My wood problem: How many cords of softwood = one cord of hardwood (approximately)??

[Swedishchef]

Hey guys

Last year I had purchased about 3.3 cords of seasoned hardwood (at a hefty price). For several reasons, I was unable to burn all winter and I now have 1 and 2/3 cords left. Last fall I also cut 4 cords of maple for the winter of 2011-2012 and just split it back in April.

Here's my problem: I need more wood for this upcoming winter. NOBODY around here has any seasoned hardwood. I am simply trying to get AHEAD of the game (which after this winter I will be)

Here are my options:

A friend has a cord of white birch, 2 years old and split fairly small (for kitchen stoves, lots of people around here still cook with them). I have several friends with cords of dry softwood such as fir and spruce.

In all fair practice, I would want to have 2 cords of hardwood, but I can't.

Including the cord of white birch, how many cords of softwood would I need extra to equal (approximately) 2 cords of yellow birch/maple in terms of BTUs? I don't want to run out of wood this upcoming winter!!

Thanks inadvance

Andrew

 

[bsig31r]

IMHO, I think that I read that all wood is the same BTU's if the total weight of the wood is the same. So 50 lbs of pine should put out the same BTU's as 50 lbs of oak. I am sure one of the experts will chime in and enlighten our path.

 

[Swedishchef]

Bsig

You are correct, that much I know. Pound per pound, wood gives off roughly the same amount of BTUs. The factor that changes is the density of the wood, hence why volume (a cord) is how wood is measured and not weight. Normally hardwood costs more due to the fact that it's more dense and gives off heat (burns) for a longer time accordingly.

I just need to figure out if I will have enough wood for the winter!



Andrew

 

[bsig31r]

Maybe this formula might help you out. 1 cord of live oak is equal to 36.6 MBTU's of heat. 1 cord of ponderosa pine is equal to 15.2 MBTU's of heat. So you need 2.4 cords of pine to equal 1 cord of oak. There are firewood BTU charts out on the web if you need the BTU's of another species. Hope that this helps.

 

[Battenkiller]

Conifers contain more BTUs per unit of mass because they contain higher amounts of pitch. Pitch has a lot more BTUs than wood fiber, so one ton of pine will have more heat energy than one ton of locust, but your interest is in how many BTU/cord, not BTU/ton. You'll need about 1 1/2 to 2 times as much pine or spruce by volume as you'd need with a good hardwood like yellow birch or hard maple. You'll be filling your stove 1 1/2 to 2 times as often as well.

Forget about live oak, never heard of anybody burning it for heat purposes. Maybe in the Deep South, because that's where it all grows. If I lived down there I'd burn southern yellow pine instead, it's all you'd ever need.

 

[Monkey Wrench]

Heres your chart.

(broken link removed to http://extension.missouri.edu/publications/DisplayPub.aspx?P=G5450)

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Hey guys

Last year I had purchased about 3.3 cords of seasoned hardwood (at a hefty price). For several reasons, I was unable to burn all winter and I now have 1 and 2/3 cords left. Last fall I also cut 4 cords of maple for the winter of 2011-2012 and just split it back in April.

Here's my problem: I need more wood for this upcoming winter. NOBODY around here has any seasoned hardwood. I am simply trying to get AHEAD of the game (which after this winter I will be)

Here are my options:

A friend has a cord of white birch, 2 years old and split fairly small (for kitchen stoves, lots of people around here still cook with them). I have several friends with cords of dry softwood such as fir and spruce.

In all fair practice, I would want to have 2 cords of hardwood, but I can't.

Including the cord of white birch, how many cords of softwood would I need extra to equal (approximately) 2 cords of yellow birch/maple in terms of BTUs? I don't want to run out of wood this upcoming winter!!

Thanks inadvance

Andrew

According to this chart http://firewoodresource.com/firewood-btu-ratings/ Douglas Fir has 26.5 BTU per cord and Northern Red Oak has only 24 BTU per cord, so if the Fir you have is Douglas Fir and the hardwood you burned was Red Oak, you should actually need less of the Fir. Acording to that chart anyway.

 

[BrotherBart]

That chart is weird. I have never seen Doug Fir listed over 18 million BTUs per cord.

 

[Swedishchef]

Thanks for the information guys

I don't mind loading the stove 1.5-2 times more often: I will burn my softwood when I am around the house and my hardwood for over nights/really cold days.

I didn't think Fir had soo much heat in it either.

AH well, I decided today that I am getting an extra 2.5 cords of softwood and 1 cord of white birch with some cherry mixed in. That is on top of the almost 2 cords of hardwood and the 1.5 cords of softwood I already have. That should certainly keep my house toasty warm this winter.

Andrew

 

[BrotherBart]

A couple cords of softwood, if it is good and dry, should get it done. The stuff will burn sooner than hardwood but there is an amazing difference when you give it a good long seasoning. Don't know why. There just is.

 

[Swedishchef]

What is this difference you speak of??

