What wood will warm up the house the fastest?

That poplar will get up and go that's for sure.

 

I melted a steel fireplace liner with dry poplar when I was a kid. It started to sag and I pushed it back up with the poker while dousing the fire with a glass of water. The steel still has a bulge with a dimple in it.

 

Our “guick start” wood here generally consists of poplar, the dreaded sweet gum and I annually make up a good bit of kindling from cedar splits. All are abundant on our acreage along with white oak, water oak, red oak and some hickory. A couple of mature walnut trees that will not be cut unless they age out or are damaged

 

Pine is fine, as others have said. We didn't run the stove last night. At a little before 6 the hallway thermostat said 66°. With a pine fire going, less than 90 minutes later it says 70°