Does wood from a holly tree (seasoned of course) make good firewood?

We have a large old Holly tree that's dead and needs to be taken down. About 2 years ago it started losing leaves and went downhill from there, sad actually, we'll miss it. I have heard differing opinions about Holly in terms of it's value as firewood. A few people have mentioned a concern that it contains too much sap, like pines.

Creosote build up is something I'm very concerned with of course. Others have said it's good to burn. I wanted to ask an expert. If it's going to burn well, it would be worth paying extra get it split into firewood for our wood stove.

Thank you for your help,
I look forward to your reply.

J. Bishop

Answer

J.,

Holly is an above average species for firewood. It is a very dense wood and takes a long time to season. For that reason, it's important to get it split and stacked properly for drying.

Don't worry about the creosote build-up, as long as the wood is seasoned and you operate your wood burning appliance properly, it won't be a problem. The most common misconception about firewood and creosote is that sappy woods such as pine are the cause. It simply isn't true, excessive creosote is the result of inefficient combustion that is usually caused by burning wet wood and having inefficient fires.

Best of luck!

-Firewood Matt