Best firewood for the fireplace

[Eddy123]

Looking to pick up a pickup truck load of firewood for the fireplace at home. Currently set on tamarack but have never tried it before. What do you guys think about it? I’m also open to suggestions on types of firewood you guys think is best.

[EZM]

I really like birch. Burns hot, burns a long time, is clean and has a nice smell.

I burnt a bunch of Tamarack over an entire winter season one year. It's fine. I'd compare it to pine or spruce really. Tamarack is soft and sappy and if it's not completely dry and seasoned could potentially be more trouble than it worth. It does burn hot and quickly but I think it ends up with less ash compared to other wood.

[mattthegorby]

Originally Posted by Eddy123

Looking to pick up a pickup truck load of firewood for the fireplace at home. Currently set on tamarack but have never tried it before. What do you guys think about it? I’m also open to suggestions on types of firewood you guys think is best.

When I used to heat with wood I was living in the Kooteneys and birch was the best I could find, then fir, and lastly pine. Scoring some cedar for kindling was always good as well. Would be interested to know more about tamarack, but birch burns nice.

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[MountainTi]

Go with tamarack.
Not sure about this tamarack is sappy idea. I have quite a few acres of it (30 acres anyways). Dead standing tamarack is a far cleaner burning, hotter and less ash firewood than spruce or pine. Never clean the chimmney when using tamarack....spruce/pine, is a different story. Splits incredibly easy as well. Have a small stack of birch in the woodshed as well from here. Pile doesn't get touched....

[pikeman06]

Tamarack is very sappy so that makes it difficult to split unless it's frozen stiff. Also it means it takes more time to cure properly. It burns incredibly hot but be careful if it's a bit green as you will get a creosote build up in your chimney despite the heat it throws. Birch is the best for clean burning and heat value but needs time to cure and is very heavy when green and very expensive if you are buying. Standing dead pine and spruce is already cured to perfection and can be burnt the day you cut it. You might not quite get the heat but it's free and clean burning. That's what I burn. Today's stoves and chimneys are insulated so much that you barely notice the difference anyways.

[gtr]

White birch is about as good as it gets.

[coachman]

Tamarack ( Western Larch) have more BTU per cord than Birch, so it depends on the price you pay for it as to which is the best value.

[fordtruckin]

I would not hesitate one second to load up on some Tamarack! The only problem is its hard to find where I live, I'm stuck with lodge pole and doug fir.

[calgarychef]

I burn mostly oak and maple, they're hot as hell. If your chimney is easy to clean you can burn most woods, id burn tamarack just because it's abundant.

[mattthegorby]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

I burn mostly oak and maple, they're hot as hell. If your chimney is easy to clean you can burn most woods, id burn tamarack just because it's abundant.

Oak and Maple to burn in Alberta, or was this in Eastern Canada?

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[calgarychef]

Originally Posted by mattthegorby

Oak and Maple to burn in Alberta, or was this in Eastern Canada?

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No, I'm able to scrounge it here. Sure makes me wish we had lots of oak trees though.

[omega50]

Another vote for Oak-Incredible beautiful soulful heat in the fireplace and nice for smoking Farmers Sausage and Goldeye

[sweld]

Birch.


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[357xp]

Tamarack is good stuff. Either dead standing stuff or cut and split in spring green. No Sap when done right compared to spruce. Ian kinda fed up with spruce sap again this year.

[last minute]

Birch wood for sure.

[Drewski Canuck]

Tamarak is very hot but not readily available. if cut green, and you get sap on your hands, you will not be able to put down your chain saw unless someone pries it off you.

Once dry, it does burn very hot. Not long, but hot.

For most of us, Birch is preferred for a reason.

Drewski

[dmcbride]

Forrest fire killed Tamarack is the best wood in Alberta hands down. At least in my wood stove when it comes to heat and how long it burns.

[MountainTi]

Originally Posted by Drewski Canuck

Tamarak is very hot but not readily available. if cut green, and you get sap on your hands, you will not be able to put down your chain saw unless someone pries it off you.

Once dry, it does burn very hot. Not long, but hot.

For most of us, Birch is preferred for a reason.

Drewski

Not long? I've burned plenty of spruce/pine, birch, and tamarack. I know what I prefer to load the stove with at night....

[The Cook]

I burn whatever is free and easy to get, (arborists, blowdowns, etc etc). Aspen, lodge pole, fir willow.

[bsmitty27]

I but. Poplar because its free and on my property. I grew up burning eastern hardwoods. I would of dropped delimbed and let rot what I burn in my stove now. But $for but I can't beat poplar off my property

[The Cook]

I try to sneak a 1/2 ton load of birch when visiting BC but to buy it here is for rich folks only.I forgot to mention job site dumpster diving, lots of dry pine, spruce and fir can be had for very little work and keeps it out of the landfill.

[FlyTheory]

Birch is the best but it’s being over harvested. I hate popular and aspen because of the gross smell it leaves.
Pine and spuce burns fast and crappy.
I’d have to say getting hardwood pallets and cutting them up is the best. It’s usually maple and burns forever.

[Digger1]

We’ve been heating our house for years with lodgepole pine. Mainly because I got a “pile” of it off a road construction job I was working on. Has almost identical BTUs of birch and maybe dirtier. Surprisingly the chimney doesn’t get very dirty at all, I clean it twice a year. We’re running a Drolet stove with stainless insulated chimney.

[kylw]

Birch is always my first pick.
Burns Very hot for a long time and clean too It's just usually $$$ but if you consider how long and hot it burns it's worth it, you use up less wood.

[cschache]

Originally Posted by gtr

White birch is about as good as it gets.

X2 for Birch!!

[1shotwade]

tamarack is my go to for my heating.

[Koschenk]

Birch is good, I like green ash better.

[cowboyhunter]

Tamarack or fir , not much birch down here.

[calgarychef]

I agree, birch is over harvested, there's going to come a day when it's gone... Burned in fireplaces.

[sikwhiskey]

Apple is my favorite, hard to find though. Cherry too. Talk to your local arborist and tell them you will haul it for "free".