What NOT to burn in your fireplace

Seasoned wood belongs in your fireplace. Not Christmas wrapping paper or holiday packaging. Not pizza boxes. Not foam packaging. This week we are providing consumers with some new KZbin content to review that could help them make better choices when it comes to use of their fireplace. The series is known as #whatnottoburn. #ChimneySafetyWeek
As always, prior to use of your fireplace or wood stove, make sure that you have a good idea of whether the chimney is in working order. An inspection by a qualified professional can help you make that determination. Chimney Safety Institute of America trains chimney sweeps from around the United States, and a full list is available on our zip-code locator at csia.org/search.
We have a bevy of homeowner resources available at our website: www.csia.org/about-csia/faq.aspx

[@carle2661]

Comments section never fails to bring out the "experts" who have never once used or owned a fireplace. lol

[@Cent51]

I have a closed fire place and I burn paper, cardboard, chicken bones, pizza boxes, and when I have a cheat day, with frozen yogurt, choclate or chips, I get rid of the evidence with 🔥, I also use fuel to get the twigs burning.. People just need to know how to work with it 😂😀🔥💥👻💦..

[@newbluerugby]

Your 1 reply is being shadow banned

[@QueenPlcj]

So cardboard and the wrapping paper would have worked had he put it in at different times and ripped up the box. But I get his point

[@paulnicholson1906]

When I was a kid we burned everything in the fireplace. In England the garbage man is called a dustman, that’s because at one time the only thing they had to pick up was ash. They key thing is not to overload the fireplace’s capacity. That said the tendency is to do exactly that so these days I have the garbage men pickup my trash..... if you burn a lot of trash in the fireplace you have a bigger clean out job.

[@peterpeterson9903]

This video is not particularly typical of a real fire place. This is an external fireplace so the air movement and pressures are incorrect. I agree you would NOT want to burn lumps of Styrofoam or un-crumpled paper bulging out the front of your fireplace like that however, filling the grate with paper crumpled or shredded up SHOULD not cause the flames to enter into the room if the chimney has an appropriate draw. I can fill my open fire with paper (usually destroying bank letters and statements) and the flames will roar away but I never have to worry about the flames coming into the room. Not only that, if the paper falls onto the trivet door which is beyond the fire opening, the flames are drawn back into the fireplace and do not pose a risk - not that I plan to do this. I also have a stove, and I can fill it to the brim with paper or fast burning material and never worry about it coming out the fire box even with the front door wide open. I agree with your video to an extent but it's not realistic and if anyone has a fire that gasses or flames into the room stop using it IMMEDIATELY and seek professional advice. In some cases it may even be your chimney or flue is not appropriate and you cannot safely have a fire without alternations. I love the way you discuss the toxic smoke of the Styrofoam having just burnt the filthy stuff! The highly toxic dioxins and soot are now sitting in a field near you!

[@karenhodges450]

Created Higher Resolution Fireplace timelapse check (copy) video link youtube*/watch?v=RV2w8lXXuFs*

[@farfan2752]

Thanks so much for the video

[@danielbartonik9960]

is this video intended for 5 years old kids ?

[@elijahharper6858]

There is a negative pressure on the home from fireplaces causing draft. Your burning it outside and until the stack gets hot your demo does not draft correctly of course. I agree with dont burn foam at all thats just dumb.

[@dutchbeef8920]

Nice outdoor chimney and fireplace 😍

[@Kinda_1]

Well who tf would shove that much paper to burn at one time? 😂especially in a chimney

[@AdmiraltyChimneyservice]

We have been getting a lot of call this week about alternative wood options so this came out right at the right time. We shared it to our FaceBook page too.

[@fishsquishguy1833]

I only burn empty (they have to be empty, that’s the trick) 2 liter bottles and old car batteries.

[@JohnDoe-en9ch]

I find that old tractor tires give me the best bang for the buck.

[@yvetteaube7701]

great video guys....gonna post to my Facebook

[@kateejustinmills8352]

An additional note about my previous comments: the chimney fire I experienced was not actually because of the cardboard, but because the firewood I purchased was not fully seasoned which leads to creosote build-up in the flue, and cardboard works exceedingly well at igniting creosote. So, use dry wood and make sure your chimney is cleaned and inspected every year or so.

[@carle2661]

Good point about fully seasoned firewood.

[@truthseeker3967]

Can I use this as kindling: I have a bunch of old dried out ELDERBERRY twigs and small branches from two elderberry bushes I cut down- the branches have been outside getting rained and snowed on for several months and are bone dry- Are they safe for use in making a fire in my wood stove in my living area in my house?? Any info you have on that would be appreciated. Thank you.

