Firewood Types: Is Maple Good Wood to Burn?

Thinking about buying maple firewood to heat your cabin or house? It’s not a bad idea if you know your maple like a true Canadian. This firewood's quality depends entirely on the type of maple you’re sold.

Did you know that firewood quality can vary from 46% between sugar maples and Manitoba maples? What are the differences between these two types of maples, and how are your heating abilities affected? We’ll explain everything in detail to help you make a well-informed decision.

Maple Firewood Cord: What Are Its Characteristics

You can find good firewood cords of maple, beech, and wild cherry in stores. This combination is known as a Category 1, meaning it’s top-of-the-line. Here are the characteristics unique to this sort of wood bundle:

• 12–15-inch long logs (30–38 cm)

• 15% moisture

• 25 million BTU/cord

• Heating value 20–30% higher than other wood species

Let’s take a closer look at the heating value index unique to the three tree species mentioned above: 

• Maple: 29 million BTU/cord 

• Beech: 27.8 million BTU/cord

• Wild cherry: 26.2 million BTU/cord

The heating value of those three species should be 27.6 million BTU/cord, instead of 25 million. Why the discrepancy? We’ll see why as we take a closer look at the different types of maple firewood. 

The Different Types of Maple Firewood (Ash, Silver, and More)

There’s not just one type of maple, but four. Every tree produces a wood with a different heating value as detailed below: 

• Acer saccharum (sugar maple, hardwood maple): 29 million BTU/cord

• Acer rubrum (red maple, swamp maple, water maple): 24 million BTU/cord

• Acer negundo (boxelder maple, Manitoba maple, ash-leaved maple): 19.3 million BTU/cord

• Acer saccharinum (silver maple, creek maple, silverleaf maple, soft maple, white maple): 21.7 million BTU/cord

Amongst the listed species, which maple wood can lower your BTU from 27.6 million to 25 million? The acer saccharinum, meaning the silver maple.

A 1,000-square-foot home (92m²), typically insulated, requires an energy production of 30,000 BTU to be heated to 20°C (68°F) during wintertime in Canada. According to the maple firewood you’re sold, your wood cords will see you through the winter… or not.

Red Maple or Sugar Maple: Which Is the Better Firewood?

Maple wood has a good heating value, but as mentioned, not all maple wood is the same.

The sugar maple is way ahead of its firewood pact. Hence, lumber professionals, such as Sandie Taillefer, Bois de foyer Rive-Nord, didn’t hesitate to say that, “Maple is considered a better firewood compared to other wood species.” (Quote translated into English by RenoQuotes)

Indeed, behind the sugar maple, there are no less than 29 species of firewood, providing inferior heating values.

The sugar maple has a mere four competitors: 

• Cork elm (Ulmus thomasii): 32 million BTU/cord

• Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata): 30.6 million BTU/cord

• White oak (Quercus alba): 30.6 million BTU/cord

• Bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis): 29.2 million BTU/cord

However, wood with a higher heating value can actually be a way of saving money. 

What Is the Best Wood for Firewood in Canada?

Category 1 firewood features wood species like maple, beech, and wild cherry. Category 2 includes species like ash and black cherry (wild black cherry). If your maple firewood isn’t sourced from sugar maples (Acer saccharum), but rather boxelder maple (Acer negundo), your BTU/cord will be 24.4 million.

Category 2 includes ash (Fraxinus americana) with a 25 million BTU/cord and black cherry (Prunus serotina) with a BTU/cord of 23.5 million, which will produce 24.3 million BTU of energy.

The firewood yield with a combination of maple wood will always be more efficient, but not by much. The only downside is that it’ll cost you roughly $100 per cord, while Category 2 runs about $95 per cord. 

Maple Tree Firewood Pricing Examples

Maple firewood is often sold with beech and wild cherry wood. Prices range from $100 per cord, up to $249 per cord, depending on the seller. 

Some retailers even sell birch for $125 per cord. However, this wood’s heating value is limited to 23.4 million BTU.

To proceed cost-effectively, find a retailer that can sell you sugar maple cords combined with less effective wood cords. Below is an example of two opposites sold by the same retailer: 

• 1 cord of 16-inch maple logs: $125 

• 1 cord of 16-inch pine logs: $95

The heating value for both types of wood allows you to reach a total heating capacity of 22.3 million BTU/cord.

Naturally, pine is a softwood, meaning that it burns very fast and produces less heat than maple wood, which is a hardwood. This is exactly why it can be highly valuable paired with maple wood. 

During cooler days, you can use pine wood, and during colder days, you can use maple wood to produce more heat, faster.

Is Maple Wood Good for Firewood?

Maple firewood has exceptional characteristics when it comes to its heating value. While it’s heavier than other species, it will heat your home during wintertime just fine. 

The only thing to look out for is that you’re purchasing sugar maple. Otherwise, you’ll be using wood that’s barely better than black cherry (Prunus serotina), and maybe even worse than red pine (Pinus resinosa) if you purchase boxelder maple.

FAQ

How long does maple firewood take to dry?

As a general rule, hardwoods, such as maple and oak, take longer to dry, even under the best of circumstances. Softer wood, such as poplar, tends to dry faster. Note that people have noticed that wood dries faster when stacked in single rows, exposed to both the sun and wind.