What kind of firewood is best for heating a stove, tips for choosing the type of wood

To burn brightly and for a long time!

A bright flame and a minimum of smoke can only come from dry firewood.
If you follow the tips for using aspen firewood given in this article, all year round you will be able to enjoy a natural, bright fire that will warm and decorate the space around you. For owners of natural fireplaces or stoves, choosing firewood is a long and responsible process, because the comfort and convenience of all household members depends on it.

The right choice will help you enjoy smoke without soot and the unpleasant “burnt” smell that often happens when using synthetic or chemical fuel for fireplaces. Natural firewood will help not only keep you warm, but also maintain your health, because it’s not for nothing that our ancestors loved to heat the bathhouse “black” so that the smoke would be rich so that it could be inhaled, which is very useful.

Folk tales

Superstitions and beliefs circulate among the people. For example, it is believed that it is better to prepare firewood for a bath during the waning moon. Moreover, the thinner the sickle, the stronger the logs are endowed with healing powers. Once upon a time, the Slavs believed that people who left the world turned into maples in their lives. The appearance of its leaves is akin to open palms, and its branches represent hands raised to the heavens. For this reason, they never fired maple stoves.

In the old days, residents of the Tambov province heated their stoves exclusively with apple trees to keep the house warm throughout the winter, including especially frosty days. Whether to believe all this or not is everyone’s business, but what happened was what happened. What do you, dear readers, think: what kind of firewood is better for a stove, bathhouse or fireplace?

How and where is the best way to store firewood?

After the firewood is ready, you need to take care of its storage. So that they do not lose their properties for a long time, they must be stored correctly. The location must be suitable to preserve the wood. To select a woodpile, consider the following points:

• The woodpile cannot be built in a low area, because moisture will accumulate there all the time.
• The place must be completely protected from various precipitation, so a roof is needed.
• When laying wood, you need to leave small gaps between them so that they are ventilated.
• Only dry wood should be laid.

Many summer residents specially build a woodpile, and most use the old method - putting all the logs in a common pile and covering them with large polyethylene. Which method to choose is decided individually, but it is best to choose the option that will preserve the wood for a long time.

You should also not use trees that have been lying on the ground for a long time, because toxins accumulate in them. If you put firewood in a woodpile correctly, it will be stored for a long time and will not lose its properties and qualities for several years.

To quickly light the stove, before heating, wood from the street should be brought into the house so that it heats up. The speed of heating and maintaining heat in the room will depend on how correctly the conditions for storing firewood were met.

How to choose the right firewood for a stove or fireplace

Among the variety of trees, it is difficult to settle on a specific type for heating a bathhouse or fireplace. Each type of wood has its own properties and they are almost the same for all, so this matter needs to be considered from a different point of view. To select, you need to find logs that have a high specific gravity .

The ideal option would be birch trees , but they are more expensive than aspen trees, which are in second place after birch logs. But in terms of heat transfer, oak is superior to others. At the same time, they are difficult to find; in the end they will be replaced by aspen trees.

But the best option for the firebox is combined firewood , for example, you can light the stove or fireplace using apple or birch logs, then add aspen firewood to make the stove burn hotter, but in the bathhouse you can add linden wood for health.

Softwood firewood: pine, spruce, larch

By the characteristic crackling of the logs, which literally caresses the ear, and the bright scattering sparks, you can determine the combustion of pine logs. They give off a lot of heat, but burn out quite quickly. But many shortcomings are quickly forgotten thanks to the unique resinous aroma that comes from burning pine or spruce firewood.

It is worth noting that pine logs produce more heat than spruce logs. Largely due to the high content of resinous substances, due to which the above-mentioned aroma is released. Pine and spruce, it produces an equally invigorating effect. In addition, it can have a tonic effect on the organs of the upper respiratory tract.

Of course, no one will specifically grow fruit trees for the sole purpose of using them for firewood. However, there is still an apple, pear, plum or cherry tree on the site. Over time, you can collect a lot of branches and twigs, which you can put into the firebox. Some people make fires right away, but it would be much more correct to carefully cut them and put them in a woodpile.

It costs nothing to saw and chop firewood; the apple tree is the leader in terms of heat release, and there is practically no smoke. But this choice is more of an aesthetic nature.

Deciduous wood is more often used to fire a bathhouse than coniferous firewood. Ash, alder, birch, and fruit trees are suitable for these purposes.

• Alder, numbering more than a dozen species, was used in Rus' to heat baths for the nobility. Such firewood is easy to dry without even creating special conditions for it. The main thing is that the logs were prepared from wood that grew on not very wet soil. Alder firewood does not lose its natural aroma for a long time. The advantages of alder firewood are rapid combustion, a large amount of heat, and no smoke due to the low resin content. The aroma of alder has a beneficial effect on health, helping to overcome colds, depression and fatigue. Like aspen, alder firewood is used to clean soot from chimneys. Alder firewood is considered an excellent option for cooking barbecue. You can read more about this in the article “Features of choosing firewood for barbecue.”
• Linden firewood is slow to ignite but produces an effective, lasting heat. The steam from the linden tree is considered healing, especially if you add honey to the oven and smear it on the patient’s body. This firewood is considered the best for a bathhouse, but has one drawback - it can be stored for no more than two years.
• High-quality oak firewood, selected from middle-aged trees, is considered a prestigious type of fuel. The steam from oak logs is tart, smells like forest and helps against some chronic diseases; it is recommended for maintaining the health of children. Oak wood is ideal for burning fireplaces.
• Birch firewood has antibacterial properties. The steam in a bathhouse, heated with birch firewood no older than two years, is light, aromatic, good for the respiratory system, and helps fight colds.

Birch wood is hard, and in terms of heat transfer it is second only to oak, significantly surpassing aspen and pine. To get rid of soot clogging the pipe, aspen logs are added to the stove after burning with birch firewood.

• Willow is an affordable, rapidly renewable wood. It burns hot, burns out quickly, does not smoke, and requires significant supplies.
• Wood from fruit trees - cherries, pears, apple trees, plums - is a fairly common option for heating a bathhouse. Such firewood is fragrant, burns hot and smokeless, especially apple wood. Essential oils are used to enhance and change the aroma. If you can use old fruit trees with rotten cores to heat a house, then this option is not suitable for a bathhouse.

