For the past couple years; I've been trying to educate my STUPID NEIGHBORS about burning really "seasoned" wood. All of them see me stacks; and how LARGE they are..............but; I fear that it's falling on "deaf ears" due to "habit, ease, ignorance, and stupidity"!!!!!!! Not necessarily in that order!!! Had a neighbor last winter axe me......................"Are you burning wood?" I said, "Yes." "Why don't you have any smoke from your chimney?" He asked. Told him why, and he still insists that it isn't "right"!!! That was 2 winters ago................and I've shown him MY gas bills for them winters, He's actually "losing" heat over the winter using his stove.
Losing heat? How is that even possible? Dad was a green burner but still managed to get the house uncomfortably warm.
One of my neighbors has 1 cord of green elm, he thinks it will burn if he starts fires with the kiln dried pine mill ends he has.
Burning "green" wood in a fireplace. is what I should have said. Was there several times................nice place. Stunk of "back-puffing" though!!
Yea Typical, they have to boil the water out before it puts out much heat. Hold a torch on green grass, it eventually dries out & burns
It is tough trying to change people's views on this. Had a neighbor tell me I shouldn't burn poplar because it causes "lots of creosote" and "smokes" like crazy. I just said well more wood for me I guess. My other neighbor routinely cuts down green or dead trees to burn that year often like 2 months later.
I don't bother talking about proper wood burning to most people, it's a waste of time. I know that's sounds harsh, but I'm sick of trying to change stubborn people's minds.
Burning green seems to be the norm around here cut it today and burn next week it's seasoned enough. I think some of it is ignorance part of it is laziness. I have two hour see not far from I'm me you can see their newly stacked firewood ready for this seasons burning. One I seen the wood being delivered and stacked about 5 cord. Not much further I see another home with fresh cut logs ready to be cut right next to the outdoor furnace no explanation needed there. I've seen truck loads of fresh cut wood going by the house more than likely this years wood to be burnt. Friends in face book cutting and splitting getting ready for this winter Me well I'll be cutting but it will be when it's nice and cold out and it will certainly not be for this years burning so when those who think I'm crazy out there when it's 20 deg I just rest assured I will have nice dry wood for next seasons burning
Same here I helped split some for brother in law a few weeks back green as can be. I tried to explain but it was a waste of time. It's not worth my effort even trying anymore
Seriously, most people believe that the stacks are an eyesore, and it takes too much effort. Even if they are just purchasing cords of wood. The vast majority, as I'm sure most of us know, of people that purchase cord wood year in year out burn that year. Now add to the miss information of sellers stating that their wood is seasoned. Ok they either let the logs sit for 6 months or the cut split wood. Very few dealers sell you three year old seasoned wood. If they did, the price of that wood would run $400 or more.
The ironic part of this is, we as hoarders don't cut any more wood than the "Fall woodcutter/burner". In the beginning we cut a lot of wood, but once you are ahead you only need to cut what you burn each year and we have a "cushion" that allows us to cut wood when we want to.
I think the majority of people don't know what it means to burn dry wood. My neighbor cuts trees down in August for this year. I'm always seeing tons of smoke come out of his pipe, I asked him if he cleans his flue out and of course not, he asked me where did you buy your wood , I don't buy it I scrounge it, then he asked why is your wood dark and grey, that's dry wood buddy smh
I think people know they should be burning seasoned wood but they are too lazy to go through the effort. Instead of just not burning they justify it to themselves and come up with reasons why they should burn green. Either that, or the masses are really as dumb as I feared.
There's always hope. Now I've converted my sister. She was the one that always wanted the freshest looking wood instead of that ugly grey stuff. Fresher is always better. Well last year she really grabbed the fresh stuff and clogged her 8x12 so bad I couldn't get a brush or weight through it. Professional sweep came and got it done and installed a liner. Had to bust open the chimney to get the liner down. Wondering if it was for the liner or the clog ? Resumed burning and clogged the liner. Now she's all on board with a new stove and Woodstocks tutorial on dry wood. Gave her a MM also. She gets it now although her comment the other day that the wood is getting too gray was disheartening. I snapped her out of it. My 80 year old mother on the other hand. Well all I can say is she showed much patience with me when I was young. I owe her some payback.
I know someone who thinks burning wood is too much work yet pays $4.000 a year for heat and complains about being cold. And has a wood insert. Doesn't mind playing video games though when it's cold in the house and the furnace is running continuously
True story last week I seen a lady who's husband sent her to ace hardware to get a replacement bar and chains for his craftsman saw. Just looking at what she had on the counter she had the bar that come with the saw a replacement that wasn't the right size and two different chains and a bunch of various size files I thought about trying to explain to her but figured it would be a waste of breath. She told the cashier her husband was going to cut wood for the fireplace this year and the blade wasn't cutting the wood so he sent her to get a new one I really did want to explain to her but didn't know where to begin and figured it would go over her head anyways
As long as my house isn't covered with a shroud of smoke from my neighbor's chimney, I don't care what they burn, it's none of my business.
My concern is the bad burning habits of others become a bad reflection on all burners. I'd hate to see more lawsuits and legislation due to this.
Yeah thats what I worry about. We have a fair amount of burners in my neighborhood and I worry their crappy ways will end up being a hassle for me. I have explained and talked about it with 1-2 friends who got it and the one is installing a stove this year and has had wood css for the last 2 years. So thats a small win!
