Get you a moisture meter. Even crappy wood will peg the meter with the stove opened up when it’s dry. Wood basically all burns at the same temperature the difference is in the density. A pound of spruce has roughly the same btu as a pound of almond. The difference is a cord is volume not weight so a cord of almond has a lot more btu’s. A pound of almond is about the same. Better that white oak still has moisture in it. 👍🏼
I dunno. I’ve been burning a mix of chestnut oak (white oak family) and regular white oak during these cold snaps, and it not only has to be throttled back so I don’t over fire my stove, but it stays in the coaling stage for hours. What I’m burning was cut 2 years ago, but was also dead for a couple years when it was cut. Check your internal moisture content on a fresh split face to verify it’s actually under 20%
There is many different species of white and red oaks in the US, and they will not all burn the same or put outthe same BTU depending on the growth rate of the tree. Here in Oklahoma we mainly burn Post oak and Blackjack oak, both are extremly hard wood because they grow extremly slow from the longer hotter summer and less rain per year , a tree thats just 12” -14” at the base can be 80-90 yrs old.We can cut firewood in december-march and if its stacked in the sun untill the next oct-Nov its completly dry and ready to burn.
White oak is going to take longer to season than red oak because it’s more dense. White oak has a closed pore structure compared to red oak. You can blow air through a piece of red oak but not white oak. My guess is your white oak isn’t quite as dry as it needs to be. Wood that is left in a shaded area without air passing through it isn’t going to dry like wood out in the sun in an open area. You usually need about 2 to 3 seasons for white oak to be ready. It’s a great wood for firewood and is very decay resistant as compared to red oak. Bringing some of that firewood inside your home a few days before burning will also help with the moisture content. Some people are t a fan of burning ash but it’s a great hardwood with a very low moisture content. You can burn ash wood about two months after you split it. It’s unfortunately quite plentiful because of the ash borer Beatles killing it off.
All we have in my area of Montana is Ponderosa pine, other species of pine, and Cottonwood (cat pee wood), sometimes we get a rare treat of an Ash tree, Elm tree, or Grey Poplar that was removed in town. I stack cords in my yard in rows of 16x4x2.
In the UK we have a lot of Ash Dieback. The three trees on my property and the surrounding farms appear healthy. However, many trees have been felled just in case! It burns well and cuts and splits easily. Oak is also considered the best wood to burn but I often like a mixture.
I’m a little surprised. White oak is at the top of many of the btu charts I have looked at 🤷🏼♂️ Hickory usually up there too. I just know it’s cold and the more heat, the better 👍🏻
Something still doesn't add up. According to most btu charts, not much difference in btu of the oaks, with white oak have slightly more. I have not had much experience burning oak . I have 45 years experience burning ash and shagbark hickory. I do believe the center wood from a 24" tree is better than wood from a smaller 8 -12" tree and limb wood of the same species. The nots from hickory are better too, than the straight grained wood.
Nice Wood!!! Indeed if your rows of wood are 16ft X 6ft X 16" that's a cord. White oak is denser than red oak and will take longer to catch and heat up all other things being equal. I suspect your stash of white oak is a bit wetter than your stash of red oak, further contributing to the differences you're seeing.
I lived the first 20 years of my life not far from where you are. Sometimes I miss the rust belt sorely. I'm planning on doing something about it in the next five years! Not back to ny though.
I was going to comment and say it’s nearly impossible to get more heat from seasoned oak than seasoned hickory. Hickory species burn only second to hedge apple in terms of BTU. White oak shouldn’t be far behind hickory though.
According to a google search white oak has 29M btu per cord where red oak is 24-26M btu and probably the highest btu in America is dogwood at 30M btu per cord. I did see on one site that it was Oregon white oak, so I’m sure sub species makes a difference. Did you know there’s a difference between pitch and sap? I had never heard of pitch before you mentioned it yesterday.
Osage orange, aka Hedge wood, aka Bois d'arc, is plentiful in Kansas, and parts of Oklahoma comes in at 32.9 / 33 on most charts. Only thing is it sparks like crazy so not a plan in a fireplace... but man does it pour out the heat....
Get you a moisture meter. Even crappy wood will peg the meter with the stove opened up when it’s dry. Wood basically all burns at the same temperature the difference is in the density. A pound of spruce has roughly the same btu as a pound of almond. The difference is a cord is volume not weight so a cord of almond has a lot more btu’s. A pound of almond is about the same. Better that white oak still has moisture in it. 👍🏼
I would not talk shit about either one of those species. They are both awesome firewood.
Probably a dryness issue. White oak can take 2 or more years, after splitting, to season under 20%.