After choosing the type of wood and cutting the logs, you need to take care of their proper drying and subsequent storage. To do this, set up a woodpile in the open air or in a shed near the bathhouse. Firewood is laid upside down and not directly on the ground, but on a stand made of beams and poles. You can read more about the methods and features of drying lumber and firewood in the article “How to dry wood correctly.”

Firewood from deciduous trees

In order to optimally choose firewood for heating the stove, based on specific needs, let’s first consider the most popular species of deciduous trees for use in heating the house.

Oak firewood. Experts have long noted oak firewood as wood with almost maximum heat transfer (oak is inferior to ash). At the same time, oak burns for a long time, which allows you to significantly reduce the consumption of logs. These characteristics of oak are explained by its dense, hard structure. Naturally, oak firewood is more expensive than all others, but savings can be seen in the ability to heat a room with less fuel.

Harvesting oak wood

It is believed that middle-aged oak should be used for harvesting, since it is at this time that its characteristics are maximum. When burned, such wood emits intense heat, as well as a very pleasant, characteristic aroma of the forest. Oak firewood is actively used to fire open fireplaces; they allow you to create a pleasant atmosphere in the room, filled with the healing aromas of the forest.

Interesting fact: true Italian pizza is baked in an oven using exclusively oak wood. Italy is not rich in this type of firewood, so oak wood is very valuable in this country.

Ash has similar characteristics, as do fruit trees such as apple or pear, but they must also be harvested at a certain average age.

Birch firewood. The next very popular wood we will look at is birch. Birch firewood is actively used for stoves in bathhouses, as it not only provides excellent heat and aroma, but is also endowed with disinfectant properties. In addition to this, a bathhouse heated with birch wood is full of healing properties; it perfectly helps to cope with colds and chronic respiratory problems.

However, there are also nuances when harvesting birch. It has long been proven that firewood from this tree loses its main properties after 2-3 years of storage. This can be determined by the appearance of the log; it becomes rotten. You should not expect intense heat from such firewood, and the classic aroma completely disappears from them.

Preparation of birch firewood

Birch wood and its bark contain a large amount of tar. You can observe it when the bark burns, when it begins to emit black clouds of smoke. Tar is a carbon compound, so it can ignite instantly and burn with great intensity. Moreover, after combustion there is practically no ash left from the birch. Birch bark and logs are often used to light stoves, since such wood burns even when damp.

Good to know: What kind of firewood is best to use to light a bathhouse?

If we compare birch firewood and pine or alder wood, then in terms of heat transfer they are 25-30% higher.

Alder firewood. Alder wood can be immediately recognized by its characteristic color, which can be orange, red, bluish, or ocher. Different colors indicate a specific breed of alder, and at the moment there are about 20-25 of them. In ancient times, alder firewood was called “royal” firewood, since it was used for heating the houses of the nobility for many centuries.

Alder firewood has a remarkable property: it dries independently under normal storage conditions. This property is most often characteristic of alder, which grew far from rivers, lakes, and in soil with a small amount of moisture.

Another remarkable property of alder is its unique aroma, which the wood retains for 2-3 years of storage. After this time, the aroma during combustion will be negligible, but the level of heat transfer will not change. In ancient times, alder was actively used to fire black saunas, since when burned it produces virtually no smoke. It is believed that alder wood helps clear soot from the chimney, releasing a certain type of vapor during combustion.

Harvesting firewood from alder

Possessing a unique aroma, alder is actively used in smoking meat and fish; it is not without reason that when harvesting alder, sawdust is collected for future use.

Ash firewood. Ash wood is rarely found on sale and is expensive, since in terms of heat transfer this type of wood is comparable to oak, and even slightly superior. Harvesting ash involves certain problems; due to its hard structure, it is very difficult to saw into pieces.

Note that ash burns well even when damp, it does not spark and produces an even flame. If you need to heat the stove with raw wood, use ash or birch. If you find such firewood at an affordable price, be sure to purchase it.

Scarce ash firewood

Firewood from linden. To quickly light stoves, experienced owners can use linden wood. The wood of this tree is quite difficult to set in fire, but then burns very intensely, releasing a large amount of heat, which contributes to the rapid heating of the stove. This property is perfect for firewood for a bathhouse, the main task of which is to prepare excellent conditions for relaxation in a short time.

In addition, like birch firewood, linden has healing properties; it helps with colds and respiratory diseases. It is believed that if you add a few spoons of honey to the linden firebox, the resulting combined aroma and steam will heal old, poorly healing wounds.

Linden firewood does not lose its properties for about two years after cutting down the tree. In the third year, the healing and thermal characteristics of the wood gradually fade away.

Good to know: How to prepare firewood for the winter, how to chop and dry wood with your own hands

Firewood from aspen. Aspen firewood is similar in functionality to alder, at least it also effectively fights soot in the chimney. When burned, aspen produces virtually no smoke and produces characteristic steam. This steam has a beneficial effect on soot, which softens and moves away from the walls of the chimney. When aspen wood burns inside the stove, you can hear soot falling into the firebox or ash pan.

Harvesting firewood from aspen

At the same time, the heat transfer from burning aspen is small and is unlikely to be enough to fully heat the room. Therefore, such firewood is used exclusively for preventive purposes. Aspen firewood for the stove will be extremely necessary if it was previously heated with coniferous wood.

Firewood from willow and poplar. Poplar and willow firewood have one drawback. They are rarely used to fire stoves because they burn out very quickly. To heat a room with such firewood, you need to use a lot of it, so even a low, attractive price is not able to concentrate attention on it.

Experts have long classified willow and poplar firewood as low-grade, which is used in rare cases when a normal type of wood is not available.

Firewood from fruit trees. You rarely see firewood from fruit trees, but in terms of their characteristics they are quite good. Such wood in a stove will easily warm a house, but most often this wood is used for fireplaces or smokehouses due to its exclusivity. It is rare to find such firewood, because most often they appear after cutting down old orchards.

Softwoods

The softer the wood, the more ash remains after it burns out. This imposes certain obligations on the stoker. First, you need to clean the firebox more often. Secondly, periodically turn the firewood over with a poker to clear the ash from the firebrands, freeing up oxygen for even burning. But this does not mean that all soft breeds are bad and should not be used. For example:

• spruce - easily chipped, great for melting, but can spark when burning;
• pine - has the same properties as spruce, and burns well even when freshly sawn and damp;
• alder - hard to prick, but easy to saw across the grain, burns very well.

