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

 

[LawrenceK]

I think the btu output from one piece of wood will be the same no matter how you slice it. The difference will be in how long it takes to spend that btu. The smaller you split it up, the faster it emits its btu load by burning really hot for a short time. The same piece of wood in larger form will emit the same btu load at a slower rate while not burning as hot. No matter how you burn it or under what conditions, it can't put out any more or any less than its potential. My stove is pretty small (Jotul 602N), too. The fire usually ends up with a bed of hot coals and two large pieces when fully loaded. I never really think about btu output. That would drive me crazy. I have a thermometer on the stovepipe and I worry more about over-firing, which seems to be the tendency with the little Jotul. When you're heating all winter with a wood burner, it's like your married to the darn thing. But I guess it wouldn't be any fun if all you had to do is light it and leave it alone.

 

[Stubby]

I don't focus on BTU's. That was just part of the conversation to help describe my question in the first post.

I only posed the question because when I'm splitting the wood, I wonder to myself, if I'm wasting time splitting a lot of the logs an extra time, for what reason, exactly.
Like, I'll have a 6x6 split log, look at it, and split it once more. I know it's fine as a 6x6, but....

Rich

 

[Patrick62]

I tell my customers, I split wood in 3 sizes...
(does this sound like the 3 bears?)
OK, I pick up a round... and in a brief instant decide to either split it half, or thirds. Based upon knots, size, etc.
I pick up a larger round, it goes to thirds... some of the time. SOmetimes I rotate it 60 degrees and push it again
Making it into 6 pieces... (it's a triangular wedge on splitah)
Ok, the result is 1/3 of them are smaller, like 3 inch stuff, 1/3 of them are middle size stuff 5 inch ish.
And 1/3 of them are what I call "large" like 6 inch one way and sometimes 7 to 8 the other way.

Unless I know the customers stove. Small stove, and reduce the overall size some.

Madness sets in after about a thousand cords and nothing to do but lift, split, toss. Greener stuff? little smaller.
Interesting that if you position it a knot will break right down the middle. Some knots are fun to send the blade right across it, with greener stuff. Breaks more fibers, makes a nice burning chunk.

Then I pickup a block that is a bit long... drop it across the beam, 22 tons and sever the thing! split and toss, call it "kindling"

There are no stupid questions.
but the answers could be

 

[Stubby]

I tell my customers, I split wood in 3 sizes...
(does this sound like the 3 bears?)
OK, I pick up a round... and in a brief instant decide to either split it half, or thirds. Based upon knots, size, etc.
I pick up a larger round, it goes to thirds... some of the time. SOmetimes I rotate it 60 degrees and push it again
Making it into 6 pieces... (it's a triangular wedge on splitah)
Ok, the result is 1/3 of them are smaller, like 3 inch stuff, 1/3 of them are middle size stuff 5 inch ish.
And 1/3 of them are what I call "large" like 6 inch one way and sometimes 7 to 8 the other way.

Unless I know the customers stove. Small stove, and reduce the overall size some.

Madness sets in after about a thousand cords and nothing to do but lift, split, toss. Greener stuff? little smaller.
Interesting that if you position it a knot will break right down the middle. Some knots are fun to send the blade right across it, with greener stuff. Breaks more fibers, makes a nice burning chunk.

Then I pickup a block that is a bit long... drop it across the beam, 22 tons and sever the thing! split and toss, call it "kindling"

There are no stupid questions.
but the answers could be

I feel that splitting wood is kind of therapeutic and somewhat boring (at least the one-log-at-a-time, homeowner version...), which gives the mind a chance to ponder things.

You are a testament to that, as well...

Rich

 

[ElevatorGuy]

My VC stove isn’t huge but not small either. First year or two after we installed it I had pretty much all smaller splits. 6-8 splits in a typical full load, had trouble maintaining a fire for 8 hours. I changed how I split wood and now a full load is 4 or 5 splits, lasts much longer.

I do split some junk wood small for starter kindling, This year it was a poplar tree I took down. 3-4 small 2x2x18 or so gets it going quickly and establishes a nice draft.