Brrrr...I learned something about wood fires today.

Ravenlost · #1 01/21/12, 06:51 PM

Got a roaring fire and chill bumps! Obviously sycamore wood does not put out much heat...burns great though!

Hubby needs to put up more oak and leave the sycamore for starting the fires!

Fae · #2 01/21/12, 07:00 PM

I did not know you could burn sycamore or that it was good for starting fire. I have a big one in front of my house. I think I would have that though than wood that burns hot and fast. I am to hot natured for that.

george darby · #3 01/21/12, 07:06 PM

btu are basicly the same in alll wood by wheight just a lott of difference in the wheight of different species some burn out too fast to give a good radiant bed of coals to lett u feel the warmth . i can remember dad telling about the old timers saying they thought they would freeze to death before they got all thier wood pile burned up , low quallity wet wood and open fire places in drafty uninsulated homes we use a lott lesss wood in acording than in th eold house i grew up in should have insulated this one better when we built it in the 80s if i had to do it over again id spend a lott to superinsulate at the building stage tempted to do some major work as it is .

Limon · #4 01/21/12, 07:11 PM

Sycamore's not the best, but there are worse woods. Here's a chart that compares some of the more common woods. Sycamore is about mid-range.

Ravenlost · #5 01/21/12, 08:08 PM

Thanks for the chart Limon! We burn what we have. This year we're working on a Sycamore that fell a few years back and an Elm that died a couple years ago. We've got a huge oak that died a year ago and will be cutting it up for next year. Got some oak from my mom and I guess I'm spoiled...it puts out the heat!

Fae, it was 67 here yesterday. Been 35/36 all day today. We slept with the ceiling fan going last night it was so warm upstairs and needed a fire when we woke up!

am1too · #6 01/21/12, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Limon

Sycamore's not the best, but there are worse woods. Here's a chart that compares some of the more common woods. Sycamore is about mid-range.

Chart doesn't include black jack oak which puts white oak to shame. Didn't see hawthorn either which is also better than oak.

Limon · #7 01/21/12, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by am1too

Chart doesn't include black jack oak which puts white oak to shame. Didn't see hawthorn either which is also better than oak.

I don't think either of those are considered common, because they're fairly limited in where they grow. They're great if you can get them, though.

"SPIKE" · #8 01/22/12, 08:20 AM

I have no problem burning sycamore, but I do not cut it unless it is already dead/or dying and let it dry well. It cuts easily enough when dry, but I hate trying to split it. It is one of those woods that has a twisting grain.

Are you burning in an open fireplace, fireplace with insert, or some type wood stove?

SPIKE

artificer · #9 01/22/12, 09:29 AM

Here's another chart that I tend to show people. http://chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm

If blackjack oak is similar to live oak, then the density is around 66lb/cubic foot, or even more than Osage Orange. Now thats some dense wood. Never heard of it before, however.

Michael

andyd2023 · #10 01/22/12, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by artificer

Here's another chart that I tend to show people. http://chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm
....or even more than Osage Orange. Now thats some dense wood. Never heard of it before, however.
Michael

Osage Orange is known as Horse-apple, Bois D'Arc, Bodark, or Bodock Down here in Texas they grow every where.
Andrew

Ravenlost · #11 01/22/12, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by "SPIKE"

I have no problem burning sycamore, but I do not cut it unless it is already dead/or dying and let it dry well. It cuts easily enough when dry, but I hate trying to split it. It is one of those woods that has a twisting grain.

Are you burning in an open fireplace, fireplace with insert, or some type wood stove?

SPIKE

Open fireplace. Sycamore is very dry...been cut up for over two years now. It burned great...easy to start...just didn't seem to be putting out much heat. Hubby got home and said it felt fine to him. I have a really bad cold, maybe I was just having chills, but it felt so cool to me I wanted to crawl in the fireplace and sit amongst the flames!

I know most people say an open fireplace draws out more heat than it puts in, but we've found ours ups the temp by 3-5 degrees. We keep the thermostat set on 62-65. With the fireplace going the house will warm up to 68 degrees, which is perfect.

