Seems like oak is a highly preferred firewood. I'll say it is a good wood for cooking. But for heat? I just don't get it. I can get a cold stove roaring hot in just a few minutes with pine. I can keep relight coals for an easy 24 hours with elm. Oak takes forever to really get going (It is 2015 oak that has been in my pole barn and then on my covered porch, it is as dry as it is going to get) and I'm needing to start a new fire every few days because I'm lucky to get 12 hours out of the coals. So why do people like it? Seems like it isn't really great at anything. Although it does split easily and it does leave very little ash. And the ash is good for making hominy out of dried corn. It is plentiful. Those are plusses I suppose. I'm not going to kick it out of the woodpile, but I just don't get why it is held in such high esteem.
I find it burns hot and long time leaving a good pile of coals. I have burned a good 2 cords of oak already this winter and I was getting almost 24 hours out of one fill up on the OWB when the temps were in the 20s
Not sure what kind of oak your burning or where your at but my only complaint about oak is the coals lasting to long. If I’m not around to bump the air up when the stove starts dying down I end up with 6-7” of coals after a 12 hour burn. It is had to get going sometimes but I like oak.
Yeah coaling properties, BTU per cord and it’s plentiful. Those are the reasons I have quite a bit of it. But there are other woods that coal well, are readily available, and produce somewhat comparable BTUs. Also ones that dry faster, light easier, or that leave less mess indoors. American Beech, sugar maple, and black locust come to mind. So does it live up to the hype? For many, yes. But as much as I appreciate it, I don’t swoon over it. I’ve got plenty this year that’s 4-5 years old, I’ll have a little for next year too. After that, I won’t be burning any again until 2023-2024. In the interim I’ll be relying on Ash, Beech, maple and Locust to carry me through the dead of winter. That 3 year wait is why it’s not my absolute favorite. Moving forward though I’m going to try to stick to scrounging some every year so I’ll always have a constant supply.
Plentiful, good long heat output & long lasting coals to re light. Drawback is drying time, but I've got the room & supply. Pine is excellent for burning down Oak coals.
oak is pretty much the highest BTU wood that grows here. red and white 22-30,000 BTU per cord depending on what chart you use. I pretty much use pine to get the stove going again quick in the morning, red maple during the day if it is cold out and oak for a good long burn overnight. Those three are the majority of what I have to work with here. I can attest to getting spoiled/blessed with 4/5/6 year seasoned oak. You haven't had good heat with oak until you've had well seasoned oak.
BTU’s per cord. Ease of processing. Availability. Ash production or lack there of. So #3 leads to to the ease of having 3-4 years worth in the stacks seasoning. This makes the longer dry time a non-issue. I’m currently burning SBH and if I could get it regularly, I’d take all I could get. Heat output is greater, seasoning time is shorter. But it always attracts bore insects. Every wood has some pluses and minuses. For instance, elm is only good for the dump, lol! Seriously though, burn what works for you and what you like. I consistently get huge oak trees that produce 20+ splits per round! Cords add up quick. And they split with ease. I love oak.
I wish I still had a round from this score. I’d challenge you to a video split-off with elm. See who could get it processed down to 6-8” splits quicker.
Oak is nice but its not the end all. Black Locust is in a different class than the oaks IMO. Id take the hard maples over oak any time they are the most under rated wood. Split easy, dry fast, lights easy, not too many coals.
i love burning both red and white oak especially white oak in my stove i can put about 3 fair size blocks a woodbin the stove and have it last me about 18 hrs or so
It’s probably not fair for me to comment on this. I don’t have access to much oak here. That said... I get a fire going HOT and QUICK with pine. My house will go from 64-ish degrees in the morning, to 72 degrees within about a half hour. Then I slowly feed Douglass Fir. Doug Fir burns hot and clean. At the end of the evening, I load the stove with some nice Doug Fir splits. I always wake up to a nice bed of coals in the morning. I just toss a couple of logs in and whoosh. I’m not pooping on oak by any means. But I live In a very harsh, high altitude winter climate. Pine and Doug Fir keep my home very warm, with very little effort.
I burn mostly oak. (So far this year 100%) It takes 3-4 years to dry in our climate. We like it. Coals can easily last 18-24 hors.
Like real estate - location, location, location. That along with availability and space to let it sleep for 3yr. Oak, mostly red, is my go to. I try to never pass up the opportunity to get more.
Pine burns fast and makes heat while the coals from the last load finish burning. Makes more room for the next load.
Pine will turn a bed of larger coals to fine ash really quickly. Saves room in the stove & less cleaning out of ash.
^^ What he said. ^^ I've never had the opportunity to burn oak. Send some to me and Cash Larue and we'll give you some better feedback.
Oak is one of the most commonly grown trees in a vast amount of areas, splits super easy, grows large and usually fairly straight, doesn’t rot too quickly, has high BTU content, and leaves good coals. We also determined through voting that Red Oak was “King of the Firewoods” beating out other top contenders like Shagbark Hickory, Sugar Maple, Black Locust, and Hedge. Once you’re on the three year plan the longer drying time isn’t as big a deal, unless you have limited space to store that much wood. Here’s the thing though, while I’ve heard many people complain they don’t have the space for a three year plan, In reality three years for most people is probably around 12-15 full cords of wood. You could fit that on a 16’ square stacked 7 feet high. We’re talking .0058 of an acre. I think people need to come up with a better excuse not to be three years ahead on their wood.
