Firewood BTU Ratings Charts for Common Tree Species
Scroll down for weight per cord and firewood BTU Charts.
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
Live Oak,Chinquapin,and Dogwood are eastern species,not Western.Live Oak is limited to Southeastern States.
Chinquapin and Dogwood are common here in Ohio.
Thanks for the listings.I burn 3-4 cords every Winter,and burn all but the softwoods.I was looking for BTU content for
Walnut and Mulberry,having quite a plentiful supply of those.
The ongoing extinction of the Ash,all species,is supplying
all our needs now,and for a few more years,sad business.
In my lifetime I have seen the end of the Chestnut,the American elm,and now the Ash, Dick Ashton
There are varieties of those species in the Eastern US but there are also varieties on the west coast. The ones in the western hardwoods chart are for the west coast varieties. Western dogwood grows along the west coast and canyon live oak is common in California and Oregon. I was just cutting some live oak in California last week so I do know it is there.
Richard,
Mulberry has a rateing of (1) unit million btu, 25.80/cord
Walnut (black) rates at 21.50/cord, my information is provided by Pocket Reference by Thomas J Glover printed in September 2006 ( 18th edition ).
hope this helped you.
cajun
Any BTU rating for Russian olive?
It’s now plentiful since it has been declared a nuisance species.
Thanks
I have a rather large Bradford pear that I need to take down. It is quite old and is hanging over mine and my neighbors drive ways. Iv’e only ived here for the last 4 years, It should have been pruned back many years ago but now to late and needs to be cut down. I have not found it listed anywhere as rated for firewood and was wondering if it would produce enough heat to make it worthwhile for use in the fireplace. The fireplace is not our primary heat source but we enjoy a fire each evening in the winter.
I can’t find any information anywhere on bradford pear btu either. According to wikipedia bradford pear trees originally come from China. So you are probably not going to find much information about it as far as btu or about its wood in general since it is not a common source of firewood outside of Asia. But in my opinion any kind of wood is worth cutting up and burning as long as it isn’t totally rotten or anything. Some have more heat than others but if you already have it you might as well cut it up and burn it. As long as it’s dry it will burn and put out enough heat to make it worth it since you don’t have to buy the wood.
Everyone has these charts but none of the wood listed is available here in Southern Cal. with the exception of oak (usualy scrub oak), all the firewood vendors here have is Eucalyptus (no rating), Avacado (no rating), Almond (no rating) and “mixed hardwood”.
We bought cedar this year and it burns slowly and puts out little to no heat.
Here is a site for California wood ratings http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/home/heating_cooling/firewood.html Surprisingly, I found almond and eucalypt rated close to the same. I grow eucalypt here in the Modesto area and it never lasts as long as almond, but it is also resinous and burns faster. Save the cedar for kindling, you need a hardwood fire.
I added the BTU of Eucalyptus to the charts but I can’t find consistent data for avocado and almond. If I can find ratings for those I will add them too.
My comment doesnt pertain to btus so much, but would like to say that here in central Ind., I look for elms,not sure if there rock, red or slippery elms.But easy to spot cuz they die avg. 10 – 24 inche in diam. They then loose there bark &; become silver faded color &; will stand dead for yrs. they r clean , no bark or bugs, hard as a rock & burn hot! The inside resembles red or white oak color & grain. They can b very hard to split cuz its stringy. We have many native hardwoods here but this is the best, cleanest stuff Ive found.
In response to “robert” and his comment about live oak being limited to the south easter united states.
my back yard, and all of northern california would like to respectfully disagree.
The Btu rating for Almond varies from 29 to 32, why the variance?
Because Almond has as many varieties as the fruit in which the bare! but it is still the least discovered hardwood/cooking wood around except where they have the Orchards. One of the hottest longest burning Eucalyptus Varieties is the Red Gum, we harvest up to 100 different varieties of Euc and for the heat/Btu factor Red gum is the best by far, Btu is in the mid thirties!