I dunno. I’ve been burning a mix of chestnut oak (white oak family) and regular white oak during these cold snaps, and it not only has to be throttled back so I don’t over fire my stove, but it stays in the coaling stage for hours. What I’m burning was cut 2 years ago, but was also dead for a couple years when it was cut. Check your internal moisture content on a fresh split face to verify it’s actually under 20%
The tree species police have already been notified.
There is many different species of white and red oaks in the US, and they will not all burn the same or put outthe same BTU depending on the growth rate of the tree. Here in Oklahoma we mainly burn Post oak and Blackjack oak, both are extremly hard wood because they grow extremly slow from the longer hotter summer and less rain per year , a tree thats just 12” -14” at the base can be 80-90 yrs old.We can cut firewood in december-march and if its stacked in the sun untill the next oct-Nov its completly dry and ready to burn.
White oak is going to take longer to season than red oak because it’s more dense. White oak has a closed pore structure compared to red oak. You can blow air through a piece of red oak but not white oak. My guess is your white oak isn’t quite as dry as it needs to be. Wood that is left in a shaded area without air passing through it isn’t going to dry like wood out in the sun in an open area. You usually need about 2 to 3 seasons for white oak to be ready. It’s a great wood for firewood and is very decay resistant as compared to red oak. Bringing some of that firewood inside your home a few days before burning will also help with the moisture content. Some people are t a fan of burning ash but it’s a great hardwood with a very low moisture content. You can burn ash wood about two months after you split it. It’s unfortunately quite plentiful because of the ash borer Beatles killing it off.
White oak in n.y must be different from whiteoak in Georgia it burns great in upstate n.y
Black Locust is my number one, but the most abundant is White Ash, American Elm, and Eastern Hophornbeam
All we have in my area of Montana is Ponderosa pine, other species of pine, and Cottonwood (cat pee wood), sometimes we get a rare treat of an Ash tree, Elm tree, or Grey Poplar that was removed in town. I stack cords in my yard in rows of 16x4x2.
In the UK we have a lot of Ash Dieback. The three trees on my property and the surrounding farms appear healthy. However, many trees have been felled just in case! It burns well and cuts and splits easily. Oak is also considered the best wood to burn but I often like a mixture.
I’m a little surprised. White oak is at the top of many of the btu charts I have looked at 🤷🏼♂️ Hickory usually up there too. I just know it’s cold and the more heat, the better 👍🏻
All good👍🏻 and btw... nice wood Boedy😁
Oaks 2:25 take a couple years to dry before you get good btu out of it, most hickorys have better btu than oak!
Something still doesn't add up. According to most btu charts, not much difference in btu of the oaks, with white oak have slightly more. I have not had much experience burning oak . I have 45 years experience burning ash and shagbark hickory. I do believe the center wood from a 24" tree is better than wood from a smaller 8 -12" tree and limb wood of the same species. The nots from hickory are better too, than the straight grained wood.
Tree age is a factor. I've seen old growth pine that you would swear is a hardwood.
Nice Wood!!! Indeed if your rows of wood are 16ft X 6ft X 16" that's a cord.
White oak is denser than red oak and will take longer to catch and heat up all other things being equal. I suspect your stash of white oak is a bit wetter than your stash of red oak, further contributing to the differences you're seeing.
I lived the first 20 years of my life not far from where you are. Sometimes I miss the rust belt sorely. I'm planning on doing something about it in the next five years! Not back to ny though.
I was going to comment and say it’s nearly impossible to get more heat from seasoned oak than seasoned hickory. Hickory species burn only second to hedge apple in terms of BTU. White oak shouldn’t be far behind hickory though.
You have a great setup though. I can tell you take your seasoning serious.
Have you looked at btu scale for white oak and red oak .
According to a google search white oak has 29M btu per cord where red oak is 24-26M btu and probably the highest btu in America is dogwood at 30M btu per cord. I did see on one site that it was Oregon white oak, so I’m sure sub species makes a difference. Did you know there’s a difference between pitch and sap? I had never heard of pitch before you mentioned it yesterday.
Osage orange, aka Hedge wood, aka Bois d'arc, is plentiful in Kansas, and parts of Oklahoma comes in at 32.9 / 33 on most charts.
Only thing is it sparks like crazy so not a plan in a fireplace... but man does it pour out the heat....
What is this building that you are in !
Dead Red Elm is the best but you can't hardly make it burn green
Nice wood Boedy 🤣
Thank you!
👍👍
Yea that makes sense I’m not a fan of white oak either.
you aint rite bodey lol none of us are going to say that
We forgive you...
👍🆙️BigGuy