Firewood Facts

List of firewood
from hardest
to softest:

Ironwood
Rock Elm
Hickory
Oak
Sugar Maple
Beech
Yellow Birch
Ash
Red Elm
Douglas Fir
White Birch
Manitoba Maple
Red Alder
Hemlock
Poplar
Pine
Basswood
Spruce
Balsam

Cord. It is the legally defined measurement for firewood. In
some states, wood must be advertised and sold by the cord
or fractions of a cord. A cord must equal 128 cubic feet of
wood. To measure wood, stack it in a row with individual
pieces touching and parallel to each other. Stacks should be 8
feet wide, 4 feet deep and 4 feet high, or 16 feet wide, 2 feet
deep and 4 feet high. If you're a weekend fire maker, a third
of a cord of wood should be sufficient for a season. If you
heat your home with wood, buy a cord. If stacked properly,
about a third of a cord fits in the back of a pickup. Ask for
logs 16 inches to 22 inches long. If logs are longer, they may
not fit inside the fireplace opening.

Burn Only Seasoned Wood!

Seasoned wood usually contains 20 - 25% moisture content, while unseasoned wood can have up to 45% water content. Seasoned firewood is easier to start and produces more heat. In order to make sure that you are purchasing seasoned wood, buy it in the summer 6 months before you plan to use it. Alternatively, cut your own wood. Green wood must dry out before it will burn, which uses up a lot of energy. Less heat is provided by the fire, and more creosote accumulates on your flue walls as a result.

In order to tell if your wood is seasoned, look for the following:

1. Wood that seems lightweight.

2. Wood that has dark ends with cracks or splits

Firewood Storage

Store wood off the ground in a location about 25 feet away from the house, since termites and other critters will be looking for it. You can easily make a place to hold the wood by placing two 2x4s or 2x6s parallel to each other on the ground. Stack wood across these boards, then cover with a tarp, or better yet, build a small wood shed with a roof to protect it from the elements.

Buying Firewood

Although firewood is usually sold by volume, heat production is dependent on weight. Pound for pound, all wood has approximately the same BTU content, but a cord of seasoned hardwood weighs about twice as much as the same volume of softwood because it is denser. It contains almost twice as much potential heat. This means that you will have to load your stove or fireplace less often if you purchase hardwood, but it is certainly ok to use soft wood, too. Mixed wood costs less per cord.

NEVER burn any construction scraps of treated or painted wood, especially treated wood from decks or landscaping ties. The chemicals used can release dangerous amounts of arsenic and other toxic compounds into your house. Never burn plastic because it releases toxic chemicals.

If the wood you bought turned out to be green and you try to burn it anyway, be sure to have the chimney checked more often than usual because creosote may build up very quickly.