What wood burns hottest?

[JeffHK454]

Home has the right answer it all depends. The charts that I have relied on for ages measure by the cubic foot not by the lb. Olive is the hottest wood that I have ever worked with and the heaviest. When it is dry it comes in at 7000 to 8500 lbs per cord. Once you get it going it is similar to coal. Open up the air drafts and watch every thing turn red. Thanks

A cord of seasoned wood that weighs 8,000lbs..no way.

 

[Wood Doctor]

You guys are likely going to scoff when I say that all dry wood releases about a million BTU's per 132 pounds, but I believe that is the case. However, the species vary substantially in density. The denser the wood, the more BTU's that a given volume will deliver and the less room that it takes up inside the stove or fireplace. Usually, the denser the wood, the slower that it burns because there is less air trapped inside. So, 132 lb of dry cottonwood will deliver as much heat as 132 lb of dry oak, mulberry, ash, hedge, or other hardwood goodies -- about a million BTU's.

Now I will start to duck as the raspberries and eggs are thrown.

 

[Adam08ski]

You guys are likely going to scoff when I say that all dry wood releases about a million BTU's per 132 pounds, but I believe that is the case. However, the species vary substantially in density. The denser the wood, the more BTU's that a given volume will deliver and the less room that it takes up inside the stove or fireplace. Usually, the denser the wood, the slower that it burns because there is less air trapped inside. So, 132 lb of dry cottonwood will deliver as much heat as 132 lb of dry oak, mulberry, ash, hedge, or other hardwood goodies -- about a million BTU's.

Now I will start to duck as the raspberries and eggs are thrown.

Physics would concur with your statement. It’s a logical one and the only one IMO [emoji106]

 

[JeffHK454]

You guys are likely going to scoff when I say that all dry wood releases about a million BTU's per 132 pounds, but I believe that is the case. However, the species vary substantially in density. The denser the wood, the more BTU's that a given volume will deliver and the less room that it takes up inside the stove or fireplace. Usually, the denser the wood, the slower that it burns because there is less air trapped inside. So, 132 lb of dry cottonwood will deliver as much heat as 132 lb of dry oak, mulberry, ash, hedge, or other hardwood goodies -- about a million BTU's.

Now I will start to duck as the raspberries and eggs are thrown.

Yep..so I guess the question is flawed?

It all puts out the same btu per pound of wood fiber.

 

[LondonNeil]

i think thats largely correct, except softwoods actually have a few more btus per kilo due to a higher resin content. anyway, temperature can still vary, if burn time varies also.

 

[Adam08ski]

i think thats largely correct, except softwoods actually have a few more btus per kilo due to a higher resin content. anyway, temperature can still vary, if burn time varies also.

So you are in theory saying the burner or stove will be hotter due to more heat being absorbed over a longer time due to the longer burn time. Oh what a serious debate

 

[LondonNeil]

not sure i follow you Adam. What I meant was, although a dense wood usually means a lot of energy, by hot I mean power, so I guess it equates to fast burning wood. The Yew was seriously hot burning despite the stove air being shut as much as possible....although it was a pretty windy evening and my chimney drafts well so that will have contributed to hot and fast, but some wood just burns fast and hot.

 

[Jeffkrib]

The energy content of wood, combustible fuel and food are all measured in a bomb calorimeter which is basically a double thermos flask with with a tiny chamber in the middle and a water jacket between the burn chamber and double vacuum chamber. the test piece (of known weight) has to be totally dried out in a vacuum oven, it’s then placed in the chamber. The chamber is filled with pure oxygen, sealed and ignited with an electric spark. The energy content is measured by measuring the change in water temperature.
This is the proper lab test conditions but I suspect in the real world the energy content of wood can vary quite a bit.

 

[crowbuster]

hedge has the edge

 

[Mad Professor]

Dry Black Locust, then hickory elm and hard maple.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

However I am certain that not all woods are created equal. Compare very dry Oak to Cedar. Cedar is so terrible at burning that some times you have to add good wood to cedar just to get rid of it in the burning process. There have been many times that I just split up a bunch of Cedar and put a sign with a arrow free wood. Eventually it disappears. Cedar makes the best wood for certain weathering conditions and last for years. You can make kindling out of cedar. but it just does not get hot. Thanks

 

[Cody]

All I really burn is bur oak, ash, and red (slippery) elm. To me, the ash burns hottest, but 2x as fast. Oak and elm seem to coal up about the same with oak lasting longer, and burning hotter. That's the thing though, with ash you don't get near the bed of coals as with oak, which is where the best heat comes from. On a side note, burning for the first time this fall tonight.

 

[Rangerbait]

I had some kind of ornamental Juniper tree in my yard that had almost cactus-like needles on it. Miserable PoS to work with, but it burned on the slash pile like it was soaked in gasoline! It was scary hot.

I did save a few rounds from the bottom section of the trunk, so it'll be interesting to see how it performs in the stove.

 

[OnTheRoad]

We don't have hop hornbeam so I can't speak to that one, but we have the other top wood in abundance. Assuming the wood is properly seasoned, the hottest by far is Hedge (Osage Orange), followed by Honey Locust, then a ways back is Oak and Cherry are about even. Ash is a ways back and anything farther down the food chain I don't mess with. Hedge burns blue hot.

 

[Adam08ski]

I’m signing out of this one.. I like chainsaws, I burn wood, I was crap at physics... [emoji23][emoji23]

 

[lone wolf]

Ther is a ton of btu charts all over the internet. But that is total btu output usually per pound of wood over a period of time or until the wood is gone. So one pound of oak might have a bit rating of 200,000btu per pound and take 3hrs to extract that, and a red pine might only have a btu of 150,000btu per pound and take 2hours to consume it.

That being said, the same red pine will achieve a hotter stove temp, but not last as long. So when you ask what wood is hotter, it’s a open ended question. Are you asking total btu or highest output temp?
For me, I’ll use pine and soft wood all day because It seams that it all I get, and save the oak and hickory for the overnight burn.


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Put a bunch pine in the stove open the draft till it roars and watch the heat come off that! Sure burns hot and fast.

 

[rmotoman]

Hedge by far. Have burned a lot of different kinds of wood.

 

[TeeMan]

1)Live oak
2)Pecan
3)Red oak.

 

[Jutt]

The hottest wood (hottest=most BTU per cu ft) I’ve ever burned were bone dry Ipe deck scraps. Took extremely hot coals to get it going while having around 9% MC.

Hottest wood I've burnt of any quanity is Honey Locust but I've never had any orange osage (would like to have a load)

Here’s the comparison between Ipe and the densest wood we can get domestically (Orange Osage) for reference:

 

[BusyBeaver]

I burn oaks, hickory, maple and dogwood. And by far dogwood puts out the most heat and for the longest time. It is hard as bone when it is dry. Good wood.