regular maintenance that should be done and expensive replacement as they do wear out. Here's a good article I found on them. https://woodstove.com/images/editori...talyticman.pdf

I have a smaller Napolean woodstove rated for 600 -1500sq.ft. It's rated at 73% and a good part of that reason is because it's design allows for a secondary burn of gases. It's classified as a non-catalytic but come close to efficiency ratings. There is a 3' rectangular manifold (air tube) with holes drilled in it on both sides that runs down the top center of the firebox. At the back of it there is access to a secondary airflow that runs runs under and up the back of the firebox to that channel and when the stove is going well everyone of those 70 holes is shooting out 1-2 inch long blue flames back into the firebox as those gases get burnt at a higher temp from the superheated O2 influx. I get zero creosote in the chimney and maybe a 1/2 cup at most of fine ash a year when I brush the chimney. I only use dry softwood as kindling, or for two years I used basswood from a big one that came down in my back yard.
Even though it's an airtight stove it's still at it's most efficient when burning wide open so I tend to regulate the heat by how much wood I put in for the most part, and that mostly relates to outdoor temps. Apart from when I fill the box to 75% when I go bed I will close the draft down maybe 80%, other than that it doesn't often get throttled that often except at times with the morning sun shining in through 7 4x8 windows facing south.

Cheers

[MikePal]

I pick up big pine slab bundles for $25 (about 1.5 face cord) from the mill up the road. I cut it up into 16" pieces. I burn them it in the morning and evening this time of the year (and late fall) . In fact have a 'pine' fire going as I sit here. Easy start, fasts burn, fast heat. Takes the chill out.

I don't worry about creosote build up, I usually run a brush thru the Selkirk every spring.

Thanks for the videos...I've been burning firewood as my primary source of heat for about 30 yrs now and still find them good to watch.

[MikePal]

FirewodGuy....if you have time can you tell us how best to prep poplar for firewood.

I had a dozen trees topped off because they were in danger of falling onto the hydro lines. I left the main trunk (about 20') standing for the past two years. I was told that is the best way to let it dry.

Do you think that's long enough ?