What Not to Burn in Wood Burning Stoves

Wood Burning Stoves Burning Material

Introduction:

Wood burning stoves have been a source for home heating for decades because they produce a lot of radiant heat very quickly. In the olden days the wood stoves were a very basic stove that consisted of not much more than a simple burn chamber and a stovepipe that lead to a chimney. In addition to just plain cordwood other combustible materials were burned in the stove such as household trash and even animal manure. Although this material produced heat the stoves were not very efficient and there was little to no concern for the environment.

Modern wood burning stoves, fire place inserts and wood furnaces have advanced in technology so that they burn much more efficiently than the older stoves. Nearly all modern wood burning stoves must meet EPA emission standards to be certified for use in most states in an effort to protect the environment. These stoves are very efficient, most burn in the high 70% efficiency level as opposed to the older stoves that were only 35% or less efficient. Most of these newer woodstoves are airtight and incorporate re-burn chambers to insure more complete combustion.

The re-burn chambers are small tubes, usually three, where the gasses are atomized with oxygen to ensure near complete combustion. These stoves are designed to burn dried or seasoned hardwood such as oak, maple, birch and ash. Softwoods such as pine or hemlock will burn in these stoves but not as efficiently as hardwoods. Softwoods should be avoided. In addition to not burning softwoods, household trash and other combustible material should not be burned in modern wood stoves.

Burning the following material should be avoided as combustion of these materials can give off unpleasant odors, toxic gasses and can also generate emissions that are damaging to the environment and harmful to health.

What not to burn in wood burning stoves:

· Varnished wood products

· Painted wood products

· Any kind of plastic coated wood

· Pressure treated wood

· Wood treated with wood preservatives

· Household waste

· Household trash

Not only are products damaging to the environment they can also be damaging to modern wood burning stoves and reduce the efficiency rating. The tars and other chemicals in these materials can block the re-burning tubes causing them to fail. You should only burn seasoned hardwood in your wood stove to insure it’s efficiency and years of use. Seasoned wood is wood that has been free air dried for at least twelve months.

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