Should I take it?

[johnnylabguy]

I'm in a situation right now where a coworker of mine cut down a large pine (a spruce I believe) last fall. I've drove by her house all winter and looked at the neat piles of bucked wood, some of which are 30 inch rounds and never offered to take it because its a spruce pine. She found out that I burn wood last week and is now offering it to me...

Is spruce that bad if I would burn it with other hardwoods over time? I am using a new setup of a wood furnace with a 6" lined chimney so my gut is saying to stay away from it.

 

[Zodiac45]

I'm in a situation right now where a coworker of mine cut down a large pine (a spruce I believe) last fall. I've drove by her house all winter and looked at the neat piles of bucked wood, some of which are 30 inch rounds and never offered to take it because its a spruce pine. She found out that I burn wood last week and is now offering it to me...

Is spruce that bad if I would burn it with other hardwoods over time? I am using a new setup of a wood furnace with a 6" lined chimney so my gut is saying to stay away from it.

If I had an OWB I'd take it and use it. People don't bother so much with inside stoves because it burns hot and fast. Long as it's dry, no problems. By the way, there is no spruce pine. It's a pine or a spruce. Two different species of conifer.

PS: remember that all wood gives about the same amount of BTU's per "weight" of the wood. Some woods (hardwoods) are dense and thus heavier so an equal sized amount produces more heat. But weight out 1000 pounds of maple and 1000 pounds of pine and you'll get the same amount of heat. The pine pile will be 4 times the size though!

 

[wireedm]

I'm in a situation right now where a coworker of mine cut down a large pine (a spruce I believe) last fall. I've drove by her house all winter and looked at the neat piles of bucked wood, some of which are 30 inch rounds and never offered to take it because its a spruce pine. She found out that I burn wood last week and is now offering it to me...

Is spruce that bad if I would burn it with other hardwoods over time? I am using a new setup of a wood furnace with a 6" lined chimney so my gut is saying to stay away from it.

I see the coworker is a she, if you're single it might lead to more than some pine wood. lol Just a thought.

 

[wdchuck]

You get easy wood, that will heat your house when its cold, play with your largest saw/bar to rip them into manegable pieces, and she gets a mess gone. Works out for the both of ya.

Let the wood season like any other, and no problems.

 

[streeter]

It burns, the price is right. I look at it this way, burn it for starter wood or when it is your days of, it is free heat. Don't be a wood snobopcorn:

I am in AZ, I burn what I can get mostly pine. I use precious hardwood for overnight and cold days.

Doug

 

[johnnylabguy]

Thanks to all for the input. I guess I'm just worried about the creosote factor of spruce. Has anyone burned spruce without the creosote buildup problem,not to mention it sparks like crazy. I think I will still probably take it off the lady's hands and give it to my brother-in-law who has an OWB. She told me there are other trees she would like removed in the wooded lot next to her that she owns. They're not real big but its always good to keep an easy source of wood close by. Plus I would be helping her out, she's an Old Maid and her health isn't the greatest.

And by the way, the romance angle was a great laugh for me! (I'm happily married with a lovely wife and two great young kids, but even if that weren't a factor let's just say George Clooney isn't calling this lady every night! !)

 

[aandabooks]

There is no or very little creosote build up with spruce/pine. This is an old wives tale. Season it well and burn it in a hot fire and you will be fine. If creosote was such a problem with pines, there wouldn't be many houses in the PNW.

 

[Hummer]

It's already cut, free, and all you have to do is haul it and split it? Geez man, snatch it up! Take the lady a gift, maybe a box of chocolates.

I don't know what kind of spruce or pine you have there but in Colorado, Engelmann Spruce and Colorado Blue Spruce are superior burning to any of our pines. Creosote buildup? Not a serious problem if you swab your chimney regularly. It's just part of the deal in burning wood.

 

[aktaylors]

Living in Alaska, I have only two good choices of wood to burn, Spruce and Birch. While elsewhere in the country both are considered trash wood, it's all we've got. I burn about a 70/30 mix of spruce to birch. Spruce burns hot, leaves a nice bed of coals and haven't had any creasote problems. I think the myth is from people burning smoldering fires with green wood for a long period of time in an inferior stove. I'd love to find some free firewood already cut and bucked.