Question for folks who regularly use wood burning fireplace

chrisjor

Golden Member
Dec 4, 2001
1,736
0
0
I use mine quite regularly..I usually stick to compressed sawdust logs (Duraflame, etc.) I recently began buying bundles of logs from various stores (Home Depot, Kroger) and have several questions....

1) Has anyone ever noticed that Kiln dried logs seem to burn funny...sometimes they will not hardly burn at all!!!

2) I started buying only air dried logs..they burn fine, but they tend to stink up the house if there is even the slightest amount of moisture in them!! They package them wrapped in plastic, moisture can get in there. House stinks right now...how to counteract the odor???? (yes friends, the fireplace and chimney are clean and the flue is open!!):)

Thanks for your thoughts and comments!!!
 

notfred

Lifer
Feb 12, 2001
38,241
4
0
Never in my life have I bought wood. We've always chopped our own firewood. We took down two 80 ft Pine trees last summer, they were probably 4-5 feet in diameter at the base, and they burn just fine.
 

RGN

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2000
6,623
6
81
Get real firewood. Maple, oak throw some box elder in there for crap wood. Pine is dirty.
 

trek

Senior member
Dec 13, 2000
982
0
71
we always chop our own wood... fir and birch right now...

the birch burns a lot longer than the fir though
 

JC

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2000
5,824
61
91
Originally posted by: notfred
Never in my life have I bought wood. We've always chopped our own firewood. We took down two 80 ft Pine trees last summer, they were probably 4-5 feet in diameter at the base, and they burn just fine.

It sure does....but you gotta clean the chimney EVERY year because of the creosote buildup.

JC
 

notfred

Lifer
Feb 12, 2001
38,241
4
0
Originally posted by: RGN
Get real firewood. Maple, oak throw some box elder in there for crap wood. Pine is dirty.

What do you suggest we do with maybe 10 cords or so of pine?
 

chrisjor

Golden Member
Dec 4, 2001
1,736
0
0
Isn't pine a softer wood? I do not know a lot about it...but I thought pine would gunk up ther chimney quicker?

When I first bought this house, I used wood from a friends wood pile (he used to work for tree service). He gave me a pickup load full of wood and one of the logs exploded and burnt the edge of my new carpet...I believe that the wood was not seasoned long enough. I have been a little gun shy about gathering my own wood since then.
 

SWirth86

Golden Member
Aug 31, 2001
1,939
0
0
Never used compressed sawdust logs, used our own wood.

btw, how much is it for those logs?
 

vi edit

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Oct 28, 1999
62,381
8,130
126
You want some good wood? Buy a truckload of hedge. Don't come crying to me when it melts the heatshield out of the burner though :)

Hedge damn near burns hotter than coal.
 

RGN

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2000
6,623
6
81
Originally posted by: notfred
Originally posted by: RGN
Get real firewood. Maple, oak throw some box elder in there for crap wood. Pine is dirty.

What do you suggest we do with maybe 10 cords or so of pine?

well, you could shove it....


j/k!!!


In the end, it may have been better to sell it cheap to some fool. It will crap up your chimney.
But then again, if you get the fire going fast and and make a hot fire you may be ok.
 

chrisjor

Golden Member
Dec 4, 2001
1,736
0
0
I buy a pack of six three pound Northland brand firelogs at a dollar store (they are a dollar each, compressed sawdust). I will not pay more than that for a 3 pounder. They also make them in 5 or 6 pound logs...I do not buy them I do not like the way they burn. 5 pounders cost ~2.99 each. Three pounders burn for about 2 hours nicely, I usually use 2 or 3 per fire.

As for the pine issue...I also have an outdoor fire pit...it would be very welcome outdoors. As a matter of fact there is a company a couple of miles away that make pine wine racks (very large industrial sized ones for homes and restaurants) they give out the scrap wood for burning...it is untreated and burns great outdoors.
 

Eli

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
50,422
8
81
If the wood is dry, it will burn. Kiln dried logs should be extremely dry....

I have never had a problem with the fireplace "stinking" the house up. At the worst, it smells like a campfire. :p

Besides, it isn't really worth using a fireplace to heat your home, most of the heat goes straight out the chimney anyway. You need a wood stove with a very controllable flue to efficently heat your house with wood.
 

chrisjor

Golden Member
Dec 4, 2001
1,736
0
0
Eli...I agree with you. But I think the kiln drying does something to the wood that makes it burn funny. It is hard to get lighted and it constantly goes out.