Does Burning Green Wood In Broiler Work?

[Cerran]

Everybody that is finally sticking up for people that burn wet wood.....thanks. Some of us work full time jobs and have owbs that can and will burn wet wet. We don't enjoy splitting and stacking. We enjoy cutting and pitching it in the boiler to stay warm. Burn whatever wood you please and by the way some of live in the county not in the city where smoke could be an issue. Read the original post the originator was asking will they burn wet wood and we have come to the consensus that an owb will. Burn on with wet wood if that is what you have. Gotta go ....can't see through the smoke while passing a house with an owb burning wet wood....what a joke.

Lots of people with full time jobs find time to get ahead in their wood supply and season their wood.

People are right, if you have the gall to complain about EPA regs while burning green wood you don't really have a let to stand on. Burning green wood in OWB's is why many townships have banned them.

 

[Chris-PA]

Firebrick43 said:
"Because most boilers smoke worse than than anything else when burned with green wood. Does yours? I don't know but I can show you half a dozen that do. One so badly that it's dangerous to drive by as the smoke makes vision on the road nil with the prevailing winds. I think part of the problem however to is the chimney height or lack of, the ones that I see smoking owners don't care to add any chimney either."

Exaggerate much? "...makes the vision on the road nil..." Puh-leeze. I gotta say that I've read some ridiculous statements on here but this one is in the running for the most. Can you see my eyes rolling?

Your whole "Holier Than Thou" attitude leaps off the screen. Please get a grip before your blood pressure causes a stroke.

Jon

I have personally experienced this several times on two different roads. One was at a pretty major local intersection with a traffic light, and you could not see a darn thing. Because of this traffic was backed up a good half mile on the more major road and I'm amazed there was no accident. Why is it hard to be believe that drivers would not be able to see through thick smoke?

Also, in both of the locations where I drove through this there were several other homes and/or businesses that were also totally enveloped with the smoke.

 

[Jon B.]

I have personally experienced this several times on two different roads. One was at a pretty major local intersection with a traffic light, and you could not see a darn thing. Because of this traffic was backed up a good half mile on the more major road and I'm amazed there was no accident. Why is it hard to be believe that drivers would not be able to see through thick smoke?

Also, in both of the locations where I drove through this there were several other homes and/or businesses that were also totally enveloped with the smoke.

The smoke from my CB 5036 is nowhere near thick enough to not be able to see through it. Not does it come close enough to the ground to where it would be a hazard for driving through. The top of the stack is only 12 and a half feet above ground. Even burning railroad ties or tires, it would seem unreasonable. My neighbor - the cottonwood burning one - lives near a US Highway, and I drive by each day on the way to work. His smoke is very white, very thin.

Most of the exhaust from a boiler burning green wood will be water vapor, and will be evaporated within 50-100 feet of the stack.

Several homes and business "completely enveloped"? Pull the other leg, please. Were the whole damn boiler and wood-pile on fire?

Jon

 

[greendohn]

Yep, what he said about water vapor^^
Admittedly, when I'm burning less than optimally seasoned firewood and load the hungry greedy beast to the hilt,, I get some pretty good smoke rolling for a cycle or two...
I very rarely load it full tilt, unless it's below zero with wind.
It's not rocket science. Well seasoned firewood is your friend, but you don't need a moisture meter to fire an owb...

 

[Cerran]

The smoke from my CB 5036 is nowhere near thick enough to not be able to see through it. Not does it come close enough to the ground to where it would be a hazard for driving through. The top of the stack is only 12 and a half feet above ground. Even burning railroad ties or tires, it would seem unreasonable. My neighbor - the cottonwood burning one - lives near a US Highway, and I drive by each day on the way to work. His smoke is very white, very thin.

Most of the exhaust from a boiler burning green wood will be water vapor, and will be evaporated within 50-100 feet of the stack.

Several homes and business "completely enveloped"? Pull the other leg, please. Were the whole damn boiler and wood-pile on fire?

Jon

Assuming the fire is burning hot, which for many OWB operators is not the case.

 

[Poston5]

Next time we all burn a big brush pile, make sure that you make the pile and then let it properly dry before you light it. If not we might smoke out the neighborhood. The way I propose drying it, is split it and stack it multiple times in multiple locations.

 

[brenndatomu]

can't see through the smoke while passing a house with an owb burning wet wood....what a joke.

No joke, I have driven through this scenario several times myself. One time was from the boiler of one of my family members that lives up the road from me. The smoke was so bad, I could see it from my house, I quickly drove past their house because I thought their barn had to be on fire!

