My friend and I have access to both cherry and apple wood. By the book, apple burns hotter but I can get cherry about $40-$60 less a cord. I'm thinking that cherry is a solid performer and that price difference probably isn't worth it. Yet my friend is now on the apple wagon. What say you?
I would definitely go with apple over cherry any day. Cherry is okay but not great by any stretch of the imagination. Yet there are several on this forum that like it. I burn cherry but do not rate it very high at all for btu.
Apple better yes! In your area worth 60 more.. No Unless you were in the colder part of Washington with snow. Your BTU demands are generally low. In my experience, apple is one of the most miserable trees to cut, split, stack.. Go with cherry.. Cherry here a woods tree straight easy to stack.. Apple are orchard trimmings
Bing cherry ? If it is anything like the wild black cherry that is prevalent here I might just pay the extra for the apple wood. One cord, I'd probably fork out an extra 40 bucks. Ten cord, I would probably buy the cherry.
I work outside a lot in winter so NJ I'd go with cherry because it smells better burning. If only for heat, apple.
Remember the Charts are a guide only. Trees vary in BTU among the same species due to differing strains and growing conditions. I suspect a wild pie Cherry tree might be close in BTU's to an orchard grown Apple that is grown in ideal conditions with fertilizer. Orchards want a tree to be producing as quickly as possible. Makes for wide growth rings and less density. All things being equal, I wouldn't stress an awful lot about it anyway. As a poster said Cherry is a solid performer! You could hedge your bet and get some of both. After a seasons burn, I imagine you would have a clear favorite!
