The Conservative Cave
Current Events => The DUmpster => Topic started by: franksolich on November 11, 2013, 03:45:12 PM
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http://www.democraticunderground.com/1093705
Oh my.
This is the chronically-helpless primitive, a good friend of the curmudgeoness primitive, the one with a sensitive bottom who's looking for a charity for the homeless run by atheists. They're both old ladies, and tighter than the pie-and-jam primitive "grasswire" with her hips stuck in a one-pint mason jar.
Paper Roses (4,775 posts) Mon Nov 4, 2013, 12:27 PM
Do any of you fine folks burn packaged logs in your fireplace?
For the past few years I have burned Duralogs and pine logs((packed from the market) in my kitchen fireplace. I no longer burn real wood logs because I cannot close the fireplace damper off in the evening. Need to control the heat loss up the chimney. Artificial logs burn out quickly and I can close the damper.
The last year when I used the pine logs, I noticed that there is a black residue on the fire-back wall and sides of the fireplace bricks.
There is no indication on the packages about this. I wonder if burning these artificial logs leaves some kind of residue and perhaps I should forget about using them.
Has anyone else noticed this?
What do you use in place of regular wood?
My fireplaces are over 200 years old and I do not want to have real wood fires. I can not pay for a chimney cleaning and the possible necessity of repair. Miss the fires but am concerned about artificial logs.
Your experiences?
Any ideas would be a great help.
JoeyT (5,391 posts) Mon Nov 4, 2013, 01:54 PM
1. I haven't dealt with artificial logs much, we mostly burn oak, but I can tell you not to burn pine at all if you can help it. That residue can build up in your chimney and start fires, so burning pine requires pretty regular chimney cleanings.
Curmudgeoness (11,826 posts) Mon Nov 4, 2013, 08:02 PM
2. I have never used Duraflame logs, but it looks like they are safe and less polluting than wood logs. I can see why you want to use them because of the situation you have stated. I was surprised to find that all the green living sites are saying that artificial logs beat out real logs. I always thought that they were too expensive for me to even consider.
Common green sense generally dictates selecting the natural and simple option over the artificial and processed. This thought brings me to the fireplace, more specifically, the fire log. There’s the characterless cylinder you can buy at the supermarket versus a beautiful, organic hunk of tree. I hate to be a wet blanket here, but alas—artificial logs beat the pulp out of real ones in terms of environmental advantages.
Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/greenest-fire-logs.html#ixzz2jjEOXVkL
As to pine logs, never use them. Because pine has so much resin in it, you will get a creosote buildup in the chimney, and creosote is a fire hazard. Since you stated that you cannot pay for chimney cleaning,* this is definitely something you should avoid.
*it's not that the chronically-helpless primitive can't afford to pay for chimney-cleaning; it's just that she doesn't want to pay for it.
<<<suggests creation of county-level chimney-inspectors, to go around ensuring that household chimneys are in good working order, and if not, imposing a stiff fine on the homeowner.
After all, if 0bamacare's good for the masses, so too would be enforced chimneycare.
japple (4,222 posts) Thu Nov 7, 2013, 06:43 PM
3. You should get someone to check out your chimney just to make sure they are not filled with creosote. After going through a couple of chimney fires, which scared the willies out of me, I'd advise you to at least get it checked out. My husband and I lived in a house where we had a wood furnace. It was wonderful, heated the house beautifully when we were there to feed it. Husband decided to check out the vent pipes and found they were completely packed with creosote. The system worked much better after we clean the vents and stopped burning pine.
Also, read up on how to put out a chimney fire, just in case you need to do it.
You can buy a chimney ball--it's big ball with wire spokes that you lower down into the chimney and jiggle it around to loosen anything that is clinging to the sides, like old birds nests and mice nests AND creosote.
The chronically-helpless primitive won't have someone come to inspect it, because that'd cost money, and the chronically-helpless primitive whines about having to spend money for anything, including groceries and gasoline.
Denzil_DC (522 posts) Fri Nov 8, 2013, 07:19 PM
4. This is all good advice.
All chimneys need regular cleaning, whether you burn wood or not, some more often than others depending on how they're used etc.
