Wood for Burning

Is there a list of what the best types of wood to burn in an open fireplace?

TIA

Reply to
Benni
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In article , snipped-for-privacy@ruiund.com says... :) Is there a list of what the best types of wood to burn in an open fireplace? :) :) TIA :)

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Reply to
Lar

Any wood can be burned, but the hardwoods have better heat per pound. Yes, even pine can be burned, but you can get much more creosote buildup. It has to be burned hotter to avoid that.

Most of us are dependent on the type of wood indigenous to our area. I get lots of oak and maple, with a little hickory, tiny bit of birch. Most wood dealers give you no choice, or they charge much more for a specific type of wood.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

If you are planning to use wood for heat, forget about an open fireplace. They are a great invention for getting rid of wood but that's about all they are good for other than ambiance.

To heat with wood using a fireplace calls for an insert - a stove designed to be inserted into the fireplace opening.

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

i imagine there are plenty of lists giving you btu per cord, but in an open fireplace, there are more factors. burr oak, for example, is a high btu wood but doesn't burn with a cheery flame--i've had luck mixing some softer woods like pine or aspen with it. sugar maple (or hard maple) is the king of all woods imho. it is very dense yet burns brightly seemingly forever. pine will do ok in an open fireplace--especially the harder pines. i've never had a problem with creosote when burning pine. lots of soot, but not creosote. it needs a lot of air, and it won't produce coals (doesn't burn long). spruce pops and throws sparks like crazy, but in alaska, that's what they got. it depends on where you are. if you're in the pacific northwest, it'll be doug fir or alder if you're lucky. northeast or midwest, go for hard maple.

Reply to
marson

Thanks, thats what I was looking for.

Reply to
Benni

I used it all last year without putting on my furnace, toasty 74°

Reply to
Benni

I have here:

Maple Cherry Hemlock

Reply to
Benni

Most important that they be properly seasoned, as dry as possible, and split to appropriate range of sizes.

If you think you're heating the house with a fireplace, sorry, but it's _in_spite_of_. Or there's more you're not telling us. Almost certainly, you could be extracting much more heat from the wood. Enormously more.

J
Reply to
barry

I have read that hardwoods have better heat per volume, but that most woods are similar in heat per pound. Hardwood is just heavier.

Bob

Reply to
Bob

Its a 900sf rancher, My open fireplace works great..

Reply to
Benni

That is what I meant to say, Yes, you are correct. Hardwood is denser

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

If you stuff enough wood in there, you'll get some heat. What people are trying to tell you and you are denying is that the efficiency of a fireplace is quite low. When it comes to wood:

- Open fires (e.g. bonfire) are extremely inefficient.

- Open fireplaces are very inefficient.

- Closed fireplaces (not well sealed) are next.

- Properly sealed fireplaces and stoves are more efficient.

- Well-designed, sealed stoves used according to best practices are moderately to very efficient.

- Kachelovens are the most efficient and the best approach that of the most efficient petroleum-based (oil, natural gas etc) heaters.

Pellet stoves and similar wood or vegetable matter burning devices are somewhere in the middle of that list depending on their quality of manufacture and use.

Price increases as you go down the list. Fuel demand goes down accordingly.

As they say, a smart person gets heat from a good fire. A fool gets hot chopping a lot of wood.

Mike

Reply to
Michael Daly

Bob, Actually heating a 900 SQ ft ranch is pretty good with an open fireplace. Im not sure how you manage it. I tried it with a 1200 sq ft ranch and failed miserably but I had a prefab fireplace with loose fitting glass doors. Maybe your unit had a heatilator or similar blower that extracts the warm air? I decided to plug the fireplace with a chimney balloon and just get a power vent furnace. That suceeded in lowering my heating bill significantly. And I am not spending so much of my free time chopping and spliting. I still use the fireplace for ambiance occasionally but I dont expect much from it. German Jerry

Reply to
German Jerry

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