A

 

[Battenkiller]

The stuff will burn sooner than hardwood but there is an amazing difference when you give it a good long seasoning. Don't know why. There just is.

I just burned the last of a 50-60 year old shed that was mostly hemlock and white pine. It was cut back in the day when a 2x4 measured 2" x 4". A lot of it had rotted and was full of ants because the roof leaked, but I saved the best stuff from the inside for pit fires. We had a "meet the baby" party for my new grandson, so I piled it high. Big 2x4 and 2x6 slabs about 3' long. It burned hot and it burned long. There were still embers the next morning. For whatever the reason, long aging appears to improve the way softwood burns. I think it has something to do with all the pitch finally getting fully dry.

 

[gzecc]

Swed,
Get some wood now. Look around for ash or locust. If you can't find it, at least get some random hardwood for use for 2012 now!

 

[BrotherBart]

I think it has something to do with all the pitch finally getting fully dry.

That's what I think too. The stuff feels a lot more solid after a couple of years or so. The pine I have always burned was dead standing. Last year I cut a big live one to see what difference it will make. I will know next year when it is ready to burn.

 

[Battenkiller]

That chart is weird. I have never seen Doug Fir listed over 18 million BTUs per cord.

Yeah, I've seen that chart before and thought it must be off. However, I recently demoed several old wooden doors made of doug fir. All of the wood seemed pretty dense for doug fir, and a couple of the stiles were astoundingly heavy... almost like oak. I haven't handled tons of doug fir, but my guess is that it must vary a lot in density. If you were testing a log for BTU output and you happened to have the one that these doors were cut from, I'll bet your equipment would tell you it was up in the mid-20 million BTU/cord range. That's why I don't pay much attention to those heat output charts. Wood density varies a lot. Just burn the dang stuff and figure out if it kept you warm enough later, eh? ;-)

 

[oldspark]

That chart is weird. I have never seen Doug Fir listed over 18 million BTUs per cord.

Weird is not the word that come to mind with that chart.

 

[Todd]

Pine in northern latitudes and higher elevations are more dense than others. Maybe they picked some fir from a mountain range?

 

[oldspark]

Pine in northern latitudes and higher elevations are more dense than others. Maybe they picked some fir from a mountain range?

Not just the pine that is whacked there is several more that differ a lot from a dozen or so other charts plus the ones I have been reading for 30years.

 

[madrone]

The chart seems to be using it's own system of measuring BTU's, but I can assure you that Doug is about as perfect as firewood gets.

 

[Swedishchef]

Gzecc; I will be cutting some maple and hardwood this fall for 2012. 2011 is already taken care of. I have the "more wood the better" disease. There always seems to be a person looking for a cord of wood around the month of Feb-March. It's a sellers market then.

I love cutting wood, I just wanted to make sure I haD enough for this winter, which I believe I now will: 1 cord of white birch, almost 2 cords of maple and yellow birch, 3 cords of softwood. All for casual burning (morning and evening, not in the day since I work).

I also love the independance it creates from my utilities company. Allthough I can not complain; I pay $0.075 cents / KWh.

Andrew

 

[firefighterjake]

The stuff will burn sooner than hardwood but there is an amazing difference when you give it a good long seasoning. Don't know why. There just is.

I just burned the last of a 50-60 year old shed that was mostly hemlock and white pine. It was cut back in the day when a 2x4 measured 2" x 4". A lot of it had rotted and was full of ants because the roof leaked, but I saved the best stuff from the inside for pit fires. We had a "meet the baby" party for my new grandson, so I piled it high. Big 2x4 and 2x6 slabs about 3' long. It burned hot and it burned long. There were still embers the next morning. For whatever the reason, long aging appears to improve the way softwood burns. I think it has something to do with all the pitch finally getting fully dry.

You might be on to something there with the longer drying time . . . I split up some bucked eastern white pine that I had laying around for a number of years . . . several years in my pre-woodstove days I had taken down a large pine and tried to burn the large, unsplit wood in a fire . . . and it pretty much just charred the outside so I left the wood in a pile until my wife suggested I split the wood.

A few weeks back a friend burned some wood in my fire pit and he wanted to know what wood it was since it burned as if it was coated in diesel fuel -- black smoke and it burned intensely and for a long time. All I could think is that the pitch had condensed and dried up in the pine.

 

[firefighterjake]

Sounds like you have your answer SwedishChef . . . but for the record I've always gone on the rough assumption that softwood would be approximately half as dense as hardwood . . . and would have suggested getting twice the amount of softwood . . . looks like my estimates were off a bit though.

 

[Swedishchef]

Jake;

Thanks for the message.

I think I should be fine for next winter. And you can be CERTAIN that I won't EVER need to buy wood again. 4 cords of maple and 1 cord of spruce for next winter should hold me over.

I think that 2 cords of maple/yellow birch with 2 cord of white birch and 3 cords of softwood should be fine for this winter. THe hardwood will be for over night/long burns and the softwood will be for when I am around.

With a new kid on the way, I should be able to keep adding softwood to the stove during most of the night since I will help feeding him.

A.