What is the best firewood for your fireplace?

Ponderosa pine

You want to first make sure it is dry and seasoned for a year before burning it. When you burn wet wood, it is not only inefficient but it will also deposit creosote in your chimney, which is a fire risk.

There are hardwoods and softwoods. Dense hardwoods – such as oak, maple and juniper – have a higher energy content per cord and release more heat per load. They also produce long-lasting fires and coal beds. Softer woods – such as birch, pine, spruce and poplar – are less dense, burn faster, and do not produce a long-lasting coal bed when burned.

Truckload of juniper

Firewood species available in our area include oak, juniper (both hardwoods), and pine (softwood). Occasionally, you may find mesquite, ash, cottonwood, elm, walnut, pecan and others.

Ponderosa pine firewood is readily available and is often less expensive than juniper. It burns well, but has less energy output than hardwood. In areas where bark beetles have killed timber, landowners may give it away. We have a boat load of it ourselves because my mom’s tall Ponderosa tree in her back yard and a couple of her neighbors’ trees had to be removed.

Pinyon pine has more pitch in the wood giving it more energy, but that also increases the smoke output and creosote buildup in the stovepipe or chimney. Pinyon pine also has a strong, but pleasant aroma. Use of both pine species should be kept to a minimum due to the creosote buildup.

Oak contains the most energy of all the locally available firewood species. Many people start their fires with juniper or pine, then stoke their fire with oak after it is really going well. This ensures good combustion and minimizes smoke. Oak is the most expensive wood to buy. Other hardwood species are similar, but some don’t smell very good when burning.

Of all the woods mentioned above, some smell good and some are pretty stinky. Here is a list from research on what those are:

Good smelling – Oak, mesquite, alder, walnut, pecan, juniper and pine.

Bad smelling – Elm, cottonwood and ash.

Here is a bit of trivia about elm: Elm firewood doesn’t naturally smell bad but it has a habit of absorbing the smell of whatever it’s growing around. If you cut down an elm tree that was growing near a septic line, then burning it will literally smell like – well, you get the idea. So, be aware of where it comes from!

We have friends who want to give us wood or have dead trees that they want removed so it has been good for us to know what we are getting and how to use it. I hope this has helped you as well.

Here are the resources used for my article: https://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/firewood.html https://burlybeaver.com/best-smelling-firewood/

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