Eucalyptus... its' everywhere!

[Alexander L]

Everywhere around here... in Southern California.
Firewood sources near me usually have eucalyptus and pine. Often a mix of the two. I am wondering about burning eucalyptus vs other hard woods. Red oak/almond are a bit harder to find and more expensive... about $400/cord. Pine is 265-300/cord. For some reason, the mix of eucalyptus, pine, birch, oak, is $200/cord.

So, does eucalyptus burn similar to a hard wood such as red oak or almond? Is it bad stuff? There is a place I know of that has mountains of eucalyptus. Has been in the same spot selling mostly eucalyptus for many years. His property is nicely stacked with gobs of the stuff. Looks well seasoned (SoCal desert) and It is more affordable than red oak or almond. He is happy to crack a split so that I can get the moisture meter on it.

Excuse my noob-ness. I am pretty new to burning wood for heat, and have thus far only burned almond.
Thanks for any info/advice!

 

[begreen]

We have a big, sprawling eucalyptus and burn limb wood from pruning every few years. It burns ok. Some can be very hard to split, especially the limb wood. Eucalyptus is high in oil content so a little prudence needs to be exercised when burning, but it burns fine. In some parts of Australia this is all they burn.