Everything You Need to Know About Firewood : by Christopher Bailey

Types of Firewood, What to Use Them For, and General Knowledge on the Topic

Since the beginning of mankind, having a fire has been essential to survival. Knowing how to create a fire is a primitive survival skill which can save your life in an emergency situation. In today’s world, having a fire is less essential to survival but is still used for a variety of different applications. People still use fires in wood furnaces to heat their home, in fireplaces or stoves for some extra heating and ambiance, cooking in grills or open flames, or for recreation like camping. In order to have fire we need three ingredients; fuel, oxygen, and an ignition source. In this article on fire, we will focus on one specific ingredient: fuel. Firewood is one of the main ingredients used to create a fire and there is much to know about different kinds of firewood and what application each type is best for.

There is no question that wood burns, but did you know that each type of wood burns differently? Depending on what you are using your fire for, certain kinds of wood work better than others. For heating in a wood boiler, fireplace, stove, or indoors, Hardwoods are the preferred kind of wood to use. Some great examples of Hardwoods are Oak, Locust, Sugar Maple, Ash, and Cherry. Hickory, Pecan, Mesquite, and Apple wood are also great Hardwoods to use for heating, but can be hard to find in large quantities since much of these kinds of wood are also used for cooking on grills and open fires. The logs are usually sent to be processed into smoking chips or chunks. These Hardwoods are known to provide a higher number of BTUs (heat output) per cord for heating your home and are considered the top choice.

If heating is not your primary use for fire and ambiance is more of what you are looking for, there are some more options available for firewood. Nothing beats sitting by a nice fireplace listening to the pops and crackles and enjoying the aromas of the wood. Some great choices of firewood for entertainment and ambiance are Walnut, Birch, Soft Maple, Cottonwood, Aspen, Sycamore, and Cedar. For outdoor fireplaces, pits, or campfires, some other options of firewood that are great for entertaining with are Fir, Pine, Spruce, Poplar, Elm, Juniper, and Alder. Most of these kinds of wood are best for outside burning because of their sap content. Wood with high amounts of sap can cause faster buildups of creosote in chimneys. Having properly seasoned firewood will greatly reduce this but if you choose to burn firewood that has higher sap content than other woods, then it is important to have your chimney cleaned regularly to avoid having issues. Firewood is considered properly seasoned if the moisture content is lower then 20 percent when using a moisture meter.

At the end of the day, wood is wood and it all burns. Whatever type of wood you decide to burn is up to you. Depending on your wants and needs, you now know what your options are when trying to source firewood. Make sure that whatever wood you get is properly seasoned and depending on what you burn and how often, make sure to service your chimneys to prevent any housefires or damage. Whoever you decide to buy firewood from, make sure to ask plenty of questions and to make sure you are getting the right kind and the right amount of wood you ordered. Remember, higher quality of wood will also have a higher price.