Lots of people with full time jobs find time to get ahead in their wood supply and season their wood.
People are right, if you have the gall to complain about EPA regs while burning green wood you don't really have a let to stand on. Burning green wood in OWB's is why many townships have banned them.

Amen bother! If ya don't have time to cut/split/stack/operate your boiler properly, then call your gas/oil man for a fill up!!!

Several homes and business "completely enveloped"? Pull the other leg, please.

I suppose the smog that blankets whole citys in Cali is imaginary too?

 

[greendohn]

I live in a little rural town of about 200 homes. There are 6 woodstoves just walking around my block, in use, right now. My garage wood stove, an old Riteway will smoke some too unless I'm firing the snot out of it..with well seasoned wood.
I installed the owb in '07 and didn't put a stack on it the 1st year, was burning some pretty good wood and the smoke wasn't all water vapor! Ask my neighbors and got an honest answer,, The could smell my stove burning. Installed 15 foot of SS stack on it and life is good for me and my neighbors.
Lets not forget that moisture and ashes are acidic when mixed and acidic conditions are not good for boiler plate...well seasoned firewood is your friend.
We should all be good stewards of wood burning so we can keep putting it to the gas man w/o trouble from our useless uncle.

 

[Chris-PA]

The smoke from my CB 5036 is nowhere near thick enough to not be able to see through it. Not does it come close enough to the ground to where it would be a hazard for driving through. The top of the stack is only 12 and a half feet above ground. Even burning railroad ties or tires, it would seem unreasonable. My neighbor - the cottonwood burning one - lives near a US Highway, and I drive by each day on the way to work. His smoke is very white, very thin.

Most of the exhaust from a boiler burning green wood will be water vapor, and will be evaporated within 50-100 feet of the stack.

Several homes and business "completely enveloped"? Pull the other leg, please. Were the whole damn boiler and wood-pile on fire?

Jon

Sure, feel free to call me a liar anytime.

No, there was a huge plume of thick, white smoke (not steam) pouring out of the top of the short stack. The one I witnessed most recently looked like a giant burning leaf pile from a distance, it was only on closer approach that you could see the smoke pouring out of the OWB. But of course, I must have made all that up.

In fact the emissions from burning wood are not very high on my list of concerns, even from people who burn in really foolish and irresponsible ways, as we face other far more serious pollution issues. Beyond the pollution issues it mostly wastes a lot of energy up the stack, and eventually that kind of waste will be unaffordable for most who do it. However, if someone were to be doing that near me there would definitely be consequences.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Pretty sure the OP asked for "first-hand experience" on this. I would love to see, by a show of hands, how many folks in this thread that posted against it actually own and operate an OWB.

I would absolutely rather burn nice, seasoned hardwoods. But the reality is, not everyone does. I was unable to get ahead of the game last year to set enough wood back to do so. I have my reasons, none of which I had any control over. If that pisses you off, then I don't know what to tell ya. I know how my owb reacts to burning green wood, and it's nothing like what many of you have said you've witnesses.

Now on the other hand, I know of a gentleman that owns and operates a Hardy owb. A huge reason as to why I chose not to look into Hardy's when I was looking was because that thing does, in fact, smoke quite a bit. I won't deny that some do as I've seen it myself.

Why my CB 6048 doesn't smoke as much as his Hardy I don't know, and honestly I won't sit here in my recliner and act like I do know what I'm talking about. I'm not a wood-burner designer/engineer, and I'm certainly no thermodynamic expert so I won't pretend to be like lots of folks on here do.

The reality of it is, you won't know how the owb will do with green wood until you try it out. From there, it's all up to you.

 

[Bushmans]

All I can say is if you do burn green wood in your OWB and it fogs out the neighborhood then use a little common sense and DON"T!
Soon you will face the extinction of these devices and will be forced to purchase even more expensive devices in which you won't be able to burn green wood so might as well start burning the correct way right now!

AND....anyone that uses wood to heat their home (and this is not your first year) that does not have a sufficient stock of wood to make it through the year then you might want to re-consider your heating resource.
I see no excuse for only having enough wood to get you through one winter and running out should never be allowed. This crap about working a full time job is ridiculous. Do you think everyone else that burns wood only works part time or is retired? Are you waiting for the Obama wood handout program because you don't feel you should have to get off your butt and cut a little more wood than is absolutely necessary to get you through a few months of heating?

There is a guy down the road that has an OWB and I almost never see smoke coming from his. In fact sometimes I wonder if he even uses it but the rack of wood next to it fills up and empties so he must.
Now the guy a little further down? Silly amounts of smoke. It covers the entire area and looks just like a fog bank. It stinks as well.
Protect what you have, burn good dry seasoned wood or at least get an OWB that doesn't choke everyone out if you have to burn a little green because of unforseen circumstances.