Another important property of alder is that when burning it practically does not form soot. Larch, despite its softness, is considered one of the best types of fuel for stoves and fireplaces, and in terms of heat transfer it is equal to oak and apple tree

Aspen wood is often specifically sought for for a fireplace. It crackles pleasantly and will quickly heat up even a large room. Coniferous trees are also often used for baths, since the phytoncides they release during combustion significantly increase the benefits of this procedure and are an excellent prevention of colds and respiratory diseases.

Breed characteristics

The dense structures of deciduous trees are suitable for producing good heat in the firebox. They burn brightly, generating a lot of heat in the process. The trunks of fruiting trees smell pleasant when burned, which makes them indispensable in fireplaces and open hearths.

The smell of smoldering mass depends on the content of esters, resins, and tanning components. Oak releases tart tannins, rosewood scents the space with vanilla, and backout feels about the same.

Coniferous trees have an intense flame, but when burning they emit more smoke than deciduous trees. When using them, the walls and ceiling of the room, as well as the inside of the chimney, become clogged faster. The smell of turpentine, which comes from pine and spruce, spreads into the room.

Oak in the hearth

Initially, oak is considered as a valuable wood for production, so discarded trunks or measured waste are used for fuel. If we talk about full-fledged logs, their cost is high, so such options are rarely used.

It is better to burn with wood cut from middle-aged and not very old trunks. This guarantees long combustion and release of a large amount of energy. Young specimens give off a not too intense heat, and the room in the house has the smell of smoldering wood. Old trunks will leave a lot of ash in the residue, while the energy released is weaker.

Burning quality logs releases a tart aroma with added forest notes. It tones the body, relaxes the nervous system and has a beneficial effect on health. Oak wood is completely suitable for fireplaces and stoves.

Linden for bath

When burned, linden wood produces an even heat throughout the entire process. This is the kind of combustion that is required when heating steam rooms and baths. The raw material is used to maintain uniform temperature in the heating compartment.

Linden firewood emits a sweetish odor that is beneficial for the respiratory organs. It is difficult to ignite raw materials in the firebox, so torches and thin logs are used. Firewood is stored for two years, then its properties begin to decline. The calorific value of linden firewood is 2040 kcal, which is not enough to fully heat a house. Sometimes fuel is used in stoves for cooking.

Birch logs

In terms of density, birch is equal to oak, therefore it is a high-quality fuel for stoves. Its ability to transfer heat is lower than that of valuable wood, but is a quarter higher than that of coniferous trees. When burned, the raw material gives an even flame and does not emit sparks. In terms of calorific value, a cubic meter of birch firewood replaces:

• 1.15 m³ alder, pine;
• 1.3 m³ spruce;
• 0.76 m³ oak logs;
• 1.52 m³ aspen.

The disadvantage is the admixture of resin in the wood, most of which comes from the bark of the trunk.

Logs are placed in the stove, after removing the top layer. The soot released during smoldering clogs the chimney and narrows the working channel of the exhaust gases. When burning birch fuel, a unique smell is felt; volatile substances disinfect the atmosphere and prevent respiratory infections in households. By analogy with linden, birch is stored for only two years.

Aspen in the firebox

It is rarely used, as it takes a long time and is difficult to light. Produces little heat in the fireplace and burns quickly, leaving a small amount of ash. The firewood produces a long, bright red flame without releasing any aggravating substance that clogs the chimney.

Aspen logs are placed at the end of the firebox with resinous firewood. The tree partially clears the channel walls of accumulated soot. Such firewood is not suitable for full heating of a house, so it is almost never harvested.

Alder, poplar, willow

Royal wood flares up quickly in the oven, smolders without smoke, releases a lot of energy and does not contain resinous additions. The pleasant smell is the reason for using alder in a fireplace or steam room furnace. Similarly, it removes soot deposits from the walls of the smoke channel. Good for cooking and barbecuing, smoking fish and meat. It can be stored for about three years without loss of quality.

Firewood from poplar and willow is also prepared for heating. These options are available when other raw materials are unavailable. Low-grade wood provides heat to a room if large quantities are burned. This is due to the fact that due to its low density, the material burns too quickly, but produces little heat. Even the low cost cannot cover the cost of heating a home.

Fruit trees are rarely used; they also quickly decompose in the firebox.

Because of their strong and pleasant aroma, cherry, apple and plum are stored in storage for frying food over an open fire and for use in the hearth.

Coniferous trunks

Due to the resins contained in wood, logs burn intensely, but they smoke and smoke. With constant use of fuel, all the shortcomings of pine firewood appear, so it is necessary to regularly clean the exhaust channel of combustion products. This raw material is almost never used in home heating stoves and boilers, used only when necessary. Pine is widely used for heating baths and steam rooms. Due to excellent combustion, the temperature in the room rises quickly.

The calorific value of coniferous species is about 4920 kcal, provided that dry specimens are used. A kilogram of dried raw materials releases about three kilograms of water vapor. Oils entering the air have a positive effect on the respiratory system and tone the body when in the steam room.

The raw materials are used in fireplaces and open hearths, but the danger arises due to the high sparking of the fuel. Pine logs crack and emit hot particles into the surrounding space, so spruce firewood is often used instead. The pros and cons of fuel are balanced against the background of the low cost of raw materials. The emission of burning sparks is eliminated by installing protective screens made of heat-resistant glass or other materials.

Calorific value of wood table for all species

The calorific value of wood depends on the species, age of the tree, growing conditions, place in the trunk, etc. There are higher, or absolute, calorific value, which expresses the amount of heat released during complete combustion of 1 kg of wood, the working calorific value of wood, taking into account humidity and ash content of wood and specific calorific value, which is the ratio of working calorific value to the volumetric weight of wood. Specific calorific value gives a practical characteristic of the heating value of wood.

The gross calorific value of wood is defined as the sum of the calorific values ​​of individual chemical elements obtained during their free combustion. For wood, it can be approximately determined using the formula of D. I. Mendeleev:

Q = 81C+ 300H -26O,

where C, H and O are the percentage content of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in wood.

An accurate determination of the gross calorific value of wood is carried out in the laboratory by calorimetry. furniture repair at home

Table 3 - Working and specific calorific value of various wood species (according to Arnold)

The calorific value of wood is largely dependent on humidity. As the moisture content of wood increases, its calorific value decreases.