HermitJohn · #12 01/22/12, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andyd2023

Osage Orange is known as Horse-apple, Bois D'Arc, Bodark, or Bodock Down here in Texas they grow every where.
Andrew

I've heard it called Horse Apple, but I think people are confused. Horse Apple was an old homesteader variety of apple tree that was popular in south. It was one of those bulletproof varieties that need little to no care, much like Kieffer Pear. Not greatest apples, big yellow soft apple, not very sweet, but better some apples than no apples. Supposedly good dried.

What I think people mean is Hedge Apple, that is another name for Osage Orange.

And Road Apple, well lets just say you dont want to eat those..... Have also heard Horse Apple name used to refer to these little bits of left behind love too. I think people once they left farm for few generations forget appropriate names and just use what comes to mind.

Quote:

Horse

This is the old-timey favorite that everybody wants to keep around. It has some disease resistance and has been found at many old home places. Grows a large yellowish apple that is great for fresh eating, pies and cooking. Ripens early August. Zones 5-8.

Semi-Dwarf 1 Yr. $20.00

Country Lady · #13 01/22/12, 01:41 PM

We used our open fireplace for a while after building our house. Whenever Katrina left us with so many trees on the ground that nobody wanted, we sprung for a fireplace insert. We have 2350 sq. ft. in our house and haven't used anything but the insert thus far this Winter. It keeps the living area of our house very comfortable and the bedrooms comfortable, but a little cooler for sleeping. I wish we had gotten the insert before we did.
Even with the insert we can tell a difference if we burn anything other than oak, and we can tell if the oak is not seasoned well enough. Well seasoned oak will pump out the heat.
I hope your cold gets better soon. Stay warm.

boundarybunnyco · #14 01/22/12, 01:56 PM

we use our open fireplace as our main heat when we are home. when we are at work, the oil furnace takes over. we don't have oak, etc. up here, so we burn pine, fir, larch, birch, or what ever. the fireplace warms the living room up to 85 or so if you pile on the wood. if we leave bedroom and bathroom doors open, it warms them also. the kitchen never gets real warm, so we have a small electric heater in there. the brick of the fireplace retains warmth for hours. we also burn larch, which is superior to pine or other soft woods.

Chief Cook · #15 01/22/12, 04:29 PM

We are still burning mulberry, elm, and cottonwood. We saw some folks "trimming" some trees and offered to let them unload it on a corner of our place. We split "logs" 4" thick, but the "log" was three FEET around. Turns out they were not trimming, they were felling the trees. LOL So we are still burning that wood 4 years after it was delivered. We have a Quadra Fire insert so we can burn just about anything. We use salt cedar, aka, tamerack, when we gather our own wood. And I love to toss on some juniper or pine so it smells better. Hope you feel better and stay warm!

tinknal · #16 01/22/12, 05:03 PM

I have been burning very old, very dry oak for the last few days because it has been cold. They predicted warm weather for today so I wanted to let the fire go out and clean the stovepipe. I have not fed the stove (actually a furnace) since last night. There was such a huge pile of coals built up that they never did burn up. I gave up about 3:00 this afternoon. I'll throw a little wood in tonight and hopefully it will be out by the time I get home from work tomorrow.

fatrat · #17 01/23/12, 06:15 PM

One nice thing about cured sycamore is that it burns with very little smoke. For that reason burley farmers used to use it in their curing barns during rainy days to help keep down the humidity. I like it for fire wood.

**Cabin Fever** · #18 01/24/12, 08:09 AM

Geez, you live in frazzlin' Mississippi. How cold did it get? 50º

Ravenlost · #19 01/25/12, 01:45 AM

Tsk...Tsk...Cabin Fever! We don't build a fire when it's 50º! I don't even wear a jacket at that temp! We build a fire when we hit the 20s-mid 30s.

This year I bought a cast iron fireback and have noticed a vast improvement in the heat the fireplace puts out...more than I expected.

Thanks everyone, I am feeling better. Maybe next time that sycamore will feel warmer to me!

Paul Wheaton · #20 01/29/12, 01:59 PM

I visited ernie and erica wisner a couple of days ago. They are the leading innovators for rocket mass heaters. They had a couple of feet of snow on the ground. It had been there for about two months. It was two in the afternoon and they had not built a fire since the day before. The "mass" of their rocket mass heater was still hot and keeping the house warm. They made a short pile of wood on the ground to show how little wood they burned the day before - it probably wouldn't even fill a conventional wood stove for one load. And it was pretty "punky".

I took some video. I'll try to get it uploaded soon.