While different woods have different burning characteristics, one factor outweighs them all — moisture content.
Although burning high-density woods will provide more heat per wood volume than low-density (lighter) woods, as a general rule, the dryer the wood, the hotter it burns.
Damp wood can be difficult to light, will produce excessive smoke and since more of the fire’s energy is required to drive off water, produces far less heat and accelerates the build-up of creosote.
Creosote is the black oily accretion which builds up inside chimney flues as a result of the incomplete burning of wood or coal.
As long as the wood you are burning is truly seasoned (dry), it will burn hot and clean and the type of wood being used becomes less important, although woods from different tree species can still burn differently.
Pine species typically burn with a splendid flame, and are easily lit when dry.
Because of the wood’s high resin content, it makes excellent kindling to help start fires.
Oregon is another soft wood ideal for starting fires. It seasons quickly and burns fast.
Burning larch provides for fairly good heat, but it needs to be well seasoned andtends to produce more oily soot build-up in chimneys than some other woods, while black poplar tends to burn slightly hotter than other soft woods such as pines.
When burning hard woods such as sycamore, gum, macrocarpa and manuka, it is essential to ensure the wood is seasoned.
Sycamore burns long and provides moderate to good heat but is useless green.
Macrocarpa and gum are other hard woods which are known for their high heatoutput and longevity, the latter being considered slightly longer-burning.
Manuka wood is considered the best wood available because of its high density, which provides long burning times at high temperatures.
