Willow Firewood

Why does anyone burn willow? Seriously. I've asked myself this more than once while watching a stove full of it disappear in what felt like twenty minutes. But you know what, sometimes a storm drops a giant willow across your driveway and you're not going to just leave it there. So you buck it up, split it, stack it, and eventually you burn it. And then you remember why you don't seek it out.

Willow puts out 14.2 million BTU per cord, which isn't the absolute bottom of the barrel but it's close enough to wave at it. Plug your home's details into the heating calculator and see how many cords of willow you'd need versus something like red oak. The number will make you wince. A dry cord weighs about 2,295 lbs, so it's light stuff, and that lightness translates directly into less heat per load in the firebox.

On the plus side, and there are a few, willow splits incredibly easy and produces low smoke with few sparks. It's honestly one of the better-behaved species in terms of burning clean. No popping, no sending embers onto the carpet, no thick smoke rolling out when you open the stove door. Coal quality is poor though, so don't expect to load up the stove at 10 PM and find anything useful in the morning. It'll be cold ash.

Here's where willow really gets you: seasoning time is 12 to 36 months. That's not a typo. Up to three years. Green willow comes in at 4,320 lbs per cord compared to 2,295 dry. That's nearly 2,000 lbs of water to evaporate. The wood holds moisture like crazy, and if you try to rush it you'll get a smoldering, hissing mess that barely puts out any heat at all. You really need to split it, stack it open, and walk away for a long time.

I'm going to be straight with you, willow's overall rating in our database is poor, and I can't argue with it. It's abundant across the Northeast, Midwest, Southeast, and West, so availability isn't the problem. The problem is that it's a lot of work for not much heat. If a willow falls on your property, sure, process it. Mix it with denser species. Burn it in the shoulder season when you don't need serious BTUs. But driving somewhere to pick up a load of willow? Don't. Grab some Cottonwood firewood instead. It's in the same lightweight class but at least it holds better coals.