I do have a question…do they test the btu factor at sea level or in an elevation, i have found that many of the old myth’s to be untrue as far as burn time and heat factor, ash rate… in many different varieties of wood in elevation above 2500′ to 5000′, been doing this for awhile, just wondering if anyone else has found this to be true?
interesting site. just came from the woods. getting mostly ash, some cherry and some oak. (red) just now brought back a load of beech. since i’m now retired it sure is nice to cut on my schedule. i have limited trees myself but know a lot of farmers here in north central Indiana.
I live here in north west tennessee near the miss river . We have tons of the best hard woods in this country . I am courious about the btu of pecan and swamp chestnut oak and which oak burns the best . I farm a good bit of ground and we have about 350 acres of river bottom woods . I am planning on doing a little experiment to find out which wood is best for campfires and fire pits. I already know seasoned oak is gonna be near the top choice because of the hot coals it produces . Campfires need much radiant heat to keep you warm on a chilly night . Hot fires and cold beer!!!!
Out here in the West we don’t have all the great hardwoods that you have there in your part of the country. We have oaks and madrone as our more common hardwoods. Out here people often pass up oak in favor of madrone, where it is available. But you are right about oak making a great bed of coals, and in an outdoor fire the extra ash won’t be so much a problem like in a wood stove. Oak is also great for grilling over an outdoor fire. Great heat as well as flavor. I think you have inspired me to do a test some day of oak vs madrone in a camp fire. Be sure and let us know how your test goes.
Interesting reading. Re Bradford Pear, we had one in our front yard that lasted about 15 yrs., then went the way of many: split in a storm. Still have some pieces, which are quite dry by now. I have no empirical data, but for us they have given decent heat. They also give a pleasant smell, though not as nice as red oak, cherry, or yellow birch. Builders planted them everywhere in Maryland, so talk about an abundant supply of firewood. Like some other fruitwoods, however–particularly mulberry–they are difficult to set on fire.
As a firewood enthusiast, I read with great envy about “350 acres of river bottom woods”. Here in suburban MD (1/2 way between DC and Balt.), I am reduced to asking neighbors or builders if I can haul away their downed trees. The good news is that virtually all of the time, they say yes. Right now, I have neighbors interested in buying some wood from me, and am waiting for permission to harvest some mulberry (the devil itself to set on fire and man, does it spark, but abundant here and as energy-rich as white oak). Have also taken large quantities of red oak (everyone’s favorite) and red maple (the poor man’s oak), and smaller amounts of cherry (nice smell), beech (hot stuff), yellow birch (great smell), white oak, and sweetgum. The latter is superabundant here, but is the “devil itself to split”. In fact, I’m convinced you can’t, conventionally. I try to split off 1-inch wide slivers all the way around the round, light these (gum is easy to get burning), and then place the reduced size log on whole. Like the man said , if you got it free, it’s worth burning for heat.
Don’t know much about western woods, except that the citrus groves my wife’s family own in Mesa, AZ make tremendous wood for fires.
Fascinating site! I’m in Melbourne, Australia. Redgum is differentiated from just about all other Australian woods for firewood, for its lasting and heat, and difficulty to get going. Mulga roots are about the only thing hotter/longer/denser. Range of burning properties of the Australian eucalypts covers the full spectrum (and don’t even bother with wattles). (Also, a number whose seed pods are only opened by bushfires.)
I live in WI. I have some Hemlock and I can get some Hickory. Its all from WI. I’m guessing that the Hemlock that I can get is eastern soft wood correct 15.9? I’m also guessing that the Hickory that I can get are the Shagbark or the bitternut 27.7-26.5 correct?
I did My little campfire experiment to find out the best hardwood for a campfire . I had some mostly seasoned red oak , shagbark hickory , and black locust. Some fully seasoned apple,beech and american elm and some partially seasoned pecan and bradford pear .
The red oak gave the most bang for the buck .It burned long,hot and gave some great coals that put out some good btu’s . The only draw back is it gives little flame for a campfire . Great aroma too. We have tons of felling oak tree’s pushed up waiting to be cut , fully seasoned too !!!
Hickory was my overall favorite . It burned very hot with big blue-yellow flames and gave the best aroma . My neighbors complemented on the smell of it .It’s great cooking wood too . I already have my next tree cut and seasoning .
