Using compressed leaves for a log burner

[UncleIan]

I will second (or third) the opinion that ash/oak is best - puzzled that with all the ash dieback going on it is still in short supply...

At a guess, maybe the ash affected from dieback can only be sold very locally, or not at all, for fear of spreading it.

As for ash/oak being best, my local scout campsite gets all sorts of offcuts and fence panels and crap, but the best stuff we ever found on there were oak shingle offcuts. Stick a few of them on the fire and you were warm all evening. Lovely stuff. Let's ignore whether they were treated or not. I think not. Probably.

UncleIan - loved the firewood poem, one to pin on wall of wood lore in the wood store. The olden-days folk had such a succinct way of passing on useful knowledge!

Thanks. I saw it on the wall of my local. Near the open fire. Naturally.

Ian

[Minesadouble]

Just to add to this fount of knowledge on wood burning:

Ash - in my experience the best bar none

Holly - the only wood I burn green, no need to season this one!
In addition once cross cut I'd advise splitting Holly ASAP, as it turns extremely hard if left unsplit and stacked somewhere, as I found to my cost.

I burn all of my wood the following year after splitting and stacking which means it's stacked for about 18 months - two years before it's burnt, stack under cover but with good airflow around it, you do need space to do this.

All of mine comes from fallen trees and boughs on my own property although I bought some this summer for the first time in six years. You do need to stay organised and plan well ahead, I've often had wood being stacked with a summer barbecue in full swing!

[FarmerTom]

I hate the poem.

I believe it was written in the 19th century for open fires. ( edit: it was 1930)
This is the 21st century, we use woodstoves. Very different environment.

Try this one:-
Dry wood burns with lovely flame, wood thats wet is a total pain.
Dry wood burns and gives you heat, wet wood will not warm your feet.
Poplar, Elm, Ash, conifer or Oak will not burn if they are soaked!
Don't be fooled by pointless rhymes, come boys and girls move with the times!!

Burning 'green' wood steals heat from the stove in order to evaporate the water, then deposits it in the flue.
Recipe for a bunged-up flue and chimney fire.

[ReformedCharacter]

Just need some drying weather...



RC

[OSWALDO]

Hello. I'm from Brazil and because I don't know how to write very well in English, I wrote in Portuguese and had to google translate.
Getting to the point: Very cool your technique to make the wood more porous through humidity and rotting and so it will burn with greater heat. But experts I've heard say that with this technique many of the flammable materials of the firewood are lost through the digestion of bacteria and so although the firewood burns more strongly because it is more porous and less dense but it will be quickly consumed by the fire in a few minutes or few hours, much faster than the denser logs that did not suffer the action of bacteria in the midst of excessive humidity. Thus, you gain in fire power but lose in burning time, which will be much shorter. It all depends on your need. If you need a fire that starts faster and produces ember quickly then use this technique, but if you need the wood burning and the fire to last longer then use the traditional drying technique. A hug to everyone. I hope I have contributed something good to anyone who reads it. God blesses.

[88V8]

Hello. I'm from Brazil and because I don't know how to write very well in English, I wrote in Portuguese ...you gain in fire power but lose in burning time, which will be much shorter.

Hello and welcome.
Yes, you are right.
The dryest wood burns fastest.

There is a happy medium.
Seasoned wood is good.
But in our woodburner, kiln-dried wood burns too fast.

My experience.

V8

[scrumpyjack]

All our wood comes from our own garden and I have enough to last us out as I had to have the arborist cut up so many trees due to storm damage or age (danger to the road).

I would add that Apple tree wood is excellent IMO. Most of our wood is Ash, some Oak, Eucalyptus etc etc.
It must be very dry (several years ideally) but you should split the logs when it is still green, much easier).

[Dod101]

Hello. I'm from Brazil and because I don't know how to write very well in English, I wrote in Portuguese ...you gain in fire power but lose in burning time, which will be much shorter.

Hello and welcome.
Yes, you are right.
The dryest wood burns fastest.

There is a happy medium.
Seasoned wood is good.
But in our woodburner, kiln-dried wood burns too fast.

My experience.

V8

I do not think that it is because it is kiln dried that causes it to burn too fast. It is probably a combination of the type of wood and its water content. Oak and buckthorn are both relatively slow burning and around 20% water content seems to be accepted as the norm. In fact did I not read somewhere that all wood burners should burn logs with no more than a 20% water content? Furthermore of course woodburners need maintenance to ensure that they are airtight around the doors and ashpan. That usually means renewing the rope seals annually.

Actually seasoned wood is not just good, it is essential if you want to keep the flue in reasonable condition.

As a total aside, I was completely thrown with the date of this thread. It has been going for 6 years off and on.

Dod

[88V8]

I do not think that it is because it is kiln dried that causes it to burn too fast. It is probably a combination of the type of wood and its water content.
Actually seasoned wood is not just good, it is essential if you want to keep the flue in reasonable condition.

As a total aside, I was completely thrown with the date of this thread. It has been going for 6 years off and on.

So the thread is well seasoned.

The chaps from whom we buy, kiln some of their wood so they have something to sell when they run out of seasoned. On occasions I have bought the kilned when we ran out, so in saying it burns faster I am making a direct comparison.

Do entirely agree that woodburners need seasoned wood.
The PO here burnt any old rubbish and kept his logpile under a tarp on the drive.
Also they had no thermometer on the stovepipe and it was apparent from the distortion of the casing that they had overheated it, so after our first winter it was scrapped and replaced with a new one.
He was and is a nuclear physicist but where wood was concerned he was a clot.

V8

[ReformedCharacter]

Hello. I'm from Brazil and because I don't know how to write very well in English, I wrote in Portuguese ...you gain in fire power but lose in burning time, which will be much shorter.

Hello and welcome.
Yes, you are right.
The dryest wood burns fastest.

There is a happy medium.
Seasoned wood is good.
But in our woodburner, kiln-dried wood burns too fast.

My experience.

V8

I've not tried kiln-dried logs, but can't you just close the air control a bit more?

RC