I have heard mixed reviews about eucalyptus firewood. Some people love it and others don’t like it so much. It has a very high BTU and eucalyptus oil is highly flammable. I don’t have any experience burning eucalyptus, but many people claim that it burns long and hot, producing nice coals and low ash. But then there are others who claim that it burns too hot and too fast and doesn’t last long. This may be due to different varieties, or maybe more likely just pure BS. Eucalyptus is a very popular wood for firewood in many parts of the world, so I wouldn’t hesitate to burn it if I had it.
Most varieties of eucalyptus trees come from Australia and a few come from New Guinea, Indonesia and surrounding areas. They have been introduced into many parts of the world including California, where they are often used for firewood. California timber companies have experimented with eucalyptus plantations, but so far there hasn’t been much commercial interest in the wood in the USA, other than for firewood.
Eucalyptus is a hardwood, and one of the fastest growing trees in the world. It has a twisted grain and should be split when green, since it gets tough as it dries. It is also claimed that eucalyptus can take longer to dry than many other types of wood, up to two years. That claim also triggers suspicion in my BS-ometer.
Eucalyptus oil comes from distilling the leaves and has many uses. It can be used as insect repellent, antiseptic, flavouring, fragrance and has medicinal, therapeutic and industrial uses.
If you have any experience burning eucalyptus firewood, please post a comment below.
We use our free standing stove to heat our house even though I have a gas furnace. I had the oppertunity to obtain some Eucalyptus this last summer. The rounds were very large. some over three feet thick. It was also really heavy compaired to other rounds I have moved. It split very easy even if i just used a double bladed ax. I am burning it this winter and it seems to be plenty dry. It lights easly and burns hotter than any wood I have burned in the past. I would give up oak if I could continue to find enough Eucalyptus to burn.
Heres the nuts an bolts of useing Eucalyptus.1) I havn’t come across a hotter burning wood, than Eucalyptus in my many years of useing it for heat. 2) If your considering useing just Euc.,you might want to re-think, it burns too hot. All your fire equipment, ( wood stove, flu, chimney, etc) must be in excellent shape, or there could be problems. 3) One should consider a mixture, when useing Euc. for the best results, and saftey. All in all, in my humble opinion, theres not a better firewood to be found, on the west coast
I have a steel wood stove and was told not to burn euk. when I bought it. I have lots of euk on my property and yes it does burn extremely hot and long. It should age at least 2 years in my opinion. I have pieces ten years old that are still solid and heavy. Still looking for info from someone who has done scientific research on this.
I’ve had great luck with eucalyptus until the latest 1/2 cord from Mt. Palomar here in California. After 18 months drying in arid San Diego, it still won’t light. What a mystery. I have gas jets to start my fireplace. 3 hours with a row of 6″ flames fails to light a single split piece. The result is a somewhat lighter log with a charcoal exterior. Have I slipped into some bizarre alternate reality or can someone explain this?
First, it isn’t easy to start. But once started, to keep eucalyptus burning (unless you want to keep something volatile burning underneath), you need to let the wood settle into a bed of ash. If you try to burn it in open air in a grate, like you can with mesquite, ash or citrus, it will either charcoal out and die, or just go out. But laying in a bed of ash, it will hold a coal and burn long and hot.
I agree that Eucalyptus firewood is ‘hot stuff.’ Coming from Europe and having for many years depended on hardwood fires for heat, I moved to california, near Half Moon Bay, and bought some weird, very heavy, extremely dense chunks of wood from an old farmer. Surprisingly, the wood burned so easily and intensively that it seemed like it was a an artificial Duraflame log! It made a thick, black smoke, almost made me think that they’d been soaked in petrol…