Firewood: Best burning & Identification?

[ratski]

Not sure if this should be in preppers or general discussion, but I figured preppers corner would have more information.

I know some are fast burning, don't last very long and have to be replaced in the fireplace very often while others will burn forever.

So, what is the best to better woods to get for your home fireplace?

What if the easiest way to identify what you are getting? I've had one guy in the past tell me he was delivering Oak and tried to give me be cedar! Not gonna happen.

Dave

 

[dennishoddy]

OSU has a list of wood that breaks it down to the BTU values. I think Osage orange was the best and elm was the worst. Been awhile since I've seen the report so I stand to be corrected.

 

[adamsredlines]

Duraflame sucks

 

[Jeff405]

I know hardwoods such as oak burn long and hot, softwoods burn quick and easy. I have some Silver Maple from my own tree that I use to get a fire going and then switch to Oak that I got from a friend to finish. My regular old city slicker fireplace sucks though for heat, it's just for show unless you are right next to it.

 

[KOPBET]

I like hackberry.

 

[_CY_]

Firewood Ratings
Firewood Info Chart

based on data from: U.S. Forest Products Laboratory

(and numerous other sources)

Here is collected data from many reliable sources regarding important characteristics of firewood, to best decide which might be appropriate for burning in your woodstove or fireplace.

Species Relative
Heat Easy to
Burn Easy to
Split Heavy
Smoke
? Throw
Sparks
? General
Rating Aroma Weight of
Seasoned
Cord-lbs Heat
Producd
per Cord
M Btu
Hardwoods .
.
Black Ash Med Yes/Fair Yes No No/Few Excel Minim 2,992 19.1
White Ash High Yes/Fair Yes No No/Few Excel Minim 3,689 23.6
Red Oak High Yes/Poor No No No/Few Excel Fair 3,757 24.0
White Oak High Yes No No No Excel . 4,012 25.7
Beech High Yes/Poor Yes No No/Few Excel Minim 3,757 24.0
Blue Beech High Yes/Poor Yes No No/Few Excel Minim 3,890 26.8
.
White Birch Med Yes/Good Yes No No/Mod Excel Minim 3,179 20.3
Grey Birch Med Yes/Good Yes No No/Mod Poor Minim 3,179 20.3
YellowBirch High Yes/Good Yes No No/Mod Excel Minim 3,689 23.6
Paper Birch Med Yes/Good Yes No No/Mod Excel Minim 3,179 20.3
Black Birch High Yes/Good Yes No No/Mod Excel Minim 3,890 26.8
Hickory High Yes/Fair Bad No No/Mod Excel Good 4,327 27.7
HardMaple High Yes Bad No No Excel . . .
.
Pecan High Yes Yes No No Excel . . .
Dogwood High Yes Yes No No Excel . . .
Red or
Soft Maple Med Yes No No No Good . 2,924 18.7
Cherry Med Yes/Poor Yes No No/Few Good Excel 3,120 20.0
BlackCherry Med Yes/Poor Yes No No/Few Good Excel 2,880 19.9
Walnut Med Yes Yes No No Good . . .

http://mb-soft.com/juca/print/firewood.html
.

 

[HiredHand]

OSU has a list of wood that breaks it down to the BTU values. I think Osage orange was the best and elm was the worst. Been awhile since I've seen the report so I stand to be corrected.

Here's the reference material I believe you are thinking about. http://www.forestry.ok.gov/Websites/forestry/Images/Firewood - How to Obtain Measure and Burn.pdf

Found this particularly interesting. "Air dried wood will produce about 7000 BTU’s per pound regardless of the species."

 

[p238shooter]

My regular old city slicker fireplace sucks though for heat, it's just for show unless you are right next to it.

I had the same problem with our "showplace" fire place, you could sit on the ledge in front of it to feel the heat. Even with the built in blower system, it cooled the house down rather than heating it.

After the ice storm a few years back I purchased a "Great-wall-of-fire" grate and put in a 1/2 inch steel plate I purchased locally in the back with a couple tabs welded out to the front so it could not tip forward.

After our first half hour of fire, we started moving furniture back away from the fireplace, some of it was getting way too hot. The back plate and coals were radiating a lot of heat across the room. The internal blower output temperature was a little higher, but not much.

Granted the fire might not be quite as ascetic, more coals and less flame, but the heat is now exceptional in comparison to what we had before. We are very pleased with the results. I highly recommend it if you would like at least twice the heat. I have thought about a outside air intake, but have not gotten around to it, might be more trouble than it would be worth.

For wood, we had a very large pecan tree come down during that ice storm, still burning some of that wood for the great smell we occasionally get a little whiff of, mostly out of the chimney and back down into some of our cracks.

 

[Rod Snell]

"Found this particularly interesting. "Air dried wood will produce about 7000 BTU’s per pound regardless of the species." "

Using properly dried wood is critical. With a small Lopi stove, I can heat the whole house even with the inferior woods commonly available in SW OK, like elm and cottonwood, provided the wood is really dry and debarked. With damp or green wood, half the heat goes into drying the wood.

 

[Sanford]

Back when we used to harvest our own from downed timber we'd always look for blackjack oak first followed by nuts (black walnut, pecan, etc) and hackberry. Usually shied away from elm and cottonwood, though we'd actually burn pretty much anything that had been cured for a couple of seasons.