Schooling myself...

[ElmBurner]

To me, I think burning wood with higher energy content and BTUs would benefit more in the cold season. I guess my point was, instead of having a mix of all different woods in a pile, I'd like to know what is what and have it semi-separated. I could burn pine/poplar/other softwoods when the temps weren't too cold. I could burn oak, ash, elm when I need those long-sustaining fires. I use an outdoor wood burner so I'm not really sure how much difference it really makes. I'm not as concerned with creosote buildup as someone who has an indoor woodstove or fireplace. I'm just looking for efficiency and the fact that I'd really like to be able to identify trees when I'm out cutting or if my son asks me what kind of tree this is. Plain & simple.

A few things...

All firewood has the same amount of BTUs / lb. So, assuming your firewood is dry, pick the heavy logs when it is cold.

Creosote comes from burning wet wood or keeping temps too low (a smoky fire, basically). This is inefficient.

But sure...there's value in identifying species, just for knowledge sake. Helps you when marking trees to cut too, so you can make sure you aren't cutting out all of a certain species. Always good to have a mix.

 

[VAfarmer38]

So you're saying poplar will heat just as long as oak?

 

[maple1]

So you're saying poplar will heat just as long as oak?

Where did he say that?

 

[Longstreet]

So you're saying poplar will heat just as long as oak?

He's saying 2000 lb of poplar will provide as many btus as 2000 lb of oak, which is true to my understanding. 2000 lb of poplar just takes up way more space.

I think pine provides more btus per lb than hardwoods due to the high amount of resins. Ask the pellet guys, they deal mainly in weight and not volume like us cord burners do. They prefer softwoods pellets I believe but I could be wrong.

 

[maple1]

I also think poplar has the highest wet vs. dry weight ratio I've seen. Stuff weighs a ton green but when it's dry it's pretty light.

 

[peakbagger]

All firewood has the same amount of BTUs / lb. So, assuming your firewood is dry, pick the heavy logs when it is cold.

Its sort of true, firewood dried to an equal moisture content is pretty much the same BTU content per round. On the other hand the density will vary greatly from species to species so a cord of poplar is going to weigh a lot less than a cord of oak as a cord is a measurement of volume. Most folks deal with wood by volume so they prefer handling denser woods. Most folks fill their stoves by volume so a denser wood is going to require less volume of wood per unit output of heat. Having denser wood means less volume to store and some types of wood are more prone to rotting in place. Its also what is available locally, I don't have Oak in my area so I burn mostly maple and white birch with some occasional Beech and Ash, I can get poplar and softwoods but to me its wasted effort, If poplar spruce and fir was what was growing nearby, I would hoard my hardwood for cold weather and happily burn the poplar, spruce and fir.

 

[billb3]

So you're saying poplar will heat just as long as oak?

by weight it should

 

[BoiledOver]

About pine giving more btu's than hardwoods per pound, I would suggest doing some research before accepting that information.

 

[Longstreet]

About pine giving more btu's than hardwoods per pound, I would suggest doing some research before accepting that information.

I agree, everyone should do their own research. It is a strange concept to have pine/softwoods be superior to hardwoods in one category. I only picked up on it from the pelletheads, who have the advantage of compressing all woods to a similar density - and many times favor softwoods because of the resins.

Just to get everyone started, here are a few sources that I have used for research. Take from them what you will, but as BoiledOver said, it's important to be an independent thinker.

University of Missouri.
Or others.
Why softwood pellets are favored over hardwood pellets.

 

[VAfarmer38]

I agree, everyone should do their own research. It is a strange concept to have pine/softwoods be superior to hardwoods in one category. I only picked up on it from the pelletheads, who have the advantage of compressing all woods to a similar density - and many times favor softwoods because of the resins.

Just to get everyone started, here are a few sources that I have used for research. Take from them what you will, but as BoiledOver said, it's important to be an independent thinker.

University of Missouri.
Or others.
Why softwood pellets are favored over hardwood pellets.

I don't deal with pellets so I'm guessing this is somewhat irrelevant to me.