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Originally Posted by KeenTeen17  elder wood is good because it is hollow with really soft wood on the inside - it burns really good once the fire gets going.  |
thats an intersting take on things - I always thought that elder was a poor firewood because it had a has a high water content and doesnt put out a lot of heat when burning - traditionally speaking ideal firewood is oak, ash, beech, chestnut, hazel etc The fruitwoods are also nice (tho i tend to reserve them for turnery rather than burnery
) but have a higher tar content and will soot up your chimney if used a lot.
The key is to get your wood really dry - at least 12 months seasoning from tree to fire (unless of course it was dead before it came down) - that means that you should be stacking up for next winter this winter and so on. (and in your first winter may have to buy in)