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The working calorific value in Kcal can be determined using the empirical formula of Prof. Nadezhdina:

QPc =4370—50 W for air-dried wood

And

QPB = 3870—45 W for driftwood,

where W is the relative humidity of wood in percent, or can be determined from the diagram (Fig. 10).

Rice. 10. Nomogram for determining the calorific value of wood of different moisture content.

Rice. 10. Nomogram for determining the calorific value of wood of different moisture content.

Wood with a moisture content of 70% practically does not burn.

The heat output, or the temperature developed by wood during combustion (combustion temperature), is theoretically equal to 1547°. Practically, taking into account losses (cooling of the flame by excess air, heat loss, etc.), the heat output ranges from 700 to 1200° and on average is taken to be 1000–1025°.

The steam-producing capacity of wood, i.e. the amount of water per kg converted into steam during the combustion of 1 kg of wood, is small and on average equal to 3.8 kg (see Table 4).

Subtleties and nuances

• The worst thing is if you have damp aspen firewood. This type of wood produces a small amount of heat, so aspen firewood will be very difficult to light. The logs will slowly smolder when exposed to temperature, releasing very little heat.
• A good option for quickly kindling raw logs is birch or spruce. Despite the fact that these tree species emit a lot of soot and soot when burned, they are optimal for quick kindling. The fire catches on the chips and birch bark in literally a matter of seconds.

• An original way to quickly dry wood was invented by our ancestors. Salt should be poured in large quantities onto wet firewood. The salt will draw out some of the moisture, and the firewood will become usable.
• If we light a fire in nature and we have flammable liquids in our arsenal, for example, diesel fuel, gasoline, kerosene, then it is quite possible to pour these compounds on the wood chips. If we want to use flammable liquids in the stove, we can moisten a rag with them and place it between the logs. The characteristic odor from such liquids will disappear fairly quickly after lighting a fire.
• Some experts recommend putting an empty bottle of vegetable oil in the firebox. With its help you can quickly get the required amount of fire.

Please note that firewood is always purchased raw. It is best to do this in winter, stocking up for the next season, when equipment easily enters the forest. In this case, you will have the firewood for a whole year before using it. They must be stored in a woodpile, protected from precipitation and blown by the wind.

As you can see, there are no particular difficulties with kindling raw firewood; the main thing is to approach this issue thoughtfully and carry out the preparatory work efficiently. With a little patience, you will have a nice, intense fire that provides warmth.

Types of coniferous trees

Coniferous species include:

• pine and cedar;
• spruce trees;
• fir and larch;
• yew and thuja;
• juniper;
• cypress.

They are also used for heating , but the logs contain a lot of resinous substances. It is worth noting that pine wood burns hotter than spruce wood, and all because of the large amount of resin. Keep in mind that this firewood can shoot while burning, so all safety precautions should be taken into account.

The advantage of these types of firewood is that they emit an invigorating aroma of resin and essential oils , which tones the respiratory tract. It is best to use this wood in a bathhouse rather than for a fireplace.

Splitting and preparing firewood

Woodpile of firewood

Firewood basket

Transportation of firewood

Most firewood is in the form of a log. The technology for making logs is simple: tree trunks and thick branches are sawed into lengths of 40-60 cm () and then split with an ax in the longitudinal direction into smaller pieces with an end area of ​​up to 100 cm². For splitting, it is more convenient to use a special splitting axe, the blade of which has the shape of a wedge with an angle of approximately 30°. A cleaver can split even the thickest logs with less impact force. When chopping with an axe, especially thick chocks, there is a high probability of the blade getting stuck in the resulting crack in the chock. Then, in order to chop or free the ax, they turn the ax over with the stuck block up and hit the other block with the butt.

The correct stance when chopping wood is to have your feet wider than your shoulders. This will prevent injury in case of a miss, unsuccessful blow or breakage of the ax. Also, for convenience, it is best to place the block at the height of a person’s belt; most often, a very thick and thick piece of round wood is used as a stand.

The “hottest” firewood is considered to be from birch, and the “coldest” is from aspen.

A firewood basket is used to carry firewood.

Calorific value of firewood: comparison table of different species

Wood is a rather complex material in its chemical composition.

calorific value of firewood

Why are we interested in chemical composition? But combustion (including the burning of wood in a stove) is a chemical reaction of wood materials with oxygen from the surrounding air. The calorific value of firewood depends on the chemical composition of a particular type of wood.

The main chemical binders in wood are lignin and cellulose. They form cells - peculiar containers, inside of which there is moisture and air. Wood also contains resin, proteins, tannins and other chemical ingredients.

What is wood moisture content and what does it affect?

A physical quantity that describes the relative amount of water contained in wood is called moisture content. Wood moisture content is measured as a percentage.

When measuring, two types of humidity can be taken into account:

• Absolute humidity is the amount of moisture that is currently contained in wood relative to completely dried wood. Such measurements are usually carried out for construction purposes.
• Relative humidity is the amount of moisture that the wood currently contains in relation to its own weight. Such calculations are made for wood used as fuel.

So, if it is written that wood has a relative humidity of 60%, then its absolute humidity will be expressed as 150%.

To calculate the calorific value of firewood at a known humidity, you can use the following formula:

Analyzing this formula, it can be established that firewood harvested from coniferous trees with a relative humidity of 12 percent will release 3940 kilocalories when burning 1 kilogram, and firewood harvested from deciduous trees with comparable humidity will release 3852 kilocalories.

To understand what a relative humidity of 12 percent is, let us explain that firewood acquires such humidity when it is dried outside for a long time.

What types of trees should you not light in a fireplace?

It is not for nothing that there are a large number of different trees on Earth. All this is for you, friends! For your hot fires! Each type of wood has its own unique properties.

For example, beech and oak are considered “elite firewood”. The flame burns brightly and evenly. During combustion, the crackling sound is smooth and pleasant to the ear. The heat output of beech firewood is the best among other types of wood. Oak firewood has similar parameters. Their only drawback is that the cost of the logs is relatively high and there are difficulties in splitting them. But oak wood burns for a long time and practically does not emit smoke.

Apple, pear and other fruit species. Their advantage is a pleasant smell. They are used to heat living rooms, the fruity aroma of which becomes stable over time.

