How many calories of energy in a cord of wood?greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread |
I am stockpiling fire wood as a back-up source of fuel for cooking, heating water, etc. It is free here in Miami since Hurricane Irene went through. I have about two cords. Does anyone know on an average, how many calories of energy are in a cord of wood?"Making the best of basics" talks about kerosene, propane and even newspaper logs, but does not discuss firewood. -- Jose
PS: I realize it varies if it is hardwood or soft, however, I am looking for a general number.
-- JoseMiami (caris@prodigy.net), November 04, 1999
I was told once that the heating ability for 1 pound of wood was relatively constant, the differences come into play with the type of wood and how much wood it takes to make a pound.
-- BH (silentvoice@pobox.com), November 04, 1999.
JoseMiami,What you are actually wanting to know is how many BTU's are in a cord of wood. (BTU = British Thermal Unit) Different types of wood do burn hotter, ie., hedge (Osage Orange) is a hot burning wood.
One of the things we have learned along the 8 years of heating our home with a wood stove is what kind of wood to burn, when.
-- Wilferd (WilferdW@aol.com), November 04, 1999.
Depends on whether you eat the bark, and of course whether you dip it in Ranch first.
-- Euell Gibbons (long@gone.now), November 04, 1999.
Here are the BTU values For Woodhttp://www.hearth.com is an excellent site for all types of heating questions. I have never bought from them, but I have used the site quite a few times for information.
-- John (jh@NotReal.ca), November 04, 1999.
The answer varies according to wood species, moisture content, and what your definition of a cord is. A 'standard' cord (4ft x 4ft x 8ft) will weigh about 3000 lb (@ 10% moisture) and will contain a total heat content of about 17 million btu, which is equivalent to about 110 gallons of heating oil, or 17000 cubic feet of natural gas.If you order a cord of wood from some backwoods supplier, you will probably not get a standard cord, but a 'running cord', or some other measure. A running cord is 4ft x 8ft, but the depth is equal to whatever length the wood was cut.
dave
-- dave (wootendave@hotmail.com), November 04, 1999.
Aprox. 7000 BTU per lb. of wood.
-- saw dust (choppinwood@thewoodpile.com), November 04, 1999.
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
-- (woody@wood.pecker), November 04, 1999.
Burning or chopping (e.g., splitting)? You'll burn up lots in the splitting process.
-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), November 04, 1999.