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WOODSTOVE UTILIZATION
Your heating unit was designed to burn wood only; no other materials should be burnt.
Wastes and other flammable materials should not be burnt in your wood stove. Any type of
wood may be used in your stove, but specific varieties have better energy yields than
others. Please consult the following table in order to make the best possible choice.
Average Energy Yield Of One Air Dried Cord Of Cut Wood
Wood species
Energy yield
(millions of BTU/cord)
High energy yield
Oak 29
Sugar Maple 28
Beech 26
Yellow birch 25
Ash 24
Elm 23
Medium energy yield
Larch (Tamarack) 23
Red Maple 23
Douglas red fir 23
Silver birch 22
Alder 18
Poplar 17
Hemlock 17
Low energy yield
Spruce 17
Pine 17
Bass 16
Fir 13
Data provided by Energy, Mines and Resources - Canada
IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT YOU USE DRY WOOD ONLY IN YOUR WOOD
STOVE. The wood must have dried for 9 to 15 months, such that the humidity content (in
weight) is reduced below 20% of the weight of the log. It is very important to keep in mind
that even if the wood has been cut since one, two or even more years, it is not necessarily
dry, if it has been stored in poor conditions; under extreme conditions, it may even rot
instead of drying. The vast majority of the problems related to the operation of a wood stove
are caused by the fact that the wood used was too damp or had dried in poor conditions.
These problems can be:
• ignition problems
• creosote build-up causing chimney fires
• low energy yield
• blackened windows
• incomplete log combustion