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Help Needed for the Big Green Idea

Firewood Guide
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tedm
Moderator / Ancient Yew


Joined: 17 May 2006
Posts: 945
Location: Carmarthenshire

Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 8:00 pm    Post subject: Firewood Guide

Alder: Poor heat output and short lasting. A low quality firewood. Produces nice charcoal that burn steady and is useful for homemade gunpowder.



Apple: Great fuel that bums slow and steady when dry, with little flame, sparking or spitting. It has a pleasing scent. It is easier to cut green. Great for cooking.



Ash: Considered one of the burning wood with steady flame and good heat output. It will bum when green, but not as well as when dry. Easy to saw and split.



Beech: Similar to ash, but only burns fair when green. If it has a fault, it may shoot embers out a long way. It is easy to chop.



Birch: This has good heat output but burns quickly. The smell is also pleasant. It will burn unseasoned. Can cause gum deposits in chimney if used a lot. Rolled up pitch from bark makes a good firestarter and can be peeled from trees without damaging them.



Blackthorn: Burns slowly, with lots of heat and little smoke.



Cedar: This is a great wood that puts out a lot of lasting of heat. It produces a small flame, a nice scent, and lots of crackle and pop. Great splitting wood. Best when dry but small pieces can be burned unseasoned. Good for cooking.



Cherry: A slow burning wood with good heat output. Has a nice sent. Should be seasoned well. Slow to start.



Chestnut: A mediocre fuel that produces a small flame and weak heat output. It also shoots out ambers.



Douglas Fir: A poor fuel that produces little flame or heat.



Elder: A mediocre fuel that burns quickly without much heat output and tends to have thick acrid smoke. The Hag Goddess is known to reside in the Elder tree and burning it invites death. Probably best avoided.



Elm: A variable fuel (Dutch elm disease) with a high water content (140%) that may smoke violently and should be dried for two years for best results. You may need faster burning wood to get elm going. A large log set on the fire before bed will burn till morn. Splitting can be difficult and should be done early on.



Eucalyptus: A fast burning wood with a pleasant smell and no spitting. It is full of sap and oils when fresh and can start a chimney fire if burned unseasoned. The stringy wood fiber may be hard to split and one option is to slice it into rings and allow to season and self split. The gum from the tree produces a fresh medicinal smell on burned which may not be the best for cooking with.



Hawthorn: Good firewood. Burns hot and slow. Traditionally gathered as bundles or 'faggots' for burning in winter.



Hazel: An excellent fast burning fuel but tends to burn up a bit faster than most other hard woods. Allow to season.



Holly: A good firewood that will burn when green, but best if dried a year. It is fast burning with a bright flame but little heat.



Hornbeam: Burns almost as good as beech with a hot slow burning fire.



Horse Chestnut: A low quality firewood with a good flame and heating power but spits a lot.



Laburnum: Completely poisonous tree with acrid smoke that taints food and is best never used.



Larch: Crackly, scented, and fairly good for heat. It needs to be seasoned well and forms an oily soot in chimneys.



Laurel: Produces a brilliant flame.


Lilac: Thinner branches make good kindling, whilst the thicker burn well with a clear flame and a very pleasant smell


Lime: A poor quality fuel with dull flame. Good for carving though! A bit of a waste to burn it.



Maple: A good firewood.



Oak: Oak has a sparse flame and the smoke is acrid if not seasoned for two years after WINTER FELLING. Summer felled Oak takes YEARS to season well. Dry old oak is excellent for heat, burning slowly and steadily until whole log collapses into cigar-like ash.



Pear: Burns with good heat, good scent and no spitting. Needs to be seasoned well.



Pine species generally: (Including the dreaded Leylandii) Bums with a splendid flame, but apt to spit. Needs to be seasoned well and is another oily soot in chimney wood. Smells great and its resinous wood makes great kindling. Best used on an outdoor fire in the cold evening of a day out in the garden!



Plane: Burns pleasantly, but is apt to throw sparks if very dry.



Plum: Wood provides good heat with a nice aromatic sent.



Poplar: A terrible fuel that doesn't burn well and produces a black choking smoke even when seasoned.



Rowan: A good firewood that burns hot and slow.



Rhododendron: Old thick and tough stems burn well.



Robinia (Acacia): Burns slowly, with good heat, but with acrid smoke. Not a problem in a stove!



Spruce: A poor firewood that burns too quickly and with too many sparks.



Sycamore: Burns with a good flame, with moderate heat. Useless green.



Sweet Chestnut: Burns when seasoned but tends to spits continuously and excessively.



Thorn: One of the best firewoods. Burns slowly, with great heat and little smoke.



Walnut: Low to good value to burning. It a nice aromatic scent.



Wellingtonia (Giant Sequoia): Poor for use as a firewood.



Willow: A poor fire wood that must be dry to use. Even when seasoned, it burns slowly, with little flame. Apt to spark.



Yew: This burns slowly, with fierce heat. The scent is pleasant. Another carving favorite.

(Thanks to John Burdis)
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Ted
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camillitech
Established Chestnut


Joined: 20 Apr 2007
Posts: 224
Location: raasay

Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 9:17 pm    Post subject:

great stuff guys and i'm looking for some advice am i better burning a limitless supply of well seasoned spruce or coppicing my own birch? cos despite doing both on and off for 18 years i can't make my mind up the spruce is much easier to deal with (it's straight allready cut and seasoned) the birch is again limitless but stunted and iregular, hard to cut and does leave a deposit in the chimeny any ideas chaps
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jswright
Ancient Yew


Joined: 09 Sep 2006
Posts: 731
Location: Puglia, Italia

Posted: Mon Nov 05, 2007 10:21 am    Post subject:

Can I add a couple?

