There is a story behind this, but firsts he question... Which would keep you warmer this winter, box elder split and stacked this spring or oak that was processed the same day?
I'd go with the box elder. It's very likely that it could be down to correct moisture content. May not be long burn time, but should burn a lot warmer than wet Oak.
Ok, so story here is that this is my greenburning coworker. He has a pile of oak that is still laying in pole form that he is planning to burn next year, but has yet to touch. He also has several box elders that he dropped and are still tree shaped that he was offered to me. Doesn't sound like he will get any processing done this year and sounds like he wants to split the oak in the spring to burn that year. Keep trying to tell him he will keep warmer with nearly seasoned, lower btu wood than sopping wet high btu wood but, you know... He's got the perfect wood stove...
Jack in my experience dry Box Elder burns very hot, fast but hot! If anything you have to be worried about over firing the stove with Box Elder. It's a fantastic shoulder season wood because you can load one fire and put out a lot of heat fast that lasts most of the day.
Jus tell him to take the seasoned wood and put it in a bowl of water in the stove, should burn about the same as the fresh oak
The driest wood will give off more useable heat. Probably the alder Yea Folks want to change the laws of Physics & burn water. Those folks probably failed Jr High science class. LOL
There are are a lot of folks who like to burn "green" wood over night "because it lasts longer". They are not as concerned with btu's as they are with "will the fire last through the night?". They also are not concerned with the creosote dripping from the chimney. Oh well, some folks just don't want to learn. A local business that was heated with wood. Instead of keeping the chimney a minimum of 8", the diameter of the stove outlet, reduced it down to 6". Several folks tried to reason with him but he was set in his ways. Creosote built up, caught fire & so did the rest of the building. Total loss. What a waste!
Hmm..In my old smoke dragon I'd say the wet oak. In an EPA I'd say the Box Elder. Whats he burning in?
Pete's right on with the Alder. I'll burn it after a summer of drying with no issues. 2 year seasoned Red Oak may still sizzle some around here. Only way I know of to burn water is by splitting the Hydrogen atoms out, & I'm pretty sure my stove doesn't do that. A C
