The story so far:



At the start of the summer ( what summer ? ) I removed our gas fire and installed a wood burning stove. We bought a few bags of seasoned wood locally just to see what the stove was like, it was great.

We have a combi boiler, no tank so were told we couldn't get a back boiler.

A local wood was recently thinned and we got four tonnes of mostly softwood for much cheapness. I loaned a chainsaw from my brother and bought a maul. We also bought a new shed so we could put all the wood in the old one.

OK OK, we are getting to the questiony bit :-)

I also have access to old whiskey barrels. The staves are perfect but a lot of the barrel ends have a water based paint on them. I am sure I have read that one should not burn painted wood in the stove.

Will the residues stick to the flue ? Is there a pollution question ?

I have tried out some of the non painted stuff and it's great.

Even if not watertight they could be cut in half and sold for twice as much as planters. Seems a shame to burn them to me.

"local wood was thinned" A good plan however you need to let that wood DRY OUT for 2yrs I believe

I suggest you talk to local builders and get wood of them that they have removed from properties bend the nails that won't come out easily and enjoy.

I have a good reserve