Olive: Little smoke, throws out a huge amount of heat, and burns for ages. All in all, very good firewood. Also good for cooking with. Needs to be seasoned well (1 year)

Almond: Smokey, but burns well - slowly with good heat. Can be oily until dried out well (min 1 year)
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Burning Fat
Hazel Seedling


Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 5

Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2007 5:01 pm    Post subject: Burnig Bamboo

I have a large hardy giant bamboo growing in the garden which I have used in the past for building but has anyone tried to use bamboo in a woodburner? I have a load that has sat for the last 6 mths which I dont know what to do with.
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Kathy
Elm Sapling


Joined: 11 Dec 2007
Posts: 52
Location: France

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:52 pm    Post subject:

Hello,

How can I tell the difference between Chestnut and Sweet Chestnut?

We have some felled chestnut wood and I am now not sure how well it will burn once season.
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john burdis
Kind & Wise Woodsman/Ancient Yew


Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 646
Location: North Suffolk

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:57 pm    Post subject:

There's not much difference between them.
They both spit out lots of sparks and embers and both give medium heat.

If you're using an open fire use a spark guard, if you're using a stove just watch out when you open the door.

Either way use it up at the beginning or end of the 'cold season' when you don't want high levels of heat.
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Kathy
Elm Sapling


Joined: 11 Dec 2007
Posts: 52
Location: France

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 7:03 pm    Post subject:

Thanks for that speedy reply and for the tip about when to use it.

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Numpty
Hazel Seedling


Joined: 19 Dec 2007
Posts: 3

Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 11:00 am    Post subject: Re: Firewood Guide

tedm wrote:


...

Laurel: Produces a brilliant flame.

...

(Thanks to John Burdis)


A point to watch with Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) is that the wood contains Cyanide, not in the quantaties that are present in the leaf but care should be taken to burn only when well seasoned & prefrably in a closed fire with good draft... Not a wood for "Keeping In".
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MrRatty
Tech Admin & Wiki Master


Joined: 19 Nov 2006
Posts: 197
Location: Broadstone, Dorset

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 6:51 pm    Post subject:

Great information - I've added it to the wiki:

http://mrratty.wikidot.com/inebg-energy:firewood-guide
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Hairyloon
Ancient Yew


Joined: 18 May 2007
Posts: 3106
Location: From there to here & here to there. Funny things are everywhere.

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 9:41 pm    Post subject: Re: Firewood Guide

Numpty wrote:
A point to watch with Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus) is that the wood contains Cyanide, not in the quantaties that are present in the leaf but care should be taken to burn only when well seasoned & prefrably in a closed fire with good draft... Not a wood for "Keeping In".

Yes it does indeed contain cyanide, but is that advise based on anything other than paranoia?
We have loads of Laurel (as discussed elsewhere), and I can't think of anything much else to do with it but burn it.
The same concerns were raised that you have, and I went to some trouble to try to find out a definitive answer and failed.

I don't believe there is any significant risk unless you're prone to chewing on your firewood.
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KevB
Mature Oak


Joined: 21 Apr 2007
Posts: 469
Location: North Wales

Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2008 8:55 pm    Post subject:

A bit of an exotic species for us Brits but I've just started trying some of the ample pile of Ceanothus or California Lilac that I stacked when I cut down a giant specimen in my garden. It has only been drying for a few months but has split extensively and feels much lighter than when cut. It already burns well but quite quickly, with good heat and little spitting.
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AnnieR
Sycamore Standard


Joined: 11 May 2008
Posts: 71
Location: Surrey

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 2:37 pm    Post subject:

Ive got a lovley open fire grate, and a good supply of (unknown) wood,
but how do I go about setting and lighting the fire,
my few attempts so far have resulted in a poor fire, with little flame,
is there a guide on how to make one correctly?

Thanks, Annie.
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Ecocentric
Moderator / Ancient Yew


Joined: 10 Jul 2007
Posts: 2808
Location: Maes y Crugiau, Ceredigion - where peace reigns and so does precipitation.

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2008 8:31 pm    Post subject:

Have a look Here Annie You may have a different grate but principle is the same.

Hope you get things warmed up by Christmas. Let us know how you get on. After the Forum Move, I may move this as part of the Pre-Spring Clean
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licoricetwist
Hazel Seedling


Joined: 01 Jan 2009
Posts: 9
Location: Suffolk

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 3:08 pm    Post subject: RE: Firewood Guide

To add, from my own experience:

Gorse - seasoned, it burns well and slowly, ignites more easily than oak, good heat. Doesn't leave much ash. (We live near a manged Heath, and so there is quite a bit of cut gorse lying around. Leather gloves are useful when gathering/cutting.)

Amelanchier - very wet when fresh but dries well. Burns slow and bright. (It's a shrub, but the one in our garden is big as a tree, and we've cut long branches/stems about 6" diam.


~ Chris
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Ecocentric
Moderator / Ancient Yew


Joined: 10 Jul 2007
Posts: 2808
Location: Maes y Crugiau, Ceredigion - where peace reigns and so does precipitation.

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 4:20 pm    Post subject:

Hi licoricetwist and welcome to the warm side of the F'rum

Thanks for those contributions. We have the odd gorse thicket or twelve around here some of which needs whittling. I knew the dried tops burned fiercely but it's good to know the thicker bits are also useful. Yeah, handling is not for the faint-hearted...
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