If it was anything else ...

Think about this like horse power to weight ratio in a car or motorcycle
If you have a 1000hp car that runs an 8sec quarter you can run that same 8sec in a 300hp motorcycle because it weighs a 1/4 of the weight.
So cotton doesn’t weigh anything but will burn really hot for 10min then be a huge pile of ash.
If you take a piece of Osage orange or “hedge” of the exact same weight it will burn for 2 or 3 hrs and leave really hot coals and not much ash at all. Think of ash as wasted energy. Cotton is really light and lose grain it’s like burning rolled up newspaper.

 

Yes.

I can't imagine the 3% more BTU's/ pound isn't well within the margins of error.

 

We burn cottonwood all the time its the main wood i get for free. Just gives you more time putting wood in the stove. If you cant burn quality burn in quantity. It also helps if you mix it with other wood. You then get the fast and hot with the longer burn times.

 

You burn what you can get. I prioritize my cutting according to the BTUs vs the cost of acquisition. If I have to buy a permit and drive 40 miles to get the good stuff as opposed to drive 2 miles and no permit for pine, the pine wins. Of course, the lower BTU/cord wood takes almost as much time to cut and process, and occupies much more stack space for equivalent BTUs, but if that's what you can get.....

 

In other words; what weighs more? A ton of feathers or a ton of bricks?


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I burn cottonwood from time to time. I think it actually burns very well. Doesn’t pop a whole lot. Cleans the glass on the Jotul as it burns. It will get the house into the 80’s on the coldest of days. The thing I hate about it, is it has a curly grain and is a major PITA to split. Even my big 28 ton splitter bogs way down if I split a big round on it. That’s really hard on your seals over time. The small stuff splits okay though.

 

I got some great wood for days when it’s 50 and rainy.. you don’t want a lot of heat but DO want a fire going.