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Firewood BTU Ratings Charts for Common Tree Species
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The firewood BTU rating charts below give a comparison between different firewood types. This will give you the amount of energy per cord of wood for common firewood species. The data for these charts was compiled from various sources with different firewood types. There is some conflicting data between different sources due to different laboratory variables. As with most BTU charts I have seen available some of the numbers may be a little off but are in the general ballpark. I have put together the best data I could find but consider the figures to be approximate.
Much of the inconsistencies are from different variables such as how much actual solid wood is assumed to be in a cord. A cord is 128 cubic feet but in any stack of wood there will be air space between the pieces. As a result a cord of wood may only have 70-90 cubic feet of actual solid wood. This varies with the size and shape of the wood and how tightly it is stacked.
BTU’s or British Thermal Units are a measure of the amount of heat energy available in any given substance.
Opinions of firewood can vary with personal preferences and individual burning needs. You are welcome to discuss this topic and share your experience and preference with firewood tree species in our forum.
Western Softwoods
Figures from California Energy Commission But Rating Based on 90 cubic feet of solid wood per cord
Eastern Hardwoods
Compiled from various sources. Consistency between charts will vary due to different laboratory variables.
Eastern Softwoods
Compiled from
various sources. Consistency between charts will vary due to different laboratory variables
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All firewood has about the same BTU per pound. Non resinous wood has around 8000 to 8500 BTU per pound and resinous wood has around 8600 to 9700 BTU per pound. Less dense softwoods have less BTU per cord than more dense hardwood but they also weigh less per cord. Resinous wood has more BTU per pound because the resins have more BTU per pound than wood fiber has
Is non posionous sumac ok to burn in a fire place.
I live in Oregon(Portland) and have used all the local species for both fireplace and stove heat. I recently was the recipient of some birch I can see what the btu content is, but I was wondering if anyone has burned much. I made the mistake of “scoring” a cottonwood many years ago and don’t want to make that mistake again.
I saw a question about Ailanthus, Tree of Heaven, as to suitability for firewood. I have about a hundred of these that were cut in maintaining a power line right of way. They are 6″-8″ in diameter at the base and ~15′ long. The logs are quite heavy now, but still pretty green. Do you think that it is worthwhile to cut and split this to burn next year?
I have done a lot of research over the last few months on the best wood here in the mid-south (west Tennessee). The information was gathered by internet and talking to old timers. For wood stoves I beleive ash,oak,hickory mix. My grand dad swears beech is king. A few other elders like black locust . Persimmon is a good secret,burns hot and long. I saw were it is in the same family as ebony . Persimmon is one of the most dense wood around this area. Apple is another good secret. Big bright flames and smells good.Also beech is a very clean burning wood according to my grand dad .Smokes very little and burns to a huge coal.
I live in southwest MI and have 20 acres of woods. I burn, wild black cherry, black walnut, elm, hickory and yellow tulip. I burn approximately 20 cords of wood each season. I find black cherry and hickory give the best burning results. We use an outdoor wood burner.
I live in East Kentucky and fire wood is abundant. I consider myself as an expert in firewood as I have heated my home with wood for 30 years. I use Hickory, White or Red Oak,Beech,tulip Poplar,& Sycamore. Dogwood, apple and the “smaller” trees burn good but are only for small fires (late spring or early fall when you don’t want a fire to last all day) If you are serious about heating your home with wood just stick to these trees for the max in BTU’s..they burn hot and clean.
I have found a good way to make charcoal if your a pyro maniac / fire bug like me. First find you a steel bucket with a metal lid . A used asphalt coating bucket or any small metal bucket with lid will work. Then fill it with fist size chunks of natural wood , then put the lid on . Be sure to poke a couple holes to vent the gases .Then get a 55 gal drum or make a small kiln to put your bucket in .Start your fire then put the bucket in. Let it cook for about 2 hrs or until the flames from the gases slow down from spewing out the holes in the bucket lid. Be sure to have a good roaring fire the whole time the wood is cooking and make sure the wood that is being used for charcoal is well seasoned .The greener the wood the less charcoal will be produced and it will greatly increase the production time.My next batch will be made using a 55 gal drum to hold the wood for charcoal and I will make a concrete block kiln to hold my fire.This should make about 50 -75 lbs of hickory pecan mix charcoal. The last batch I made got the temp on my grill to well over 600 degrees with just a small mound. I can’t tell the actual temp because it made the temp gauge go past the max 600 degree mark then go back around to the 200 degree mark . The store bought lump charcoal gets it to usually 500.
I’m in California, about 3800 ft up the west side of the Sierra Navadas. Nice transitional forest on our 20 acres includes black oak, manzanita, live oak, firs, oaks and cedars. Many black oaks lost big limbs in the surprise snow of Nov 2010. I’m still retrieving all the down stuff and will continue for a couple years, at least. The black oaks just had too many leaves in that Nov and the snow was too heavy. The live oaks did just fine since they have such small leaves (unless they got in the way of a falling black oak). Chopped up a few live oaks and boy that is a great wood for the fireplace! Have a lot of ancient dead manzanitas that also burn fantastically in the fp. Have burned fir and cedar from the property, but so far have stayed away from the pine.
Hey John S -
Throw the Ailanthus away. It’s not worth the time to cut, split, stack and burn. It’s the worst wood I’ve ever encountered. It doesn’t burn, it just smolders and stinks. Probably about 5 btus per cord.
Hey Jim in No Cal -
Go fast on the oak. I live on the west slope too and have found that oak, even when protected, doesn’t keep that well, unlike cedar, pine, fir, or lodgepole. Keeps for a couple years at best. I have old growth straight grain cedar I cut in the early 90′s for kindling and it’s still as good as the day I cut it. Oak gets borers and starts getting dusty with sawdust falling out. If you leave oak in the woods til you need it, well, there’s lots of bugs and stuff that love to digest it. If you can, sell it and save the $$$ to buy fresh 1 yr old wood later on from someone else.
I live in East Tennessee which has a great variety of hardwoods. Personally, when I am home, I burn alot of Pitch Pine. I know I know I can hear the comments about creosote but as long as it is dry and you give it air to burn it does great. It does burn a little fast but it throws out the heat. Also, their is plenty of it and nobody burns it so is always available and helps to conserve my hardwood. Also, box elm burns decent but it stinks.
Personally, the best wood in the world is whatever I can get my hands on. Hey Mikee, your right, red oak goes fast and so does beech and elm. White oak is fairly rot resistant.