Now one of the good things to know about firewood is how it is measured. This will help you gain a better understanding of what the charts are referring to and help you decide on which firewood to use. Normally it is measured by BTU's or British Thermal Units which is explained below.
BTUs, measure the heat of combustion. Even among the same species, different chunks of firewood are going to burn hotter than others, depending on how dry they are and the conditions under which they grew. These numbers are intended as a rough comparison. It’s good to know that moisture content is more important than tree species when planning for wood heat. Wood that has dried properly will almost always burn hotter than wood that still has moisture in it, because much of the heat energy is used to evaporate the remaining water. Try to stack your firewood about a year in advance so that it has time to completely dry. You’ll get more heat out of your investment if you do.
I know it seems like a hassle to collect your wood a year in advance but trust us it is well worth it.
Now just as we promised here are a couple of charts to help you along the way.
There you go I hope that this helps. Also, we have to thank our friends over at GoodsHomeDesign for putting together these helpful charts.
Seth Lowe
A good article , I found a good fireplace store has nicely catagorized types of wood for your area that tell you which type of wood is availabe for that area only and the BTU’s rating for each wood and length of burn , if it’s used as a whole log piece or split , and amount of ash produced for clean out .
For you, Carlene Gadapee.
Joel Ouellet, that black birch! Not anything in those woods putting off more btus then that.