I had about 10 mid-size logs of the black locust I burned . They put out some tremendous heat . They had a good mid-size flame and burned a long time. The drawback is that the tree’s are small and have thorns .
The apple is a good secret that most wood burners never thought of . It burns with a big bright flame then turns into a big bed of red hot coals that burn forever . It smells great too . The coals cook a mean hot dog after a few brews.
I found a big beech limb fully seasoned and cut it up for a try . It burns as hot as h_ll . The metal on our fire pit melted . The beech also burns to a good lasting coal .
Elm is easy to find around here . Just look for a barkless dead tree in a fence row . It’s a good starter wood . Burns with a big bright flame and burns sorta slow . The drawbacks are the stinky smoke and the fact I had to poke it every 10 min and its hard to split.
The pecan burned good considering it wasn’t fully seasoned . It was cut 4 month prior to burning in the winter . The small, more seasoned stuff burned with mid flame and burned very slow . I really can’t speak for pecan until I can try it seasoned . The aroma is pleasant too . The draw back is it is very hard to split . I’ll have much pecan to burn this fall , we cut a huge tree .
The bradford pear burned fast with a mid size flame . It was partially seasoned so I really can’t say if its good firewood or not . I do know the tree I burned had a bad aroma . Maybe the aroma will get better with age after seasoning this summer .
I found that if you have some green (wet) wood and want to have a campfire go to your local hardware store and buy a duraflame fire log . Light it then put the wet wood on top and watch the water and steam spew out of the ends . After the moisture evaporates the logs burn great .
I will definitely cut more hickory, beech and oak . If I come across more apple I will cut it . The bradford pear can go to the dump along with the elm .
I seem to remember that all wood has roughly the same BTU content PER WEIGHT. Wood with lots of air in it has a lower BTU content because there is less cellulose (burnable material).
I take that to mean that seasoned wood, with the same moisture content, will be pound for pound equivalent in terms of heating value but you may need to burn to 2-3x pine vs hickory.
You are correct Bill, wood has about the same BTU per weight. But in many cases softwoods actually have more BTU per pound than hardwoods. This is because softwoods, like pine and fir, contain resins, which have more energy per weight than wood fiber does. But since softwoods are usually so much less dense than hardwoods, the total energy in softwoods are usually much less than hardwoods.
Thanks for the great info Andy! I think many of us are a little envious of the river bottom land you have and the great hardwoods you have access to.
I heard somewhere that most of the ash comes from the bark. So if you remove the bark you have fewer ashes to clean out. I was wondering if anybody knows if this is true? I got a load of osage orange once and while it burned great, lots of coals, it also seemed to produce a lot of ashes.
THE MAN MENTIONED CEDAR GAVE OFF LITTLE TO NO HEAT. I BELIEVE THE CEDAR HE’S TALKING ABOUT IS INCENSE CEDAR. I OWED A SAWMILL IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MTNS (LK ARROWHEAD, BIG BEAR AREA) AND THERE WAS ALOT OF THAT THERE (AS WELL AS IN NORTHERN CALI). THAT IS THE SWEET-SMELLING AROMIC CEDAR THEY LINE CLOSETS WITH. NO BUGS EITHER. IT IS USELESS FOR FIREWOOD BECAUSE OF THE LITTLE/NO HEAT OUTPUT, BUT MAINLY IT’S TOO DANGEROUS TO BURN INDOORS, AS IT POPS AND EXPLODES AND THROWS SPARKS EVERYWHERE. WE MADE BARTOPS, SHELVES, AND FENCING OUT OF IT (PRIMO FOR THOSE, AS THE GRAIN IS VERY PRETTY AND CONTRASTING). WE DID HOWEVER, CUT AND SPLIT ALOT INTO FIREWOOD FOR, OF ALL PEOPLE, THE BAREFOOT FIREWALKERS! THE COALS GLOW REDHOT LIKE OAK, BUT WITH HARDLY ANY HEAT. THAT’S HOW THEY DO IT! NOW I LIVE IN ARIZONA AND THE CEDAR OUT HERE IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT! I BELIEVE IT’S CALLED SALT CEDAR. PRACTICALLY EVERY RANCH FENCE HERE AND NEW MEXICO IS MADE FROM IT, IT’S EASILY SPLIT AND IT RESISTS ROTTING. AND TALK ABOUT FIREWOOD, IT BURNS HOT AND IS FAIRLY LONG LASTING.ABOUT HALF OF MY YEARLY FIREWOOD IS THIS CEDAR.I’D CALL THIS TYPE SOMEWHAT OF A HARDWOOD, UNLIKE INCENSE CEDAR.
