What type of wood is best for firewood?

[Mark Bolam]

35 minutes ago, EdwardC said:

Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut's only good they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold

Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
it is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winter's cold
But ash wet or ash dry
a king shall warm his slippers by.

What a load of old shite that poem is.

I detest it on a molecular level.

[Stubby]

8 minutes ago, Mark Bolam said:

What a load of old shite that poem is.

I detest it on a molecular level.

I think you did ask that no put it up , but alas .............

[Woodworks]

1 hour ago, Will C said:

One of you on the south coast and one in Scotland, the size of stove needed will differ as much as the climate ?

There is an element of that but our 8kw stove warmed the whole house in 2010 when it -7c outside and 20c inside. Big J appears to be advocating a large stove run well below it's max for convenience and I am saying this is dirty polluting way to run a stove. No problem with a big stove worked hard but I might suggest if you need that whack some insulation into your house for our woods sake 

 

And yes "What a load of old shite that poem is.

I detest it on a molecular level."

Edited April 15, 2018 by Woodworks

[Woodworks]

1 minute ago, Big J said:

All I'm saying is that a larger stove offers flexibility.

Not doubting it and I have done the same in the past but with smoke nuisance becoming an increasing issue should we not be promoting what's currently considered best practice? From a particulates point of view it would be much better to use the oil but being "green" is a pretty complicated matter where the goalposts keep moving.

 

Yes our old barn is relatively well insulated. You are more than welcome to visit as the kettle is always at the ready 

[Gary Prentice]

42 minutes ago, Woodworks said:

There is an element of that but our 8kw stove warmed the whole house in 2010 when it -7c outside

-7c! That's every winter up here and I'm outside of Manchester, not Scotland.

[matelot]

2 hours ago, Big J said:

All I'm saying is that a larger stove offers flexibility. 

Perhaps have two stoves in your house? That way you can burn your stove(s) at maximum efficiency regardless of the weather. Or connect your stove to a heat store?