Linden and Poplar. Poplar is used exclusively for decorative purposes. Firewood produces little heat and burns quickly. To heat the room, you will have to add firewood every 1.5 hours. Linden logs are the same. The flame is dim, the wood produces virtually no heat or smoke.

Alder and Aspen. The firewood from these trees has a unique property. When burning, they do not emit smoke or soot. In addition to this, their fire burns away the soot inside the chimney. It is recommended, at least once every few weeks, to heat the stove with alder or aspen firewood, so as not to

prevent contamination of the internal cavity of the chimney with soot.

Firewood from coniferous trees: spruce, pine. They contain a lot of resin, which emit a lot of soot. During combustion, in addition to tar, the flue gases also contain a lot of soot, which leads to overgrowing of the internal cavity of the chimney pipe. Spontaneous combustion of soot inside the chimney is often observed, which can render the pipe unusable. So, if you still want to see your home intact when you come home, do not heat it with coniferous wood.

What kind of firewood is preferable?

It is best to take firewood from hard, deciduous trees. When they burn, no resin is released, and the high combustion temperature is maintained without problems. An additional advantage is that soot remains to a minimum inside the chimney.

It is not advisable to heat the stove with garbage; it is also bad to use spruce and pine wood. On the contrary, it is good to heat with sawdust. Briquettes are also used; they are made from peat or wood. The fuel should have a moisture content of about 20 percent. It is present if the firewood is stored in a dry room for a year.

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Firewood

These are sawn or chopped pieces of wood, which, when burned in furnaces, boilers and other devices, generate thermal energy.

For ease of loading into the firebox, wood material is cut into individual elements up to 30 cm long. To increase the efficiency of their use, the firewood must be as dry as possible and the combustion process must be relatively slow. In many respects, wood from hardwoods such as oak and birch, hazel and ash, and hawthorn are suitable for heating premises. Due to the high resin content, increased burning rate and low calorific value, coniferous trees are significantly inferior in this regard.

It should be understood that the value of the calorific value is affected by the density of wood.

Heating a house with wood

There is no breed that would be ideal for use in all cases; each trunk has disadvantages and positive aspects. Heating with wood is considered a labor-intensive task due to the large number of organizational processes that cannot be resolved with the development of industrial technologies and the release of new units. A large mass of raw materials is processed, harvested, stored, transported, sawn and split. But all the organizational fuss is offset by the economic benefit from the full cost of fuel, and unpleasant moments in the form of smoke and soot fade into the background.

From this video we will learn how to heat a country house with wood:

The instability of wood pulp leads to cumbersomeness and imperfect calculation of the amount of required raw materials. Her choice is influenced by:heat transfer;

• ash content;
• flammability;
• ability to smoke;
• humidity;
• density;
• completeness of combustion.

Freshly cut trunks burn poorly due to high humidity, and smoke appears. Fuel procurement is carried out in winter, using the period of suspension of the movement of juices. Raw materials cut in summer contain moisture and must be dried for a long time for full use.

WOOD SPECIES FOR BOILER FIRES

The main characteristics of firewood for heaters are their calorific qualities and combustion duration. For heating, it is good when wood burns slowly but for a long time. Firewood from deciduous trees best suits these purposes. In general, all conifers are characterized by reduced calorific value, increased smoke production and resin content. It is easiest to split rocks of medium hardness.

Specifics of combustion of various types of wood:

• Birch wood fires quickly and can burn even when damp. Disadvantage - they contain a lot of resin, which settles in the form of tar on the chimney.
• Aspen and alder - burn out without releasing soot, and in addition they help clean the chimney from burning. Aspen fires burn slowly, produce little heat, and burn quickly. Alders burn quickly, releasing a lot of heat.
• Poplar - burns well, but burns out quickly.
• Pine burns hotter than spruce due to the larger amount of resin. Easy to prick. Disadvantage: resinousness. Beech and ash are difficult to melt, but can burn when wet. They split easily (except beech wood).
• Linden ones burn well and for a long time, but they are difficult to light.
• Apple and pear trees are easy to split and burn well.
• Cedar trees take a long time to smolder.
• Cherry and elm ones smoke.
• Sycamores burn well, but are difficult to prick.
• Oak wood is one of the leaders in terms of calorific value and combustion duration. The calorific qualities of middle-aged oaks are better than those of old and young ones. A significant drawback is that it is very difficult to stab.

It is necessary to take into account the fact that the calorific characteristics of different types of wood vary significantly. Therefore, it is possible to observe fluctuations in the density of different tree species and fluctuations in the calculated coefficients

Table of calorific values ​​of various types of wood

What good firewood should be like

There are few people who understand firewood. There are tree species that are suitable for construction, while others are excellent for heating. It is worth considering what exactly will be heated.

For example, if wood is needed for a fireplace, then you should choose one that emits a pleasant aroma . The composition of such wood should not include resin, otherwise a smoke effect will be created. Resin is found in coniferous trees, so such firewood is not used for fireplaces.

Good firewood should have excellent heat transfer , not create smoke in the room, burn completely and not leave behind a lot of waste. Fresh wood cannot be used for the firebox, because it will burn poorly, because it contains moisture.

The highest quality wood is those trees that were cut down in winter. After all, during this period there is very little sap in the trees.

The best fuel for a stove will be deciduous trees because they have a dense structure. Moreover, their main property is the duration of combustion, which means the heat will be retained for a long time. Such tree species include linden, ash, oak, birch, aspen and others.

Birch and oak firewood

Birch trees are the most traditional for stoves or baths. They light easily and burn for a long time, and do not produce sparks at all. But, besides this, birch firewood disinfects the air, and the room is filled with a pleasant smell. Birch wood is valued by bathhouse lovers .

It is worth considering that you should not store firewood for a long time, because it quickly loses its quality and deteriorates. Such trees have their own disadvantage: there is a lot of tar , which leaves soot in the chimney and the walls of the stove. If it is not cleaned in time, the likelihood of a fire increases.

Oak firewood burns for a long time and therefore has good heat transfer . Wood of this type is expensive, but its heating consumption is less than other firewood. When burned, oak wood thins out the tart forest aroma, so a healthy atmosphere is created in the room, because oak has medicinal properties.

For the firebox you should choose medium oak , because young oak produces little heat, while old oak produces a large amount of ash during combustion and has less heat transfer. The best firewood for a fireplace is oak.

Firewood from alder, aspen, linden, willow and fruit trees

Alder firewood has an orange and even red hue. People call them royal, they have the properties of quickly igniting , burn without smoke and have a low tar.

