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Pallets in a stove

kelbal

Hi guys, I'm looking into getting a stove put into the sitting room. There's an existing fireplace, so it'll either be an insert stove or a freestanding one, sitting out into the hearth a bit, we haven't decided yet. At the moment, I burn a lot of pallets as my firewood. I'm wondering if there could be any problem with this if we have a stove installed? Pallets are mostly normal timber, which I imagine should be fine. However, when I burn them, there ends up being a lot of nails to gather when cleaning out the fire. The other thing I'm wondering about is that the square blocks in the corners of a lot of pallets are made up of wood chip glued together into a block shape. Would there be any issue burning those bits in a stove?

Thanks

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[Deleted User]

None at all. A fair proportion of the stoves in Ireland are run on pallets! I've a stove in my garage that has been burning nothing but pallets for 18 years. The nails just fall into the ash pan, and the corner blocks are identical to the "heat log" type products you see sold specifically for stoves in fuel stations, Lidl etc.

magicbastarder

those corner blocks are not identical to the heat logs you see for sale; a quick experiment would confirm this. leave one of each out in the rain for a few hours.

heat logs are shavings which are compressed under high pressure and are reasonably brittle; a characteristic which is not suited to pallets.

anyway, i don't burn the pallet blocks, they're full of glue.

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122939489#Comment_122939489

Hmmm, looked it up and it seems you're at least kind of correct - some (though it seems not all) "fire log" type products use the lignite in the wood as "glue" and have no added binders, while most (but again it seems not all) pallet blocks use a glue or binder.

Still, as I say, I've been using them for 18 years without a problem, and so has a large number of people throughout the country.

I think a bit like the "exploding nails" scares you see online, the "full of glue" scare is just that.

magicbastarder

the glue would not necessarily be good for the inside of your flue, and the smoke would be more toxic.

steamdave

My inset stove tells me Not to burn pallets. But I do.

Whatever wood you burn must be dry, which means keeping it stored in the dry for at least 12 months, unless you are rich and can afford kiln dried timber.

Dave

magicbastarder

They generally don't recommend burning softwoods in stoves because of possible creosote buildup from resins in the wood.

steamdave

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122946978#Comment_122946978

Like I said, the wood must be dry. 12 months at least and kept covered. I have two of those plastic bike storage things and bring in a few days' worth a few days before use.

Also, a good reason to have your chimney swept every year.

Dave