I dont have any ash to burn but going back to my comment on resinous creosotes. As my stove has good secondary burn characteristics, it reburns the gases from creosotes to create yet more heat so might ash provide more heat than other woods I wonder?
Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnutâs only good they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold
Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last,
it is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
Eâen the very flames are cold
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
keep away the winterâs cold
But ash wet or ash dry
a king shall warm his slippers by.
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I like that Sue. We have a large ash tree which seeded itself at the edge of our front veranda when that part of the house was built in 2000. It is now some 16 metres in height with a girth of the main trunk of 50 cms. It has a son or daughter 10 metres away which, though slimmer, is fast catching it up.
I am not intending to ever burn it, but it is nice to know that in extremis⌠
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Well apparently from an enquiry on the internet hardwoods produce more resinous creosotes than softwoods. But then these burn off with a lot of heat. Anyway we donât intend to use the fire on a regular basis just when itâs particularly cold
Geoffrey I would like to see that report that hardwoods produce more resinous creosotes as it is the reverse of what I was taught and I do like to keep on top of updates.
Yes in Sweden they really only have pine and so their stoves are developed to burn it hot to reduce the build up in chimneys and flue pipes.
Might not be so good in some ancient Godin.
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All the pellets for pellet stoves are resinous. Which always surprises me.
Thats partly the lubrication needed to extrude the wood fibre into pellets. Shouldnt be an issue as the extra air ensures a complete combustion.
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Plus, I assume, the much greater surface area:volume ratio
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Back in the early 1980âs, tests were conducted to discover which kind of wood created the most creosote in a regular âopenâ fireplace. The results were surprising. Contrary to popular opinion, the hardwoodâs, like oak and poplar , created MORE creosote than the softwoods, like tamarack and pine. The reason for this, is that if the softwoods are dry, they create a hotter, more intense fire. The draft created by the hotter fire moves the air up the chimney faster! Because it is moving faster, the flue gas does not have as much time to condense as creosote inside the chimney. Also, because the flue gas is hotter: it does not cool down to the condensation point as quickly. On the contrary, the dense hardwoodâs tend to smolder more, so their flue gas temperature is cooler. Thus, more creosote is able to condense on the surface of the flue. So, saying that âpine builds up more creosote than oakâ just isnât true! It is a misunderstanding to think that itâs the sap in wood which causes creosote. Itâs not the pitch that is the problem, itâs the water IN the pitch. Once the water in the wood has evaporated, that pitch becomes high octane fuel! Thatâs why dry, softwoods burn extremely hot.
NB
I note that the report is about open fires
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Yes its how the wood behaves in a fire rather than the actual resinous timber. As I said the Swedish burn pine and dont have issues as they to run hot. Overnight burning is always bad as its too low and slow.
As a matter of interest, has anyone done any research on growing trees for their own firewood i.e. type, how many etc, as in my quest to be as self sufficient as possible, itâs something that Iâve recently been thinking about.
Very interested to hear of anyoneâs experience 
I guess it depends on your longevity 
. Fast growing trees like some willows, birches and poplars dont make the best firewood. I used to be self sufficient when it came to firewood but I had 4 hectares of forest full of mixed mature trees (oak, ash, beech, birch etc, but in the 20 years we owned it, young saplings in 2003 were nowhere big enough to harvest economically 20 years later, unless they were storm damaged or had died
I know it would take some years initially, but then I guess you can get into a cycle of cut and plant, or let stumps regrow.
Doesnât always work. Some birch and hazel are best, but youâre still looking at maybe a 6 or 7 year cycle between coppicing to get logs 7 or 8 cm diameter
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And our 23 year old ash tree would probably now feed the fire for a winter but we couldnât wait another 20 years for the next one.
I think the fastest returns are possibly coppicing willow/s for woodchip biofuel. Donât know how suitable willow is for making granulesâŚ
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I certainly saw one of the âoff gridâ Grand Designs programmes where they were coppicing their own willow (or maybe hazel?) to store for burning.
@letsmile might be worth hunting around some of the off-grid sites for their advice. I think maybe here weâre all too much into mature woodland, there being so much in rural France.
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Have you looked to see whether your commune sell off parcels to cut? Every year ours advertises small plots, and it 's up to you to fell the timber, cut and haul it away. Not very big plots but good value.
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Yes good idea @SuePJ - Iâve really only just started thinking about it but think Iâll cast the net a bit wider to gather more info. Plenty of other things going on right now, but itâs on my âto do listâ
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I donât really need anymore land, as have plenty, and I can probably clear some of this first to get me going, but will need to strategically replant for the future, on the basis Iâll remain fit and healthy for years to come 