{"id":22565,"date":"2020-07-27T08:01:37","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T08:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/?p=22565"},"modified":"2025-06-25T05:21:34","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T05:21:34","slug":"a-user-friendly-guide-to-identifying-types-of-firewood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/a-user-friendly-guide-to-identifying-types-of-firewood\/","title":{"rendered":"A User Friendly Guide to Identifying Types of Firewood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- SEO Ultimate Plus (https:\/\/seoultimateplus.com) - Code Inserter module -->\n<script async>(function(s,u,m,o,j,v){j=u.createElement(m);v=u.getElementsByTagName(m)[0];j.async=1;j.src=o;j.dataset.sumoSiteId='b68b392479b5981b8acf46565e9fe32a0734fc21a1f7c1e60121eaa6ca1a1c64';v.parentNode.insertBefore(j,v)})(window,document,'script','\/\/load.sumo.com\/');<\/script>\n<!-- \/SEO Ultimate Plus -->\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Different types of wood can maximise your fireplace&#8217;s potential. This user-friendly guide will help you identify different types of firewood.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A roaring fire in the fireplace is a vital winter tradition in British homes, yet many people have recently turned to alternative sources of warmth<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Central heating and electric heaters have their benefits, but they can&#8217;t compare with the satisfaction of gazing into a glowing fire. So, it&#8217;s difficult to understand why more people don&#8217;t embrace fire as a source of winter warmth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This could be due to the perceived inconvenience of finding and buying firewood and the prospect of smoke from wood fires permeating homes and furnishings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not all wood is equally guilty of billowing large volumes of smoke into the environment, though. You can also order firewood online now, so there&#8217;s no excuse for going without the relaxing ambience created by a fire\u2014that is, if you&#8217;re lucky enough to have a house with a fireplace.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here&#8217;s your guide to identifying types of firewood that exude warmth and a cosy atmosphere without filling your home with smoke.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Identifying Types of Firewood for Smoke-Free Warmth<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With over <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/science-environment-39492977#:~:text=There%20are%2060%2C065%20species%20of,study%20of%20the%20world's%20plants.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">60,000 species of trees<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on Earth, it may seem like choosing the right one for your hearth is a daunting choice. Yet it&#8217;s easy to narrow down your options when you keep a few factors in mind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first thing to consider is the difference between hardwood and softwood. Hardwood trees grow slowly and have a dense structure. These woods burn hotter and longer than softwoods, producing few sparks and less smoke.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Softwood trees grow quickly, and wood from these fires burns out just as quickly. It&#8217;s usually cheaper than hardwood but better suited to an outdoor bonfire than for starting a smoke-free indoor fire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next consideration is the wood&#8217;s moisture content. Firewood with a high moisture content can leave residues inside your fireplace and even cause a house fire.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Excess moisture in the wood will also cause excessive smoke when it&#8217;s burned, which can damage your lungs and create a lingering, unpleasant smell in your house.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unseasoned firewood may be cheaper than seasoned wood but it&#8217;s far inferior in terms of smoke production and long-lasting firepower.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>How to Test if Firewood Is Well-Seasoned<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can use a moisture tester to gauge whether your firewood is ready to burn but there are a few other ways to check.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well-seasoned wood always looks darker than green wood of the same species. Unseasoned wood is fresh and bright, while seasoned wood looks yellowish or greyish. The ends of the wood&#8217;s grains also have a separate look.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seasoned wood also lacks the fresh aroma of unseasoned timber. Split a piece of wood into kindling and smell it. It probably needs more time to dry out if it smells sweet and green.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the wood has been seasoned for long enough, when you knock two small pieces together, it should sound dry and hollow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Never burn treated wood in your fireplace. The fumes produced by this type of wood are often noxious and can cause serious health problems if you&#8217;re exposed to them for a long time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Likewise, driftwood has a high salt content that can transform into carcinogens when burned, so don&#8217;t use this type of wood to kindle or build any fire.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eliminating these factors narrows your firewood options considerably when choosing the right species for your fireplace.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>The Best Types of Firewood for Interior Home Use<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seasoned firewood often has a dull appearance, and most species look similar when dried.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For this reason, it can be difficult to tell the difference between various types of wood. For beginners, firewood can also be used with a wood smoker. The best way to ensure you&#8217;re getting what you pay for is to order\u00a0your firewood from a reputable supplier.