firewood

[foxnet22]

with the temperature dropping a bit just loaded the stove up with firewood .I'm wondering what wood gives off the best heat heard hawthorn is a good one ?.

 

Edited January 24, 2021 by foxnet22

[Duckandswing]

I would say ash would be my go to wood. Nice flame and good heat and doesn’t burn too quickly. Oak is good for a slow burn but small flame. Birch and lark are also good but burn super quickly.

 

 

[yates]

Beech and birch are favourites. Need to be less than 16% moisture to be most efficient 

[Benthejockey]

Weve got a shed full of Ash and poplar with a few little bits and pieces of oak, hawthorn and blackthorn. I was dubious about the poplar but we had 3 huge trees taken down so had no choice but to use it. There was probably 10 ton of dried poplar and 5 of Ash. 

Once split and in the shed, poplar dries in weeks but its not dense at all. But the lack of density makes it very good for starting a fire. A log burner full of poplar logs and a firelighter and off it goes. They burn quick and hot but don't kick out much heat. And I wouldn't even consider trying to burn it wet it oozes moisture when its fresh. Ash is great, it'll burn when its green and give off a nice bit of heat but when its seasoned its really good and whacks out a lot of heat. I can load up the log burner at night and lock it down and it'll stay in all night. 

[JohnfromUK]

The Firewood Poem:

By Lady Celia Congreve
Published in the Times: March 2nd 1930

Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year.
Chestnut’s only good they say,
If for logs ’tis laid  away.

Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be.
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold

Birch and fir logs burn too fast,
Blaze bright and do not last.
It is by the Irish said,
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.

Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E’en the very flames are cold.
But ash green or ash brown,
Is fit for a queen with golden crown

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke.
Apple wood will scent your room,
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom.

Oaken logs, if dry and old,
Keep away the winter’s cold.
But ash wet or ash dry,
A king shall warm his slippers by.

 

[gmm243]

I burn a lot of beech and oak in my stove.Have also had well dried poplar and can only repeat what has been stated above.

I find that any damp wood makes the glass front of the stove very dirty whereas good  dry wood leaves the glass only slightly smoked.

We had a big beech fall last year,have been taking little bits off it but on Fri it got a good seeing too.Now only have to split it and bring in to the sheds.Thanksfully we prob have about 6t of mixed ash,beech and oak at various stages of dryness already in.

I am getting told that my photos are too big to post so this is one off my sons phone but only shows about a third of the tree and what has been cut.

The butt is about 4'  across,was very tempted to take a shallow round off it to dry,polish  and oil to make a table top.

[strimmer_13]

Ash. 

[walshie]

Any wood you can get for free.

[mel b3]

14 minutes ago, walshie said:

Any wood you can get for free.

This 😊.

[db135]

Just now, db135 said:

A friend had a tree taken down in his garden said I could have as much as I could take for free 😀

[ditchman]

they call dried oak ...white coal

[Jim Neal]

Yep oak if you're lucky enough to get your hands on it, wonderful when seasoned a couple of years.  But realistically, ash if in plentiful supply you can literally chop it down and chuck it straight on the fire and it still kicks out massive heat and is pretty long lasting.  Gets you out of a hole if you're short of logs.  Let the ash season a year and you're in even better shape.  I love the smell of ash burning.

If you've got access to woodland where ash is in abundance, especially if it's suffering die-back, the landowner shouldn't mind at all if you ask to tidy up the self-set poles from round the woodland edges.  I cut loads of between 1" and 3"and put them through the chop-saw, a very quick and easy way of getting your fire started without using pine kindling, just chuck a layer of 1" bits on the grate with a couple of firelighters amongst them, some thicker bits on top and off you go.  Also very good chiminea fuel as well!

Beech is great to burn too, loads of heat, but you need to season it well, a good 18 months or more I'd say.  Love the smell of beech on the fire too. 

I got given a small trailer full of logs a few years back by some mates who'd sorted out a fallen tree for a neighbour.  By god did it stink when burned, smelled like when you leave a damp cloth somewhere for days and then can't get that stinky smell off your hands after you pick it up!  Naff heat off it too.  I thought it looked like a bit too gnarly a trunk for elm, very pale wood, might have been a horse chestnut.  I don't know but I don't want any more of it!  It used to almost damp down the fire if I added it to already burning beech & ash.

I'd steer clear of softwoods, or if you must mix them in one log for every 5 or 6 of hardwood.

[team tractor]

I fill 2 wheelie bins a week with kiln dried oak , mahogany, pine . 
I wish I had a wood burner 😢

[Zapp]

Another vote for well seasoned oak if you can get it.  

I heated my home with wood for years using whatever was free and found only horse chestnut and elm to be fine as long as it is well seasoned and you have an enclosed stove.

The last couple of years I did it I burnt almost exclusively crack willow and whilst it burnt fairly quickly it heated the house nicely.  Funny smell though, once I've used it you can tell it instantly.

[TIGHTCHOKE]

7 minutes ago, team tractor said:

I fill 2 wheelie bins a week with kiln dried oak , mahogany, pine . 
I wish I had a wood burner 😢

So why don't you?

[mel b3]

1 hour ago, Zapp said:

Another vote for well seasoned oak if you can get it.  

I heated my home with wood for years using whatever was free and found only horse chestnut and elm to be fine as long as it is well seasoned and you have an enclosed stove.

The last couple of years I did it I burnt almost exclusively crack willow and whilst it burnt fairly quickly it heated the house nicely.  Funny smell though, once you've used it you can tell it instantly.

I burned crack willow for two winters , I thought it was a brilliant burning wood.

[lampro]

I crowned our big apple tree last year and it burns great and smells good too

[team tractor]

2 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

So why don't you?

Smokeless zones around here and no where to fit one at home . 

[Bigbob]

I get any amount from landscape at work for my sons wood burner cut to size dropped in a Makro 14 piece chocolate gateau every time  after we loaded up both trucks then they said dont bother the next time your the only person that gives us stuff ?. 

[ShootingEgg]

4 hours ago, team tractor said:

I fill 2 wheelie bins a week with kiln dried oak , mahogany, pine . 
I wish I had a wood burner 😢

I have one, feel free to bring some down when you're allowed haha 

[Ultrastu]

Don't burn green tanalised  timber in your house .its treated with arsenic  which can be released  into your house  

Edited January 25, 2021 by Ultrastu

[strimmer_13]

13 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

Don't burn green tanalised  timber in your house .its treated with arsenic  which can be released  into your house  

Remember working the treatment tank in the sawmills I was at for years and reading the tubs that we were emptying in the reserve, 'this will give you cancer, contains trace amounts of arsenic'. Complained to the boss who eventually gave us some gloves. He'd say his **** was stronger than the mix. 

[Ultrastu]

Often  the label stapled to the side of timber says dont burn as it contains  arsenic 

[figgy]

If I had a choice it would be Hawthorne over everything else.

Dense burns well when seasoned with nice flame and good hot coals, lasts a good while too.

Ash is popular and burns well.

Holly is hot and bright, great if you can get some good size logs. 

Oak is good to mix with other wood on your fire or stove, something for flame and oak for the coals.

Nath do you sell the wood ? 

If not you should.

Edited January 25, 2021 by figgy

[Walker570]

I hauled 29 loads of oak out from a farm this year and have it split and stacked under cover and with what I already had I think I have five to six winters warmth.  I have burned many different woods but ash and oak throw the best heat. Henry V111 I think it was who said ash would warm theheart of the coldest woman and he had a few.

The trick is that all you burn should have stood under cover but able to breath for a good two years from cutting and the lowest layers above the ground.