It can be difficult to know what not to burn in your fireplace. It’s seems like anything that burns should be able to go right in, as the smoke and fumes go right up the chimney. Some items can be a fire hazard or release a cocktail of toxic fumes into your home and neighborhood. We’ve compiled a list of 10 things you should never burn in your fireplace.
- Wet wood. Wet, or unseasoned, firewood can contain up to 45 percent water. When the wood burns, it produces more smoke than seasoned wood, which can cause dangerous creosote to build up on your chimney’s inner walls. Wet wood also does not produce as much heat from your home.
- Christmas trees. It can be tempting to cut up and burn your live Christmas tree in your wood-burning fireplace. In addition to not being properly seasoned, the evergreen wood of your Christmas tree contains high levels of resin. These resins burn quickly and can pop, causing a risk of a chimney fire.
- Painted or treated lumber. Painted or treated lumber can contain toxic chemicals that are released when burned. Those chemicals are dangerous for you and your family, and can corrode your fireplace.
- Any type of paper with colored print. Paper with colored print, such as wrapping paper, magazines, cereal boxes, and pizza boxes, may release noxious, corrosive, or carcinogenic gases when burned.
- Plywood, particle board, or chipboard. Manufactured wood products release toxic fumes and carcinogens when burned.
- Fire accelerants or fire starters. Never use accelerants, such as kerosene, gasoline, or grill starter fluid to help get your fire started. The accelerants or fire starters can cause flare ups or heat your fire to extremely high temperatures that are unsafe for your fireplace and chimney.
- Plastics. Any type of household plastic, whether its bubble wrap or a plastic cup, should not be burned in a fireplace. Plastics release toxic chemicals, including hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide, dioxins, and heavy metals, that are dangerous for your health and bad for the environment.
- Dyer lint. Dryer lint may be an effective fire starter, but it can release toxic chemicals into your home and up your chimney.
- Cardboard. Cardboard can release toxic chemicals when burned, especially if it has been printed with a logo.
- Driftwood. Even dried out driftwood shouldn’t be burned because when burned, it can possibly release salt that can corrode your fireplace and chimney.Remember that the best fuel for your fireplace is the fuel it was built for. Pellets for pellet stoves and dry, seasoned firewood or manufactured fire logs for a wood-burning fireplace. Any other type of fuel puts your home at risk of toxic fumes or chimney fires.