Hey all, I recently acquired a lot of what I believe to be Eastern Red Cedar for free on Facebook marketplace (pictures attached). I was pretty excited about it. It looks great and smells wonderful. Had someone come by my house today and they told me it was unsafe to burn it at all because of the amount of resin that is in it. Said it would cause creosote buildup in my flue. Sure enough, there’s a good size ring of resin around the outside of the logs, but I had not heard that it caused creosote buildup. I’m happy to have gotten the free wood but obviously safety is priority number one. If properly seasoned, is there really a danger of this wood and its resin causing creosote to build up in my flue? Thanks in advance for your advice.
Great score! Bet it smells heavenly. CSS’d for the appropriate time according to your region plus correct stove operation = no creosote. Cedars are like pine… commonly misunderstood regarding suitability as firewood. May not be the best for overnight, but mixed in will certainly aid in getting an excellent fire going quickly.
No Danger. Split it, dry it, then burn it. Burning wet/green wood causes creosote build up, not softwoods. It'll dry pretty quick (be ready for the Fall) and makes great kindling. Oh, and the aroma is heavenly. Nice score btw!
I'll never forget when in my younger years we cut and milled a bunch of those for a guy. I wished we had more! Wood was light and smelled great!
NO It can burn hot and fast though, so your air adjustments may need to be different from what you regularly burn. Or you may not want to really load up an open fireplace with it.
It's beautiful but I personally think it is kinda less than average firewood. You can cut and finish little blocks of it to put in your closet and drawers so that the moths don't eat holes your clothes, blankets, etc. And they smell good.
It is very low on the FHC btu chart. Here's the link. It is the resources section of the forum Firewood BTU & Drying Chart
