Burning pine

[Jaleel Johanson]

I've been burning pine in my woodstove for many years now, and despite all of the condemnation from my friends and neighbors about the woes of creosote buildup, I've found that it's really no worse than other woods? Is creosote buildup in my chimney just an old wive's tale? TIA

Jaleel

 

[Adkpk]

Welcome to the Arborist site. How often do you clean your chimney? Creosote build up is not a wives tale. Pine has more creosote than other woods but I burn it too.

 

[Jaleel Johanson]

I haven't cleaned the chimney in the last 2 years, and I burn every day in the winter months. Is this dangerous?

Jaleel

 

[stonykill]

I haven't cleaned the chimney in the last 2 years, and I burn every day in the winter months. Is this dangerous?

Jaleel

You need to check your chimney often. With that said, when I used the woodstov( owb now) I burned whatever was available, including pine. I have a metalbestos chimney . There is NEVER any buildup in it. Or was I should say. Now the stds chimney that was in the basement, that I cleaned several times a season.

I always burned pine, without a 2nd thought.

 

[wildbio]

yes dangerous. You should inspect the chimney once a month and clean when necessary but once a year is what most people do. I knew there were issues with the stove/chimney in the house we bought this past summer. I could tell it was bad enough that a new chimney would be warranted. We replaced both the stove and chimney. when I looked at the creosote build-up in the old chimney I couldn't believe it - 1.5 inches of build up! The prior tenants (renters) burned whatever junk wood they had on hand, including construction scraps, the catalytic combustor was shot, and the chimney had air leaks. They are very lucky they didn't have a chimney fire.

 

[toqua]

StonyKill

When you say metalbestos pipe are you talking about what we acall triple wall pipe?

TOM

 

[stonykill]

StonyKill

When you say metalbestos pipe are you talking about what we acall triple wall pipe?

TOM

yes

 

[stonykill]

No.

Metalbestos is a brand name and has two walls and a mineral insulation in between.

to me its all the same. Metal modern chimney over clay.

 

[Saucydog]

Sure pine has a little more pitch in it than most fuelwoods, but if it's burned properly after sufficient seasoning......I don't find it creates any more creosote than my other fuelwood.

 

[turnkey4099]

If burning pine was anywhere near as dangerous as the old wive's tales say, half the houses in the west and north would have burned to the ground years ago. I grew up in N Idaho and only know of one house that burned and it had done so before we even moved into the area. Every house heated with wood and every house burned nothing but pine/fir/spruce. Clean the chimney? Maybe clean chimney once every couple of years by rattlign a set of tire chains in it. Definitely not recommended but that was the technology back then (30s/40s)

Inspect your chimney occasionally and clean it at least once before the beginning of the season. Won't hurt to do it again once or twice more during the season.

Harry K

 

[Burvol]

Honestly, I think you will survive, but I have noticed some issues with build up. I strictly burn fir and WELL seasoned, skinned maple, but I got into a pinch this year and have burned some Ponderosa Pine. It does contribute to a little more build up, but nothing that yearly maintance won't fix. Let your fire rage for 10 to 15 minutes every time you build one, and it will burn out a lot of the impurities in your chimney plus get your heat building.

 

[czeigler]

All wood will give you creosote build up if not burned right. If you burn pine hot enough with good seasoned hardwood, there is very little creosote build up. If you burn a piece of wet red oak for instance, you will be getting creosote build up with that. It is all in how fast and hot it burns.

 

[Vibes]

I burn some pine, but save it for the end of the season. Probably don't have to, but its sort of a mental thing.

I have a BIL who tears down houses alot. He burns anything over 1'' thick. I helped him clean his chimney once because at the time he didn't have a tall enough ladder. His chimney was fine. He told me he always starts his fire with a plastic milkjug.

 

[Jaleel Johanson]

So the vast majority of you agree that burning pine and waiting 2 years between cleaning my chimney is okay. Thanks for the reality check!

Jaleel

 

[beerman6]

:monkey: Chemicalanarchy?

 

[Mountaineer]

Is it just temperature that matters?

I thought that it was just temperature that matters. If it burns too cool, you don't get complete burn and you gunk up the chimney. We burn anything that burns from the garbage along with the wood and then throw in one of those creasote sweeping logs, you know the csl logs from Walgreens, at the end of the season.

 

[Jaleel Johanson]

I thought that it was just temperature that matters. If it burns too cool, you don't get complete burn and you gunk up the chimney. We burn anything that burns from the garbage along with the wood and then throw in one of those creasote sweeping logs, you know the csl logs from Walgreens, at the end of the season.

I've heard that you can toast marshmallows on house fires too!

Jaleel