Читать книгу The Self-Sufficiency Handbook - Alan Bridgewater - Страница 37

A tree is a perfect solar collector, an ecological miracle, and a renewable energy resource all at the same time. A tree spends its whole life gathering the sun’s energy and then releasing it through combustion. In the context of burning wood on your stove, you might think that wood is wood is wood, but that’s not true. Some wood types burn better than others. The best woods produce more heat, for a greater length of time and with less smoke and fuss, than inferior woods. Some wood types are also easier to handle and split than others.

You can obtain firewood by ordering it from a recommended supplier or by cutting it yourself. Either way, you need to know what makes a good fire, so consult the following information about different types of wood.

Alder: Poor choice. Produces little heat, light in weight, little heating value.

Ash: Good choice. Produces a lot of heat with little smoke, long burn, heavy, medium to high heating value, difficult to saw and split.

Aspen: Medium to poor choice. Medium burn, can be difficult to saw and split.

Basswood: Medium to poor choice. Produces a lot of smoke, medium burn, light in weight, easy to split.

Beech: Medium choice. Produces a good amount of heat, medium burn, medium weight, easy to saw and split.

Birch: Good choice when dry. Produces a lot of heat, medium burn, medium weight, easy to saw and split.

Birch

Cedar: Good choice when seasoned. Produces fair amount of heat, good smell, makes a lot of noise, relatively easy to saw and split.

Cherry: Medium to good choice, good amount of heat, slow burn, good smell, relatively easy to saw and split.

Elm: Poor choice. Does not produce much heat, difficult to burn, difficult to saw and split.

Hemlock: Poor choice. Does not produce much heat, medium/easy to burn, easy to saw but not very easy to split.

Maple: Good choice. Long burn and good heat, easy to burn, easy to saw and split.

Oak: Top choice. Produces a lot of heat with little or no smoke, long burn, heavy, very high heating value, easy to split.

Oak

Pine: Poor choice, worse still when wet. Short burn with medium heat, easy to burn, makes a lot of noise, easy to saw and split.

Poplar: Medium to poor choice. Medium burn with medium heat, easy to saw and split.

Walnut: Top choice. Burns well with good heat, smells great, difficult to saw but easy to split.

Willow: Medium to poor choice. Burns better when dry, short burn, produces a lot of smoke and not much heat, easy to saw and split.