Can you burn creosote in your wood stove after removing it from your chimney?

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1073648

2026-07-08 04:25

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No.

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Actually, the answer is a bit more complicated than that. There is such a thing as a wood gas generator, or wood gasification unit, which is designed to produce creosote. The gas produced can be burned to heat a home, cook, heat water, or even power a car. If you were to use such a thing to heat or cook, you would have to be prepared to deal with the fact that much of the gas is carbon monoxide, which is normally burned, but is a poison that has to be considered in case of combustion failure.

There are solutions to the problem, and some are simple. One is to put the gas generator into the stove itself, or make it part of the stove. A TLUD (top lit up draft) stove works to do this. (I still would not use one indoors.) Another is to put the wood gasification unit outside the house where it is being used, and use the gas it produces externally to the house both to heat the house and to heat the wood to gasify it. If this is done, a flame failure stops the production of carbon monoxide.

One of the side benefits of using wood gasification is that it produces charcoal, which has value. Compared to a wood powered central heating unit which is external to a house, a gasifier will produce about 75% of the heat, but burning two and a half cords of wood will produce about a ton of charcoal, which has a value of about two cords of wood. If the charcoal is used to make terra pretta, the entire process could conceivably be carbon negative in its day to day operation, as it would sequester more carbon than is released in the fossil fuels needed to keep it going.

There is a link to an article on wood gas generator below. It includes a couple of photographs of vehicles that run on wood, with the gas generator attached.

Also, in case you are asking whether it is possible to build a stove that burns the creosote it produces, so the chimney stays clear, the answer is yes. Stoves with catalytic converters have been produced, but they have limitations. My take on this is that it is better to use a stove that has a good draft and burns a hot flame, so the creosote is mostly burned in the firebox. Masonry stoves are also very good at this, and are quite efficient, though they can be very expensive.

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