Advice on buying firewood

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Joss

New Member
Sep 7, 2008
21
Manitoba, Canada
Hi Guys

I would like advice on which would be the better option:
Oak/ash mix @ 275CAD/cord (delivered) or
White birch @ 175CAD/cord (pick up)

Is the oak/ash worth the extra $100/cord compared to the birch? Sounds much to me, but maybe someone with experience from burning both can enlighten me. I'll have to add between $70-90 in gas for the pick up of the birch I think (3 cords).
I have no experience burning any of these, only burnt poplar and Manitoba maple before.

Thanks!
 
Hey Joss,

Check out the following link for BTU output per cord. https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/heating_value_wood

I always do the simple math: white birch (paper birch) is 20.3 million BTUs per cord. You would be paying approximately $205 per cord for birch (with gas). That's about $10.10 per million BTUs.

As for the Ash/Oak, even if it were only Red Oak (not white) without any Ash, at 24 million BTUs/cord and $275/cord, that works out to be $11.46 per million BTUs. So you'll be paying more per BTU for Oak, however, it's a much better wood.

Oak and Ash are harder and more dense than white birch. Therefore, they burn for longer periods. Oak/ash are great woods for long fires, over night fires, etc. They are some of the best types of wood to burn if you plan on heating well.

I use some white birch and it burns well. 3-4 big pieces will burn for 5-7 hrs (nice red coals left).

All in all, it depends on your burning needs and if the wood is properly seasoned. Oak and Ash take much longer than birch to season properly. If it's not seasoned well and you try burning it, you're wasting valuable energy resources boiling off the moisture. not to mention creating a fire hazard with creosote buildup in your chimney.

I hope this helps!

Andrew
 
Sounds like the birch is more expensive than the oak/ash when you add gas and labour.

If it's for this season whichever is best seasoned might be the more important deciding factor.
 
If the wood is for this winter, I would buy the better seasoned wood. Oak takes a long time before it will burn well--calculated
by the years after being split rather than months.
 
Thanks for your reply and advice all of you. Yes, it is for this season, so will be looking into which one is better seasoned before I buy. Poplar is what you normally can get around here ($120-140/cord delivered), but I thought I'd try some harder wood since I came across it. BTW, I have a Blaze King, if that would matter in the choice of wood. Really appreciate all of the feedback, it is good to learn from all the experience on this site.
 
Ok, here's the reply I got from the supplier of the oak/ash: "It was cut last winter, just needs to be cut and split. Will be plenty dry after a couple weeks"
wow, I think I will go with the Birch....
 
I hate to be the bearer of bad news: birch won't dry in a couple of week. Perhaps a couple of nice warm months, but not weeks.
Oak takes 2-3 years.

Sheesh...I would try and not use it for this winter, it won't burn that efficiently.

:(

Andrew
 
Hey Andrew,
Yeah, it was even the oak/ash he was talking about....I might be fairly new to wood burning, but he seems to be taking me for a total idiot. Anyways, the Birch is from a different supplier, so hopefully it has been seasoned properly. What, in your opinion, is proper seasoning time for birch?
 
Reading the same article as you Soupy, and found this, which is so true: "Most firewood you purchase will be green and have a fair amount of water in it." Being that I am not that experienced with buying firewood, I figured that if you advertise "seasoned" or "dry" firewood, it would actually be properly seasoned. In most cases probably not so, at least not around here. So what I guess I should do, is buy the firewood a year in advance.
 
Joss,

This sounds foolish but drying times depend. It depends on how much sun and wind your pile gets. It also depends on the size of the splits. Say you don't have a piece that is over 7-8 inches in diameter, I would say a good 4-5 months (spring to fall) for proper burning.
I just bought a cord of white birch that is 3 years old. Some pieces (rounds) were not split, I ended up splitting them and they were still damp inside. I found out through this forum that the bark of white birch is like a wax and until you split it through the center, it holds water quite well.

Advice I have learned from this forum: try to get 2 years ahead. It eases your mind knowing that it's truly seasoned wood. I know people who are going to cut wood right now for this winter: it's a disaster waiting to happen :(

Andrew
 
What (in that chart) is “Heating Class?” What does that mean (represent)?

-Soupy1957
 
Soupy,

I think the link you posted is not the same as the one I posted.

However, I believe that heating class (on the link you posted) interpret is simply a class from 1-3 rating of how wood burns. 1 being best and 3 being worse. All the good hardwoods are 1s.

Andrew
 
Joss said:
Ok, here's the reply I got from the supplier of the oak/ash: "It was cut last winter, just needs to be cut and split. Will be plenty dry after a couple weeks"
wow, I think I will go with the Birch....

With that reply I would be very hesitant about buying wood from this guy. Anyone that tells you that oak will dry in a couple of weeks is telling you that he thinks you are very naive about wood and is just trying to make a sale.

My advice is spend $13.00 on this http://www.harborfreight.com/digital-mini-moisture-meter-67143.html
And use it to see exactly how dry the wood is. I have this exact meter and it works great! What I have done in the past is let the guys hang themselves by asking them if the wood they are peddling is dry. If they say "yet ready to burn" I tell deal! Once they load it up or bring it to my home, before they unload it and especially before money exchanges hands I go to the truck grab the largest piece of wood on the truck I can find split it and with my trusty little meter I take a reading. You want wood less thatn 23% moisture for burning in a stove. If you are buying it a few months before burning season I would say 25-27 might be ok. Anything higher than that is not "ready to burn" Unfortunately these guys will say anything to sell their wood and with his "2 week" comment I'm sure that he will be very surprised to see you break out a meter and maul on delivery day.

edit:

Ok just noticed that the wood was cut last winter. But your in cold wet Canada so although that is longer than the 2 weeks I thought he meant. It may still not be enough time to season and the rest of the story still stands:)
 
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