In winter, residents of a house heated with alder wood will feel cheerful and energetic. But the main advantage of this wood is that it removes soot from the walls of the chimney.

Aspen firewood is more difficult to light than all others, and all because their wood is softer. However, they produce little heat and burn quickly. But aspen firewood is distinguished by a bright and high flame, it does not smoke and helps remove soot, which is their advantage.

Most often, aspen wood is placed in the stove with other firewood so that it holds the heat. In the old days, the aspen type of firewood was used by the poor. They don’t produce as much heat, but together with other types of trees they retain heat longer and, in addition, clean the chimney.

Linden firewood has the main feature - it is difficult to light it, but it burns intensely and the stove heats up quickly. In addition, linden has healing properties and this wood is most often used in baths.

In the old days, when heating a bathhouse with linden wood, they added honey so that the aroma would heal old wounds and help with diseases of the upper respiratory tract. And also a bath with them has a beneficial effect on the skin and quickly relieves a runny nose.

Willow firewood burns evenly, it is hot and does not smoke, but it burns too quickly. At the same time, they have a low cost, but are not economical to use. To heat a large room, it is better not to use willow wood.

Fruit trees are also good for heating a room. They quickly heat up the room and are most often used for fireplaces, because it is impossible to find such firewood on sale. Typically, such wood is stocked when cutting down gardens. But such trees have a pleasant aroma, but apple trees will fill the room with exoticism.

Coal

It is a natural material of plant origin, extracted from sedimentary rock.

This type of solid fuel contains carbon and other chemical elements. There is a division of material into types depending on its age. Brown coal is considered the youngest, followed by hard coal, and anthracite is older than all other types. The age of a combustible substance also determines its moisture content, which is more present in young material.

During the combustion of coal, environmental pollution occurs, and slag is formed on the boiler grates, which to a certain extent creates an obstacle to normal combustion. The presence of sulfur in the material is also an unfavorable factor for the atmosphere, since in the air space this element is converted into sulfuric acid.

However, consumers should not fear for their health. Manufacturers of this material, taking care of private customers, strive to reduce the sulfur content in it. The heating value of coal can vary even within the same type. The difference depends on the characteristics of the subspecies and its mineral content, as well as the geography of production. As a solid fuel, not only pure coal is found, but also low-enriched coal slag, pressed into briquettes.

This is important to know!

Regardless of the type of trees that will be used for firewood, you need to know about some features:

1. Deadlines. Of course, those logs that have already served their “allotted” time will also burn (provided that they are dry and there is no mold on them). However, most trees retain their aroma only for two years. Alder and aspen are a pleasant exception in this regard - 3 years.
2. Everything has its time. In winter, the humidity of trees is at a minimum level. In this regard, the preparation of firewood must be done during this period. Drying usually takes about 12 months. However, the timing depends on the type of forest, harvesting time, storage conditions and a number of other factors. In this case, the duration may increase significantly or, conversely, decrease.
3. Dimensions. Which firewood is more profitable? Of course, those with optimal sizes. And these are 40-50 cm in length and 8-10 cm in thickness. This is how they are convenient to store and are suitable for any firebox.
4. Rot. Under no circumstances should you use rotten firewood. Keeping logs on the ground for a long time results in the accumulation of toxic substances released during combustion, which is not beneficial to humans. For this reason, when cutting down branches, you should immediately take the correct measures to store them. When choosing raw materials for heating among dead wood, you should not take into account long-fallen branches.
5. Storage issues. Logs should be laid with the bark facing up. This will protect the firewood from accidentally entering moisture, which evaporates faster from the surface of the bark. And if you show your imagination, you can build an original woodpile to the delight and surprise of your guests.

As you can see from this material, it’s not enough to know which firewood is best for the stove

It is equally important to ensure that they are stored correctly.

Firewood for the stove

Now let's look at the following:

• how to properly heat a stove with wood;
• what kind of wood is best to heat the stove in the house.

Properly caring for your stove is not an easy task. Firstly, you need to monitor the general condition of the stove: there should be no cracks in the brickwork, and there should be no burns in the metal body that could allow smoke to pass through. Secondly, it is worth checking the draft all the time before firing, and in solid fuel boilers, inspect the loading door for complete fit.

The oven is heated like this:

1. Crumpled paper, small wood chips and small logs for the stove are placed on the grates.
2. The ash pan door opens a quarter, the chimney valve opens halfway.
3. Ignition of paper is carried out with matches without the use of various types of liquid fuel. After the flame becomes larger, it is necessary to add more air by opening the ash pan more.
4. When the fire completely engulfs the filling, you can add more wood and adjust the air supply for greater combustion.
5. You need to make sure that the room is not very hot and has a comfortable temperature.

Brick dacha stoves will last longer if you do not cause the firebox to constantly overheat. Ideally, choose the medium or minimum mode if the oven is already well heated.

As for metal heaters for a private home, they can easily be heated to the maximum level. This will allow you to heat the room in a short time, and after the need for heat disappears, you can simply maintain the heating. Of course, you will have to add a small amount of logs from time to time; a large stack is only appropriate for the night.

You should remember about timely cleaning of the ash pan, which must be carried out if necessary. But the need may be different, because you can use dry pine for the stove, and then the waste will be minimal, or you can put low-quality logs with high ash content in the firebox or add coal.

Below is a video on how to properly heat a stove with wood.

A wood-burning boiler for heating a house operates most efficiently in the “maximum” mode. Its main advantage in comparison with stoves is its high efficiency, but you must know how to use it. In this regard, professionals recommend installing a boiler for heating a private house using wood together with a buffer tank - a heat accumulator. This method is the most rational and makes it possible to take the maximum amount of energy from wood and use it to heat the room.

Characteristics of firewood

In order to choose the right type of wood for the firebox, you need to know some of its characteristics. Firewood is distinguished by heat transfer, flammability, ash content and the amount of smoke it produces when burning.

High-quality firewood is distinguished by good flammability and heat transfer, the ability to produce a minimal amount of ash and avoid excessive smoke.

To choose exactly these, you need to pay attention not only to the type of wood, but also to its dryness, since it must contain a certain percentage of moisture. Everyone knows that logs cut from a freshly cut tree will burn poorly due to excess moisture in them.

