Wood: The Alternative Energy Source of the Apocalypse
by C. Henry Martens
With the priority to survive and not freeze to death, you don’t want to waste your money or sweat on stocking up a large pile of wood that offers the least value in real terms. The factors in deciding what wood qualifies for your needs might follow:It has to burn.Must be available (or can be made so) in manageable pieces.Most heat for your effort.Everything else is subjective. Sparks, not around combustible materials. Smoke, not in a space with no way to vent it. Etc.
Some things to consider:
High output wood, 24K million BTUs per cord, are approximately equal to 200-250 gallons of fuel oil or 250-300 cubic feet of natural gas.
Green or dry? Green wood is harder to start, keep going, and makes more smoke and sparks, but it lasts longer. I like a mix and use both in the same fire once it is started with dry wood. Dry puts out more heat. Once you learn to stoke a fire in a stove properly, you will find out how to identify and mix moisture contents so the fire will last all night, or even a couple of days in the right kind of stove.
If you are going away and want some warmth or coals on your return, learn to stoke a fire to last over time. Learn to use the proper mix of green to dry wood for the space you are filling, as well as how to damp down the air so the fire will keep going but not burn all of your wood into ash.
A cord of wood is 4 by 4 by 8 feet. An eight foot pickup bed should be filled to heaping, well over the sides in the center. And keep in mind that a cord can be loosely stacked or tightly stacked. A loose cord is probably 20% less wood than a well stacked cord. Cut or buy lengths that fit your stove properly. If they are too long you will have to cut them, if too short you will have too much air in your stove.
Hardwoods generally have higher BTUs. They are usually heavier and also have less creosote than soft woods. They burn slower and produce little ash. There are exceptions. Walnut produces a lot of ash and not much heat from my experience. Pines and cedars start easily, so I like it for kindling. They also like to spark and pop, so I like them with a good fireplace screen for an attractive blaze on an evening with company over. That might not be a good idea if your company has PTSD from being in the ME.
My favorite hardwoods for heat are White Oak, Blue Beech, Black Birch, Bitternut Hickory, and Hard Maple. These will all burn a long time if properly stacked in your stove, or come close to turning your stove red with heat. You can use them exclusively, or along with softwoods. I stay away from Black Locust because it doesn’t start easily in large pieces and is death to a good edge on your axe. Shagbark Hickory is harder to split. Cottonwood is soft, but considered a hardwood. I wouldn’t use it unless desperate. It has little heat, lots of ash, and it is hard to split as the grain can go anywhere.
My choices for softwoods are… all of those that I have tried. We are speaking of conifers, evergreens. As long as they aren’t full of knots, they all split well, and start easily when dry. They put out some fierce heat if dry, and fireworks if green. I would not choose to use these woods exclusively, if possible.
Some people cure various things by smoking them. I have little experience with that so will decline most comments. I understand that fruitwoods and other scented woods are popular, though, so do some homework. I’m planning to learn eventually. I love smoked fish.
Moisture content affects results. Firewood should be well seasoned and dry for its optimum BTU rating. When you are hauling wood, dry will be much lighter than green. By weight, most woods pound for pound, produce similar BTUs. Firewood is easier to split while it is still green.
Wood Type
Heat Output
Ease to Burn
Ease to Split
Amount of Smoke
Sparks
MBTUs per Cord Rating Alder Medium Fair Yes Medium Yes 17.6 Fair Apple Medium No No Medium Few 17.6 Fair Ash Black Medium Yes Yes No No 19.1 Mil Excellent Ash Green High Yes Yes No No 20.0 Excellent Ash White High Yes Medium Np No 23.6 Excellent Aspen Low Yes Yes Medium No 14.5 Fair Basswood Low Yes Yes Medium No 12.6 Fair Beech High Yes Yes No No 21.8 Excellent Beech Blue High Yes Yes No No 26.8 Excellent Birch Black High Yes Yes No Medium
26.8 Excellent Birch Grey High Yes Yes No Medium
20.3 Good Birch Paper High Medium Medium Medium No 20.8 Fair Birch White High Medium Medium Medium Medium
20.3 Good Birch Yellow High Yes Yes No Medium
23.6 Excellent Box Elder Medium Medium No Medium No 18.3 Fair Buckeye Ohio Low Medium Medium No No 13.8 Fair Butternut Low Medium Yes Medium No 14.5 Fair Catalpa Low Medium No Medium No 15.5 Fair Cedar Eastern Red Medium Medium Medium Medium Yes 17.1 Fair Cedar Eastern Red Medium Yes Yes Medium Yes 17.5 Good Cedar Western Red
Medium Yes Yes Medium Yes 17.5 Good Cedar White Medium Yes Yes Medium Yes 17.5 Good Cherry Medium Yes Yes No No 18.5 Good Cherry Black Medium Yes Yes No No 18.6 Good Chestnut Low Yes Yes Medium Yes