[@l.b.7543]

Unfortunately having a fireplace is not for heat given it’s near 0%-20% efficiency rating. All your heat goes up the chimney instead

[@guyjohnson3775]

Yeah if that was enclosed could you just imagine not such a good example Man you get to thumbs up

[@coaster001]

I read somewhere that pizza boxes have a wax in the cardboard that acts as a good fire starter.

[@AlainTabangin]

Do people actually do that?

[@plants4thewin]

LOL the styrofoam....come on now...are people really doing that in their HOUSE?

[@LORDVADER357]

@@plants4thewin Absolutely yes. I know people which burn anything which is not steel in their firepits. Tyres, tubes, old shoes... Pizza boxes, styrofoams and christmas leftovers? Thats just for warmup. And how fast and how much will handle a chimney depends. Mostly outdoors at bbq. I personally burn just about anything in my bbq. Free fuel. Paper, wood, old clothes... but outdoor. Yes lots of people burn shits in their stoves. I mean shits.

[@imrighthere1643]

This is for sub par peps,📉

[@lobomuffin1775]

So I put some cardboard in a closed fireplace after sometime it exploded in smoke and blew out the hatches.

[@DarthDividend]

Epic!

[@rickpaul4216]

This video should be rated “I” for Idiot. Because everyone else already knows not to do any of that.

[@dynamiteshikoku6189]

19 seconds in that is exactly what happened with my fireplace 1 week ago. I was a drunk idiot 4 vodka drinks in and put WAY too much paper/cardboard/kindling in the fireplace and there were flames flying out almost setting fire to the stupid stuff i have sitting above the fireplace like picture frames and holiday cards including the flat screen TV. luckily the cage i had held everything into the fireplace and my TV wasn't damage but the outer plastic does show that it was just about to melt away from the heat. i was so sure my house was was gonna be in flames. i am one of the lucky ones and didn't just keep feeding it. Feed the fireplace, and let it burn, and wait. you gotta wait.

[@chicagoliightsx]

Glad you're safe! Omg

[@rarecoolitems]

Just make a channel of burning random things in a fireplace. That’s 👍

[@davidfoulk3078]

I always saved materials like the ones in this video along with an old couch or two for the Watkins Glen racetrack “The bud at the Glen” NASCAR race. The cops and the fireman always turned a blind eye as 150k race fans, and every fan had his/her own fire going with who knows what burning in their fire pit??were enveloped, almost chocked out, in smoke lol. London England had nothing on that hilltop racetrack with regards to fog or should I say “second hand death smoke”….lol. The memories of the 90s so cool the shit we did up there!

[@kimchee94112]

Burn plywood in the fireplace? is the glue toxic?

[@peteruglialoro4397]

What about burning left over red oak floor boards in a fireplace? , unstained obviously

[@billyadams9985]

Styrofoam = hydrogen cyanide

[@dougwhiting7631]

The one plastic that I do burn is HDPE. The stuff in cereral boxes liners. Its just a hydrocarbon C and H so no Cl or F.

[@aztekwarrior518]

Hdpe is what milk jugs, trash cans, etc are made of.. usually bags and wrappers are ldpe.. neither of which are safe to intake when burned ..

[@dirtygears6607]

Burning paper or pizza boxes is alright as long as you do it in small controlled amounts that don’t burst out into large flames and styrofoam you just shouldn’t burn however for people like me who live on a farm burning it is the only option we have however don’t burn it in your own home as you are putting your health at risk and it’s easier and faster just too chuck it into a barrel light it up and walk away from it outside.

[@othompson8562]

I should probably do the same as this video

[@kateejustinmills8352]

I must agree with Peter Peterson, an outdoor fireplace is totally different from an indoor fireplace. Also, only a total idiot would push a giant ball of loosely packed wrapping paper in their fireplace. Obviously the paper will try to expand as it is burned, so you only put a little in at a time. Small amounts of wrapping paper and even cardboard are fine, just in moderation, particularly with cardboard. Cardboard is a special breed of paper which will combust very vigorously due to the corrugations inside the cardboard which act little a hundred little chimneys to draw in mass quantities of air and thus burn fast and hot. I have personally ignited a slight chimney fire by putting too much cardboard in woodstove. Fortunately, with a wood stove you can shutdown the air flow and the chimney fire was out in less than a minute. As far as styrofoam, it does not create 'very toxic smoke' as stated in the video. EPS foam is used in ICF construction, and there is lots of data on the properties of burning EPS foam. The biggest component in the smoke is water vapor. It does not create toxins when it burns, in fact, nearly everything in your house actually does give off toxins during a fires, but EPS foam is the least of your worries. The smoke is not toxic to the environment either. The soot it gives off can stick to surfaces causing them to look dirty, but it won't hurt you. Like the paper, if you stuff the fireplace with EPS foam on top of your fire, there is the risk of it falling out onto your carpet, but the same thing is true when you loosely toss a pile of anything on top of your fire, gravity may work that day and make things fall to the earth.