does anyone know wht the heat value of tulep poplar is
I just cut down I believe it is sumac? I live in Mn and it smells just like fresh cut oak. Any idea if this is a hardwood and the BTU’s? Thanks
Barry , I think tulip poplar would be similar to cottonwood since they are both in the poplar family . Maybe a little more BTU’s than cottonwood . I think I saw on another btu chart that poplar is 17.0 , but not totally for sure. Be sure to let it season before burning to know how it should truly burn .Funny Story, I had a friend that cut a storm fallen red oak . A week later he tried to burn it and told me to never burn oak , because it burned terrible and smoked bad . I told him that wood had to dry before burning and he said ” its been drying all week long , it should be dry by now ” . True story
Here in South Central Alaska, all we have is Birch, Black Spruce and Cottonwood. Spruce and Birch both probably have about the same BTU rating, however I have found that Birch burns cleaner. Cottonwood (we refer it as Waterwood) is worthless. By time it is dry, there is nothing left.
Being a transplant from So. Cal., I really miss having Live Oak and Eucalypyus to burn. Both put out considerably more heat than anything we have in Alaska and when it’s -30 outside you can use all the BTUs you can get.
Stay Warm,
Mike
Someone asked about Avacado. Don’t even bother. I used to have a orchard in San Diego and it doesn’t do anything, but turn to ash.
I live in eastern us, southern ny area
anyone know if red pine has lot of pitch.
i think it’s red pine or red elm..
i live in central nm in the foothills of the rocky mtns,our primary firewood is shaggy bark juniper..we just call it scrub cedar..and there are several distinct kinds,yellow-grows extremely slow burns verry hot,red-softer burns up faster-aligator bark juniper-the softest of the 3 less btu…then we have pinyon…i dont burn this wood because it plugs my heat exchange unit up..dosent put out much heat and smokes like crazy..then there is scrub oak…it burns about the same as any kind of oak..pine and fir..blue spruce..no heat..chineese elm..hard to split little more heat than red scrub cedar..not much..so as far as firewood goes i would give the shaggy bark juniper the highest rating..i also have a house by lake texoma in tx right in the middle of an emense hardwood forest..oak..hickory..maple..american elm..birch..ect..ect..and when im there i burn mostly yellow oak..and hickory,but i like the juniper from nm much better..i dont think the btu rating this chart has for it is correct..im sure its not
i saw a coment on salt cedar above,what you are burning is juniper..or scrub cedar,salt cedar is a completely diferent kind of wood altogether..it grows along the riverbanks of nm and arizona..and i think its scrub syacamore..sorry about the spelling..but it is a verry hard wood..not sure of its btu rating..but i would still rather burn the scrub cedar..or juniper as they call it..salt cedar grows close to water,along with chineese elm and cottonwood in the lower elivations of the two states it does burn quite hot though..im prety sure its a kind of syacamore..close to the btu russian olive would produce..also fine wood for burning
im fron centeral missouri and our elm american or red will not burn in fact it is called p*** elm for reason
I believe that pecan should be very high in BTU’s and close to the other hickories, only because it’s in the family. Too far north for pecan here. There is nothing wrong with burning well seasoned softwoods, but care should be taken not to over fire with ones that tend to burn fast and hot. I use a LOT of hemlock because I have 10 acres of hemlock woods and trees come down in storms and have to be cleaned up. It is a decent fuel, but very heavy when green and very light when dry. It throws sparks so only should be used in stoves that can be closed. It is impossible to split when green and easy when dry, but unless special precautions are taken it’ll rot rather than season. The answer for me was a wood splitter, which does a nice job with it and the hardwoods I also use. Latest data that I’ve read is that seasoned softwoods causing creosote problems is baloney. Well seasoned softwoods, including the pines, firs and spruces can be burned for heat. It’s not the best, but it will warm you. Hemlock has the strange property of the trunk being soft, but the branches, especially the knots where they meet the trunk are very hard, so bucking the trunk requires planning.
