On a cold winter night, few things feel as good as a roaring fire heating your home. Learning how to choose firewood that burns efficiently means you can spend more time enjoying the cozy warmth and less time adding new logs. Professionals offering tree services in Watertown, CT, can help you with tips for how to select the best firewood.
Let It Season, and It Should Burn More Cleanly
Seasoning refers to the process of allowing firewood to sit for at least several months before burning it. If you fell a live tree, the wood may be “green,” meaning it has a lot of sap inside and may need seasoning before it will burn efficiently. Seasoning gives the sap time to dry out and leave the wood.
One of the key benefits of seasoned vs. green firewood is that it will burn with less smoke and creosote. Creosote buildup inside a chimney could endanger your family by allowing a chimney fire to start. After it’s seasoned, it will also be easier to light.
Constantly burning green firewood means you’ll need to hire a chimney sweep more often to remove creosote. Additionally, green firewood produces limited heat along with thick smoke that detracts from the aesthetics of your fire.
Stick With Hardwood Varieties for Maximum Heat
When learning how to choose firewood that generates the longest-lasting heat, you’ll want to try to burn hardwood species. The best firewood types for long-lasting heat among hardwoods include:
- Oak
- Hickory
- Maple
- Ash
Many people will mix cherry with these hardwoods. Cherry creates aesthetically pleasing flames, but it doesn’t generate heat as long as the other hardwoods. By mixing two types of hardwood, you’ll receive the benefits of both.
Softwoods, such as pines and spruces, will ramp up to a high temperature within a few minutes of lighting them. However, they don’t last, as they burn out and turn to ash far faster than hardwoods. Individual hardwood logs could burn for up to six hours, while softwood logs may only burn for one or two hours.
Avoid Burning Logs With High Moisture Content
Understanding the firewood moisture content that generates the optimal burn is helpful for homeowners. For efficient wood burning, try to only burn logs that have a moisture content of 20% or less. Giving the logs time to season is one way to dry them. Another is harvesting wood that’s already on the ground, which will be drier than felling live trees.
Mr. Treeman’s Experts Help With Tree Removal, and We Can Advise You on Firewood Quality
When you lose a tree on your property, you might not want the extra expense of hauling it away. As an alternative option, the experts at Mr. Treeman can leave it on-site for you to cut for firewood. We can also turn it into useful firewood for you.
Learning how to choose firewood that will burn efficiently with a heat that lasts isn’t always easy for homeowners. Our team can help with choosing firewood for heating performance. For a free cost estimate for any of our services, contact us today at (203) 879-3645.
