Hi all, loving the forum, the three year plan has really got me and I’m loving it. I thought I was done after stacking two years worth, but now I have more to do! Anyway, I expect to burn around 75 facecord each season to heat a 10,000 sq ft woodshop and the garage attached to the house. A by-product of my Woodshop is wood shavings from the planer and jointer, not like fine sawdust from a sander but small curly shavings. Pic below. It’s all kiln dried, usually down to 6% MC. Last season I would fill the outdoor wood boiler and throw 6+ big grain shovels full of sawdust in, between layers of firewood, it kinda fills the gaps. It’s abit of work, transferring it from the dust collector to a giant tote, moving it and storing it at a safe distance near the boiler. What I am trying to figure out, is it worth it? How can I tell if I’m getting BTU’s from it or not? I’d love to hear if anybody else burns it or tried and decided not to etc. I know it can be hazardous, but this stuff doesn’t explode like I’ve heard the fine stuff can. I just have so much of it and it just goes to landfill otherwise. One day, I’d love to look into making it into briquettes, but they’re pricey for now. Appreciate any thoughts! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
From what I have read, and experienced too, unless you have a machine that is designed to burn sawdust (shavings) they just kinda smolder and smoke...unless maybe you can chuck some in right when the boiler is firing and hot...probably doesn't last too either though...I believe the machines that are made to burn sawdust auger it in as needed.
It might be a little time consuming, but I wonder if you could fabricate a way to make bricks using your log splitter as the press?
I burn paper grocery bags full of wood scraps and sawdust in my wood stove. If I do it right, it burns just fine. I think your chimney will tell you whether or not you are getting decent heat out of it.. if the smoke appearance changes or if the buildup on your chimney changes (for the worse), then the quality of your burn may have declined with the shavings. If, however, your chimney pipe stays clean and there is still no visible smoke out of the stack, then you have an efficient burn and the extra effort is worth it to get the extra heat.. I think the question is whether or not it is worth it to store a low density fuel through the summer for use during the heating season…. If you can keep it out of a landfill. I think that is a win..
Briquette Press For Sale in USA & Canada - ELF Systems Briquetting machine C 140 for low throughput capacities | WEIMA A new machine might be too expensive, but you might get lucky and find a used one.
Ah yes, I have seen this. Would be awesome if my OWB could incorporate an auger. Thanks for the input
Thank you, that's a very good idea, I will monitor the smoke once the heating season starts. I wouldn't need to store it all year thankfully, we just produce it daily. It would go to landfill as usual all summer and then burn as we produce it over winter.
Oh yes, thanks! I have seen a great video of the ELF in action, but I wasn't able to find it online. I just reached out to them. Appreciate it! I have been looking for a used one, I have never seen one come up..
With a daily supply of chips i would think that a parallel boiler designed for them could be a good investment. Savings from not transporting them to a landfill only helps.
Saw dust burners, spray the sawdust in the big units- commercial systems. there are u tube vids of people using saw dust burners -home made . They are rather simple to make. sorta works like a swedish candle. basic construction- say a 30gallon drum maybe a 2" dia pipe through side at bottom to apx center of drum( this is air intake ) Now you use a piece of pipe standing up thru center of drum, pack saw dust in tightly around that pipe. remove pipe add lid with flue. light thru air intake . there is a bit more to it but that is the short description. Been awhile since I looked them up.
I burn sawdust and planer shavings in my boiler, but I don't really generate much. I'll load the boiler like I normally would then dump a 5 gallon bucket on top. I have a gasification boiler so, if I'm not careful, I can put too much on and it runs dirty. If it was a traditional boiler it would probably make more smoke than heat (unless you wanted to load it every hour).
I understand it would be time consuming, but with a machine, could you make it worth your time, or money to hire someone to do it? Less waste, more money? I think you have overhead of the machine and employee until cold season, but it might be fun to think about at least.
So I got in touch about the ELF briquette machine and it’s around $15,000 CAD. It just runs til it runs out of sawdust. Very cool, one day I will get around to making some calculations and see what the payback might be. Would be really nice to have, they will also take a sample bag of sawdust so you can see how it compresses, and then how it burns. Thanks again for the reply. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Exactly, I will have to get a calculator out one day soon and see if it’s feasible or not. Cheers! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
