What is the Best Wood to Burn in Fireplaces? Oak Oak is considered the best wood to burn in a fireplace, by far. Maple Hard maple is found mainly in the northern United States and Canada. What About Softer Wood? Seasoned wood produces more heat for your fires, burns more cleanly and is easier to start. Seasoned wood takes on a grayish color and is relatively lightweight. Do not burn painted or treated scraps from construction projects , as burning this type of wood can release harmful chemicals into your home.
With your new woodcutting skills, you can prepare fresh wood for your fireplace or woodstove to burn all season long. To dry moisture from a freshly cut log, it must be properly prepared. This means before stacking your firewood to dry, you must first split and prepare each piece of fresh timber. Starting with How to Chop Wood properly. Learning to split your own firewood easily by hand is your first step toward a good fire burning experience with your stove or fireplace.
First, gather the following supplies and tools to start preparing your woodpile for chopping, storing, and seasoning. Once you split your logs you can move on to learn how to store and prep for burning. By splitting a round log in half or fourths, the air circulation has more surface to absorb moisture from each piece. Wood is made of cellulose fibers.
When looked at under a microscope tiny tubes are observed. These tubes once moved and held water while the log was a tree. By cutting and splitting our logs, we open up these tubes and allow the wood to dry out. Splitting each log minimizes bark on most of its surface, freeing the circulating air to pull even more water out. Finally, you will notice split wood will begin to burn faster than a round log.
But if you have and prefer using an axe to split your logs, then by all means do what works best for you. As you can see in the example video while an axe is not our favorite way to chop wood it is possible and will work just fine. Wood that burns quickly also makes creosote, the fuel of chimney fires. When checking the moisture content of logs, try knocking two sticks together and listen to the sound. Like knocking on a wall when finding a stud, the sound of damp wood is dull while seasoned wood makes a sharp sound.
Fresh cut wood has a light color, while season logs will darken over time. For more exact measurement of moisture content consider getting a wood moisture meter. A Moisture Meter will measure the amount of water in fire wood. And not only are they dried faster than naturally seasoned logs, but they also hold significantly less moisture, meaning your fire will burn hotter and more efficiently.
Seasoned logs are fantastic because you can season them yourself; however, that takes a significant amount of time. Kiln logs are ready to burn immediately after you purchase them. With all this being said, in our opinion, kiln-dried logs are the better option.
While softwoods are suitable for firewood in spring and fall, hardwoods are the best for burning in the winter months. Opt for shorter pieces of firewood that you can easily stoke in your fireplace or wood stove.
The ideal length for firewood is at least 3 inches shorter than the size of your firebox for ease of handling and stoking. Ideally, your firewood supply will be split into different widths or diameters for effective fire building.
Thicker pieces will burn longer while smaller pieces will ignite faster. Smaller pieces are also better for burning in mild temperatures. A combination of large and small pieces will keep a fire burning for longer in the cold winter season.
Because of its density and its comparatively low levels of sap or pitch, hardwoods generally make for better firewood than softwoods. Not all hardwoods or softwoods are created equal; some burn far better than others, or simply produce more heat.
Below are some of the best firewoods rated by their heat value, which is a measure of how much heat they put off. Skip to main content. What is the Best Firewood to Burn? By The Editors.
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