Hottest Wood Question.....

[Dr Bigwood]

Hey all!
Wew have our Castine installed and I am very happy with it. I feel so fortunate for not using our natural gas furnace to heat our home. Its been fun building and maintaining fires. As soon as I trim the hearth I will post some pics of the install.
I'm curious about wood BTU'S. Does anyone know what kinds of wood burns hot. Seems like I remember reading something about this subject here a while back..? What are the prefered woods to burn? I have access to quite a few varities and think I could probably be selective about what wood I gather.

I have gained a lot of useful info from this post and am most appreciative!
Thanks for any advice!

Brian

PS. Pre-install pic here. Louie loves a fire!

 

[wg_bent]

All wood has roughly the same # of BTU's/lb. Some just burn faster than others, thus hotter. Your goal shouldn't really be the hottest burning wood, since you can probably over fire that stove with most woods, the better goal is to achieve alonger burn time.

In my opinion, one of my favorite woods to burn is Elm, since it burns fairly long, but with very little ash. Oak is really one of the best, as it is one of the most dense woods around.

Another thing to consider is what's available where you live. Where I live, Maple, Elm, Oak, Apple, Hickory, Ash, Locust, and just about all other hardwoods that are considered the ultimate for wood heating are available free. Just today, I picked up a pile of apple, hickory and ash. The guy next door to my parents (yes, the guy who's house just burned down!) has so much wood laying in his back yard it's just unbelievable. I'm guessing possibly 3 cords, and he's told my father to have me take all I want. (I guess the idea of burning wood is not very appealing to him these days, plus he has a Pellet stove)

If pine is what's available to you, then pine it is.

The bottom line is burn what heats your house. That's a nice looking stove, and it should do really well for you...good luck.

 

[Dr Bigwood]

Thanks for your input Warren. You make great point about over firing. Man, that sure is a bummer about your parents neighbor.
I hope every one made it out ok.
Here in south west Michigan we have plenty of hard woods and soft woods too. The majority of the wood I've been burning has been oak and maple. I like what you said about elm. Interesting. How does elm not ash when it burns? Have you ever burned willow? My neighbor fell a willow and has offered it to me. (He uses a gas insert)

 

[wg_bent]

Thanks for your input Warren. You make great point about over firing. Man, that sure is a bummer about your parents neighbor.
I hope every one made it out ok.
Here in south west Michigan we have plenty of hard woods and soft woods too. The majority of the wood I've been burning has been oak and maple. I like what you said about elm. Interesting. How does elm not ash when it burns? Have you ever burned willow? My neighbor fell a willow and has offered it to me. (He uses a gas insert)

On the parents neighbor...Yeah, every one was fine and the family apparently has 2 houses, so they have a place to stay.

On the elm: It's not that there is NO ash, just very little. Seems much less than almost all other woods. It just seems to burn more completely than most others, especially cherry. The other thing I've noticed about it is it forms these very dense little ash deposits that look almost like coal clinkers. Not quite, but similar. The deposits form directly in front of the stoves air input and will stick to the firebrick, then when I try to move them the brick breaks. Actually, this is a big pain since I have a lot of elm available to me free. Dutch Elm Disease has killed almost all elms around here in the past few years, so people want them taken down. The wood is a pain to split, but it burns very nice except for these "ash" deposits.

 

[Martin Strand III]

Here is a poem I came across in my files:

Beech wood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year.
Chestnuts only good, they say
If for long its laid away.
But ash wood new or ash wood old
Is fit for a queen with a crown of gold.
Birch and fir logs burn too fast,
Blaze up bright and do not last.
Is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould -
Een the very flames are cold;
But ash wood green and ash wood brown
Is fit for a queen with a golden crown.
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke.
Apple wood will scent your room
With an incense like perfume.
Oaken logs if dry and old
Keep away the winter cold.
But ash wood wet and ash wood dry
A king shall warm his slippers by.

Oak logs will warm you well,
If theyre warm and dry.
Larch logs of pine wood smell
But sparks will fly.
Beech logs for Christmas time;
Yew logs heat well.
Scotch logs its a crime
For anyone to sell.
Birch logs will burn too fast,
Chestnut scarce at all.
Hawthorn logs are good to last,
If cut in the fall.
Holly logs will burn like wax,
You should burn them green.
Elm logs like smouldering flax;
No flames to be seen.
Pear logs and apple logs,
They will scent your room.
Cherry logs across the dogs
Smell like flowers in bloom.
But ash logs all smooth and gray,
Burn them green or old,
Buy up all that come your way,
Theyre worth their weight in gold.

------------- From Tree farm by John Estabrook

Enjoy and stay warm.

Aye,
Marty

 

[wg_bent]

for Ash is but a gratious log
it's heat is warm and fit
it warms our house in snow or fog
and it's easy when you split

Oak is hard and warms our many floor
its heat does last all night
I'd like to have a cord or more
even like it does my wife

although elm burns so warm and long
you'll be come an alcoholic
cause try so many times to split
you'll be wishing for hydrolics

 

[Corie]

In my mind, all woodburners have sold their soul
My fuel of choice is anthracite coal
It burns long and warm with a red glow
I tend the stove once a day, because it burns so slow

Sure the fire might be hard to light
But it never gives up on me at night
There is no cat combustor to engage or replace
Only a nice black stove, and a nice warm place.

 

[Metal]

Check this out.

https://www.hearth.com/what/heatvalues.html

 

[bruce56bb]

hedge (osage orange) gets my vote.