If you're able to get on the roof to sweep the chimney from the top safely, you can sweep from the top down, which can be easier sometimes, or if you think the chimney's got a more serious build-up, you can make something that works like the chimney ball you describe (if it's not so serious, you could alternatively use a burlap sack with some chains inside it in the same way I'm about to explain, for instance; holly bushes were a traditional alternative!).
The following assumes the chimney is straightforward in design and doesn't have any kinks in it, in which case I wouldn't recommend it at all and suggest you call in a chimney sweep. I also wouldn't recommend it if the inside of your chimney's degraded, as you risk taking off internal mortar or even dislodging internal brickwork, possibly giving yourself major and potentially expensive problems.
Take whatever precautions you need to stop soot engulfing the room from the fireplace (we have a stove, and it's enough to just remove the throatplate and shut the door).
Get a building brick (the type with up to three holes all the way through). Wrap it in some chicken wire, just enough to envelop the brick with a little overlap, then tie a decent length of rope securely through one of the holes toward one end, binding the chicken wire together as neatly as you can at the top.
Leave the fire unlit for long enough to let the chimney cool down, so it doesn't damage the rope and lose you the brick!
Assuming the chimney's wide enough to lower a brick down (I can't imagine many aren't unless they're stove pipes), you can compress the chicken wire around the brick so it fits snugly but not tightly down the chimney. Lower it gradually, working it steadily up and down as you go to dislodge the crusted-on creosote and soot.
If you encounter an obstruction, take it easy - you may simply have dislodged a bunch of creosote shards that have gathered towards the bottom of the chimney, and there's a danger of tamping that down into a hard pack that you may have problems shifting if you compress it too much. Otherwise, suspect a chimney kink or ledge you didn't know about, or possibly chimney damage.
Once you reckon you've cleared the length of chimney, if it's an old chimney and has only ever been cleaned by brushing, you may be astonished by the amount of debris that comes out of the bottom.
I strongly recommend following this up by rodding or sweeping the chimney with a brush from the bottom, which should clear any collections of debris that might otherwise block the bottom part of the chimney, or could catch fire the first time you start a proper fire again.
Finally, do a smoke test - burn a little paper and maybe something that will produce a short burst of smoke (say some leaves, but not too much in case you have a problem), and see if the draw is satisfactory and smoke readily clears the chimney top. If not, you may still have a partial blockage, so you'll need to run the brush up again.
Don't light the fire again till you're absolutely sure you have a good draw.
Sorry Denzel, but that's too complicated for the chronically-helpless primitive to do herself, and she'll be damned before she pays someone a red cent to do it for her. She's just going to let it go.
japple (4,222 posts) Fri Nov 8, 2013, 07:33 PM
5. Nice to meet you, Denzil, and a belated welcome to DU. I never thought about making my own chimney cleaner, but it's a great idea. Holly bushes, eh? Guess our pioneer ancestors had to make do with what they had. Even though I no longer have a fireplace/chimney, I plan to put in a few more American hollies just because they are beautiful and the birds like them.
Thank you for some very good advice.
Denzil_DC (522 posts) Fri Nov 8, 2013, 07:46 PM
6. Thanks, japple
I've been a member since 2009, I just prefer to bite my tongue and read and digest much of the time! Nice to meet you, too.
This was all fresh in my mind as I've just cleaned our chimney in the way I described, hence the screed, and some of the warnings. We'd been sweeping it regularly for years with the traditional brush and poles. This never produced much soot, so we assumed the stove was burning reasonably cleanly, but I don't think it had ever been cleared properly since the house was built back in the 70s, so there was quite a build-up of creosote (not outlandish, but about an eighth of an inch or so - I suspect there may have been minor chimney fires in the past, which is certainly one way to clean a chimney, but definitely not recommended) and we'd had a fall of soot inside the stove recently, so alarm bells rang (not literal ones!).
In the absence of holly bushes, I understand a street urchin can do a fine job if you've a capacious chimney.* With the holly bush method, they'd take up a small bush to the chimney top, attach it to a rope, drop the rope down the chimney, then haul away. I could see a few potential hazards with that method, and it must have been quite messy inside.
