# Safe to burn MDF?



## mass_burner (Jan 10, 2016)

Subject says it all.


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## jb6l6gc (Jan 10, 2016)

Not inside


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## Oldman47 (Jan 10, 2016)

MDF contains more glue than plywood or OSB so no way is it a good idea. If you have a cat stove it will ruin your catalyst.


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## Jeffm1 (Jan 10, 2016)

mass_burner said:


> Subject says it all.


No.


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## mass_burner (Jan 11, 2016)

How do they keep MDF out of pellets, since it's used widely to make furniture.


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## maple1 (Jan 11, 2016)

I've burned small odds & ends, in my gasifier. Would be curious on the gasses it releases, then the combustion temps of those gasses. Can't see there being much nasties left after 2000°.


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## iamlucky13 (Jan 11, 2016)

maple1 said:


> I've burned small odds & ends, in my gasifier. Would be curious on the gasses it releases, then the combustion temps of those gasses. Can't see there being much nasties left after 2000°.



As far as I've been able to find, the glues used are formaldehyde based, which at low temperatures allowing partial combustion can have some nasty by-products. However, it's an organic substance like wood is, so it seems at high temperatures, you just get CO2 and water vapor.

I've burned a few small scraps of various engineered woods in my non-catalytic wood stove, but only on reloads, and I stick it in the back after raking the coals forward, with the goal of it being the last to catch and its vapors circulating forward through the heat of the rest of the wood burning to ensure complete combustion.

I would definitely not burn it as the primary fuel, or even a significant part of a load, since I can't entirely control smouldering at the start of each load.


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## Kristen (Jan 12, 2016)

Is there any issue with burning materials like this (including pallets made from treated wood) that the by-products of combustion are bad for the boiler?  e.g. corrosive. I seem to remember my installer warning me about that (including things like coloured, shiny, printed magazines)


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## peakbagger (Jan 12, 2016)

Safe for you not so safe for the environment. MDF typically has to be landfilled. Commercial wood fired power plants generally can not get permitted to burn MDF due to some potential nasty byproducts that form.


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## mass_burner (Jan 12, 2016)

mass_burner said:


> How do they keep MDF out of pellets, since it's used widely to make furniture.


Has anyone ever examined random pellet brands microscopically to see what's in them?


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