Poor Coffeetree
Kentucky High Medium Medium No No 21.6 Good Cottonwood Low Yes Yes Medium No 12.2 Fair Cypress Medium Medium Yes Medium No
Fair Dogwood High Yes Yes No No 24.3 Excellent Elm American High Medium No Medium No 20.00 Fair Elm Red High Medium Yes Medium No 21.6 Good Elm Rock High Medium No Medium No 23.5 Good Elm Siberian High Medium No Medium No 20.9 Fair Fir Douglas High Yes Yes Yes Yes 21.4 Good Fir(s) True Low Medium Yes Medium No 19.5 Fair Gum Black Medium Medium No Medium No 18.1 Fair Gum Sweet Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium 18.7 Good Hackberry High Yes Yes No No 21.2 Excellent Hickory Bitternut High Yes Yes No No 26.7 Excellent Hickory Shagbark High Yes Medium No No 27.5 Excellent Ironwood
(Hornbeam) Very
High Yes No No Few 24.7 Excellent Juniper Medium Yes Yes Medium Yes
Good Larch Medium Yes Yes Medium Yes 20.8 Fair Locust Black Very
High Yes No No No 26.5 Fair Locust Honey High Yes Medium No No 25.8 Good Madrone High No No No No 30.0 Excellent Magnolia Medium Yes Yes No No 18.0 Fair Maple Hard High Yes Yes No No 29.7 Excellent Maple Soft Medium Yes Yes No No 19.1 Good Mesquite High Medium No Medium No
Good Mulberry High Yes Yes Medium No 25.8 Excellent Oak Live High Yes Yes No No 25.0 Excellent Oak Red High Yes Yes No No 21.7 Excellent Oak White High Yes Yes No No 26.5 Excellent Pecan High Yes Yes No No
Excellent Pine Eastern White Low Medium Yes Medium No 15.8 Fair Pine Pinyon Medium Yes Yes Medium Yes
Good Pine Ponderosa Low Medium Yes Medium No 17.0 Fair Pine Southern Yellow
High Yes Yes Yes Yes
Good Pine Sugar Low Medium Yes Medium No 15.8 Fair Pine Western White
Low Medium Yes Medium No 15.8 Fair Poplar Yellow Low Yes Yes Medium Yes 16.0 Poor Redwood Medium Medium Yes Medium No
Fair Spruce Low Yes Yes Medium Yes 15.9 Poor Sycamore Medium Medium No Medium No 18.5 Fair Tamarack Medium Yes Yes Medium Yes 20.8 Fair Walnut Medium Yes Yes No No 20.3 Fair Willow Low No Yes Fair Fair 14.5 Fair
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With the priority to survive and not freeze to death, you don’t want to waste your money or sweat on stocking up a large pile of wood that offers the least value in real terms. The factors in deciding what wood qualifies for your needs might follow:It has to burn.Must be available (or can be made so) in manageable pieces.Most heat for your effort.Everything else is subjective. Sparks, not around combustible materials. Smoke, not in a space with no way to vent it. Etc.
Some things to consider:
High output wood, 24K million BTUs per cord, are approximately equal to 200-250 gallons of fuel oil or 250-300 cubic feet of natural gas.
Green or dry? Green wood is harder to start, keep going, and makes more smoke and sparks, but it lasts longer. I like a mix and use both in the same fire once it is started with dry wood. Dry puts out more heat. Once you learn to stoke a fire in a stove properly, you will find out how to identify and mix moisture contents so the fire will last all night, or even a couple of days in the right kind of stove.
If you are going away and want some warmth or coals on your return, learn to stoke a fire to last over time. Learn to use the proper mix of green to dry wood for the space you are filling, as well as how to damp down the air so the fire will keep going but not burn all of your wood into ash.
A cord of wood is 4 by 4 by 8 feet. An eight foot pickup bed should be filled to heaping, well over the sides in the center. And keep in mind that a cord can be loosely stacked or tightly stacked. A loose cord is probably 20% less wood than a well stacked cord. Cut or buy lengths that fit your stove properly. If they are too long you will have to cut them, if too short you will have too much air in your stove.
Hardwoods generally have higher BTUs. They are usually heavier and also have less creosote than soft woods. They burn slower and produce little ash. There are exceptions. Walnut produces a lot of ash and not much heat from my experience. Pines and cedars start easily, so I like it for kindling. They also like to spark and pop, so I like them with a good fireplace screen for an attractive blaze on an evening with company over. That might not be a good idea if your company has PTSD from being in the ME.
My favorite hardwoods for heat are White Oak, Blue Beech, Black Birch, Bitternut Hickory, and Hard Maple. These will all burn a long time if properly stacked in your stove, or come close to turning your stove red with heat. You can use them exclusively, or along with softwoods. I stay away from Black Locust because it doesn’t start easily in large pieces and is death to a good edge on your axe. Shagbark Hickory is harder to split. Cottonwood is soft, but considered a hardwood. I wouldn’t use it unless desperate. It has little heat, lots of ash, and it is hard to split as the grain can go anywhere.
