Trying burning hedge (Osage Orange) and you'll quickly see why! It burns so hot it can damage light duty fireplaces. Osage Orange thrives on abuse and grows wherever it can in the midwest.

There are extremely efficient wood systems available that automatically throttle up/down, you set with a thermostat, and only need to be fed another bundle [edit] of wood once every few days. The ashes are automatically kicked to a can that you empty once a month. It's quite extraordinary how far these systems have come.

One has to think of the overhead.

Cutting and stacking(or picking up/delivered), the space to store it, having to carry it into the house, emptying your ashbox, having to actual start the fire, etc.