*won't happen; a street urchin costs money, and even if just for a bowl of porridge, the chronically-helpless primitive is too tight for even that. She's just going to let it go.
B Calm (19,549 posts) Sun Nov 10, 2013, 07:28 AM
7. Too expensive for me!
I have an unlined chimney in my garage with a wood stove. I lowered a stainless steel liner from the top of the chimney and it works great. Once a year I pull the liner out and clean it.
<<<prefers getting heat the old-fashioned way, having it blown up from the basement through some grates on the floor. No muss, no fuss.
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Curmudgeoness (11,826 posts) Mon Nov 4, 2013, 08:02 PM
2. I have never used Duraflame logs, but it looks like they are safe and less polluting than wood logs. I can see why you want to use them because of the situation you have stated. I was surprised to find that all the green living sites are saying that artificial logs beat out real logs. I always thought that they were too expensive for me to even consider.
Common green sense generally dictates selecting the natural and simple option over the artificial and processed. This thought brings me to the fireplace, more specifically, the fire log. There’s the characterless cylinder you can buy at the supermarket versus a beautiful, organic hunk of tree. I hate to be a wet blanket here, but alas—artificial logs beat the pulp out of real ones in terms of environmental advantages.
Burn artificial logs because it saves the trees. Ooooookay.
Do primitives ever think? Noooo.
Has to be one of the all-time stupid comments by a DUmmie.
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Denzil_DC just wasted a whole lotta time typing all that technical advice out, only to have it ignored.
Fireplaces and chimneys are a huge pain in the ass. I've learned a thing or two about these old houses. When gas came into fashion, all the homeowners couldn't ditch their fireplaces fast enough. Heat goes right up and out, and you have a world of worries to deal with. They'd seal up the wall, and leave the pretty mantle. That "cheery and cozy fire in a fireplace" is overly romanticized.
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Fake log = paraffin wax and sawdust.....how green is that?
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Fake log = paraffin wax and sawdust.....how green is that?
They put out a lot more heat if you soak them in gasoline overnight
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I always thought it was a no brainer , not to burn pine, because of the sap. I think the waiting period is like 5 years, for the sap to totally dry out.
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They put out a lot more heat if you soak them in gasoline overnight
The logs, or the DUmpmonkeys? :???:
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The logs, or the DUmpmonkeys? :???:
yes.
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Sounds like it may become a self cleaning chimney. :thatsright:
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I love my wood stove.
Proper burning should create almost no smoke whatsoever, but for the primitive's case, I'll make an exception.
I'll have to post a picture of my home (in the secret forum) all ready for Christmas, with it all lit up with energy-gulping C9 bulbs and the stove belching fumes.
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Someone burned pine in a fireplace or wood stove? :thatsright:
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Tree hugging DUmmies should burn dried yucca logs. They last a long time yet are light weight.
Another idea is to collect newspapers and roll them up really tight. They burn similar to the artificial logs you buy at the market. And that saves the trees.
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Tree hugging DUmmies should burn dried yucca logs. They last a long time yet are light weight.
Another idea is to collect newspapers and roll them up really tight. They burn similar to the artificial logs you buy at the market. And that saves the trees.
You forgot the gasoline.
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You forgot the gasoline.
I used to soak mine in used motor oil.
Helped clean the creosote out from burning pine.
I did use rolled up newspaper, and I did soak them in oil. :lmao:
This is no shit..but.
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I guess no one here has ever burned yucca. :-)
The Indians used them for sending smoke signals. :stoner:
When I was in scouts, we collected newspapers and used a newspaper log roller. Sold them or donated them.
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This reminds me of the old NE homes with a Widows Walk on the roof .
We were told it was from where the wives of seamen walked looking out to sea for their husbands ship to come into port.
Later on I found this was no such thing as homes 30 miles from the sea had these walks on the roof. Seems that the walk was used to store sand in the old times just in case the chimneys caught fire. The sand would be pored down the chimney to put the fire out.
Our home does not have an out side chimney just some kind or metal thing going outside the roof. We buy twice a year these logs that are suppose to clean out the creosote. We never burn real wood, just the fake logs that are supposed to be creosote free.
