Btus per pound

[bsearcey]

I was looking at a Btu rating chart and started thinking about the Btus in 1 pound of wood. So I copied the chart into excel and did the math up. I was kind of surprised at the results. Osage Orange (32.9 million btus per cord) still stays on top with 6958 btus/lb, but a tree like Green Ash (19.9 million btus per cord) gives off 6909 btus/lb. So pound for pound they are close in value. Northern Red Oak (24 million btus per cord) one the other hand only has 6388 btus/lb. I've attached a list showing the sorted list by Btu/lb.

I guess in the grand scheme of things all we really care about is highest btu per cord or volume, but I thought it was interesting to see some of the lesser wood having greater Btu/lb than some of the better wood.

 

[Wood Scrounge]

the last couple of years I have been burning a greater variety of wood, this data shows what I was sort of thinking all woods put out close to the same amount of heat. Of course there are other factors that make one wood a better firewood then just POTENTIAL heat output.

Thanks for posting it.

 

[turnkey4099]

Yep, pound for pound a chunk of willow will produce jsut about the same btus as oak. In your example there is only about 600 btu dif between the best and worst you listed and that is pretty insignificant when talking in the 6-7000 btu range.

Harry K

 

[oneoldbanjo]

I had seen this earlier and it matches my experience. The more I have to grunt to pick the wood up....the longer it will last and the more heat it will put out (all properly seasoned of course). I have some Cedar that is horribly light weight and it burns really quickly - but it is the perfect wood to use when warmer weather gets here and the OWB is going to be in the smolder mode for a long period of time. The Cedar burns with very little ash - but when cold weather is here it just burns too quickly.

 

[redprospector]

I guess in the grand scheme of things all we really care about is highest btu per cord or volume, but I thought it was interesting to see some of the lesser wood having greater Btu/lb than some of the better wood.

Actually, in the grand scheme of things all I really care about is keeping enough wood (of any kind) dry & ready to keep my butt warm.
Of course that's easier to say when you live in the middle of a mixed connifer forest with very little hardwood available.

Andy

 

[Wood Doctor]

Now you know why I don't mind burning cottonwood now and then. If I need to get the house or cabin heated up in jiffy, I'll take 100 lb of cottonwood rather than 100 lb of oak any day to get the job done.

The Indians were no dopes when they used cottonwood to heat their teepees.

Applewood's heat density tends to amaze me. Gasp!

Yellow birch also has incredible bending strength. Some tables list it stronger in bending than oak. Ideal for shelving. Few people know about this.

 

[J.W Younger]

for me its all about how can I make this the easiest on me.Since it don't stay cold here for long periods the densest wood goes in when the temp drops and to get a 12 hr burn you need stuff that has weight.When its 20 deg and the winds blowing you wanna fill that sucker quick with good wood and get your ass somewhere warm.When it in the 40s you can mix and take a little time.
Now if I lived in Minn or somewhere it wood be a different story.

 

[computeruser]

Nice work!

 

[logbutcher]

Nice....much thanks for a thoughtful analysis.

Unfortunately, we gotta go with what brung ya. Most northern woodlands have limited species diversity--too bad since we need the BTU's from 'better' trees.
The Downeast coastal forests for example have a mature growth of spruce and fir softwoods with mixed Paper Birch, Red Maple, some Ashes, some Red Oaks, little Apple to burn. Our firewood is mostly Paper/White Birch and Red/Soft Maple since it is here, grows well in bony, low Ph soil.

Rhetorical: why do the warm areas (e.g. south of the M-D Line) have more species diversity ? Darwin ?

 

[Woodblocker55]

White oak dry will make a stove glow.. I think it depends where you live at -33f outside you need oak . Otherwise you'll be putting softwood in every 2 hours . If your heating only at say 20f it's a totally different ball game any wood will work .[emoji106]

Sent from my LGL84VL using Tapatalk

 

[SS396driver]

Like others have said at 35° its cottonwood and other lighter woods. I even burn dry pine. When it 4° its oaks and black locust. Pound for pound the btus are close with all woods . But I'd be hard pressed to get the same weight in soft woods in the stove as I do with oak .

 

[Marley5]

Doesn't make sense.

You'd need 3 wheelbarrow loads of pine to equal 1 wheelbarrow load of Oak in weight and Btu's produced......that makes sense. Lol

 

[SS396driver]

Doesn't make sense.

You'd need 3 wheelbarrow loads of pine to equal 1 wheelbarrow load of Oak in weight and Btu's produced......that makes sense. Lol

Yup it's all about weight . A cord of pine and a cord of black locust are equal in size but nowhere equal in weight. And BTU's are measured from a pure weight scale

 

[svk]

A pound of wood releases the same amount of BTU’s regardless of species.

The one number I wash was tracked for firewood but isn’t is burn rate and burn temp. A wood such as tamarack burns at a faster rate and puts our more heat, quicker than hardwoods.

 

[sb47]

Do those BTU charts consider forked wood or knotted wood witch we all know burn longer?
Does it also consider slow vs. fast grown wood?

 

[svk]

Do those BTU charts consider forked wood or knotted wood witch we all know burn longer?
Does it also consider slow vs. fast grown wood?

No, just an average sample.

Many folks say that elm is underrated on most charts as well.

 

[Johnny Yooper]

just came in from loading the OWB...….had quite a mix as seven different species went in tonight: spruce, soft maple, black ash, white ash, box elder, and topped off with some pieces of yellow birch and red oak since it's -6F now and probably be -12F by morning (we're heating the house, workshop, and domestic water). Couple of hours ago I made a fire in the free standing stove in the living room as well, and took some very dry red oak and bitternut hickory stacked in the garage...…..why, since I have the OWB???.....well......when it's around 0F or colder, we just like to have a fire and the kids like to sit by the stove, and I like to see the flames when I come in from outside which is a continuous reminder of being propane free for the 15th season. So back to the Btu topic...….although I didn't see the OP's chart, just for fun I'm gonna take a shot at rating the eight species I mentioned in order of increasing Btu's: spruce, box elder, soft maple, black ash, white ash, and as for the last three I think they rank close to each other, and based on handling the pieces tonight and noticing their size vs weight, it's a toss up.....yellow birch seemed a little heavier than the red oak which seemed on par with the hickory; just my observation. Good thing I didn't toss any ironwood in tonight; that's a whole 'nuther story