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Find out more about the most common types of firewood here:<\/p>\n<h4><b>Oak\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Oak&#8217;s an abundant hardwood species but must undergo intensive seasoning for a period of at least two years before it&#8217;s suitable for use. Without proper seasoning, oak loses its long-burning appeal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When oak&#8217;s correctly seasoned is a top choice for homeowners since it produces little smoke or sparks and burns intensely for a long time. It&#8217;s a top choice for wood-burning stoves too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Ash<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ash burns with a constant steady glow. It&#8217;s easy to split, giving off good heat and little odour. This type of wood also creates few sparks, so it&#8217;s a safe choice for indoor fires.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This type of wood naturally has a very low moisture content. This reduces the time needed to season it, making it cheaper than other types of hardwood.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Cherry<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cherry wood is highly desirable for making furniture, so despite being an abundant species, it&#8217;s not easy to acquire firewood.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you can find some cherry firewood, you&#8217;re assured of very little smoke, a lovely aroma, and almost no sparks. Cherry wood&#8217;s good to use as firewood after only a year of seasoning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The only downside of cherry wood is that it doesn&#8217;t burn with an intensely hot flame. Yet it can still produce enough lasting warmth to heat up the entire room.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Hawthorn<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although it&#8217;s hard to split, hawthorn burns with high heat and very little smoke. This makes it the best type of firewood for heating if you live in a very cold climate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These trees are closely related to cherry, pear, and apple trees and share many of their positive characteristics. The wood&#8217;s dense, hard, and fine-textured.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because it&#8217;s so hard and the branches are often twisted and gnarled, it&#8217;s difficult to split hawthorn wood with any precision.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It&#8217;s important to keep this wood well off the ground during storage as it&#8217;s porous and absorbs moisture easily.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Hazel<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not only does the hazel tree produce delicious nuts, but the flexible wood of this tree&#8217;s also great for making stakes, hurdles, and garden furniture.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hazel wood&#8217;s easy to split and burns with intense heat for a very long time. So, it&#8217;s highly suitable for firewood too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Beech<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beech has high water content and should undergo a long period of seasoning before you use it as firewood. When it&#8217;s properly dried it burns well. For this reason, it&#8217;s often turned into briquettes that can retain heat for hours.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Interestingly, this wood&#8217;s bark doesn&#8217;t flake off easily, so it won&#8217;t create a mess in your yard or house like other hardwoods do.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These trees are extremely invasive, so they&#8217;re a good choice of firewood from an environmental perspective. Incidentally, beech chips are great for smoking meats and are used to make Budweiser beer.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Birch<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yellow birch and black birch are the best types of these trees for fire-making purposes. The dense fibres of these woods mean they&#8217;ll burn for hours at high heat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When used inside, they also smell good. Yellow birch has a fresh wintergreen aroma, while black birch smells sweet and pleasant.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yellow birch requires a longer seasoning time, with a minimum of two years being the norm. White birch is an excellent choice for kindling since it lights easily. However, it&#8217;s unsuitable as firewood.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The white birch has a thin paperlike bark that&#8217;s water-resistant which makes it a good choice if you&#8217;re going camping in cold, wet weather. However, this characteristic also means white birch takes a very long time to dry out.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Alder<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The alder tree is a fast-growing type of birch tree and one of the most common woods used for creating charcoal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since it grows so fast, alder is also a great choice for environmentally conscious homeowners. It works best when mixed with other dense hardwoods like oak, beech, or maple.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s a popular choice for firewood due to its pleasant, sweet smell.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Pear<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pear isn&#8217;t the first thing that comes to mind when choosing firewood, but those who&#8217;ve tried it swear by it. The Bradford pear tree is the usual candidate for firewood since it doesn&#8217;t produce edible fruit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The wood from these trees is heavy, dense, and clean-burning. It&#8217;s well worth trying if you do come across any for sale. This tree doesn&#8217;t have long straight branches and the many forks in the wood can make it difficult to split.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many homeowners view this fast-growing tree as a pest, so there are often abundant supplies of it available for sale if you know where to look.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Rowan\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once believed to have magical powers, the rowan tree is also known as mountain ash.