We did find that when we used the fireplace the draft sucked all the heat out of the house and the fireplace was just for show not heat.
I love my fieldstone fireplace but it is useless for heat it is just an expensive show off used 3-4 times a year on the holidays.
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Nothing but oak and locust in ours and it's our primary heat. We aren't hammered by the fuel and gas markets every year either, kind of the nice thing about using a fuel source not very common anymore.
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Nothing but oak and locust in ours and it's our primary heat. We aren't hammered by the fuel and gas markets every year either, kind of the nice thing about using a fuel source not very common anymore.
80 degrees in here .....and rising.....that wood stove is polluting like crazy. :-)
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80 degrees in here .....and rising.....that wood stove is polluting like crazy. :-)
that is toasty! insert? We've added a second infrared heater this year and our central electric heat has barely kicked on. it does at night sometimes, but that's all. I really wonder about the pollution thing, we barely have a wisp of smoke out of the chimney. people down the road look like they've built their houses around steam engines they pump out so much smoke. Guess that's the great thing about well seasoned and dry wood.
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Nothing but oak and locust in ours and it's our primary heat. We aren't hammered by the fuel and gas markets every year either, kind of the nice thing about using a fuel source not very common anymore.
Oh, there's nothing wrong with wood-burning for heat (although I personally prefer the already-manufactured heat that comes up from the basement), but these are primitives we're talking about here.
The chronically-helpless primitive is one of those who rents the cheapest place without regards to amenities and non-amenities, and since it came with a wood stove, that's what she uses. If the cheapest place had a coal stove, she'd use that. Just so the place was the cheapest place to rent.
You probably maintain your furnace, but that costs money, and the chronically-helpless primitive doesn't want to spend money. She actually thinks that once one has something, it shouldn't cost a cent any more, to keep.
My father of blessed memory, otherwise an utterly sensible and rational man, was the same way about cars. Once one had bought a vehicle, one shouldn't have to pay anything else for it (other than for gasoline); as a consequence, my childhood was marked with the never-ending appearances of yet another new vehicle.....and another big hit to the family treasury.
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Oh, there's nothing wrong with wood-burning for heat (although I personally prefer the already-manufactured heat that comes up from the basement), but these are primitives we're talking about here.
The chronically-helpless primitive is one of those who rents the cheapest place without regards to amenities and non-amenities, and since it came with a wood stove, that's what she uses. If the cheapest place had a coal stove, she'd use that. Just so the place was the cheapest place to rent.
You probably maintain your furnace, but that costs money, and the chronically-helpless primitive doesn't want to spend money. She actually thinks that once one has something, it shouldn't cost a cent any more, to keep.
My father of blessed memory, otherwise an utterly sensible and rational man, was the same way about cars. Once one had bought a vehicle, one shouldn't have to pay anything else for it (other than for gasoline); as a consequence, my childhood was marked with the never-ending appearances of yet another new vehicle.....and another big hit to the family treasury.
I try to maintain my stuff to actually save money. I really never intended to keep a wood burner going in the winter, but it came with the house (improperly installed) so I gave myself an education on chimney design after the cleaner refused to touch it. The people we bought it from lied about it being clean and their stupid kid did the work on the house. I had to tear out an entire antique mantle, rebuild the wall behind it, add a proper metal pipe 6 feet up the chimney, eventually rebuild the insert and who knows what else that I'm forgetting. All that paid off though because we live in the middle of the hardwood capital of the world. Long story short, I like having money in the bank and to keep it there you really need to know how to keep it all going yourself. Just added in a drain for the leech line where a swamp was forming in the middle of my yard. It'll make some fantastic irrigation for some future blueberry bushes.
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Nothing but oak and locust in ours and it's our primary heat. We aren't hammered by the fuel and gas markets every year either, kind of the nice thing about using a fuel source not very common anymore.
What, no Osage Orange? :-)
That stuff can put you right out. If you have glass doors, it also puts on one heck of a show.
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The ideal lib fireplace is artificial wood in an artificial fireplace, with artificial fire. Back in the days of the videocassette there was a recording of a fireplace fire to simulate your television being a fireplace. I don't know how Santa comes down that fireplace, unless he is a digital Santa.
