Fireplace fuel

BeerGeek

Tree Numbnutz
Joined
Sep 13, 2018
Messages
2,193
Location
Central NJ
So, after my first year in biz, I've managed to collect a couple of different logs in my wood pile that I have questions about burning in my fireplace:

Black Locust (I know people who burn this in stoves and firepits, but remember something long ago about a noxious odor/gas for fireplaces)
American Hornbeam/Ironwood (I have about 4 logs of this from a condo site, and may be getting plenty more; 30+ yr old trees all 30+ ft tall)
Empress Tree/Paulownia tomentosa (a few friends made the mistake of planting next to their houses; 7-8 yrs later I cut a bunch of them down and now have about 20 rounds of this that stopped sprouting and seem to be cured)


Fireplace vid attached
View attachment fireplace_2020.mp4
Thanx in advance!
 
In the stove thread I mentioned how I thought my black locust smelled especially good; kinda like ham. Haven't burned a lot of it yet to get a good feel for it, but so far I'm impressed.
 
Around here hornbeam is the best firewood one can get.
Not for hand splitting, though.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #6
As a note of clarity, the hornbeam I am dealing with is American Hornbeam/Carpinus Caroliniana. What Cobleskill mentioned is Hophornbeam/Ostrya Virginiana, which I've only stumbled across once that I know of here. Stig, I'm assuming what you run across on your side of the pond is European Hornbeam/Carpinus Betulus, which appears to be the bigger cousin of what I'm dealing with, but seems to have similar qualities.

Thanx all so far.
 
I'd class Paulownia's wood like willow or poplar. There isn't much wood in the log, but mostly water and air. It can burn when dried, but don't expect to get a nice bed of ambers.
 
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