 

[Roospike]

hedge (osage orange) gets my vote.

Never seem to find it on a list. Hot hedge , lots and lots of sparks.

 

[Mo Heat]

Mo burns his oak and hickory
It really is no mystery
Why Mo chose these to fuel his stove
They output heat in treasure troves

Mo loves his wood, it grows on trees
It's free to Mo, to birds, and bees
Wood carbon cycles neutrally
So harvest Earth's wood fruitfully

But Corie burns the Evil coal
For which he trades his mortal Soul
'Cause Corie pretty likely knows
Coal's carbon cycle really blows

It fouls the air we all must breathe
With sulfur, carbon, and benzene
He says convenience tips the scale
But acid rain burns Earth to Hell

--Just Funnin'

 

[ckr74]

I'm glad someone out there is using hedge besides me. It's the only thing I burn. Anyone else?

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

I love where this poem is going, im not that creative

My inlaws live in Kansas, and they burn hedge. I have never felt a more dense log then hedge. It also burns so hot it makes me nervous. Serious btu's in a small piece of hedge.

 

[Corey]

I'm glad someone out there is using hedge besides me. It's the only thing I burn. Anyone else?

Yep, that is what I burn when I can get my hands on it...which is most of the time. When it is listed on a BTU chart, it's usually 31-34 million BTU per cord with things like oaks, hicory and locust coming in a close second.

Corey

 

[elkimmeg]

I heard the stories mo and the wood man
The stories of brilliant flashes of light
as mo rationalizes the situations as only he can
Writing Blog’s for all to read has been a delight
It has been noted that mo’s woodman is a veteran horse trader
when confronted with the short chance, he acts like Darth Vader
Threw all of this Mo persevered
But once he became Moderator he almost disappeared

 

[Mo Heat]

But once he became Moderator he almost disappeared

Somebody misses little old Mo and his mental meanderings!? Aw, shucks...

Thanks elkimmeg. Seems I'm reading more than posting these days. The traffic here lately is astounding. Hard to keep up. Mo's longer works like the bLog won't even fit into these posts anymore. The limit is 6000 chars. Likely in response to Mo's previously more verbose writing style.

There is also STILL a bug in my forum display that is maddening to me. I can't tell what I've read and have not read so I do a lot of backtracking and time wasting. It really ticks me off. I need to get back over to the pMachine software help forum and see if I can sort it out with the 'experts' there. They cut off my posting priveleges there a while back (which also ticked me off), but later told Craig they'd give them back when he put in a good word for me. Only thing is, I never went back (I was ticked off, after all). May need to start that process again. I get distracted easily. Must be the meds.

For any who want MOre word waxing, I have a masterpiece poem spinning around at light speed in my tortured brain. If I can ever get an arm free from this damnable straight jacket and kick off my restraints, I'll post it.

 

[OldSnipe]

Try this BTU guide at http://www.burnsbest.com/Info/woodvalue.php Itshould give you some of the information you are looking for.

 

[Mo Heat]

There are a couple surprises for me.

Pleasant ones:

Dogwood (I lose about one of these a year, whoo-hoo! Good stuff.)
Black locust (I assume this is what I call Mesquite, being from texas. Anyone know? Same stuff?)
Magnolia (Pruned a bit of this from a yard tree last year here in St. Louis and was wondering about it.)
Live Oak (Wow! Great stuff. I'll have to tell my friends in Texas. Much better than the white and red oak, here.)

Disappointments:

Elm (Hard to believe it is that far down on the list as mine burns so slow and even.)
Red Cedar (Man, it burns so hot and fast, where's all the BTU's?)

 

[bruce56bb]

mo, here is a pic of a black locust. you EARN your money when you cut one of these up.

 

[Mo Heat]

mo, here is a pic of a black locust. you EARN your money when you cut one of these up.

That's the tree we have around here that I've been calling Yellow Locust (or Honey Locust). If that's Black Locust, then my Texas Mesquite theory is toast.

 

[bruce56bb]

not sure but i think the only differance between black and honey is the length of the thorns?

 

[Mo Heat]

I think I finally sorted this out...

Honey Locust = Mesquite (but not a true locust genus of Robinia. Mesquite = genus Prosopis)

Black Locust = Black Locust (is a true locust genus of Robinia)

Here's a couple links that make it clearer:

Mesquite Links:

http://www.bbqblanton.com/mesquitetree.htm
http://selectree.calpoly.edu/searchresults.lasso

Locust Link:

http://selectree.calpoly.edu/searchresults.lasso

 

[Mo Heat]

not sure but i think the only differance between black and honey is the length of the thorns?

Two TOTALLY different genera: Black locust is Robinia, and Honeylocust is Gleditsia.



http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=GLTR for USDA's take on honeylocust.

Thanks for 'clearing up' that there is yet another Honey Locust. I guess binomial nomenclature has communicative value, even though miles outside lay conversation past, present, and future.

 

[Henz]

now thats interesting., I was always told to never burn hemlock/pine in an indoor woodstove due to creosote buildup??

 

[begreen]

now thats interesting., I was always told to never burn hemlock/pine in an indoor woodstove due to creosote buildup??

All depends what neck of the woods one lives in. I have been burning hemlock now for about a month. Not my first choice, but it was free. Several years ago we had one blow down and I burned it most of the following winter. With good burning practices I haven't seen a lot more creosote buildup than other softwoods we burn. But less heat, yes.