Oak is considered an excellent fuel
Fireplace owners are spoiled for choice because numerous types of wood are suitable as firewood for the fireplace at your home. However, the different woods have different properties in terms of their calorific value and their burning properties.
Oak is popular firewood throughout the United States and many other countries in the Northern hemisphere. This is mainly because it makes up a lion's share of the trees in our forests, right after the common beech. Like the beech, the oak belongs to the deciduous trees and is, therefore, one of the hardwoods. It also has a good calorific value – thanks to its correspondingly slow growth. An oak can live 1000 years and more and reach a trunk diameter of 30+ feet. The Pechanga Great Oak Tree of Temecula is a Coast live oak that is possibly the oldest Californian oak and maybe even the world. It might be 2,000 years old.
Oak: A firewood with tradition
Oak wood is characterized by enormous hardness and weather resistance, which is why it is often used as a construction material. These outstanding properties are also what make oak such good firewood. Due to the high density of the oak wood, a high calorific value is achieved. This calorific value is one of the highest for firewood. The high density is also responsible because oak wood burns slowly.
Like beech firewood, oak has a low resin content, resulting in low spark generation. This clearly is also of benefit for fireplace owners. Because of the low resin content, there is no resin spill during combustion in the fireplace - which keeps the entire fireplace nicer and cleaner. However, oak wood is not known for over-the-top flame generation. Although oak firewood heats up well and keeps a lot of embers, flames are kept within limits.
Another advantage of oak is the processing of the wood. Despite its high density and heavy weight, oak firewood, like beech firewood, can be split easily and requires significantly less effort than birch firewood.
Unfortunately, despite the outstanding properties of oak wood, there are two disadvantages. As already mentioned, the oak does not produce an impressive, beautiful flame pattern. It is, therefore, less suitable for fireplaces with an open view of the fire. Birch and ash give a nicer flame picture. And second, the high density of oak has the disadvantage that this wood must season for a relatively long time, usually at least two years, before it can be used in a fireplace. A residual humidity of 20% should not be exceeded when considering oak firewood as burning material. If so, inefficient combustion or even a smoldering fire can result. In addition, the wood of the oak should burn at high temperatures because otherwise, it could stew in its own tannic acid.
Due to these characteristics of oak firewood, Rancho La Casa Firewood takes great in care in guaranteeing a moisture or water content of 20% or less for all our firewood, not only oak firewood. While 20% is the upper limit as recommended by the EPA, our firewood frequently reaches moisture content levels of 10% and less.