what wood to burn in fireplace? (Denver, Colorado Springs: house, live, price)

[orngkat]

Just got a house in the Springs with a fireplace and the previous residents have a huge pile of spruce wood that they have been burning. Are there any particular woods we should avoid burning when we occupy the house?

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by orngkat

Just got a house in the Springs with a fireplace and the previous residents have a huge pile of spruce wood that they have been burning. Are there any particular woods we should avoid burning when we occupy the house?

Spruce.

You want to burn hardwoods like oak.

[TCHP]

You can burn anything you want in it, but I'd also suggest an annual sweep of it after burning season.

Hardwoods are nice, but in Colorado, they will have to be imported in bulk and this means their price is double that of locally sourced pine varieties. Local bulk dealers get around $300 for a cord of pine, $650 for oak.

Cedar and pinion are nice alternatives I use on occasion. A bit more costly than pine, a lot less than hardwoods.

[shanen]

You can burn pine/spruce as long as it has dried out. Wet wood creates creosote, which if built up, can cause chimney fires. That is a soft wood and will burn fast and hot, so it isn't ideal, but don't not burn it because of a false stereotype.

But as TCHP said, get your chimney swept and inspected first. Then as long as you burn dry wood ("seasoned" for ideally a year), and have it swept somewhat frequently (once a year is ideal), you'll be fine.

[orngkat]

Very helpful info, thanks! Don't plan on using it much but good to know the spruce can be used (it's very dry).

[beezle1]

Pinon smells really nice if you can find it here.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

You can use aspen, but it burns fast and leaves creosote.

When I lived in Denver there were "no burn" days where you couldn't use your wood burning fireplace due to the temperature inversion and smog build-up. Do they have the same thing in Colorado Springs?

[shanen]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

You can use aspen, but it burns fast and leaves creosote.

All wood does if it isn't dry. Soft woods tend to produce more when wet however. When dry, they both produce low amounts.

[otowi]

Lots of people burn pine, cedar, spruce, juniper, pinon, oak, pecan, mesquite or even aspen.