I have oak, red maple and pine. I give them all five stars because I wouldn't want any of them to feel bad.
I’ve only burned a few seasons but so far I’d say: Red Oak Ash Sugar maple Apple Silver maple White Birch (Great in the shoulder seasons) Cherry many of these are very close. Especially the last few on the list. In my opinion they’ve all been good.
Red oak White oak Black birch Chestnut oak Sugar maple White ash Black cherry Red maple White pine Red pine
In these parts white oak is king, so it’s my most prized wood. Here is a 28” 30’ log I just finished splitting. Phew now I need someone to stack it for me. Poplar is the bottom feeder and I have maybe 1/3 cord of it.
Actually, I think that Manzanita is one of the very hottest burning woods. Its just a large shrub, so the wood will be small in diameter, but the heat output is unbelievable. Being from Southern California, I know that besides terrain, areas populated with Manzanita and have a wildfire.......the fire becomes unfightable........if that's a word.
Nothing wrong with this when you’re getting started and scrounging- the key to any wood heat from a modern stove is moisture content. Once you get a handle on things and get ahead you’ll learn the species that burn best for Shoulder seasons vs cold overnight burns. For me SYP poplar and soft maple for shoulder season, long leaf pine is far superior to SYP. Winter prefer white oak, cherry, hickory and red oak for overnight or cold day burns.
Ash all around#1 Ironwood for Jan- Feb Hickory- seems to be bugs favorite for sure Sugar maple could move up list first season of burning a lot.
