Btu Lb Hardwood Softwood

Btu is nothing more than the amount of energy needs to head a single pound of water and increase the temperature by a single degree.

Btu lb hardwood softwood.

Wood species type btu values of a cord burning wood in a wood stove. Btu or british thermal unit is the amount of energy required to heat one pound of liquid water by one degree fahrenheit. A cord of the more dense wood will have more energy than a cord of less dense softwood. Wood heating solutions llc s1539 stenslien ln.

All firewood has about the same btu per pound. Seasoned firewood is described as having a 20 moisture content. The difference in energy content is in the woods density. All species of wood generate similar heat btu s on a per pound basis with a slightly higher amount for high resinous species of trees.

To get the most energy out of your firewood the wood should be seasoned. Seasoning firewood takes time. One pound of dense hardwood will have about the same amount of energy as one pound of light softwood. The btu in a cord of firewood is usually close to the same per pound between species.

As you can see from the chart below the famed red oak is not the highest on the list. Less dense softwoods have less btu per cord than more dense hardwood but they also weigh less per cord. Non resinous wood has around 8000 to 8500 btu per pound and resinous wood has around 8600 to 9700 btu per pound. Species that contain a high amount of resin can produce as much as 9000 btu s pound.