Northern CA firewood question

[moosedog]

I'm a transplanted New Englander living in the mountains of Northern California. I've burned wood my whole life - but back east there is so much good hardwood I never even looked at the conifers. Now that I'm out here I'm trying to figure out what to burn. The general consensus is that lodge pole pine is the best - but nobody seems to know much beyond that. I was hoping someone out there would be able to share some pros and cons of the various evergreen trees out here in the Sierras.

 

[ShoerFast]

Welcome to the site!

Douglas Fir compares with hardwoods like American Elm for heat, but easier to split. Good firewood if it's in your area?

 

[moosedog]

Thanks Shoerfast - that's the kind of info I was looking for. Thanks for the pictures too.

 

[OnlyHomelites]

I'm north of you a bit (near Medford) and there's a good variety of stuff to cut. Madrone, oak, doug fir, lodge pole & ponderosa pine...personally the only wood I really stay awy from is cottonwood. The stuff is just so much work for so little heat. The pine will burn fine, but it pays to have it mixed with something that will burn a bit longer. As the other gentleman said, the doug fir is a great compromise.

 

[streeter]

I'm a transplanted New Englander living in the mountains of Northern California. I've burned wood my whole life - but back east there is so much good hardwood I never even looked at the conifers. Now that I'm out here I'm trying to figure out what to burn. The general consensus is that lodge pole pine is the best - but nobody seems to know much beyond that. I was hoping someone out there would be able to share some pros and cons of the various evergreen trees out here in the Sierras.

Moosedog....You like I am......a Easterner try to figure out what burns out west!

Best thing I can say is talk to people that have smoke coming out of there house and then take it with a grain of salt. I am still trying to figure out my area after 3 years. I grabbed a boat load of pine, who cares it burns. It looks like that is my average wood and maybe mesquite and a rare eucalyptus tree.

 

[moosedog]

Yeah firewood seems a totally different animal out here. I've got some Lodge pole and some Doug fir, as well as a bit of oak I've managed to scrape up here and there - and well, we'll see how it goes this winter. Will I have enough, or will the softwoods all burn too fast? How will my chimney look in the spring? It will be a learning experience for a coupe years I think.
moosedog

 

[Cedarkerf]

Doug fir is standard as is big leaf and vine maple although I don't know how much maple Cali has. If your coastal madrone is a great performer equal or exceeding a lot of oaks. I have never had any chimney problems burning Doug Fir.

 

[mtngun]

Softwood will burn fast, but it keeps us warm nonetheless. I throttle my stoves down, to make the fire burn longer. That makes it burn dirtier, too, which some people frown on, but that's the reality of heating with softwood.

I go through about 6 cords a year heating a very small 2 story house (one stove per story). I don't skimp on the heat, either.

Lacking hardwood, doug fir is your best bet. It splits easily, burns hot, and is relatively clean.

But I am not picky and will burn most anything that comes my way.

You'll hear different stories about chimneys. My chimneys build up fluffy carbon stuff, which can plug the spark arrestor, but they don't get the syrupy kind of creosote that causes fires.

You'll miss your hardwoods, for sure, but you'll learn to live with softwood.

 

[RVALUE]

Moosedog:

I too was a transplant, and highly recommend red fir. I had another learning curve also. I had a two story, with an insert in the basement. Got our first gas bill, so I decided to stoke the fire more. Got the next gas bill, not much change, so more stoking, etc. Month 3, same story, not much improvement. So now I'm on 24 hour patrol, stove is hot hot hot, all the time, added blowers, etc.

Long to short, come spring we had a couple thousand dollars in gas reserves as they didn't read the meter all winter, due to snow. The bill was based on the previous tenants use, and averaged......

lots to learn in a new climate.

 

[moosedog]

I like that story Rvalue. I'll try to find some red fir - I've heard other good things about it.
Thanks

 

[turnkey4099]

I like that story Rvalue. I'll try to find some red fir - I've heard other good things about it.
Thanks

It hasn't been mention so I will.

Be sure whatever softwood (evergreen) you burn is well seasoned. It burns better, far cleaner and less creosote.

Harry K

 

[moosedog]

Do the firs out here (douglas, and red mainly) cause any problems with excessive sparking? Back east I always shied away from the balsam firs and spruces because of all the sparks.

 

[Cedarkerf]

No

 

[Ske-bum]

Yeah firewood seems a totally different animal out here. I've got some Lodge pole and some Doug fir, as well as a bit of oak I've managed to scrape up here and there - and well, we'll see how it goes this winter. Will I have enough, or will the softwoods all burn too fast? How will my chimney look in the spring? It will be a learning experience for a coupe years I think.
moosedog

Hey Moosedog,
I live in the Sierra and I burn lodgepole mixed with almond and oak. If you have time look through the adds in Redding or Chico or even Medford/Ashland area and see if people have oak rounds for sale. I have found I can get a couple of truck loads out of the foothills for a good price and use that as my hardwood. I wish I had doug fir around me, but all I have is white fir (aka piss fir) which takes forever to dry and then leaves a lot of ash when it burns, so I use tamarack/lodgepole for soft wood.