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, it&#8217;s not an ash tree and belongs to the totally unrelated Eucalyptus genus. Eucalyptus trees burn hotter than any other kind of firewood, making them unsuitable for wood-burning stoves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It&#8217;s also tough and can be difficult to split.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rowan trees are among the largest in the world and are often used in construction and boat-building. As firewood, they&#8217;re similar to hazelwood in that they burn fiercely but slowly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Ironwood<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ironwood isn&#8217;t a specific species of wood but rather refers to several types of very hard wood like blue beech and hornbeam.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These trees are small and have dense wood that produces moderate heat. It burns for a very long time but is best for firewood when it&#8217;s mixed with other hardwoods like maple or oak.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Maple<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maple wood&#8217;s another top choice for firewood since it burns slowly without causing a lot of sparks or smoke. It also makes great coals and has a pleasant smell.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The five types of maple commonly used for firewood are:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Boxelder<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bigleaf Maple<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Silver Maple<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Black Maple<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Red Maple<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Silver maple is the most abundant of these, but all of them make excellent firewood for warming up your home or for use in a wood-burning stove.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Sycamore<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although sycamore is a hardwood, it has an exceptionally high moisture level, so it takes a long time to dry out. Burning it when it&#8217;s too green gives off an unpleasant smell and lots of smoke.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dried sycamore produces moderate sparks and smoke, making it better for use in a wood-burning stove instead of a fireplace.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once it&#8217;s sufficiently seasoned, sycamore wood is stringy and lights easily. It burns with intense heat but not for long, so it&#8217;s not a great choice if you want to gather around the fire for hours.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sycamore is also softer than most hardwoods and difficult to split when first cut. Some types of sycamore trees have an attractive wavy grain, which makes them a popular choice in furniture making.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Walnut<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although walnut is a softwood, it&#8217;s a high-quality material that is easy to light and far superior to other softwoods in fire-making.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Walnut has a pleasant aroma while burning, but doesn&#8217;t burn as hot or as long as hardwood species.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Long-term sustainability is often one of the main concerns when choosing firewood. Trees are a vital part of the ecosystem, providing shelter for animals and birds. They also play a significant role in the ongoing fight against <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arborday.org\/trees\/climatechange\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">climate change<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When looking for firewood, opting for abundant species, alien trees, or those that grow quickly is best.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>You can source most woods from your local <a href=\"https:\/\/thetradetable.com\/\">home improvement store<\/a> or online.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Making the Best Choices for Your Home<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Identifying types of firewood for your fireplace is only one part of ensuring your home stays warm in all kinds of weather without endangering your family&#8217;s health and comfort. Consider adding a wreath on top of your fireplace as a final touch. <a href=\"https:\/\/wreaths.co.uk\/collections\/autumn-wreaths\">Wreaths<\/a><span>\u00a0are underrated and a beautiful decor inspiration that adds warmth and character to any room.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keep browsing our blog for ideas on ensuring your house remains a haven of comfort or tips on making it more desirable.<\/span><\/p>\n<h6><span style=\"color: #999999;\">2633.23674 | 3954.<span>34356 |4164.36290<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Different types of wood can maximise your fireplace&#8217;s potential. This user-friendly guide will help you identify different types of firewood. A roaring fire in the fireplace is a vital winter tradition in British homes, yet many people have recently turned<span class=\"ellipsis\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/a-user-friendly-guide-to-identifying-types-of-firewood\/\">Read more &#8250;<\/a><\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":22566,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wl_entities_gutenberg":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","spay_email":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"wl_entity_type":[602],"modified_by":"Editor","_wl_alt_label":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Capture-16.png","wl:entity_url":"http:\/\/data.wordlift.io\/wl0502\/post\/a_user_friendly_guide_to_identifying_types_of_firewood","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22565"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22565"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32060,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22565\/revisions\/32060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22565"},{"taxonomy":"wl_entity_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thehouseshop.com\/property-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wl_entity_type?post=22565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}