Wood Burning Guide
What’s the best wood for your wood burner?
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Alder Growth – a height of 8m after 10 years, 15m after 20 years and a final height of 25m. Low Quality. Although Alder wood tends to burn quickly when fully seasoned, it gives off little heat. RATING: 1 OUT OF 4 |
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Apple Once the seasoning processing begins Apple wood becomes extremely hard stuff – it needs to be seasoned well. So, to save yourself some hard work at a later date, ensure that you chop the logs whilst they are still green. Apple wood burns with a gorgeous aroma, and doesn’t tend to spark or spit. RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Ash Growth – a height of 8m after 10 years, 11m after 20 years and a final height of 35m. Probably one of the best woods for fuel, burning well even when green, but obviously when fully seasoned it burns even better, producing lovely flames and great heat. at an even rate. Use the branches for kindling. Due to it’s low water content, it is comparatively easy to saw, chop and split. RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Beech Growth – a height of 6m after 10 years, 10m after 20 years and a final height of 40m. A very good firewood which produces both heat and flame. Beech can sometimes give off a few sparks. It is easy to chop. RATING: 4 OUT OF 4 |
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Birch Growth – a height of 8m after 10 years, 12m after 20 years and a final height of 18m. An excellent firewood producing a great fire and burns well, even unseasoned. It does tend to burn very quickly, so you might want to mix it with a slower-burning wood. Tip – the bark of the Birch is easily peeled from the tree without causing any damage. Containing an oil, it can be used in kindling. RATING: 4 OUT OF 4 |
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Blackthorn Growth – a height of between 1m and 4m. Although the logs are small, Blackthorn burns slowly and gives off lots of heat and little smoke. RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Cedar Growth – a height of 8m after 10 years, 15m after 20 years and a final height of 40m Although the logs are small, Blackthorn burns slowly and gives off lots of heat and little smoke. RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Cherry Growth – a height of 2m after 10 years, 5m after 20 years and a final height of 8m and spread of 6m. Season well. Burns slowly without spitting. Pleasant smell. RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Douglas Fir Growth – a height of 9m after 10 years, 17m after 20 years and a final height of 59m. Produces lots of heat and burns quite slowly. RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Elder Seasoned well, burns well. Not commonly used for firewood. RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Elm Growth – a final height of between 15 and 20m. These trees do best in fertile, sandy, loamy soils. Needs to be seasoned extremely well as it has a massive water content (140%!). Larger logs are difficult to split. A good firewood, burns slowly, giving constant heat. RATING: 2 OUT OF 4 |
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Eucalyptus Growth – fast-growing, up to 3m each year when trimmed. It is native to Tasmania and can produce shoots 2m in length. It is adept at sprouting if cut-down and hence its suitability for effective hedging. Not commonly used as firewood. High water content makes logs difficult to split unless very well seasoned. Tip – slice into rings and season during the summer months. Burns quickly without spitting. RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Hawthorn Growth – a height of 4m after 10 years, 6m after 20 years and a final height of 15m. Excellent firewood, burns very well, hot and slowly. Even the smaller twigs are worth using. RATING: 4 OUT OF 4 |
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Hazel Growth – a height of 4m after 10 years, 6m after 20 years and a final height of 8m. An excellent firewood, seasoned. No spitting, burns quickly. RATING: 4 OUT OF 4 |
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Holly Growth – a height of 4m after 10 years, 6m after 20 years and a final height of 20m. A good firewood which can be burnt green. RATING 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Hornbeam Growth – a height of 6m after 10 years, 11m after 20 years and a final height of 30m. A good firewood, producing a hot slow-burning fire. Tip – prepare before seasoning as it is a very hard wood. RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Horse Chestnut Growth – a height of 8m after 10 years, 11m after 20 years and final height of 38m. Lots of spitting – low quality firewood. RATING: 2 OUT OF 4 |
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Larch Growth – a height of 8m after 10 years, 15m after 20 years and a final height of 43m. Larch needs to be well seasoned. Tendency to spit. Additionally it produces an oily soot in chimneys. RATING: 2 OUT OF 4 |
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Laurel Growth – a final height if left un-pruned of 2.4m. Produces a lovely flame. RATING: 2 OUT OF 4 |
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Lime Growth – a height of 6m after 10 years, 12m after 20 years and a final height of 38m. Poor, low quality fuel producer. RATING: 1 OUT OF 4 |
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Maple A good quality fuel-producing wood. RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Mulberry Growth – a final height of between 10m and 15m. Considered a very good firewood. RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Oak Growth – a height of 4m after 10 years, 9m after 20 years and a final height of 36m. An excellent firewood. Burns quite slowly, giving off plenty of heat. Generous seasoning is required – 2 years! Oak that hasn’t been seasoned long enough can give off an acrid smoke. Not much flame with this one, so you may wish to combine it with another, flaming-producing wood, for the best looking fire! RATING: 4 OUT OF 4 |
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Pear Growth – ultimate height around 3.6 – 5.4m. Season well. No spitting with this one. Produces excellent heat, as well as a gorgeous aroma. RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Pine Not good. Needs to be well seasoned. Spits and leaves an oily soot in your chimney – not nice. It’s plus point is that a pine fire does smell nice. RATING: 1 OUT OF 4 |
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Plane Considered to be quite a good firewood. RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Poplar Growth – a height of 10m after 10 years, 17m after 20 years and a final height of 32m. Low quality firewood. RATING: 1 OUT OF 4 |
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Rowan Growth – a final height of 20m. Produces a good, hot, slow-burning fire. RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Spruce Growth – a height of 9m after 10 years, 18m after 20 years and a final height of 52m. Not such a good firewood, burning too quickly and producing lots of sparks. RATING: 2 OUT OF 4 |
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Sweet Chestnut Growth – a height of 8m after 10 years, 14m after 20 years and a final height of 35m. Not suitable for an open fire as it spits excessively all the time. Needs to be carefully seasoned. RATING: 1 OUT OF 4 |
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Sycamore Growth – a height of 10m after 10 years, 15m after 20 years and a final height of 35m. Good firewood, burning well, but doesn’t necessarily produce as much heat as some of the other top firewoods around. The thinner branches of the Sycamore make useful kindling and can be easily broken by hand, once seasoned. RATING: 3 OUT OF 4 |
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Walnut Growth – a height of 5m after 10 years, 12m after 20 years and a final height of 30m. Poor firewood. RATING: 1 OUT OF 4 |
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Wellingtonia Another poor firewood. RATING: 1 OUT OF 4 |
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Willow Growth – a final height of 2.5m. Needs to be seasoned extremely well due to its high water content. You can’t burn this stuff green! However, does burn well once seasoned properly. RATING: 2 OUT OF 4 |
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Yew Burns slowly and produces lots of heat. RATING: 2 OUT OF 4 |
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We have an area covered with a coppice of what we believe are ‘Aspen’ trees, it is getting very crowded and we wondered whether the wood would be any good for our two woodburners if the coppice was thinned out?
In other words, is Aspen any good as firewood if left to season for 12 months?
Thanks, Tony
Just noticed your comment, Tony. We’ve used Aspen in the past. It’s probably not the best firewood in the world, but seasoned well will do a good enough job.