Jotul - You should only burn hardwoods

[openspaceman]

57 minutes ago, Puffingbilly413 said:

 

 

I suppose all I'm saying is that there is nothing wrong with burning softwood.  It works, and in certain circumstances can even be advantageous.  But you'll have to load the stove more often and split more wood.

That's right and as long as it is dry and you burn it with a clean flame there will be no worse PICs and hence no worse fouling of the chimney.

 

The trouble is people try to "keep the fire in" by  restricting air supply  and then the flame is lost, the wood smoulders and the offgas contains all sorts of unburned products.

 

At least 50% of my firewood is softwood but I agree birch makes a lovely firewood with a bright flame. In fact a big piece of birch quadrant with its bark put on my stove when it is hot  on is about the only thing that causes black smoke, because the oily bark  flares up so quickly the air supply cannot keep up.

[trigger_andy]

6 minutes ago, Mark Bolam said:

After a day in the sleet I like the fire ripping, red hot, with me sat in my pants.

Then the wife comes in wearing just a towel.

The towel slips off.

There is sweat on her inner thighs.

I move my head towar

And thats enough internet for me today.    

[trigger_andy]

4 minutes ago, Big J said:

Never swept the chimney, no loss of draw so never saw the need. 

 

Open Chimney or Flue? If its an open Chimney then I can see why you did not have to bother. 

[woodrascal]

21 minutes ago, trigger_andy said:

 

The book in question specifically states that its the oil content of the Softwood and not the moisture content. I'll go with his and the Norwegian Institutes assessment over yours I think? 

A properly designed, clean burning woodstove used correctly with decent, dry fuel will burn off most of the volatiles produced by the combustion of wood in the stoves firebox - including any 'oils' mentioned in the book. This is true for either hard or softwood.

 

If you are burning any wood be it hard or soft and you are getting excessive deposits in the flueway there is something wrong with your fuel, your stove or the way you are using it.

 

We've got several stoves and some years ago I tried an experiment by burning exclusively dry softwood in one of them and a mixture of dry oak, ash and beech in another. I monitored the build up of deposits in both flueways . There was NO real difference between the two - perhaps a bit more fine grey flyash in the 'softwood' flue but no build up of tar or excessive soot.

[trigger_andy]

3 minutes ago, woodrascal said:

A properly designed, clean burning woodstove used correctly with decent, dry fuel will burn off most of the volatiles produced by the combustion of wood in the stoves firebox - including any 'oils' mentioned in the book. This is true for either hard or softwood.

 

If you are burning any wood be it hard or soft and you are getting excessive deposits in the flueway there is something wrong with your fuel, your stove or the way you are using it.

 

We've got several stoves and some years ago I tried an experiment by burning exclusively dry softwood in one of them and a mixture of dry oak, ash and beech in another. I monitored the build up of deposits in both flueways . There was NO real difference between the two - perhaps a bit more fine grey flyash in the 'softwood' flue but no build up of tar or excessive soot.

Maybe the Norwegians just put that in the book because they think its junk wood?  

[trigger_andy]

44 minutes ago, Mark Bolam said:

I was wrong to suggest there is ‘loads’ about softwood Andy.

I am prone to exaggeration of size and volume. My wife will confirm this.

Ha ha, know the feeling. I always wondered why my wifes car had loads of dings at the front and back but then I remembered what I told her 10" looks like.  

[Mark Bolam]

That’s the one J.

My folks had an old Northumbrian farmhouse with a massive stone chimney.

They used to slumber the fire overnight (they kind of had to, Northumbrian winters often meant ice inside my bedroom windows in an uninsulated old place).

The volume of soot swept out every year filled bag after bag.

Proper big, furry soot.

[difflock]

YAWN!

 Since the winter of 1997 we have been burning a mix of Birch to start and pure conifer this past 15 years, into a clay liner flue surrounded by vermiculite, slumbered overnight when on the Birch, but re-lit each morning on the Conifer

AND the flue has NEVER been cleaned and still pulls like a train.

Nuff said!

[richardwale]

2 hours ago, difflock said:

YAWN!

 Since the winter of 1997 we have been burning a mix of Birch to start and pure conifer this past 15 years, into a clay liner flue surrounded by vermiculite, slumbered overnight when on the Birch, but re-lit each morning on the Conifer

AND the flue has NEVER been cleaned and still pulls like a train.

Nuff said!

Burnt softwood and a bit of hardwood, on our stove for 10 years and we get about a cornflakes bowl of soot each year. 

[trigger_andy]

2 hours ago, difflock said:

YAWN!

 Since the winter of 1997 we have been burning a mix of Birch to start and pure conifer this past 15 years, into a clay liner flue surrounded by vermiculite, slumbered overnight when on the Birch, but re-lit each morning on the Conifer

AND the flue has NEVER been cleaned and still pulls like a train.

Nuff said!

Cant argue with that I suppose. I guess Ive been proved wrong. What penance do I have to fulfill?  

 

I do find it odd that at least two Stove Manufacturers stipulate Hardwood Only though. Why would they do this unless they had good reason for doing so? Why would they intentionally lose potential Softwood burning customers unless they had a good reason to? Same with the Norwegian Institute, I mean the Norgies are a Nation devoted to the Stove. They are also still bloody worried about Russia invading. We have Bomb Shelters in all our work buildings by law (old law)  Anyway, they have spent feck knows how much researching this,and take it way way more seriously that we do in the UK. I cant help thinking they know more than we do in the UK. 

 

I sure dont have all the answers but having friends with literally thousands of acres of land, so much land they have mountains, mountains covered in Birch they laugh at the thought of bothering to drag softwood out. They save Sawmills, Salmon Rivers you name it. All old family land. Makes me super jealous.