ugly logs

[greengrafter]

I judge the wood I burn, on how big the crack gets ontop of my stove(caused from not putting it through enough heat cycles when I bought it)

 

Hardwoods open it a bit....but soft woods especially larch causes the crack to open nearly enough for the flames to come out of it.

 

Bring on the soft wood reveloution.

 

Actually don't because my customers will wan't to keep it and I won't have any to burn for free.

 

So SHHHHH Soft wood is rubbish ok.

[david wood]

I burn about 10 - 15 trailer loads a year, have done for the last 14 years here and must have burnt about 2 trailer loads of hardwood in the last 10 years - never been cold yet!

 

Supply my mum with any hardwood i can get my hands on so she burns pretty much the oppisite of me year on year and she never been cold yet.

 

So can only take from that both do the same job - nice cosy houses.

[Alycidon]

Eductaion is the key. I am a stove retailer with a live stove in my showroom, and I sell both soft and hard wood.

 

Last night I delivered a trailer of logs to a house where the towns largest stove retailer had installed a stove. The ladies were given no advice on how to use the stove and none on wood, mositure content, etc, They went down to a major DIY chain and bought some softwood that I measured at 42%, covered in white mould. I got involved following a personal reference.

 

I spent half an hour educating them, showing them how to use a moisture meeter, showing them how to use the stove they had spent several thousand pounds buying from a competitor and telling them the ins and outs of the importance of using dry wood. The question of hard v soft did not arise.

 

Soft if dry with more or less burst into flame, hard is slower to ignite. Temp outputs from soft usually higher than hard but the burn time is less, overall I think it represents good value for the customer.

 

The is a LOT of poor stove retailers out there, most are looking to make a quick buck from the stove and thats it. ( There are also some very good ones who encompass the whole project from initial discussion to ongoing fuel supplies). HETAS are now introducing an approved retailer scheme in an attempt to improve standards. In order to qualify there must be at least one showroom staff member who has attanded and passed a relevent HETAS training course. These also cover fuel and the importance of moisture in wood, tars and sulpher gases from smokeless fuels etc. Companies like mine that also sell wood will be required to label each consignment detailing source, hard/soft/ mositure/ fuel assurance scheme etc. That will be a good excercise for me.

 

A

[elfinwood saws]

This is all good news to me, just got 10 acres of larch to extract that was clear felled last year,so i,l be selling a lot of that this winter.

[Joy Yeomans]

i think for the customers who keep insisting on hardwood , i am going to give a free net of softwood, and ask them to trial it - nothing ventured nothing gained?

 

what do you guys think?

[18 stoner]

Sounds a good way forward Joy, afterall the verbal way seems to be a very difficult way of education!

[Chris Sheppard]

i think for the customers who keep insisting on hardwood , i am going to give a free net of softwood, and ask them to trial it - nothing ventured nothing gained?

 

what do you guys think?

 

Yep, tell them it's market research, maybe don't even tell them its' softwood until after, just a different sort of log. reckon there may be some that dig their heels in if they know it's softwood before hand.

[likeitorlumpit]

Softwood is seen as inferior

soft v. hard- obvious really

A lot of people believe soft will gum up their chimney- presence of resin more obvious. You get it on your hands when fresh

I've been burning fresh felled oak and pine this winter along with a lot of other stuff

Just had chimney swept and sweep got about a cup of soot out of the flue.

He mentioned a need to put this flue powder in about three times a week for next season which react with resin in the flue making it crumbly so it too will sweep out.

I'm going to try it and see how much soot comes out next year after doing this.

That will then be the test.

I firmly believe that the secret is to burn quick and hot rather than shutting it down- thats when the flue cools and resins condense

[Alycidon]

ALL woods when burnt give off gases, these gases contain creosote. At normal stove operating temps the creosote gets burnt off in the firebox. Slumbering a stove overnight on a low oxygen setting will cause a fall in temperature in the firebox so that in around an hours time the temp will not be hot enough to ignite the crerosote. As a result it gets into the flue/chimney in gas form and condenses there coating the flue with crerosote. This is the major cause of chimney fires. Burning wet wood has the same effect as the energy in the wood is used to evaporate the water rather than creating heat.

 

I suspect your sweep has found evidence of tars/crerosote in the flue hence his advice.

 

Resin in wood has nothing to do with it, the problem is burning too wet or with to little oxygen. Another reason people are put off soft is sparking, stoves run with the doors closed ( well 98% of them do) so a few sparks are no issue as the fire is enclosed fully.

 

A

Edited June 11, 2011 by Alycidon

[likeitorlumpit]

Actually no..

he didn't find any evidence

We were just discussing what might happen and he had a tub of the stuff and explained how it worked.

I just feel like giving it a go to see the difference when swept next year

In truth I firmly believe we burn the stove so hot and with vents fully open so air flow/oxygen is maximum and this will prevent creosote/tar/resin whatever build up.

Sounds like its coal that produces the most soot