There used to be a videocassette that simulated an aquarium as well. Another perfect zero environmental impact option for the DUmmies. This is of course ignoring the question of the environmental impact of electricity.
Just don't put the artificial fireplace too close to the artificial aquarium.
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The ideal lib fireplace is artificial wood in an artificial fireplace, with artificial fire. Back in the days of the videocassette there was a recording of a fireplace fire to simulate your television being a fireplace. I don't know how Santa comes down that fireplace, unless he is a digital Santa.
There used to be a videocassette that simulated an aquarium as well. Another perfect zero environmental impact option for the DUmmies. This is of course ignoring the question of the environmental impact of electricity.
Just don't put the artificial fireplace too close to the artificial aquarium.
They've outsourced that to cable TV but it only shows up after Thanksgiving these days.
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They put out a lot more heat if you soak them in gasoline overnight
Tossing a few cups of gas directly onto the burning log is known to work.
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What, no Osage Orange? :-)
That stuff can put you right out. If you have glass doors, it also puts on one heck of a show.
Oh, I've been trying to get that stuff to grow on my back hill since last year. When I saw those BTU numbers, I knew we had to burn the orange! Been looking into uses for the fruit too, but that's getting into the whole biofuel hippie thing.
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Only DUmmies could **** up fire.
:thatsright:
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What, no Osage Orange? :-)
That stuff can put you right out. If you have glass doors, it also puts on one heck of a show.
:-)
That sounds interesting. I should try that.
I got the big idea one year to chop up my Christmas tree and burn it in the fireplace. Talk about an exploding fireworks show..... :fuelfire:
I also like to use pine cones for their crackle effect.
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The only wood I didn't care to burn, was Cottonwood.
I swear that stuff left clinkers much like coal.
Stunk, too.
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The only wood I didn't care to burn, was Cottonwood.
I swear that stuff left clinkers much like coal.
Stunk, too.
I think it's because it's half water.
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Oh, I've been trying to get that stuff to grow on my back hill since last year. When I saw those BTU numbers, I knew we had to burn the orange! Been looking into uses for the fruit too, but that's getting into the whole biofuel hippie thing.
It grows like weeds around here. Just be careful if you do burn with it. An Osage log will throw thousands of sparks. I wouldn't even dream of burning it in an open fireplace.
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It grows like weeds around here. Just be careful if you do burn with it. An Osage log will throw thousands of sparks. I wouldn't even dream of burning it in an open fireplace.
That's what I'm shooting for, I'd like to have it taking over where they planted pine back there. The pine is useless to me other than occassionally burning it in the fire pit. We've got a closed insert that uses forced air, it's handled heat enough to burn your finger tips when you try to open the doors.
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I'm partial to locust myself. Burns really hot, for a long time.
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Oh, I've been trying to get that stuff to grow on my back hill since last year. When I saw those BTU numbers, I knew we had to burn the orange! Been looking into uses for the fruit too, but that's getting into the whole biofuel hippie thing.
Soak them in diesel fuel, light them on fire, and lob them at your neighbors. You don't have to hit them, just get their attention.
When the balloon goes up, your neighbors won't come knocking at your door begging to be taken in, fed, and protected.
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I think it's because it's half water.
Primitive steam heat.
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Soak them in diesel fuel, light them on fire, and lob them at your neighbors. You don't have to hit them, just get their attention.
When the balloon goes up, your neighbors won't come knocking at your door begging to be taken in, fed, and protected.
I'm more partial to the used TV death ray or maybe dust explosions. Catches their attention without wasting wood or diesel is way more practical.
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I'm more partial to the used TV death ray or maybe dust explosions. Catches their attention without wasting wood or diesel is way more practical.
Is it a waste of diesel?
I don't think it is.
:evillaugh: :evillaugh: :evillaugh:
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Is it a waste of diesel?
I don't think it is.
:evillaugh: :evillaugh: :evillaugh:
When you have a practically endless supply of waste vegetable oil instead, yea, it is! For the most part I like my neighbors. The bull dikes with their pack of dogs next door are a bit frustrating, but can't really do much about that aside from picking off their dogs once in awhile.