Does the firewood split size matter?

[Stubby]

Our wood stove is small...a Vermont Castings Resolute, but it heats our small home very well. Because it's small, I tend to split the firewood kind of small...personal preference.

I've wondered, though, if this makes a difference overall.

Hypothetical situation...all logs are 16" in length, same age, etc. If I split a 12"x12"x16" (rectangular) log into four 6"x6"x16" rectangular logs vs. sixteen 3"x3"x16" rectangular logs, overall, what difference would it make, burn-wise?

I'm thinking that if I wanted to get a fire going faster, the 3x3's would do that. If I wanted a slower burn, the 6x6's would do that.

But, if I didn't care about any of those things, doesn't it all come down to BTU output? A stove full of 3x3's would burn hotter, producing more BTU's for a shorter duration than a stove full of 6x6's.

In the end, let's say that I burned twelve of the 6x6's, or forty eight of the 3x3's (so, same volume of wood..).

Without changing any of the stove's adjustments, would there be a total BTU difference between the different size cuts?

Just curious, that's all....

Rich

 

[NSEric]

I can get more wood in the stove when I use some small ones, with all larger wood I can never get the stove completely full.
I care more about that than btu per stick so I split some of my wood up pretty small.
All small wood is fine but to save some time splitting, I dont split it all up to about 3x3, I mix it up size wise, as long as I can get the stove full so it goes all day when im gone im happy.

 

[Stubby]

Yes...3x3 is small, I just used that size for the conversation. I also mix whatever sizes and throw them in the stove...

Rich