It is your choice in the end. If you can do it cleanly and don't mind the wasted btus then carry on but if you can't and do anyways then don't say you were never warned.

 

[Bushmans]

Well if the choir would stop trying to burn green wood..........

 

[H-Ranch]

Pretty sure the OP asked for "first-hand experience" on this. I would love to see, by a show of hands, how many folks in this thread that posted against it actually own and operate an OWB.

In. And I count at least 5 other OWB owners on the thread saying the same. If we don't attempt to educate others and self-regulate I'm sure we won't have to wait long for our options to be mandated for us.

Regardless of the wood burning apparatus the others promoting dry wood use, the same general principles apply.

You guys are something else. Talking about burning green wood like its the devil.

StihlRockin, I burn nothing but green wood. And by green wood I mean wood that I cut, split, and stacked less than 6 months ago. Heck sometimes it gets thrown out of my truck into a pile next to my owb and I burn it that week. I've got an ash I'm doing that to right now.

It could be the devil in the end. If OWB's are banned because of a few bad apples in the bunch then we all lose. By the way - if you're burning Ash in NW Ohio then I'll bet it's probably been dead with a moisture content less than 20% for some time. So good on you for burning seasoned wood!

Some of you seem to get down right mad at people for burning green wood and I just don't get it.

The OWB owners that have advised to burn seasoned wood have been, by far, the most reasonable group to post in this thread. Most have said that you *can* burn green wood along with the reasons not to. The group with their panties in wad are the guys that seem to be promoting or defending burning green.

Exaggerate much? "...makes the vision on the road nil..." Puh-leeze. I gotta say that I've read some ridiculous statements on here but this one is in the running for the most. Can you see my eyes rolling?

I know of at least 2 locations that I go past in my travels that have been an absolute traffic hazard on numerous occasions because of excessive smoke from an OWB. How many times do you think it takes for an environmentalist to pass that until they decide to take action? How many accidents before someone protests? Deaths? Oh, and how many guys have to have claim to seen it to convince you these places exist? They do. Clearly there are people in locations that should probably choose an immediate corrective action or a different alternative.

 

[ttyR2]

Remember, the nastier the smoke coming out of your wood stove, the more likely it is we'll just get shut down by the EPA that much sooner. Stop being selfish.

 

[066blaster]

Op, if you have to burn green try to mix it with some dry, and add after you have some good hot coals established. Use smaller pieces , and burn it at night if possible to keep the smoke police away. From what i understand Trees have less water in them in the dead of winter. Still no where near dry. Get some trees on the ground for next winter even if you can't cut em up right away.

 

[H-Ranch]

This is the kind of rhetoric right here that institutes bans.

Wow. I see. It's not the smoke then.

You're right. I'm going to be a lot more careful. I'm sorry.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

AND....anyone that uses wood to heat their home (and this is not your first year) that does not have a sufficient stock of wood to make it through the year then you might want to re-consider your heating resource.
I see no excuse for only having enough wood to get you through one winter and running out should never be allowed.

No excuse huh? What an absolute ignorant thing to say. You have no idea what some folks go through in a years time.

I guess I still should have cut, split, and stacked wood from the couch the 2+ months I spent laid up for a blown out knee and another surgery. Afterall, I'm sure you would have right?

 

[Bushmans]

Did you not read the section about unforseen circumstances? Or did you just want to read whatever you wanted to and then jump into the mess?
Also what did you do the other 10 months? I don't understand why people only cut enough wood for one season? Explain that to me? Defend that if you will. If you can't cut the wood it takes to heat your home then don't use wood to heat your home. If you would have had an appropriate stockpile then sitting on the couch with an injury would not have made one difference. Sorry if that offends you.
When I decided to burn wood for heat I took on a responsibility to my family. If I don't have enough time, energy or persistence to cut wood and do it so I won't run out before winter is over then I will resort back to the LP delivery truck. Too many people hear about how great these wood stoves are and don't understand the responsibility that comes with them. You have to cut wood. A lot of wood. All the time.

It is not ignorant by any means you just perceived it wrong or you're mad because I questioned your choices.

 

[NSMaple1]

...and if you burn green wood you burn more of it. So get a year ahead and get it dry, then you won't need as much the years after.

Throw a couple hundred pounds of green wood in the box, and you're throwing in 5 gallons of extra water too.

Burning green wood is a dumb practice.

 

[Toddppm]

This is one of the best troll threads this guy has ever started