which wood to burn

[JerryP]

for all you boaters with "solid fuel stoves".

 

http://www.stovesonline.co.uk/woodburning_chart.html

[Caprifool]

It depends a bit on what you need the heat for too. For example, alder is just fine for baking loafes in a wood fired oven.

[Semitrad]

Am I the only one who has difficulty in recognising different woods?

 

Not so bad when the leaves are on the trees, I can identify oak, beech, larch, hazel and a few others, but I suspect that few could identify fallen or sawn logs.

[Chris Pink]

Logs to burn, logs to burn

logs to save the coal a turn

here's a word to make you wise

when you hear the woodsmans cries

 

never heed his usual tale

that he has good logs for sale

but read these lines and really learn

the proper kind of logs to burn

 

Beechwood fires burn bright and clear

Hornbeam blaxes too

if the logs are kept a year

and seasoned through and through

 

Oak logs will warm you well

if they're old and dry

larch logs of pinewood smell

but the sparks will fly

 

pine is good an so is yew

for warmth through wintry days

but Poplar and willow too

take long to dry and blaze

 

Birch logs will burn too fast

Alder scarce at all

Chestnut log are good to last

if cut in the fall

 

Holly logs burn like wax

you should burn them green

elm logs like smouldering flax

no flame to be seen

 

Pear logs and apple logs

they will scent your room

cherry logs across the dogs

smell like flowers in bloom

 

But ash logs all smooth and grey

burn them green or old

burn up all that come your way

 

they're worth their weight in gold.

[nbfiresprite]

for all you boaters with "solid fuel stoves".

 

http://www.stovesonl...ning_chart.html

Beechwood fires burn bright and clear

If the logs are kept a year

Store your beech for Christmastide

With new holly laid beside

Chestnut’s only good they say

If for years ’tis stayed away

Birch and firwood burn too fast

Blaze too bright and do not last

Flames from larch will shoot up high

Dangerously the sparks will fly

But ashwood green and ashwood brown

Are fit for a Queen with a golden crown.

 

Oaken logs, if dry and old

Keep away the winter’s cold

Poplar gives a bitter smoke

Fills your eyes and makes you choke

Elmwood burns like churchyard mould

Even the very flames burn cold

Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread

So it is in Ireland said

Applewood will scent the room

Pearwood smells like a flower in bloom

But ashwood wet and ashwood dry

A king may warm his slippers by!

 

 

 

 

Firesprite

 

In the Office

 

 

[Ray T]

To me it was always theoretical

Now makes sense poetical

[Flocal]

Just about to go gather a massive oak tree

[Joshua]

Beechwood fires are bright and clear,

If the logs are kept a year.

Oak logs burn steadily,

If the wood is old and dry.

Chestnuts’ only good they say,

If for long it’s laid away.

But ash new or ash old,

Is fit for Queen with crown of gold.

*******

Birch and fir logs burn too fast,

Blaze up bright but do not last.

Make a fire of elder tree,

Death within your house you’ll see.

It is by the Irish said,

That hawthorn bakes the finest bread.

But ash green or ash brown,

Is fit for Queen with golden crown.

********

Elmwood burns like churchyard mould,

E’en the very flames are cold.

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,

Fills your eyes’ and makes you choke.

Applewood will scent your room,

With its incense-like perfume.

But ash wet or ash dry,

For a Queen to warm her slippers by.

Joshua

 

[Mac of Cygnet]

Anybody else want to repeat the chorus?

 

Me, I burn what I can get,at home and on the boat, as I suspect 99% of people do.

[Joshua]

Anybody else want to repeat the chorus?

 

Me, I burn what I can get,at home and on the boat, as I suspect 99% of people do.

 

 

You may be right but that doesn’t mean it’s very smart.

 

 

People go to great lengths in selecting whether to use oil, gas or electric and choosing the best possible equipment to convert it into heat at an economical rate.