Therefore, the preparation of firewood, and wood for outbuildings, furniture making and other needs, is usually carried out in the middle of the winter period. At this time, the trees “sleep”, and their trunks do not have such intense sap flow as, for example, in spring or summer.

USEFUL INFORMATION ON THE PROPERTIES OF WOOD

Accounting is carried out by the volume of firewood in stacks (woodpiles). The quality of the woodpile depends on the layout used, being considered optimal if the mass of wood is approximately 70% of the cubic capacity. The higher the specific gravity of firewood in the woodpile, the more profitable the purchase.

Below is the ratio of a cubic meter of birch firewood to competing wood:

• 1.5 cubic meters of aspen;
• 1.3 cubic meters of spruce.
• 1.2 cubic meters of pine;
• 1.1 cubic meter of alder;
• 0.75 cubic meters of oak;

Let's assume that the logs will occupy the entire volume of the woodpile, in which case the mass of a cubic meter of wood (relative humidity is taken as 20%) will be:

• oak - 725 kg;
• birch - 671 kg;
• pine - 530 kg;
• aspen - 505 kg;
• spruce - 475 kg.

The chemical components of different species are similar; wood is approximately half carbon. Therefore, the heat of combustion of wood of different species (provided the same humidity) is close and amounts to approximately 18,700 kJ (about 4,500 kcal). Fluctuations between breeds do not exceed 3-5%. At the same time, the calorific properties of logs per cubic decimeter differ and on average show the following figures:

• birch - 11000 kJ (2700 kcal);
• alder - 8500 kJ (2100 kcal);
• aspen - 7200 kJ (1750 kcal);
• pine – 7600 kJ (1850 kcal);
• spruce – 7200 kJ (1750 kcal);
• oak – 13500 kJ (3100 kcal).

The heat of combustion of 100 kg of dry firewood is approximately equal to:

• 31 kg of oil;
• 42 kg of coal;
• 54 kg of dry peat;
• 121 kg of semi-dry peat.

The main recommendation is to avoid wood that contains too much resin, so as not to clog the boiler and chimney. Otherwise, the question of what kind of wood to heat the boiler with depends on the availability of a particular wood in the place of residence of the owner of the solid fuel boiler. published econet.ru

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What kind of wood is best to heat the stove?

When choosing the best option for lighting a fireplace, heating a room, cooking or lighting a fire, you should take into account the combustion qualities of different types of wood. You can use combinations, follow the ignition sequence and gradually introduce other types of logs into the burning firebox.

For home heating

If the stove heats a small room, then fruit or coniferous wood is suitable (for closed type solid fuel boilers). Fireplaces love alder, linden, oak and birch. For large areas, oak, birch, alder, and larch are suitable.

After birch, pine or cedar, alder or aspen will help clean the chimney from soot. They are advised to be added to the firebox after combustion is complete, as well as mixed with oak logs, birch or acacia.

For the bath

A real find for sauna lovers is linden wood: its delicate aroma has healing properties, and the high heat will quickly heat the steam room and retain heat. To maintain combustion longer, birch logs or aspen are added to the linden tree.

Alder gives a pleasant aroma, burns with great heat output, saves time on kindling, and has been used since ancient times by wealthy boyars and merchants for heating.

A hot sauna will be created by birch, alder and ash firewood, as well as logs from fruit trees

The sauna cannot be heated very much on pure aspen, but if you add it to birch or alder logs, the effect will be excellent. The air will receive disinfecting properties, the chimney will be cleared of soot.

Birch wood is used most often by true fans of the Russian bath. This firewood produces stable heat, retains heat for a long time, does not smoke, and gives the steam room the atmosphere of a birch grove. It is worth removing the bark from a birch tree that is not dry enough before burning it, but it is better to start with oak or ash.

Ash firewood is perfect for traditional black-style sauna fires.

For barbecue

For the perfect barbecue, gourmets choose fruit woods in combination with linden and birch chips. If you have veal or fish on the grill, there is nothing better than linden and birch firewood. There are also lovers of the aroma of fruit trees: plums, cherries, apricots and pears.

Chefs in Italian restaurants always use oak firewood to cook real pizza in their heat. In this case, an apple or pear tree can replace oak. And lamb meat requires, according to technology, the presence of alder, linden, plum or cherry smoke.

Suitable for poultry meat: cherry, plum, apple tree and grapevine; for pork and lamb: cherry, birch and linden; and for veal and fish: birch, linden, pear, plum and peach

Many recipes with poultry, rabbit and pork include cherry smoke. Peach, apple and grapevine also add piquancy.

Video: what kind of wood to heat a house with

Rare types of firewood

Good oak firewood comes from middle-aged trees; when burned, they release a pleasant tart aroma. Oak firewood is ideal not only for stoves, but also for fireplaces.

Excellent, but also one of the most expensive, is alder firewood. They burn hot, without smoke or soot, spreading a pleasant aroma.

Alder cannot be confused with any other firewood; when cut, it has a color from yellow to deep red. Perhaps this is the best firewood for a fireplace; it burns with a mesmerizing, even flame of a beautiful color. A big plus is that alder firewood lasts a long time and can be stored for future use for 5-6 years.

Rare firewood includes linden. Although linden is common, linden firewood is rare. The wood is hot, although it takes a long time to burn, but then the stove heats up very quickly. The aroma that comes from linden when burned has healing properties. A bathhouse heated with linden firewood is useful for colds, diseases of the bronchi and lungs, and has a beneficial effect on the condition of the skin.

Regardless of what type of firewood you purchase, make sure that the wood is not rotten. The benefits of rotten mushrooms are zero. In order for the wood to burn, giving off maximum heat, it must be dry. Undried wood burns poorly, produces a lot of smoke and little heat.

At the dacha or in the countryside you can’t do without them. Wood from different trees can be used as fuel. They all have their own characteristics.

Firewood for the fireplace

Homeowners often have the question of what kind of wood to use for burning a fireplace. Which ones heat better?

Here it is worth clarifying that the main difference between a fireplace and a stove and a solid fuel boiler is the presence of an open firebox. True, there are fireplaces that are closed with a door equipped with heat-resistant glass.

