Jotul - You should only burn hardwoods

[Rob_the_Sparky]

Note: in "the book" it does refer to softwood as "Kitchen wood" but I didn't take that as meaning it is not as good as other wood but that it was different.  For cooking you want a faster burning wood and for heating you want something that you can put on and forget for a while.  It is not saying that softwood is bad, just softwood is different.

 

For me though wood that is dry is wood that is dry.  My wood is arb waste so I get what I get and it is almost free so I don't complain.

[Macpherson]

Just a thought....you've got to remember whatever species you burn the trees slowly grown in high Scandinavia bear very little resemblance to the same species grown for instance in the wet environment here in Scotland....never mind further south.

 

I have a cabin made of arctic circle spruce { Norway I presume }, the growth rings are 1 - 2 mm apart and the wood is quite hard and dense.... In the FC plantation near to me the Spruce albeit Sitka the gap between the rings can often be up to 1/2" so carting that away for firewood is a bit soul destroying as it's very wet and weighs sfa when dry....the shit you buy in Jewsons or a post that rots in 3 years !

 

As a matter of comparison I recently dropped a self seeded stand alone Sitka and as soon as I knocked out the gob I was delighted to see how tight grained it was compared to the same trees a 100 yards away in a plantation....it was knocking on for 80 years old 75' and about 30"  dbh. whereas other trees of the same size recently harvested were only 35 - 40......

 

I burn mostly Birch and love it....I do dampen down at night, it really never goes out and every now and then I use a bit of chipboard to raise the temp enough to set up the flue and have a controlled burn.

Arctic circle Birch must be amazing firewood....can't wait to try the tatty peelings?

[aesmith]

2 hours ago, trigger_andy said:

Id have to see that for myself to be honest. Never realised so many here read Norwegian.  

Fair point. I was just going by what was posted earlier,  I don't read Norwegian except via Google.  Why don't you have a look and see if they have the same advice in Norwegian or other languages?

[Woodworks]

Straight from jotul.com    UK 

 

"The best wood for burning in your wood stove is to mix both a variety of soft and hard woods"

Edited February 13, 2019 by Woodworks

[neiln]

I don't really care what the makers say. I've enough personal experience now as I come through my 3rd year operating 2 stoves ( just a newbie, but I've about 16-18m³ under my belt now) to make my own mind up.  I'm quite happy with softwood, dried it has no I'll affects.  Leyland cypress is actually modestly dense, and burns great.  I favour Oak, ash, Holly, acacia and now silver birch but cypress is on a par with sycamore in my overall ranking... Similar energy.

[pancakedan]

Everyone on this forum should have the knowledge about burning softwood. It’s Mr Joe Bloggs that doesn’t and will consistently demand hardwood because that’s what they’ve been told. No amount of education will change their mind until the stove manufacturers change their guidance. Some of the other guidance on the Jotul site also recommends that you should only buy kiln dried logs!!!

[richardwale]

1 hour ago, pancakedan said:

Everyone on this forum should have the knowledge about burning softwood. It’s Mr Joe Bloggs that doesn’t and will consistently demand hardwood because that’s what they’ve been told. No amount of education will change their mind until the stove manufacturers change their guidance. Some of the other guidance on the Jotul site also recommends that you should only buy kiln dried logs!!!

?

[otter]

The country would of felled and run out of hardwood by then 

[Highlandcrofter]

personally, I trust this united nations wood-fuel handbook

 

[Rob_the_Sparky]

Some interesting stuff in there (just got to the bit about wood humidity versus wood water content).  Worth a read.