Alder Wood?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.

BillBurns

Feeling the Heat
Nov 11, 2022
413
PA
I picked u a load of what Im told is Alder. Its from my guy that makes custom trim work. He said its expensive wood, and hes not sure how it will burn. Anyone have experience with Alder? Good burning or not? Coals or ash? Burn times. I have yet to try it so far, but it looks like great wood, MC is 9%.
 
Alder is okay but BTU wise it’s down with Cottonwood and then below that is species like Sprice so pretty low. Good for shoulder season which likely you are in now in PA. That moisture at 9% is very dry.
 
Thanks for the info. It is very dry, all the wood from him is. It burns fast and hot, but you gotta be on top of it a lot. BUT, its free...........lol
 
Great for smoking, especially fish, when you don't want the heaviness of hickory.
 
The small rounds when dry are good for a quick hot fire that can get the cook stove top heated up fast. My neighbor gave me a bunch last year that he cut along the wetter edges of his field.
 
I burned a little of it, seems to be an OK wood. Not a lot of ash so far....thats a plus. Burns easy too.
 
Anything 9% is gonna go right up. That's basically match light! Probably won't burn long given the low density but free is free.
 
As others have said, it's a good smoking wood. Out west Traeger blends tons of it in their smoking pellets. Like if you buy a bag of "Apple Pellets" about 30% is Apple, the rest is Alder.
 
It's a common firewood in our region. We are surrounded by red alder. It has several redeeming qualities and splits easily. As a firewood, it's not bad, but that's in comparison to other local options which are big leaf maple, hemlock, fir, etc. If you have it, burn it. If I was back east I would keep it for quicker fires in the shoulder season and maybe for burning down coals. In the dead of winter though I would be burning oak, beech, hickory, etc.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BillBurns