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Mature Beech cut in November had 50%+ moisture content, but split quite well. In the past I have been disappointed with beech as a burner, but most of this experience was based on a rotten tree that fell (but was harvested immediately). I don't know whether rotten timber is generally less good, but am beginning to think it is.
Well seasoned leylandii is great for flames, but gives off poor heat.
Dry Ash is the very best
Logic tells me that an evergreen cut in Autumn would have highest level of sugars, whereas a deciduous tree would be pretty much the same whether cut in autumn or any time before it leafs up in the spring. Am I correct?
How long to season properly? Is one summer enough?
chris nangle said:
Simply put - All wood burns when dry.
The last 2 weeks my house has been heated by poplar and willow - both burn well and give good heat, last a good time and are fine... both are seasoned by 18 months.
Burning wood at more than 20% moisture will tar and damage your stove and chimney and also cut the heat output as much heat is wasted boiling off the water.
ALso the % water in fresh wood, is measured as a %age of the dry weight of the wood, so its possible for elm to be 140% moisture content, ie. for every KG of wood in a given sample, their is 1.4kg of water in it aswell... so 140% mc.
Again, for an ideal sample, less than 20% mc, what you are aiming for is for every KG of wood burned you will be boiling off 200g of water.
A good tip - Keep 3-5 days of wood in doors near the fire,,, by the time you come to burn you can often have the MC down to 5-10% and this significantly improves the efficiency of the stove, and reduced fuel use.
TO be blunt the links above, spout an awful lot of tosh/rubish/bull about different woods, all woods burn when dry.
A good indication of how much energy is in the wood, available to release when burnt is the density of the wood. Most woods will be between 300-500KG per cubic meter (solid).
Oak tends towards 450kg-600kg depending on tree site etc, poplar 350kg-400kg depending on species, so their is obviously much less difference than many would have you think. That said, poplar seems to be harder to season and re-absorb water if exposed to rain...
The following document is good reading, based on facts and not old folklore and hearsay as the above links are.
http://nuke.biomasstradecentres.eu/Portals/0/D2.1.1%20-%20WOOD%20FU...
Hardwood / softwood etc all makes little difference, density is key.
This is a useful little rhyme regarding firewood:
Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year
Chestnut only good they say
If for long it's 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 a crown of gold
Birch and Fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last
It is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread
Elmwood burns like churchyard mould
Even the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash 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 winters cold
But ash wet or ash dry
A king shall warm his slippers by.
Thanks Chris. As you point out there are a number of poems etc which purport to give such advice but I was looking for people to actually confirm, or otherwise, such received wisdom from their own experience.
Chris Auld said:
The only problem with that rhyme is its 100% a lie and totally wrong,
The only possible concession would be that ash Will burn when green, but would be a waste as you would get 1/3 of the heat due to the moisture it does contain, and would wreck your chimney!
we burn our oak off cuts ,and season for a summer when they are split down and stacked they come in fine and burn very hot,as David says they are very dense.
I burn all sorts of wood but save the best wood with the highest calorific value for when it is really cold. Softwood (if seasoned for long enough) is excellent at getting a fire going and to give off heat quickly as it burns so fast. When the house is up to temperature i switch to the hard woods as they are more dense and burn for longer. My favourites are beech, ash, birch, holly and hawthorn. Holly and hawthorn weigh a ton even when dry.
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