 

 

Why, other than through ignorance, wouldn’t you want to do the same with wood, if that is your chosen fuel?

 

 

Isn’t that what the plethora of verse, based on thousands of years experience, is all about?

 

 

Joshua

[Allan(nb Albert)]

These hard woods burn well and slowly,

Ash,beech, hawthorn, oak and holly.

 

Softwoods flare up quick and fine,

fir,birch,hazel, larch and pine.

 

Elm and willow you'll regret,

chestnut green and sycamore wet.

[LoneWolf]

You may be right but that doesn’t mean it’s very smart.

 

 

People go to great lengths in selecting whether to use oil, gas or electric and choosing the best possible equipment to convert it into heat at an economical rate.

 

 

Why, other than through ignorance, wouldn’t you want to do the same with wood, if that is your chosen fuel?

 

 

Isn’t that what the plethora of verse, based on thousands of years experience, is all about?

 

 

Joshua

 

 

Well, when i collect wood, i take whats fallen but not rotten.

 

What do you do, get out your chainsaw and lop down some ash cos you deserve it?

[Mac of Cygnet]

People go to great lengths in selecting whether to use oil, gas or electric and choosing the best possible equipment to convert it into heat at an economical rate

Why, other than through ignorance, wouldnt you want to do the same with wood, if that is your chosen fuel?

 

I don't think you are living in the real world. For a start, most people do not 'go to great lengths' etc, etc, to heat their houses - they use what is available and moan about the price. I use wood for both the house and the boat because it is free, and take what I can get for the same reason. It is not through ignorance, as I have been burning wood for over forty years, and know perfectly well how the various woods burn. You must be very fortunate or very rich to have the luxury of choice.

 

Edited to say that I've taken a look at the OP's link and the various verses quoted and actually disagree with quite a lot of it. Yew, for example, is dismissed but is one of the best woods I've used, as is rhododendron, which isn't even mentioned.

Edited November 2, 2011 by Mac of Cygnet

[Justme]

There is only one type of wood that is worth burning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Properly seasoned or dry wood of any type.

[Maffi]

I usually find tree wood burns well!

[paddy r]

I usually find tree wood burns well!

 

[Guest wanted]

'Keeping warm's my only goal, it's hassle free with a bag of coal'

[Bob18]

Questions about what wood to burn

Is it free?

Is it dry?

Is it seasoned?

Can I store it until its seasoned/dry?

Will it fit the stove as is?

Can I find my saw?

[Joshua]

I don't think you are living in the real world. ......................................................

 

 

Given that you know as little about me as I do about you, that is very presumptuous.

 

However, if you had said I was living in a ‘different’ world to yours, then at least you would have said one thing I could have agreed with.

 

Unfortunately, nothing in my world is free, you are very lucky.

 

But a word of caution, my 60 odd million neighbours (and I think you will find the same is true of England, Wales and Ireland) have to pay a very high price for their winter heating and do therefore, in my experience, take an interest in which provider is best for them, etc etc etc.

 

I wouldn’t, therefore, brag too loudly about the land of free things, not at least until your emperor has finished rebuilding that wall.

 

 

Joshua

[Mac of Cygnet]

But a word of caution, my 60 odd million neighbours (and I think you will find the same is true of England, Wales and Ireland) have to pay a very high price for their winter heating

 

That's why I said they moaned about the price! But most don't have the luxury of choosing the 'very best equipment' etc .

 

And you seem to be making some assumptions too, as I live in none of those places. But I do realise how lucky I am to live in a heavily forested rural area.

Edited November 3, 2011 by Mac of Cygnet

[Nine of Hearts]

When I first saw this thread, I thought, "here we go, poetry corner coming up...", and I was not disappointed. the problem with these lovely ditties, is that who on god's earth can remember all that lot without having it written down? It's hardly "Rip Off Your Great Big Itchy Vest", is it? So if you're going to write it down, just write down the data on the original posted site which at least gives proper instructions. I mean:

Make a fire of elder tree,

Death within your house you’ll see.

