Wood Burner : How big a difference is there between burning softwood & hardwood logs

howardtog

You need for the same size 4 logs of soft wood to 3 of hard.
That being said ithe drier any wood the better.Fresh felled timber is 45% water (hardwood) and up to 60% softwood.
Its fun to weigh a log write its weight on the log and repeat tghe process every few months.When its 33% lighter its ready to burn. Even then you will get white smoke initially whioch is the remaining moisture being burnt off.So if it sizzles its still not dry and the less white smoke the better.Weigh water to the equivalent weight loss and imagine putting that on the fire.Youll never burn a wet log again.So in summary you need a third more soft wood logs by vaolume to hard and with all logs the drier the log the hotter your fire.

AGBAGB

I don't agree. You can burn all soft or all hard wood. (AS long they are well seasoned)
There are so many variables. eg. size of logs, split or not, vent settings, how they are spaced etc.
If you have a big hard wood log, a few smaller ones around it can help. With experience you end up picking the logs to load up and burn.

But I do totally agree and can't emphasise enough the need for seasoned and dry wood. For a quicker, fun experiment you could try baking a bit of log on a low heat, and weighing it every so often. When it stop getting lighter it will be bone dry. If it was less than 10 - 20 % heavier when you started it should be OK for burning.