which cutoffs for firewood

replying to Electric Comet, Iggy wrote: All untreated wood cut offs are perfectly fine and don't give off anything that isn't already in the air for one, but also what they do give off becomes harmless within hours or up to a few days (see - "Wood Smoke and Your Health", including its right side panels

However, in the case of Painted or Pressure Treated Wood (low-grade wood for outdoor use) they should not be burned and only thrown in the trash for the landfills (yes, your cheap wood or plastic composite deck is very far from ecological), because they're full of petroleum distillates and pesticides.

All wood releases toxins and for that matter anything burned does too, yes even your favorite cut of meat with grill marks or toasted bread is a now a carcinogenic delight. Chimney liners, Stove pipes, Flues, Fireboxes and Ash bins or pits should be scrubbed clean annually and handled as a Hazardous Operation with all debris staying off you and going immediately to the outdoors by a strong fan(s) or into a HEPA filtered vacuum.

Be cautious when burning wood scraps, they burn much more intensely than typical fire wood. Scrap woods are much dryer and a little goes a long way as far as heat out put. I would advise against building a large fire inside of a fire place with just scrap wood.

in addition to the above comments (non-treated, non-painted, non-coated, no n-primed) I would also advise sticking to hardwoods and against burning pin e (no SPF, no softwood at all.) Pine releases creosote, though in small amo unts, I'm sure there's less risk. There are also ways to mitigate that ris k (e.g., creosote burning logs, full stainless liners, etc.) but for my mon ey, I just avoid it altogether.

I'm interested in others' takes on the softwood burning, especially in home s.

Also, I tend to use my smaller hardwood scraps in my smoker, as opposed to my fireplace. Whether oak, maple, or cherry, it never hurts the brisket or pulled pork!

Also take care with softwoods - they'll build up layers of creosote in the chimney liner, leading to higher potential of chimney fires.

I've not had a problem with well dried softwood in moderation. I don't let it smolder and give it plenty of air. Not everyone has access to hardwoods and they use softwood almost entirely. You just have to take a bit of care and clean more often. In some parts of the world they use dried manure too.

For those that don't have a smoker, a plastic bucket of the right scraps is a good swap for some smoked meats if you know someone that does.

nb raises hand.....

Can you believe it!? Colorado, fer all its trees, has NO native hardwoods. It's all pine (n' ass-pens). This is hard to take fer an ol' CA boy, where oak is so much more than plentiful. Some pines are harder than others, but they're still pine.

We can get hardwoods (lotta wood stoves in CO), but at a MUCH greater cost. Soooo, lotta pine wood burnt in CO. Lotta fireplaces, stoves, chimneys, etc, get a lotta attention. ;)

nb --still on propane

Yes, scraps will have more surface area, too. It would make good kindling, for the same reasons that too much wouldn't be a good thing. OTOH, scraps should be OK in a wood stove, where the fire can be throttled back.

Burning soft pine sucks because it's light (less BTU's/cubic foot, and burns fast. This makes it perfect for starting a fire. Shop scraps, generally kiln dried wood, has little to no creosote/tar/nicotine (might have some nicotine) so is no big threat to your chimney. All smoke has stuff that will coat your chimney if cool and burned slow, so a fireplace, which usually burns hot and fast compared to a wood stove that often gets throttled down so burns cool and slow, happily coating your chimney with soot and creasote.

I use all my scrap wood as kindling to start fires in my fireplace. I also burn all my sawdust in my fireplace. I don't burn pine logs, because they take just as much work to process and get into your fireplace as hard wood, but burn fast with far less btu's.

As far as painted wood, I burn it too. Treated wood I wonder about, I know they say not to, but not sure if it's better or worse than sending it to a landfill. I know I don't like breathing shop dust from treated wood, and would think burning it would be bad, but who really knows, lots of bad science/info out there, so I'm always skeptical about this stuff.

the sawdust gets spread and mixed in with mulch or compost

but if i had a suitable log shaped mold and a very hefty press i would wet the sawdust and mix with some shredded paper and make my own logs

Jack wrote in news:ouper0$thm$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

As I understand it, the properway to dispose of treated wood is incineration. Of course, the "pros" want to do it, as a cold smokey fire could be a hazard.

I've burned old deck boards and had flames leaping 5' off of them. Definitely not something to do inside. :-)

Puckdropper

Yes, I was thinking lots of hazardous waste is incinerated, so possibly burning PT wood would destroy most or all of the bad stuff. Not saying it's ok, but just thinking.

I know for years I heard you shouldn't use pressure treated wood in your raised gardens and on picnic tables. Always thought that was wrong, and now at least I read in raised gardens, it's safe, which I figured anyway.

As far as picnic tables go, unless your eating the table itself, I wouldn't worry about that either. After every bird on earth takes a dump on your table, local cats dine on vermin and so on, you might want to use a plate when eating like most civilized people would. But if you don't, then I'd still worry about other than the PT wood, unless the chemicals was still oozing out of the wood.

Inside is not a problem unless your house is filling with smoke, which would mean you have more problems than burning PT, or painted wood.

I was at a dock party once where they were boiling corn on the cob in a giant drum on a fire, and stirring the stuff with a PT 2x4. I guess nobody died immediately from the corn, but I told them they were dumb as dirt, imo, and I didn't eat one ear, although it was probably safe enough for a few ears, not for me.

At one time I had access to 18" long 1/2" thick cardboard tubes that were used for rolls of paper. I plugged one end with tapered circles I cut on the BS from scrap wood, stuck them in my pre-filter DC drum, and it would fill around 10-15 at a time. When filled, I'd plug the other end and burn them in my wood burner. No longer can get those, but I usually keep any cardboard boxes of appropriate size, and stuff them with sawdust, tape them closed and burn them. Extra saw dust I'd throw in the compost, but don't have any extra lately. Also, if I cut any treated wood, the sawdust goes in the fire, not the compost.

I don't think bringing any PT is a good idea. AFAIK, it's not burned, rather buried in a landfill.

snipped-for-privacy@notreal.com on Sat, 18 Nov 2017 19:58:05 -0500 typed in rec.woodworking the following:

I think you meant "burning".

Anyway; Pressure treated wood - pre 2003 - used arsenic and chromium (Chromated copper arsenate). Bad s*it Maynerd - which is why you did not want to breath the smoke, or use the sawdust in compost. That whole Arsenic thing, while it may be "all natural", but it is still toxic.

Now they've got a list of copper based compounds/products which are less hazardous, but what else is new?

tschus pyotr

Yes (autocorrect!), thanks.