Video Highlights:
0:19 Why not to burn anything other than wood
0:38 Items not to burn and why
2:14 Wood Stove safety features only apply to burning wood
2:32 Poor Fuel Source
Fireplaces and woodstoves are meant to burn wood, but often people are tempted to use them as mini personal incinerators. Burning anything other than wood in your fireplace or wood stove can be extremely dangerous for more reasons. I am Melissa from NorthlineExpress and in this video I will cover why you should never be tempted to burn household garbage in your wood stove or fireplace.
You may think that it is better to burn up certain household garbage rather than burying it in a landfill but in fact, it is not. Burning anything other than wood may seem harmless but actually can be harmful to the environment, you and your family’s health, and your fireplace or stove.
Let’s cover some things that you should not be burning in your fireplace or wood stove and why.
Paper and card board – Paper and cardboard are often treated with chemicals or contain inks which contain chemicals. Burning these chemicals can release harmful hazardous fumes into the air that you breathe in your home. Paper and cardboard also have the potential to float in the air as it is burning. These floating burning pieces could leave your fireplace and start a fire in your home. They could also travel up your chimney and cause a chimney fire or another exterior structure to catch fire.
Plastics – when plastic is burned, you do not really destroy them; you just change their chemical form and release hazardous fumes. When plastics are burned, Dioxin, a highly toxic chemical that does not decompose and builds up in human and animal tissues, is released into the air and ash. Airborne dioxin settles in soils and on vegetation, and however the ash is disposed of, its toxic legacy will remain.
Pressure Treated Lumber, Plywood, Particle Board, and Press Board- Similar to paper and cardboard it often contains man-made chemicals that are harmful when burned and the vapors are breathed in.
Christmas trees & green firewood – This happens quite a bit during the holiday season as people put dead branches or the trimmings when they bring home the tree and put it up. This will create significant smoke in the home as the tree is “green.” That extra smoke from green firewood greatly increases creosote buildup in your chimney.
Newer woodstoves safety tested and certified to ensure that when properly installed and used they will work well and be safe, but they are only tested with wood as a fuel. As a result, none of the safety features, instructions or clearances provided by manufacturers will be valid if the stove is used as a trash incinerator. Even if burning household garbage was not harmful to you and the environment it still is not worth burning in a wood stove or fire place because they are poor fuel sources that provide very little heat with large amounts of ash. Even if you are just burning some of the things I mentioned to get your fire started it is time to stop and find a more appropriate fire starter.
I hope that you have found this information helpful, but if you still have questions about properly using your fireplace or wood stove or fire starters you can call us at 866-667-8454. At NorthlineExpress, home of the “Buy and Try” satisfaction guarantee, we are always happy to help.