Best Types of Firewood for Burning?

What are the best species and types of firewood to burn?

As someone who has been around wood heat a long time I would like to share some good and not so good experiences with indoor fireplace and wood stove type applications.  Then I will share some tips on starting fires and how to get the optimal amount of heat from your wood.

Best Firewood Species 

As you may have heard from looking at nearly anyone selling firewood HARDWOOD species are the best for burning.  Why? - Hardwood species such as Oak, Maple, Madrone, Ash, even Pecan are all acceptable choices for indoor burning.  They all have the density to  burn for long periods of time(less feeding the fire) emit very little smoke provide adequate heat output for your typical woodstove.

Top Choices For Indoor Wood Burning species

1) OAK - in particular white oak if you can get it is my go to choice for everyday logs. They burn for long amounts of time.  Produce slightly more than average heat output and is readily available across the nation at reasonable prices.  In fact there are tons of mature oaks falling every year

2) BIRCHWOOD - My second choice, birch does not seem to burn quite as long as properly seasoned Oak but I think it gives off a little more heat when dry.  Easy to find and split.  Very limited smoke or sparking. 

3) ASH- black or white you really can't go wrong with ash.  If there were more ash trees around me than Oak this may take over it's spot but it just doesn't seem as available in my part.  Medium High heat, no spark or smoke to speak of.

***Prerequisite - make sure the wood is "seasoned" at least a year, preferably 2-3***

Fireplace or outdoor species of wood.

Fruit wood especially from a cherry or apple tree are a favorite for family gathering type fires.  They of course produce heat as all wood does.  Disadvantages being burn less hot.  Throw some sparks which is kind cool in a fireplace(with a screen) and fill the room with a woody fruit tree aroma.  They are also a great wood to throw outside around a campfire. 

Optimal Heat from burning firewood

The key to making your firewood last the longest and burning the cleanest is to properly control the amount of AIR/Oxygen it receives   Modern wood stoves make this easier with the many vents and air input sources but you can do quite well with older era stoves by simply leaving the door cracked a little bit.  If you have the time you'll want to let the woodstove heat up gradually instead of starting a roaring fire all at once.  Start with no more than 4 split pieces of wood and get a nice medium flame going.  Think not roaring and just before you think it would start to lower the flames to 1-2" level.  You see as long as you heat up the outside(cast iron often) of the stove that is radiating the heat into the room and the air temperature produced is plenty if you have a blower system.  The goal is to get the most out of the wood and stay pleasant.

Burn the wood to fast or too high of heat and you'll be opening windows to cool down.  Too low and you'll either give up or LOAD up and produce too much or a good thing.

Quick trick for starting fire

Bonus tip to start burning your firewood.  The most common age old thing to use is kindling(small slivers or sticks of wood). We caution against using newspaper especially in a dirty fireplace as the pieces can catch and float up chimney with a live flame igniting creosote or other buildup but if you really need some help and can't find any kindling try some CARDBOARD.