Forgot to mention that the softwoods, including hemlock which is something like 75% water when green, have the property of shedding their moisture much faster than the hardwoods. Hemlock that is stacked in a single stack with plenty of air and sun can be ready to burn in one summer. Hardwoods, ideally should be two years old, but one year is a minimum in the northeast. Maybe less in some places with more sun and less humidity, but still they take a long time.
i live in orth east ohio we get some cold winters up hear the wood that we burn are hickory,oak,beech,hard maple,cherry,locost wood aroun hear is easy to get people will let u go in there woods and take all the down trees i own ranch 1500 sq feet with burning all these hardwoods i only burn 2-3 cord per winter thats not very muck i know guys that burn 10 to 12 cords but there not burning seasioned wood my wood id been seasioned for 2 to 3 years but my over all fav list around hear in ohio goes like this HICKORY #1 it burns forever i had a fire the other day it lasted 7 hours loved it #2oak #3beech #4 locost #5 hard maple #6 cherry love the coals cherry produses if ther is any other northeast ohio burners let me no what u r burning and how u like it .. burn on be safe
..i did some investigating and found out salt cedar is actually tammarick aphyla or something like that.comes out of africa..btu rating is close to eucaliptas..or however you spell it..lol..
Found this site this morning while revising essay on “free heat.” All very interesting, but I think these charts might reflect potential input of these woods. Output is a whole ‘nother cat. Do you split with a maul and wedges, or with a gas powered splitter? How do you burn and what type of stove do you use? Sure, willow’s not much good, and I quit dragging it home years ago. But as one reader noted, all species have roughly the same BTU potential per pound. In Iowa we mix our loads in the stove out of boredom. Stay warm and don’t worry about it so much.
I have a large sweet gum tree blown over by a storm. I have been told that gum trees and pine trees will clog up a chimmney
Does anyone have any experience with gum? I would like to burn this wood but don’t want any chimmney problems either. Any comments would be helpful.
Live in S/W Missouri, and wood heat is our only source for 3,400 sq. ft. barn/house. White and red oak burn well. Mulberry burns wonderfully, but gets so hot it put a crack in our first cast-iron stove when it was used as a full load, so we only use one piece at a time with other woods. Hedge (Osage Orange) will do the same thing. There was a guy down the road whose stove completely melted when he filled it with all hedge.
Cedar doesn’t heat well for us, and throws a lot of creosote up the chimney, so we only use it for outside campfires. We raise pecans, and they burn cleanly and well, as do prunings from our apple trees.
Don’t worry about the ashes your stove produces. So long as you’re only burning good hardwoods and/or clean white (non-glossy/colored) paper stock and kindling, you should spread your ashes on your favorite acreage for the potash. Your plants’ roots will love you for it! However, keep in mind that ashes should have cooled for several days, and it’s easiest to do it during winter snows or before a rain. Sprinkle lightly, don’t dump, and over several years, we’ve seen a material improvement in our plants and soil from recycling everything full circle.
as far as mulberry goes..i live in central nm and at some point in time someone started planting non bearing mulberry trees..the btu output is not even close to what the charts state above..our mulberry trees would be similar to burning elm wood..it grows verry fast and requires a lot of water..we dont even use it for cooking wood..of course most native wood in nm is verry hard because it takes hundreds of yrs to grow…the growth rings are so small in some cases it takes a microscope to see them..some of the juniper trees we cut for firewood ive been told were around during the time of christ..so it naturaly is going to be extremely hard wood..ive been looking for the btu output for algarita..or desert holly..where i cut my firewood its not uncommon to find these trees from 5inches to two feet around..it takes at least a yr to season..ive seen gunstocks and stair rails made from it…prety wood…anyone know??
