# Is it ok to burn osb?



## mxvet747 (Jan 23, 2010)

Is it ok to burn OSB partical board as long as I don't overfire? I mix it in with firewood.


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## LLigetfa (Jan 23, 2010)

The PC answer is NO but I burned it in small quantities while I was building my house.


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## begreen (Jan 23, 2010)

No. The glues combined with heat and wood gas make a potent brew of toxins that spew out into the neighborhood.


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## mxvet747 (Jan 24, 2010)

Oh , the glue is bad to burn? I have been burning some, hate to see it in a land fill when I can use it for some heat. Well I guess I will be a good neighbor & stop cooking it.


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## mxvet747 (Jan 24, 2010)

I found a industry link that says it is ok to burn. But I have also found other people saying not to burn it. I guess there some debate. 
http://osbguide.tecotested.com/pdfs/en/tb118.pdf


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## cycloxer (Jan 24, 2010)

It's not the greatest stuff to burn. If you are using a few pieces here and there as kindling, it is not the end of the world, but I wouldn't use it as a continuous fuel supply. Also, keep the door to your stove closed if you are going to burn stuff like this.


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## madrone (Jan 24, 2010)

mxvet747 said:
			
		

> I found a industry link that says it is ok to burn. But I have also found other people saying not to burn it. I guess there some debate.
> http://osbguide.tecotested.com/pdfs/en/tb118.pdf



First time I've seen something like that. I wonder if that's specific to that brand. There's also a difference between ply, chipboard, mdf, true osb, etc. Some glues are probably safer than others. I'd guess that most any of those would be bad for a catalytic stove.


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## Rougement (Jan 24, 2010)

I got into trouble with the DNR for burning that stuff outside so it's definitely not a good idea to burn it in your home.


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## Backwoods Savage (Jan 24, 2010)

Michigan's DNR also don't want you burning it. I know one person that got a $500 fine for doing so.


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## John_M (Jan 24, 2010)

BeGreen +1. 
For environmental reasons I do not burn wood that is painted, treated or glued. Why add to air polution when I don't have to?

Best, 

John_M


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## LLigetfa (Jan 24, 2010)

Environmentalists don't want you to burn, PERIOD.  We aren't even allowed to burn newspaper that has ink on it.  I was buying unprinted paper that movers use to pack up your Royal Doulton.

The OSB of yesteryear was made with formaldehyde but formaldehyde is also produced when burning trees.  If you are going to get all "environmental" then you have to stop burning trees too.

Burning driftwood and millends produces Dioxins which would make you public enemy #1.


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## begreen (Jan 24, 2010)

Lig, we're in a state with stiff stove regulations. And perhaps in a region with greater population density? For sure as wood burners, we don't want to make regs even more restrictive by disregarding the effects of burning on other folks that don't burn. Being a good neighbor (collectively) keeps the man off your back. So we burn clean and don't burn anything besides trees.


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## LLigetfa (Jan 24, 2010)

The OP is in Northern IL.  I'm just North of MN.  Driftwood burners are in AK.  Ja, regs, tree huggers, and environmentalists vary by region.

I don't feed my stove a steady diet of OSB but when I was building my house in Winter 98/99, the firewood I cleared in the March prior was less than ideal so the tiny bit of OSB scraps and millends were better off in my stove than in landfill.  Around here some people still burn their garbage in barrels and by comparison, I think my EPA stove did a better job than an old barrel.  I researched the different brands of OSB because I was concerned about off-gassing so I know exactly what I was burning.


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## LLigetfa (Jan 24, 2010)

I work for a forest products company and we operate a large biomass boiler and know first hand about environmental issues.  The interesting thing is the same biowaste that we burn in our modern efficient relatively clean burning boiler used to be burned in huge open smoldering windrows in the bush.  Also, think about forest fires either left to burn wild or in prescribed burns and then compare all that to someone keeping a bit of OSB out of the landfill.

Probably some of these "environmentalists" polute more with their cigarettes or their SUVs.


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## devinsdad (Jan 25, 2010)

After work one day and several adult beverages me and a guy I work with filled his OWB with a bunch of osb cutoffs. It was an amazing sight . The 6' tall by 8"  torch coming out of his stack in the dark was awesome.


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## Sorghum (Jan 25, 2010)

I was at an out door wood boiler seminar a couple of years ago.  As I recall they indicated that some slight corrosives might be present in burning trash. And that long term it could cause damage to the burner. OSB was not mentioned.


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## VCBurner (Jan 25, 2010)

I would not burn this stuff in my house.  I have burned some of it in an outdoor fire pit, just because I didn't want to pay to get rid of it.  The glue when burned IS HARMFUL to the environment.  You could end up sick.


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## FLINT (Jan 25, 2010)

haha, 

yeah I'm planning on getting a new stove, and laugh when I think about how clean it will be and also about how it doesnt matter since my neighbor upwind of me burns all his trash in a barrel stove in his garage.  

I guarantee you'll get less junk out of some OSB than what that guy puts out there.  

The neighbor on the other side of me burns his trash in some special burn barrel outside as well.  The funny thing is that we live less than 1 mile from a very nice little household trans/recycle station that is totally free and convenient to us.


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## firefighterjake (Jan 25, 2010)

Could you burn OSB in a woodstove . . . well . . . it would burn . . . but I probably wouldn't do it in my woodstove . . . and for the record Maine isn't super strict on wood burning (well they did adopt some standards for OWBs come to think of it) . . . I definitely wouldn't do it with a cat stove . . . and honestly I would not do it in my stove simply because of the potential noxious smoke, glues, etc. That said, I would be a liar if I said I never burned any OSB . . . even if it was in an outdoor fire . . . but I most definitely did not roast any wieners over those flames or toast up any marshmallows.


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## Highbeam (Jan 25, 2010)

I'm with Jake and will absolutely burn OSB outdoors along with any other construction leftovers even though it is "illegal" to do so. To say it pollutes is sort of silly since, well, all burning pollutes to some extent. To be legal you can't even burn dimensional lumber in the fire pit. You pallet burners might be surprised at what those pallets have been treated with, perhaps that is no more polluting than OSB. Burn it hot and clean outside.


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## fossil (Jan 25, 2010)

"Is it ok to burn osb?"

It's OK with me if you burn it in your stove.  It's not OK with me to burn it in either of my stoves.  Rick


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