Experts offer some advice:

1. It is better not to use resinous wood to light fireplaces with open fireboxes. These logs can shoot particles of heat, which often fly quite far and, otherwise, cause a fire.
2. Firewood with a high moisture content should not be used, no matter how much you would like to. You can’t get heat from them, but there’s a lot of soot. Soot will be deposited on the panoramic glass of the closed combustion chamber and will deprive the owner of the opportunity to observe the flame. And the fire from wet logs will be dim and very weak.
3. Soot from damp firewood remains on the walls of chimney pipes. After some time, when you load high quality fuel into the fireplace, the soot can ignite and increase the temperature in the chimney to 800 ° C, which can cause a fire.

Firewood made from alder, maple and aspen

We can conclude that you can burn a fireplace with different types of wood. The exception is resinous (including conifers). But it doesn’t make sense to use very hot logs, since the fireplace is a low-efficiency heater. The best firewood for a fireplace will be made from alder, maple, and aspen. For more fire, you can add birch or acacia.

Calorific value of firewood

November 23, 2021 Vulcan-Teploenergo LLC

Fuel combustion

- This is the chemical destruction and oxidation of combustible fuel, accompanied by the release of heat and light. When fuel burns, carbon dioxide and water vapor are formed, oxygen is part of both products, water evaporates, and when the fuel is completely burned, only ash (non-hot mineral substances) remains.

The calorific value of firewood is the amount of thermal energy that one weight unit of fuel can produce during combustion. The calorific value of firewood is measured in heat units. A unit of heat is the heat that can heat 1 kilogram of water by 1 degree Celsius. The table shows the results of testing the calorific value of various types of firewood (firewood dried artificially to a constant weight).

The presence of moisture in wood reduces the calorific value of firewood (calorific value). When burning wood with 15% moisture, its productivity is approximately 3633 calories. Thus, 1 kilogram of firewood, theoretically delivering 3633 units of heat, can heat 36.3 liters of water from 0 to 100 degrees Celsius, or evaporate about 5.7 kilograms of water. In practice, however, the result is somewhat smaller.

For room heating, back in the 18th century, the Irish scientist tester Guyer proposed the following classification of firewood of different wood species when burning firewood in the same volume:

• The hottest firewood is provided by
  : hornbeam, beech, winter oak, birch, mountain pine, acacia, black pine.
• Hot firewood is provided by
  : maple, ash, red elm, resinous larch, common pine, summer oak.
• Medium
  -hot: spruce, fir, noble chestnut, Siberian cedar.
• Not enough
  - hot firewood is provided: linden, alder, aspen, poplar, willow.

Fuel combustion is distinguished between complete and incomplete. Complete combustion occurs when there is a sufficient amount of oxidizer and ends with complete oxidation of the combustible fuel elements. If there is insufficient amount of oxidizer, incomplete combustion of carbon occurs.

The absolute heat output of a fuel is the amount of heat that is obtained during complete combustion of wood. The calorific value of firewood greatly depends on the degree of dampness.

Artificial drying of firewood increases the calorific value twice as much, depending on the amount of moisture contained in the firewood before drying. The calorific value of different types of firewood is generally almost the same, and for air-dried firewood with 10-12% moisture it is about 3850 calories, which means that one kilogram of such fuel can heat about 3850 kilograms of water by 1 degree Celsius.

In addition to assessing firewood in terms of its calorific value, it is often very important in practice to know the combustion temperature of firewood and its heat output. The temperature that wood can develop when burned

Some fuels develop thermal energy slowly when burned, while others burn quickly with a strong flame, producing high-temperature combustion products.

In addition to the type of wood, the combustion temperature of firewood also depends on other reasons.

:

1. on the completeness of combustion, i.e. the amount of air flowing into the fuel;
2. from losses to the surrounding space.

The combustion temperature of firewood is measured using special instruments called pyrometers. In practice, the pyrometric effect of firewood ranges from 770 to 1200 °C. A comparative test of the heat-producing ability of firewood establishes the following order, taking the maximum combustion temperature of maple as (1200 degrees).

In practice, the following relationship was established. With limited air access, incomplete combustion produces less heat but a higher temperature; during complete combustion with the same volume of air, the amount of heat is greater at a lower temperature.

Birch - traditions should not be broken

Most people are inclined to believe that such firewood is the best fuel for starting a fire in a fireplace, stove or sauna. And all due to invaluable advantages:

• easy to light;
• burn for a long time;
• the flame turns out beautiful and even;
• no sparks;
• copious heat generation.

But the advantages don't end there. Since ancient times, the healing properties of birch have been known. The pleasant aroma has a beneficial effect on the human body, protecting it from colds and chronic diseases. In other words, birch firewood has a disinfecting effect, which causes approval among those who like to take a steam bath.

When burning, logs emit a small amount of carbon dioxide, and this is certainly a plus. But there is also a minus - a high concentration of tar. And this combustion product is no longer beneficial to health. In addition, soot and soot form on the walls of the stove and in the chimney. As a result, over time, not only is traction lost, but the risk of fire or carbon monoxide poisoning increases. Therefore, when choosing this firewood, it is also worth mastering the profession of a chimney sweep, as well as maintaining safety.

This is the queen of the Norwegian forests. Birch has a deservedly high rank in Norway, so high that other good varieties of trees are found in the shade and many prefer it alone.

Nevertheless, the status of the national firewood tree has a good justification: there is a lot of birch (it makes up 74% of all deciduous trees), and it grows large and even. The exception is mountain birch, which can be tortuous and difficult to fit into small ovens. But birch, growing in valleys and lowlands, if the trees are dense, forms a long trunk without branches.

But birch also has its own requirements: it needs to be well dried and quickly deteriorates if it is attacked by fungus and mold. If an undried birch tree is left lying on the ground, it will quickly rot.

Birch grows most actively until 50 years old and rarely lives more than 200 years. Downy birch can grow up to 20 meters, silver birch - up to 30 meters. The average density of wood is 500 kilograms of dry raw materials per cubic meter.

Exotic

As you know, there are quite a lot of tree species, and to list all their types, you could write a thick book, or even more than one.

Therefore, in addition to the varieties listed, it is worth touching on at least a few more:

• Elm. It produces a lot of smoke, is difficult to split and takes a long time to ignite.
• Poplar. Like firewood for a stove - nothing at all. They prick easily, just scatter sparks and burn quickly.
• Beech. It is also difficult to light and split, but can be used raw.
• Fir. Like poplar, it is easy to prick and ignite, but you cannot do without a lot of smoke and sparks.
• Sycamore. Wood is easy to kindle, but difficult to split.