Cost of running a wood burner

[Milly]

If you chip willow and store in an open pile it will not dry it will just heat up and rot. Normally fresh chips have to be used in purpose built boilers which can handle wet wood.(very inefficient) The alternative which we use is to bundle the willow whips to dry for 3 months in our solar kiln this reduces moisture content down from 55% to below 20% at which point we can chip as dry biomass.

 

What do you mean by store in the open ? We are intending to chip the willow and store it in a barn to dry until its needed, will it still rot if its inside ?

[windfall]

I think you will need air to circulate through it, I beleive its the air movement through the chip thats most important.

[Milly]

What about using our small tractor to rotate the chips once a week, or installing a couple of PVC pipe with holes under the chips. I can then hook the pipe to our leaf blower to aerate the chips.

[skyhuck]

Some timbers such as willow is like blotting paper, it will suck up moisture from its environment.

 

So in order to get it dry it needs to be kept in a dry environment with good air circulation to take away the moisture as it leaves the chip/timber.

 

It may be better to dry the cord/brash and then chip it.

[Milly]

Thanks for the tip

[renewablejohn]

Milly

 

If you Google Short Rotation Willow best practice you will find an excellent paper on the do's and dont's produced by the Irish government who have done a great deal of practical work on the subject. The document is very long but covers all you need to know.Personally I find rod harvesting easier to control moisture content rather than direct chipping. If you still have any questions I will try and answer.

[Milly]

Milly

 

If you Google Short Rotation Willow best practice you will find an excellent paper on the do's and dont's produced by the Irish government who have done a great deal of practical work on the subject. The document is very long but covers all you need to know.Personally I find rod harvesting easier to control moisture content rather than direct chipping. If you still have any questions I will try and answer.

Thanks for the link extremely interesting but rather long. It seems that rod harvesting is the best option it avoids the drying issue.

How many hectares have you planted ?

[renewablejohn]

Milly

 

We only grow coppice willow as a weed on wetland next to a stream. Any drier land we plant ash coppice instead.

[windfall]

I have found Ash to grow nearly as quick as Willow when planted in drier ground, but i am not sure what species of Willow i have planted! I took cuttings from an old coppice next to my barn conversion and planted them out.

[baz]

I have found Ash to grow nearly as quick as Willow when planted in drier ground, but i am not sure what species of Willow i have planted! I took cuttings from an old coppice next to my barn conversion and planted them out.

 

Does that make it more expensive to run a wood burner? Think this thread has just about gone as far off topic as it's possible to get.