Not a native species, but abundant where it has been planted (I have seen it coast to coast) Any idea the BTU of “Tree of Heaven” or alianthus (?sp)
I live in eastern oregon and my main problem is the identification of trees. Some call a tree a Douglas fir while others call it a Red fir. I have found out that no mater what you call it, when it is -12 degrees outside and it will burn—– then it is really Good firewood.
Here is a link to a site that I found a couple of years ago.http://www.demesne.info/Garden-Help/Trees-Shrubs/Firewood-hard.htm I have an old Black Bart insert and have found that in mid atlantic East coast, the oaks rule (Esp. red Oak) Sweet Gum is great for a hot fire, but burns too quickly. Seasoned wood is always the best bet, and I don’t mean that seasoned = less than 4+ months.
I forgot to mention that I cut and split a Catalpa. Split horribly and had a bad odor and only arround 15.5 BTU/ cord. This is a tree that I will avoid even if it is free!
Well here it is getting to be winter in upstate NY again and the little woodstove in our basement has been running since September or so. It’s already snowed a couple ‘o times and was snowing today (BUMMER!). We burn mostly old-growth sugar maple w some white ash, black cherry, beech and black maple thrown in. I’d like to burn red oak as well but it’s a little too cold for it around here. The maple burns very well though w good hot hard coals that will last the night if I get too lazy to feed the fire at 3am. When it’s cold out, I seem less lazy to get up in the middle of the night to keep the fire hot overnight. When we are burning both stoves say in January, then I’m just a wood-slave the whole day long. Happiness is a full woodbox on Friday night! Cheers fellow wood burners!
THE EARLY SNOW STORM DAMAGED A LOT OF TREES HERE IN ORANGE COUNTY NY. I;M TAKING DOWN BROKEN BRANCHES ON A TREE I WAS TOLD WAS LOCUST.NOT WHAT TYPE.WOOD IS LIGHTCOLORED, CORE IS DARK. BARK SEEMS OAKLIKE. WHAT KIND OF LOCUST IS IT AND WILL IT BE A GOOD FIREWOOD IN A COUPLE OF MONTH..THANKS
GOTTA CLIMB HIGH AND USE A POLE ELECTRIC CHAIN SAW,,,GITTING IT DONE BUT WILL IT BE GOOD FOR MY LOPA WOOD STOVE..APPRECIATE SOME ANSWERS
Does anyone know which of these woods produces the least ash, Oak or Pine.
I live on the east coast (midatlantic area) and we have a lot of Mimosa trees. I have 4 of them that I want to cut down. Is Mimosa wood good for burning in a fire pit or Chimenea? What wood would you say it is similar to on the b.t.u. rating?
thanks,
Patricia in DE
For the very old man. Douglas fir is Pseudotsuga, menzizii for the man who identified it.(Sir Douglas Menzizii) He really didn’t know how to classify it because it had characteristics of fir and also of hemlock so he called it Pseudo(false) tsuga (hemlock)so it is really not fir at all or hemlock? The red fir name comes from the beautiful red color of the heartwood. It does make a nice fire so maybe they should call it “Good Fir Fire”.
I’m out here in southern Oregon, and there’s red fir, which is a true fir, just as white fir, and grand fir are. Douglas fir is a so-called mix of sorts, as stated by others. Anyway, I find it interesting that not one mention of mountain mahogany has been posted-until now. Lots of heat and hot coals-kept us from freezing one late night at 6,000 feet in late October, while we were wasting time patroling a wildfire in NE California back in ’85. The two common types found in these parts are “tall shrubs” or “small trees”, depending on site characteristics… They are in the Rose family. Not a true mahogany at all. But the common name aptly applies due to it’s obvious high density and/or hardness…probably how it got the common name in the first place. We collect it as “down and dead” firewood when we are cutting western juniper (J.occidentalis), mostly on B.L.M. land. It doesn’t seem to put out much ash, but does put out some real heat. I haven’t been able to compare it to madrone, or the oaks (like Oregon white, black oak, etc.). Over the years I’ve heard people in this region say it gets too hot for stoves…if they use only the mahogany I imagine. One final note, as a kid I grew up where the streets where lined with English Walnuts and Shagbark Hickory planted around 1900 or so…kept the red tree squirrels happy (and perhaps a few mean cats).