Ussc
15
TYPE
WEIGHT
PER CORD
EFFICIENCY
SPLITS
MILLIONS
(LBS. CU. FT., DRY)
RANKING
BTU's/CORD
Hickory
63
4500
1.0
Well
31.5
White Oak
48
4100
.9
Fair
28.6
Red Oak
46
3900
.8
Fair
27.4
Beech
45
3800
.7
Hard
26.8
Sugar Maple
44
3700
.6
Fair
26.2
Black Oak
43
3700
.6
Fair
25.6
Ash
42
3600
.5
Well
25.0
Yellow Birch
40
3400
.4
Hard
23.8
Red Maple
38
3200
.3
Fair
22.6
Paper Birch
37
3100
.3
Easy
22.1
Elm/Sycamore
34
2900
.2
Very Difficult
20.1
Red Spruce
29
1800
.1
Easy
16.1
WOODSTOVE UTILIZATION
Your heating unit was designed to burn wood only; no other materials should be burned. Waste
and other flammable materials should not be burned in your stove. Any type of wood may be
used in your stove, but specific varieties have better energy yields than others. Please consult
the following table in order to make the best possible choice.
It is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you use DRY WOOD only in your wood stove. The wood
should have dried for 9 to 15 months, such that the humidity content (in weight) is reduced below
20% of the weight of the log. It is very important to keep in mind that even if the wood has been cut
for one, two or even more years, it is not necessarily dry, if it has been stored in poor conditions.
Under extreme conditions it may rot instead of drying. This point cannot be over stressed; the vast
majority of the problems related to the operation of a wood stove is caused by the fact that the wood
used was too damp or had dried in poor conditions. These problems can be:
- ignition problems
- creosote build-up causing chimney fires
- low energy yield
- blackened windows
- incomplete log combustion
Smaller pieces of wood will dry faster. All logs exceeding 6" in diameter should be split. The wood
should not be stored directly on the ground. Air should circulate through the cord. A 24" to 48" air
space should be left between each row of logs, which should be placed in the sunniest location
possible. The upper layer of wood should be protected from the element but not the sides.