My choices for softwoods are… all of those that I have tried. We are speaking of conifers, evergreens. As long as they aren’t full of knots, they all split well, and start easily when dry. They put out some fierce heat if dry, and fireworks if green. I would not choose to use these woods exclusively, if possible.
Some people cure various things by smoking them. I have little experience with that so will decline most comments. I understand that fruitwoods and other scented woods are popular, though, so do some homework. I’m planning to learn eventually. I love smoked fish.
Moisture content affects results. Firewood should be well seasoned and dry for its optimum BTU rating. When you are hauling wood, dry will be much lighter than green. By weight, most woods pound for pound, produce similar BTUs. Firewood is easier to split while it is still green.
Wood Type
Heat Output
Ease to Burn
Ease to Split
Amount of Smoke
Sparks
MBTUs per Cord Rating Alder Medium Fair Yes Medium Yes 17.6 Fair Apple Medium No No Medium Few 17.6 Fair Ash Black Medium Yes Yes No No 19.1 Mil Excellent Ash Green High Yes Yes No No 20.0 Excellent Ash White High Yes Medium Np No 23.6 Excellent Aspen Low Yes Yes Medium No 14.5 Fair Basswood Low Yes Yes Medium No 12.6 Fair Beech High Yes Yes No No 21.8 Excellent Beech Blue High Yes Yes No No 26.8 Excellent Birch Black High Yes Yes No Medium
26.8 Excellent Birch Grey High Yes Yes No Medium
20.3 Good Birch Paper High Medium Medium Medium No 20.8 Fair Birch White High Medium Medium Medium Medium
20.3 Good Birch Yellow High Yes Yes No Medium
23.6 Excellent Box Elder Medium Medium No Medium No 18.3 Fair Buckeye Ohio Low Medium Medium No No 13.8 Fair Butternut Low Medium Yes Medium No 14.5 Fair Catalpa Low Medium No Medium No 15.5 Fair Cedar Eastern Red Medium Medium Medium Medium Yes 17.1 Fair Cedar Eastern Red Medium Yes Yes Medium Yes 17.5 Good Cedar Western Red
Medium Yes Yes Medium Yes 17.5 Good Cedar White Medium Yes Yes Medium Yes 17.5 Good Cherry Medium Yes Yes No No 18.5 Good Cherry Black Medium Yes Yes No No 18.6 Good Chestnut Low Yes Yes Medium Yes
Poor Coffeetree
Kentucky High Medium Medium No No 21.6 Good Cottonwood Low Yes Yes Medium No 12.2 Fair Cypress Medium Medium Yes Medium No
Fair Dogwood High Yes Yes No No 24.3 Excellent Elm American High Medium No Medium No 20.00 Fair Elm Red High Medium Yes Medium No 21.6 Good Elm Rock High Medium No Medium No 23.5 Good Elm Siberian High Medium No Medium No 20.9 Fair Fir Douglas High Yes Yes Yes Yes 21.4 Good Fir(s) True Low Medium Yes Medium No 19.5 Fair Gum Black Medium Medium No Medium No 18.1 Fair Gum Sweet Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium 18.7 Good Hackberry High Yes Yes No No 21.2 Excellent Hickory Bitternut High Yes Yes No No 26.7 Excellent Hickory Shagbark High Yes Medium No No 27.5 Excellent Ironwood
(Hornbeam) Very
High Yes No No Few 24.7 Excellent Juniper Medium Yes Yes Medium Yes
Good Larch Medium Yes Yes Medium Yes 20.8 Fair Locust Black Very
High Yes No No No 26.5 Fair Locust Honey High Yes Medium No No 25.8 Good Madrone High No No No No 30.0 Excellent Magnolia Medium Yes Yes No No 18.0 Fair Maple Hard High Yes Yes No No 29.7 Excellent Maple Soft Medium Yes Yes No No 19.1 Good Mesquite High Medium No Medium No
Good Mulberry High Yes Yes Medium No 25.8 Excellent Oak Live High Yes Yes No No 25.0 Excellent Oak Red High Yes Yes No No 21.7 Excellent Oak White High Yes Yes No No 26.5 Excellent Pecan High Yes Yes No No
Excellent Pine Eastern White Low Medium Yes Medium No 15.8 Fair Pine Pinyon Medium Yes Yes Medium Yes
Good Pine Ponderosa Low Medium Yes Medium No 17.0 Fair Pine Southern Yellow
High Yes Yes Yes Yes
Good Pine Sugar Low Medium Yes Medium No 15.8 Fair Pine Western White
Low Medium Yes Medium No 15.8 Fair Poplar Yellow Low Yes Yes Medium Yes 16.0 Poor Redwood Medium Medium Yes Medium No
Fair Spruce Low Yes Yes Medium Yes 15.9 Poor Sycamore Medium Medium No Medium No 18.5 Fair Tamarack Medium Yes Yes Medium Yes 20.8 Fair Walnut Medium Yes Yes No No 20.3 Fair Willow Low No Yes Fair Fair 14.5 Fair
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