Firewood quality and BTU chart

[Hoplite]

For those who heat with wood (or would like to) this chart may be useful:
http://thelograck.com/firewood_rating_chart.html
The chart rates BTU output from various woods, and rates other qualities such as smoke and ease of spliting.

[George the original one]

Yes, have seen similar charts. thelograck.com rates alder lower than western red & white cedar... I'd flip that around, at least for the native red alder we have in the Pacific Northwest. Heck, that chart says alder sparks and I KNOW red alder doesn't spark! Surplus cedar shingles do make for wonderful kindling, though.
Otherwise, I didn't see any discrepancies compared to other charts.

[JohnnyH]

I live in the Rockies and have basically none of these high energy hardwoods. :_c
However, even cottonwood (lowest BTU on the chart) has kept me warm for many winters.

[Hoplite]

The chart would only help if you have a choice. The few times I've had woodburning capacity, there really wasn't any.
The chart also doesn't rate my favorite fuel--junk mail and old files. Those produce a warmth that can't be measured in BTUs, and the sparking is a bonus, like a free light show

[Riggerjack]

I've cut and burned wood for heat on and off my whole life. The general rule I've always followed was the dry weight pretty closely matches BTU density. Since wood is measured by volume, heavier woods are usually the better deal if you are buying, and western cedar should only be used for kindling. It's too spendy by the BTU, and pops too much, but splits nicely, and Burns fast.

Here in the PNW, madrona is about as good as it gets, but it's mainly a coastal wood. That makes it hard to get.

[RichinIL]

I'm not sure how the study was done. If you don't handle/store some woods properly immediately after felling they decompose rapidly (e.g. basswood). I'd guess that the values for basswood and cottonwood are for punky wood that sat wet in its bark before drying. I'd say that for sound wood they're comparable to box elder which isn't as good as cherry which isn't good as oak which isn't as good as hickory which isn't as good as Osage Orange (aka: Hedge, aka: Bois D'arc, aka: Bodark). Maybe stay away from cottonwood--it can smell bad/sour when it burns. For smell opt for cherry. Osage Orange is best if somebody else cuts it (too many thorns and very hard) and you're careful not to over fire your stove.

[Scottosphere]

For the sake of anyone looking up firewood on the forum, reconsider wood-burning:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17127644
http://www.epa.gov/burnwise/pdfs/woodsm ... _jan07.pdf

And if you reflexively object, read this before making your final decision:
http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the- ... e-delusion

Highlight from the third link: "There is no amount of wood smoke that is good to breathe. It is at least as bad for you as cigarette smoke, and probably much worse. (One study found it to be 30 times more potent a carcinogen.) The smoke from an ordinary wood fire contains hundreds of compounds known to be carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, and irritating to the respiratory system. Most of the particles generated by burning wood are smaller than one micron—a size believed to be most damaging to our lungs."