Been burning pretty much all softwoods since I installed my insert. Hardwood is pretty tough to come by here unless you can scrounge it from town or buy it. So it's been about 90% pine, 10% W-fir, and 10% D-fir. I have been chasing the elusive 12 hour burn since I put it in. Especially with the pine I can't pack the stove or it wants to take off and overfire so I have been getting 3-4 hour burns, 5 tops and waking up to a 200 degree stove every morning. Friend of mine just gave me about 1/2 truck load of good dry scrub oak he brought back from Utah. I put 2 4" rounds and 2 splits in last night (nowhere near packed the stove). 1st I am amazed at the smoldering capacity of this wood. Usually if I damper down pine to quick I get smoke. This stuff almost looked like it was going to go out but kept a few lazy flames now and again and never any smoke from the chimney. The stove rose to about 550 and stayed there. So here I am 8 hours later and there are still 2 well defined rounds in there (all coaled though) and the stove is at 400 and holding. Think I will treat the rest of the oak I have like gold and ration it out for only the night burns from now on. Should have enough to get me through January. I have always been adverse to buying wood but I'm thinking I need to find a source to get at least a cord of good hardwood even if I have to pay for it. Loving this stuff!
WOW! The wonderful world of oak
- Thread starter rwhite
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All I've got is oak; it is great, but remember that it needs to be seasoned much longer than pine.
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The stuff I got seems seasoned very well. I have enough maple for next year to cover the hardwood but figured if I bought the oak this year I could get ahead and have it ready to go by 2013. The maple I scrounged is still green and not ready to use so this oak is all I have for hardwood until next year.
rwhite said:
Your description of its "smoldering capacity" makes me think it isnt seasoned very well. Good dry oak burns good and active for a longer time as it is denser. You should see minimal coaling as well (I normally have just enough to push forward in the morning to ignite my first morning fire)....it almost sounded like you rounds were still intact coaled rounds? If thats the case, the wood is way under seasoned and you will clogging your chimney in no time. I may have misunderstood, but I would hold on to that till next season and really be amazed at what it can do.
Yep.
Weigh out a load of oak and a similar size load of pine.
Then figure 7000 btu's for each pound.
You probably have twice the available btu's with the oak for the same size load of pine.
Even if both are somewhat unseasoned the btu's are there..but you will be using a lot of that heat just to turn the excess water into steam.
Weigh out a load of oak and a similar size load of pine.
Then figure 7000 btu's for each pound.
You probably have twice the available btu's with the oak for the same size load of pine.
Even if both are somewhat unseasoned the btu's are there..but you will be using a lot of that heat just to turn the excess water into steam.
mikepinto65 said:
Nah, this is seasoned. No smoke from it at all, and a fresh split didn't register on the ohm meter. By smoldering capacity I was comparing to my pine (which is also seasoned) but is more touchy in that there is a fine line between raging and smoking. This oak was able to sustain a good deal of heat on minimal flame.
rwhite, you just found why so many love oak. Those who do not like oak are those who just will not or can not give it the proper amount of drying time.
curber
Feeling the Heat
MrWhoopee
Minister of Fire
I also conserve my oak for those long overnite burns and use the softwoods for the day when I'm up and about and can tolerate the shorter burns. If I had my 'druthers, I would have almond wood. Better than oak and they actually grow the stuff in large well tended "woodlots". ;-) Here in Calfornia, they never replant the oaks. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get a permit to cut almond. :lol:
You should put more emphasis on getting Doug fir if you can, higher BTUs and longer burns. I've just finished my first cord of lodgepole pine, which I like, and shifted to DF. There is a noticeable difference.
You should put more emphasis on getting Doug fir if you can, higher BTUs and longer burns. I've just finished my first cord of lodgepole pine, which I like, and shifted to DF. There is a noticeable difference.
curber said:
Payette. Boise craigslist usually has some adds for alot of different hardwoods but I have never found any at any of the places I cut.
Payette. Boise craigslist usually has some adds for alot of different hardwoods but I have never found any at any of the places I cut.
I pretty much cut whatever I can find. When wood season starts here it can be tough to outrun the commercial cutters and get accessible dead trees. I hunt up at Stanley Id so there is a whole forest of bug kill pine. I just haul a load back everytime I go. I do like D-fir though. I put W-fir and pine pretty close. To far south for any tamarack or hemlock.
At 10 hours the stove temp dropped below 300 and I reloaded.
Oak is great burning wood, but it takes way too long to season (IMO) and, since I don't burn 24/7, I prefer Maple over all other species of wood. It splits well, dries pretty fast and burns great without sparking much. The bark also falls off after the wood shrinks a bit which I like since I knock the bark off my splits before brushing them off and bringing them in the house to the ring next to the stove. I don't like bringing in bugs and bark traps moisture. But, if we get many more days like today in the NE, I won't be burning much of anything. It felt like Spring outside today. A nice break from Winter!
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