Because oak is about the best wood you can burn. It is super great for those long cold winter nights we get in January and February. That is when we burn our best wood but even then, only during the nights. Oak will coal really nice and that is what gives you the long burn times. So knowing this, why would anyone burn the best wood at this time of the year? Here we burn a lot of ash, at least for now. We also have elm and cherry in abundance. Those, especially the ash are great for firewood but still can not compare with oak. In addition, we do not have a lot of oak that is large enough for firewood and this is one more reason to not burn it during this time of the year. We usually will start with our best wood around January 10 as that is quite often when the really cold air hits us.
Thank you for the specifics. I was burning it now because it burned best. As an excited newbie I guess I was burning my load prematurely.
You will find that each wood is diffrent and should be used accordingly...during the day i will burn lesser wood say sycamore...gets the stove nice n hot..puts out plenty heat..just not fer a long time..same with cherry, maple and your other woods in the 18- 20mil btu range..most of us save our heavy hitters fer over nites or polar vortexes..lol...say oak, mulberry, locust, hickory, beech and so on..clear as mudd?
What he said. Use your lower BTU woods for the shoulder season, when you are home to reload, or to mix in with higher BTU woods as needed. High (I think the old just broke my nose) BTU woods are good for the coldest overnight and for prolonged below zero conditions.
