Duel fuel OWB (outdoor wood burner)

[Tom Reed]

If you've got a lot of chimney and/or bends running a double wall flue will keep the heat in and prevent a lot of the condensation of creosote. Our stove has a 17' run of double wall pipe in the house and we haven't need to clean it in 3 years. Although we are up to our eyeballs in oak and madrone too. 

[vdubnut62]

The Poplar isn't too bad, you can burn it green, just don't let it smolder. I agree with the low btu content though. It burns fast and leaves very few light and fluffy ashes. 
The Ash tree however makes EXCELLENT firewood, cut it with the leaves on it in July, let it lay till the weather cools off, then trim and cut it up into firewood. The leaves draw moisture out leaving perfectly seasoned firewood.
Works for Poplar and Oak too.
Ron

[Hank]

In my neck of the woods these OWB's are not allowed in many cities.
The prime reason is pollution, they smoke like hell especially in the early and late parts of the heating season when heat demand is the lowest.

Had a neighbor put one in last year without checking/getting a permit. After spending some big bucks for the furnace, installation and a few cords of wood the city shut him down.
When he first fired it up the smoke was so bad that at times you could not see your hand in front of your face. I'm sure the neighbors complained, rightfully so!

On the other hand if your nearest neighbor is miles away and you have an abundance of free wood then they may be okay. From what I've read they are horribly inefficient, burn a lot of wood and require much more frequent wood reloading then advertised.

[cognos]

Ya, I wouldn't bet they are legal in town. I'm in what passes for "the Country" in Southern Ontario, so I'd be OK.

Yes - I have seen the smoke of a bad one many times first-hand... there's a guy next to a major highway in my area, it looks like he has a body shop next to his house, and he has a fairly large outdoor wood burner in his back yard... I've been by that place several times, and if the wind is right, thick smoke is blowing across the highway, from his chimney 200 metres away... I' have often wondered about the legality of his installation, and expect to see it gone, but it's been there for years, and it's still there.