The AIE Firewood Burning Guide

• The quality of the following firewood is based upon various characteristics such as its speed of burn, heat given off, tendency to spark (spit), ease of splitting, time required to season, etc
• Grade: 1 = Poor.   Grade: 2 = Low.   Grade: 3 = Good.   Grade: 4 = High.

• Generally hardwoods are best for open fires because they tend not to spit excessively, however there are exceptions. Conifer wood tends to spit excessively when fresh, so is best used for sealed wood burning stoves, again there are exceptions. Many conifers also cause an oily, sticky 'soot' to form inside the chimney which can increase the risks of chimney fires. Once properly seasoned (see below) conifer wood can be successfully used on the open fire without excessive spitting. Ideally, conifer wood is best mixed with hardwood.
• Wood to be seasoned should be cut to length (300mm or 10"-18"), split to size and stacked. The stack should be completely covered on the top to prevent rain wetting the wood but air must be allowed to reach the sides of the stack. Leave to season for at least 1 year (more if possible).
• In simple terms, the word 'seasoned' means 'dry' and the term 'green' means 'freshly cut from living tree'.
• All wood will, when supported by lots of kindling and/or a good ember base, will burn unseasoned. However, you may find some woods are not worth using in this state due to the length of 'hissing' time (as the water boils from within the wood) before they can burn.

I welcome any further information you may have to offer regarding the burning of wood. If I have made a mistake or perhaps omitted something please send details.

Comments

I was scanning the site and came across your great little page on firewood. I wanted to make some comments. It's worth noting the better woods for use as kindling. Sweet Chestnut and Scots Pine, despite spitting and pine sooting the chimney, make the best kindle wood. Both dry out quickly and split well as does and Birch, which will kindle well even when green. A good log delivery should always contain a percentage of these woods for this purpose. I'm still not convinced that Poplar is ever a decent firewood. It burns slowly to produce a black choking smoke even when seasoned and requires skill to  use and assess requiring a lot of heat to burn.... I would grade it as 1.

Kind regards, Ron Howe.

Black locust (Robinia) is an excellent firewood - extremely dense yet fairly easy to split when green. Its only drawback is less-than soothing smoke odor (nothing extreme, mind you, but not nearly as pleasing as hickory or white oak). Due to the denseness, this tree's BTU output rivals or exceeds - depending on one's source - that of hickory and white oak.

Well-seasoned beech is a superb fuel for either hearth or stove, but, as mentioned, individual pieces can fairly well dog paddle in their own water after the tree is first felled. I left mine to dry in an outbuilding for two years, and it was nearly perfect for firewood after that long hiatus. Beech is instantly recognizable: its trunk and branches are covered by smooth, unfissured gray bark - like elephants' skin. And even though its BTU rating is high, beech is quite splittable, even when in trunk section form.

White ash (Ash) is the king of all hardwood. Easy to split, quick to cure, hot, extended heat and no sparking. Give me ash over firewood's other crown princes, oak and beech.

Never, ever try to split sweet gum, sycamore (may not be UK Sycamore)  or large sections of elm by hand. You will destroy your wrist bones and mall wedge - and the brutes will still be squatting there, grinning at you, and still entirely in one piece. They are demon tree species as far as hand splitting is concerned. Their wood fibres interlock and twist to form an almost unbreakable bond. Nonetheless, elm, once seasoned, is a dandy firewood. I've grilled many a steak in the forest over a glowing orange-red bed of
elm coals.

David G. Wrone, St. Louis, MO

A Popular Firewood "ditty".  [Source & Date unknown].

Logs to Burn,

Logs to burn,

Logs to burn,

Logs to save the coal a turn,

Here's a word to make you wise,

When you hear the woodman's cries.

Never heed his usual tale,

That he has good logs for sale,

But read these lines and really learn,

The proper kind of logs to burn.

Oak logs will warm you well,

If they're old and dry.

Larch logs of pine will smell,

But the sparks will fly.

Beech logs for Christmas time,

Yew logs heat well.

"Scotch" logs it is a crime,

For anyone to sell.

Birch logs will burn too fast,

Chestnut scarce at all.

Hawthorn logs are good to last,

If you cut them in the fall.

Holly logs will burn like wax,

You should burn them green,

Elm logs like smouldering flax,

No flame to be seen.

Pear logs and apple logs,

They will scent your room,

Cherry logs across the dogs,

Smell like flowers in bloom.

But ash logs,

all smooth and grey,

Burn them green or old;

Buy up all that come your way,

They're worth their weight in gold.

And another Old Woodburning Rhyme.  [Source & Date unknown].

Beechwood fires are bright and clear

If the logs are kept a year.

Chestnut's only good, they say,

If for long 'tis laid away.

But Ash new or Ash old

Is fit for a queen with crown of gold.

Birch and fir logs bum too fast

Blaze up bright and do not last.

It is by the Irish said

Hawthom bakes the sweetest bread.

Elm wood bums like churchyard mould,

E ' en the very flames are cold.

But Ash green or Ash brown

Is fit for a queen with golden crown.

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,

Fills your eyes and makes you choke.

Apple wood will scent your room

With an incense like perfume.

Oaken logs. if dry and old.

Keep away the winter's cold.

But Ash wet or Ash dry

A king shall warm his slippers by.

Anon.

And yet another Old Woodburning Rhyme!  [Source & Date unknown].

Oaken logs, if dry and old,
Keep away the winter's cold
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes, and makes you choke
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread -
Or so it is in Ireland said,
Applewood will scent the room,
Pearwood smells like flowers in bloom,
But Ashwood wet and Ashwood dry,
A King can warm his slippers by.

Beechwood logs burn bright and clear,
If the wood is kept a year
Store your Beech for Christmas-tide,
With new-cut holly laid aside
Chestnut's only good, they say
If for years it's stored away
Birch and Fir wood burn too fast,
Blaze too bright, and do not last
Flames from larch will shoot up high,
And dangerously the sparks will fly....
But Ashwood green,
And Ashwood brown
Are fit for Queen with golden crown.

• Link back to AIE Firewood.

© 2000 Chris Skellern. AIE.    Home  | News | A-Z Index  | Resources  |  Contact AIE  |  Terms of Use