It’s that time of year again! The time of year where we build up fires in our outdoor firepits, bonfires, indoor fireplaces, and wood stoves. That means it’s also time to check and restock your wood supply for the winter, if you haven’t already done so. I’m sure many of us have struggled to build and maintain fires with damp wood, greed wood, or plain old stinky wood. Since I hate smoky, stinky wood, I put together a short primer of firewood to help you decide what to purchase or collect in your local woods.
So what makes good firewood? Water consent and density. The denser and dried the wood, the more likely it will burn evenly and produce the optimal amount of heat with less smoke. Hardwoods tend to work better than softwoods. That’s because hardwoods have lower levels of sap or pitch, and they tend to be denser. Below is a chart explaining which trees provide hardwoods and those that provide softwoods.
KINDS OF WOODS
Hardwoods
Alder
Ash
Aspen
Beech
Birch
Cottonwood
Elm
Fruit trees (Apple, Cherry)
Hickory
Ironwood
Maple
Mesquite
Oak
Softwoods
Cedar
Fir
Hemlock
Pine
Redwood
Spruce
Tamarack (Larch)
The type of wood is only one aspect of what makes a great fire. The next thing to look at is the heat value of the wood. Some woods, regardless of whether they are hard or soft, produce more heat and burn more efficiently. Below are lists of some of the best firewoods according to their heat value which is a fancy way of saying how much heat they put off when burned. A lot of the information below came from my husband (an engineer and seasoned wood-splitter) as well as the Farmer’s Almanac.
High Heat Value Woods
1 cord = 200 to 250 gallons of fuel oil
- American beech
- Apple
- Ironwood
- Mesquite
- Red oak
- Shagbark hickory
- Sugar maple
- White ash
- White oak
- Yellow birch
Medium Heat Value Woods
1 cord = 150 to 200 gallons of fuel oil
- American elm
- Black cherry
- Douglas fir
- Red maple
- Silver maple
- Tamarack
- White birch
Low Heat Value Woods
1 cord = 100 to 150 gallons of fuel oil
- Aspen
- Cottonwood
- Hemlock
- Lodgepole pine
- Red alder
- Redwood
- Sitka spruce
- Western red cedar
- White pine
Below is a list of tips and tricks, and some definitions, to make sure you have the best firewood season ever!
Tips for Buying & Burning Firewood
- Buy local wood. Ig at all possible, try to buy your firewood from local sources. Transporting wood from other areas/states/counties may be illegal where you live, so check the regulations before you buy from someplace farther away. The reason it may be illegal is that when you move dried wood from one area to another, you increase the chances of spreading invasive bugs, fungi, and other diseases. Here is a national website for more information about the dangers of moving wood.
- Wood is sold in units of “cords”. But how much wood is actually in a cord? A cord is a standard measure of volume that is used for neatly stacked wood with little space between the logs. One cord of wood is 128 cubic feet of stacked wood that, when stacked properly, measures 4 feet wide, 4 feet tall, and 8 feet long. The air space between the logs can affect how much wood is actually in the stack. So it’s best to assume that a full cord will, realistically, give you about 90 cubic feet. I always prefer to underestimate than overestimate.
- What is a “face cord” or “rick” of wood? As mentioned above, a cord of wood is made up of logs stacked in rows and columns. A “face cord” or “rick” is one length of one row. That means it’s 4 feet tall and 8 feet long. The width will be determined by the length of the individual logs. Because the length of the logs vary, depending on who split the wood, a “face cord” could be only a 1/4 of a cord or a 1/2 a cord or more.
- What is the heat value of wood? Like I mentioned above, the heat value is the amount of heat firewood produces when it is burned. Heat value varies by type of wood and sometimes by the age of the wood (how dry it is). One cord of wood with a high heat value equals the heat produced from burning 200-250 gallons of heating oil.
- Don’t burn pine. If you’re going to avoid one type of wood, don’t burn pine. It’s a resinous softwood that lets off a lot of resinous smoke.
- Cutting the wood. Wood that is freshly cut is made up of 50% moisture. It must be dried–seasoned–until it reaches 20%-25% posture content before you can burn it efficiently. Wood that is made up of 25% or more moisture is also called “wet wood” or “green wood”. It should not be used in a fireplace or a wood stove inside the house as it will release a lot of smoke and produce little heat.
- Splitting the wood. It is much easier to split wet wood than dry wood (according to my husband!). Once the wood is split, it must be stacked in a dry area (a protected shed out of the rain, if possible) for at least six months in order to season. A year of seasoning is better.
- Seasoning firewood. You’ll know if your wood is wet or green because you’ll see steam hissing out of the logs as the wood burns. If this is the case, try to wait another 6 months or so before using that wood. Well-seasoned wood looks “drier”. The logs have darker ends and you can see the cracks and splits in the wood. It also weighs less and, if you drop the logs on top of each other, you’ll hear a distinct “clunking” echo.
