White Ash Firewood

Ask anyone who heats with wood what they'd burn if they needed heat tonight, not next year, tonight, and a lot of them will say white ash. The reason is simple: it seasons in 6 to 12 months. That's absurdly fast for a hardwood that still puts out 21.6 million BTU per cord. Most decent hardwoods need two full years. White ash can be split in spring and ready to burn by fall. When you're caught short on firewood in October, that's a lifesaver.

At 21.6M BTU per cord, white ash isn't going to win any heat output contests. It sits below the oaks and maples and well below hickory. But here's the thing. It's still rated excellent overall, and those BTUs come with low smoke, few sparks, and good coal quality. The burn is clean and steady. It's not a flashy fire, and the fragrance is only slight, but for a workhorse heating wood that you can actually get dry in a single season, the tradeoffs are easy to live with. Browse our firewood types page to see how it stacks up against all 70 species.

Splitting white ash is medium difficulty, but honestly it leans toward the easy side of medium. The grain is usually pretty straight and the wood isn't crazy dense, 3,485 lbs dry per cord, which is light for a hardwood. A cord of green white ash weighs only 3,952 lbs, so the difference between green and dry weight is small. That's actually another clue to why it seasons so fast: there's just not as much moisture to get rid of compared to something like a green white oak at 5,573 lbs.

One thing to know about white ash right now is the emerald ash borer situation. If you're in an area where ash trees are dying, there's a lot of standing dead ash available, and a lot of it is already partially seasoned on the stump. I've cut standing dead ash that was ready to burn the same week. Free firewood that's already dry? Hard to say no. Just be aware of your state's rules about transporting firewood to avoid spreading the borer to new areas.

White ash is the ultimate "get out of jail" firewood. Didn't plan ahead? White ash. First year burning wood and you don't have a two-year stockpile yet? White ash. It's not the hottest and it's not the prettiest fire, but it's reliable, available, and fast to season. It pairs perfectly with denser species, burn your ash early in the season while your oak and hickory finish drying. Its cousin Green Ash is similar at 21.1M BTU if you can't find white.