[@nonnieharvey295]

My husband threw a rotten potato I our fireplace. It had mold on it and that concerned me!!!

[@guyjohnson3775]

👍🏻👍🏻

[@fluffybeast444]

Wrapping paper ain't the problem, it's the silly act of putting too much in at once

[@ph11p3540]

I only put hardwood like maple, oak, aspen or popler in my fireplace. Never any softwood. I don't burn wood that often, I hate criosote buildup inside my chimny that's extra work to clean out or polution complaints from neighbors. Yes, if you get enough people bring pine in their fireplaces, the local environmental body calls out a temporary wood burning ban from all the grey and choking smoke hugging the ground.

[@danthedewman1]

pine is fine...its unseasoned wood thats bad

[@danielbartonik9960]

would you try for me to burn grenades please and when you are at it throw in there some gun powder to speed up the process , keep same distance from fire just like in this video ,and you dont have to recorded , good buy

[@doggydangerous]

Lets not forget to throw a couple of tires on there!

[@StarcleBlaze]

And nuclear waste

[@Riplee]

"It's very toxic" also; let's get a closeup on that

[@skorpyo331]

Note to self dont put a 2x4 in a fire.🤣🤣🤣

[@jimbeekman4863]

Thanks Ivan for your safety tips.... NOT

[@CodyJames29]

This is like instructions on shampoo and good video for the people wearing COVID masks alone in their car with the windows up!

[@seanshields86]

What the fuck man.. Why you put that styro in there...

[@charliebrown4007]

can you burn big chunks of coal in your fireplace

[@daleval2182]

No

[@markthompson1330]

If you have a coal grate, people do it all the time.

[@anthonyz5671]

You know what a sad time we live in when you need to tell people this. You do great job. You’re always going to have someone who doesn’t know. Whats the old saying plan for the stupid. Lol

[@brianmoniz9793]

Nice video but I don't think burning the styrofoam was the greatest idea. The majority of the population knows burning styrofoam is not good, no sense burning some for demonstrative purposes, we get it.

[@carldude3047]

What kind of doofus shoves a giant wad of wrapping paper in at once like that? Any sane person would do it one piece at a time.

[@jerometruitt1452]

or roll it up into much tighter balls, like everyone who owns a fireplace does with newspaper everytime they they want to "start" the fire.

[@samsquires2877]

Jerome Truitt or you don’t burn paper at all if you have any knowledge. A fireplace isn’t a garbage can.

[@jerometruitt1452]

@@samsquires2877 Its paper not chicken scraps which coincidentally just pulped and dried WOOD genius.

[@gabrielmartinez3171]

@@samsquires2877 not even newspaper? 0.0

[@Ilovesmesomeketchup]

That drunk relative, that's who. Lol

[@cougar2601]

You twist the paper and tear up small amounts cardboard and then burn it in your fireplace.

[@JS-hg4vj]

So just put a fireplace guard, Problem solve.

[@js2clevr]

Who would throw wrapping paper in a fireplace like that??? Jesus.

[@JonathanMartinez-xs5ze]

I’ve burned paper and cardboard in my fireplace. But only a complete moron would stuff the fireplace full of paper and what not

[@derffurwood4820]

I got an idea. How about we learn some fools how to burn trash without catching the whole damned house on fire. I mean, really? WTF, over.

[@piggsy20]

Thank you papa johns

[@1towmater1]

Thats funny, we burnt paper in fireplace all the time, what do you use to light the wood? Just gotta make sure its small pieces! Like anything, Use your *@@*ing head!

[@billwaterson9492]

LOOOOOL

[@johnhaerle3957]

I call BS. If it will take a flame, I burn it. Why pay for gas to haul it to the dump for it to take years to decompose, when I can instead turn it into heat? Neither my stove or chimney shows any evidence of abnormal wear or damage. We've been running it steadily for at least 4 years. I recently put a bear skin from a hunt in my stove. It took about 8 hours to burn. My home and property smelled like an awesome barbeque until it was gone.

[@lt.punchdrunkington7123]

No one would ever put paper in their fireplace like that. They could crush the paper more then that. Pointless video. You might as well make a video called "what not to crash your car into."