At 01:01 AM 11/1/2009, Rob wrote...
>Extra heat? That is the wood burning in addition to the wax.

Hey, just like an artificial log! But, wax holds much more heat energy
than wood, so your claim doesn't make sense, since the one could just
use more wax in place of the wood. (paraffin ~= 20,000 BTU/lb, wood ~=
6,000)

>All wood has the same energy?

Pretty close, by weight.

>Oh wow, think of all the time I spent messing with the oak rather than
>the aspen... See that was my problem, I thought I was getting more
>heat from the oak than I did from the softwoods all those years.

I know what you mean. If you don't study or research things, and just
believe "old wive's tales," then you don't always make good choices.
Don't you wish you had found out sooner that aspen holds 14.7M
BTU/cord, weighs 2290 lbs/cord, and produces 6419 BTU/lb, while white
oak holds 25.7M BTU/cord, and weighs 4012 lbs/cord, which is 6405
BTU/lb? So, the difference is a full 0.2% in energy per pound. The US
Forest Service ranks pine at the top.

Sources:
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/W/AE_wood_heat_value_BTU.html

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr29.pdf