The Monmouth inquirer., 1924-04-24
The FuoI Value Of Wood

- $50 sAte-~ ftS~N
The fuel value OF two pounds OF
wood is roughly equivalent to that Of
one pound of coal. This is given as
the result of certain calculations now
being made in the Forest Service La
boratory, which SOW slso about how
many cords of certain kinds of wood
are required to obtain an amount OF
heat equal to that in a ton Of coal.
Certain kinds of wood, such as hick-
ory, oak, beech. birch, hard maple.
ash, elm, locust, long-leaf pine and
cherry have fairly high heat values.
and only one cord of seasoned wood Of
these species is required to equal one
ton Of good coal.
1t takes a cord and a half of short
leaf pine, hemlock, red gum, Douglas
fir, sycamore and soft maple to equal
ton of coal, and two cords of cedar,
redwood, poplar, catalpa. Norway pine,
cypress, Eastwood, spruce and white
pine
Equal weights of dry, non-resinous
woods, however, are said to have prac-
tically the same heat value regardless
of species, and as a consequence it
can be stated as a general proposition
that the heavier the wood the more
heat to the cord. Weight for weight,
however, there is very little difference
between various species; the average
heat for all that have been calculated
is 4,600 calories, or heat units, per
kilogram. 4 kilogram of resin win
develop 9,400 heat units, or about
twice the average for wood. AS q
consequence resinous woods have a
greater heat value per pound than nom
resinous woods, and this increased
value varies, of course, with the resin
content
The available heat value of cord
of wood depends on many different
factors. 1t has a relation not only
to the amount of resin it contains, but
to the amount of moisture present
Furthermore, cords vary as to the
amount of solid wood they contain,
even when they are of the standard
dimension and occupy LIS cubic feet
of space. A certain proportion Of this
space is made up of air spaces be-
tween the sticks, and this air space
may be considerable in cord made
of twisted. crooked and knotty sticks.
Out of the 12S cubic feet, fair aver
age of solid wood is about so cubic
feet.
1t is pointed out, however, that heat
value is not the only test of usefulness
in fuel wood, and since IS per cent.
of all wood used for fuel is consumed
for domestic purposes, largely in farm
houses, such factors as rapidity of
burning and ease of lighting are i'm
portant. Each section Of the country
has its favored wods, and these are
said to be, in general, the right ones
to use Hickory. of the non-resinous
woods, has the highest fuel value per
unit volume of wood. and has other ad-
yantages. 1t. burns evenly, and, as
housewives say, holds the heat The
oaks come next, followed by beech,
birch and maple Pine has relatively
low value per unit volume, but has
other advantages. 1t ignites readily
and s,iyes out a quick heat flame, but
one that soon. dies down. This makes
1t favorite with rural housekeepers
as summer wood. because it is par
ticularly adapted Cor hot days in the
kitchen.
The fuel qualities of chestnut adapt
1t particularly to work in brass foun-
dries, where it gives just the required
amount Of heat, and it is therefore in
favor. Coastwise vessels in Florida
pay twice as much for Florida button
wood as for any other, because it burns
with an even heat and with minimum
amount OF smoke and ash.
The principal disadvantage OF the
resinous pines in their oily black
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