Is this true. Someone will actually die if you do this? Or is this just a superstition?

 

And:

It is by the Irish said,

That hawthorn bakes the finest bread.

Just the Irish. No-one else has this opinion of Hawthorn? Forgive me for pointing this out, but typically the Irish are not not normally noted in literature of this vintage for being particularly discerning. So I'm not sure whether this is advice or a warning.

 

Me, I burn what I can get,at home and on the boat, as I suspect 99% of people do.

Damn right. N one has ever offered me a choice of firewood, I burn what's available. I have never, to this day, seen anywhere that offers a choice of logs. Most places I see where they are offered for sale just say "logs".

[Joshua]

When I first saw this thread, I thought, "here we go, poetry corner coming up...", and I was not disappointed. the problem with these lovely ditties, is that who on god's earth can remember all that lot without having it written down? It's hardly "Rip Off Your Great Big Itchy Vest", is it? So if you're going to write it down, just write down the data on the original posted site which at least gives proper instructions. I mean:

 

Is this true. Someone will actually die if you do this? Or is this just a superstition?

 

And:

 

Just the Irish. No-one else has this opinion of Hawthorn? Forgive me for pointing this out, but typically the Irish are not not normally noted in literature of this vintage for being particularly discerning. So I'm not sure whether this is advice or a warning.

 

 

Damn right. N one has ever offered me a choice of firewood, I burn what's available. I have never, to this day, seen anywhere that offers a choice of logs. Most places I see where they are offered for sale just say "logs".

 

My travels have tended to emphasise for me the similarities between the different people of the world and I forget sometimes the important cultural differences.

 

 

I live in rural France where wood is a very important and commonly used fuel, where people really do know their trees and do have a choice about what type of wood to burn, they are genuinely passionate about such things, same with mushrooms for example, it really is a way of life here.

 

I appreciate that this is not the case in a largely urban UK and that one would have to go to a lot of trouble to be so discerning.

 

 

By the way (off topic) your web site is great, very entertaining, refreshingly different and obviously carefully put together, made me laugh anyway.

 

Joshua

 

 

[Mac of Cygnet]

I live in rural France where wood is a very important and commonly used fuel, where people really do know their trees and do have a choice about what type of wood to burn, they are genuinely passionate about such things, same with mushrooms for example, it really is a way of life here.[/size][/font]

 

Joshua[/size][/font]

 

Well I'm certainly a lot more choosy about what mushrooms I pick than about the wood I use.

[Maffi]

'Keeping warm's my only goal, it's hassle free with a bag of coal'

Try lighting a lump of coat with just a match.

[Alan Saunders]

Try lighting a lump of coat with just a match.

Try lighting a lump of wood with just a match!

 

Traditional firelighting, for wood or coal fires, requires screws of newspaper topped with nicely stacked wood kindling. If you must use a coat, waxed cotton may work best. I can light a house coal fire with one wax firelighter - the short flue on a boat requires more pre-heating. Modern newspaper seems less combustible?

 

I understand the supersticious reluctance to burn Elder but it is often found completely dead, dry and <4" diameter, so does not need splitting. No need to fell it, when dead you can wrench it out. I discard the bark which seems to have a high water content but is easily removed by hand. BTW, Elder is a shrub, not a tree.

 

There's a lot of truth in those old 'rhymes' but they refer to an open fireplace; an enclosed stove can cope with spitting softwood without setting fire to the hearthrug.

 

Joshua is spot-on! But, storing more than a month's supply of seasoned logs on a UK canal boat in Winter is difficult. Wood burning was common in England before it was replaced, first by charcoal then coal. France lacks coal deposits so the art of wood burning is maintained in rural areas.

 

Alan

[brought up in s house heated by open cosl-burning fire(s).]