Firewood - which wood is the best?

yes, I have several ideas.

Ash is one of the best for clean, long lasting heat. Birch will burn even when wet, so if you get stuck in the woods on a snowy day look for birch. I like to cook with fruit woods like apple or cherry, they add a nice scent and flavor to meat.

By the way, pine is one of the worst. It's only usable in well designed wood stoves that get very hot. Pine makes a lot of sticky creosote that can start chimney fires.

Pine is fast, but goes away quickly.

I don't think you've got any really good choices, so try the birch. Maple, oak, and other hardwoods are great, but you've got to use what you've got. Poplar is defined as a hardwood, but it really isn't very hard or dense.

Okay thank you - pine is out and birch is in. We don't have any ash, maple or oak here in this province that I could find, so I'll go with the birch. Thanks. In BC we always got alder which was great.

You've got to understand about Bob. He's British, so he gives an answer that is totally accurate, and completely uninformive.

It does not matter what kind of wood you burn: as long as it is really, truly seasoned. In the case of hardwoods, especially oak, they must be seasoned for over one full year! That means last year's wood - NOT this years wood! If you're wondering about which wood is really the best, or what causes the least creosote to build up, the answer is the same! Properly seasoned wood produces the most heat, and produces the least creosote! It's not the kind of wood you burn that makes the difference, but whether or not the wood is seasoned. Firewood that hasn't been split for over a year isn't worth a darn! On the other hand, dry well seasoned wood is just great! Seasoned wood burns hot and clean.

Poplars are not much good for anything else than burning. Birch is good. Yup, Pine's a bitch on the skin too but it's good in the old backyard fire pit. Smells nice though...
Are you buying cords? Lots of guys deliver in AB.

found this in a quick search

It does not matter what kind of wood you burn: as long as it is really, truly seasoned. In the case of hardwoods, especially oak, they must be seasoned for over one full year! That means last year's wood - NOT this years wood! If you're wondering about which wood is really the best, or which wood causes the least creosote to build up, the answer is the same! Properly seasoned wood produces the most heat, and produces the least creosote! It's not the kind of wood you burn that makes the difference, but whether or not the wood is seasoned. Firewood that hasn't been split for over a year isn't worth a darn! On the other hand, dry well seasoned wood is just great! Seasoned wood produces a lot of heat, and it burns clean!

Wow! That's sage advice you got there. Sounds vaguely familiar.

i would have seen he'd posted that, if he didn't have me on ignore


wait, what

wow, none of those are the best.Pine and spruce bang and pop and give off lotsa creosote. Poplar burns waay too fast . I like

1 HARD MAPLE(thats my favorite, it doesnt have the highest Btu but burns quietly and fragrantly and long)

2Oak/Hickory-highest BTU's per volume

3Cherry-fragrant and quiet. All the wood is predicated on what Bob sez about bein dry and seasoned

I use poplar (limewood, tupelo) for carving
Pine is good for kindling if its in small sticks and dry.

Im not too familar with birch except that its not a hardwood around here.

Are you using it in woodstoves or fireplaces?

What burns longer? A guitar or a banjo..

hotter?

dj: LOL!!!

Ceili - yes, I see they deliver but not the wood Dys and FM recommend... I will make sure I ask if it's seasoned one year but how can I tell if it is?

Dys - great advice! Thank you!! Age has its uses, doesn't it?

FM - thank you. I'm gonna have to go with Dys on this since I don't have any of those fancy woods here. Maybe I'll just burn my old deck in the fireplace - it's been seasoning for 22 yrs.

a nice Martin would burn reeeeaaal good.

We got quite a few old Gibsons in our house... hmmm...

Every time I've ordered they've either told me to wait before burning or if I paid the big bucks... lol, I could get the dry stuff. You don't want to burn green wood.
Most of the trees like maple or ash are only grown as ornamental stuff in AB. They only harvest the stuff that grows like weeds. I always bought birch. I don't have a fire here or I'd buy cedar. It smells great too.

i haven't seen cedar for sale. I'll make sure it's seasoned before buying any. In BC, it's almost always a yr old. And no to the green wood - I've burned some of that shite before (but not when I bought a cord)...