The Best Firewood to Burn for Heat, Burn Time + Ease

Not all firewood burns the same. Learn which types burn hottest, last longest, and work best for fireplaces and wood stoves.

Wood is a fuel, plain and simple. It smells different and burns differently than oil or gas, but it’s still fuel. Burning wood can handle full-time heat or just keep things comfortable when the temperature drops.

Choosing the best firewood isn’t about finding one “perfect” wood. It’s about matching the wood to how you heat your home, how long you want it to burn, and what’s available where you live. Let’s break down the most common firewood types and what they’re best used for.

Do you need firewood on a budget? Check out where you can get free wood for your stove.

Best Firewood at a Glance

If you just want the short version, here’s how common firewood compares:

• Best overall firewood: White Oak or Sugar Maple
• Hottest burning firewood: Hickory or Mountain Mahogany
• Best for long, steady heat: White Oak
• Best for shoulder season (fall and spring): Birch, Poplar, or Alder
• Best easy-to-find option: Red Oak or Maple (varies by region)

Best Hardwood for Burning

Hardwoods are classified by how their seeds form, not by how hard the wood feels. Examples include oak, cherry, maple, or mahogany. Hardwoods tend to give you a hotter and longer burn time. They usually have less pitch and sap, which makes them cleaner to handle.

Beech

Beech is an excellent choice for firewood since it produces little smoke, sparks, and low creosote buildup. The wood is hard and dense, making it a good choice for long-lasting fires. Beech also has a low moisture content, so it burns hot and provides good heat output. The downside is the weight. Dense beech can be a bear to move and split.

Birch

Birch is a good firewood to burn because it burns well and produces moderate heat. It splits fairly easily and dries fast once split. Birch bark makes a great fire starter because of its similarity to paper. Birch will burn before it’s really ready, which is when creosote becomes an issue. Season it for at least 12 months and keep it off the ground, as it molds easily if left damp.

Black Walnut

Black Walnut is excellent firewood with reasonable heat production and fast seasoning time. It is easy to split and smells great. White Walnut wood is softer than Black Walnut but is still relatively dense.

Cherry

Cherry wood is one of the most popular woods to burn in fireplaces due to its pleasant, non-smoky aroma. It is easy to split, tends to burn at medium heat, and does not produce much smoke. Cherry burns hot but produces less heat than oak or maple firewood. That’s partly because cherry has less sap than denser hardwoods.

Cottonwood

Cottonwood trees are classified as hardwood even though the wood is relatively soft and not very dense. Cottonwood firewood has a low BTU rating. It works, but you’ll need more of it to get the same heat.

Elm

Dutch elm disease left a lot of standing dead elm behind. It won’t match oak or hickory for heat, but it’s usable firewood. Elm absorbs a lot of moisture and must be fully seasoned to burn cleanly. When properly dried, it produces moderate heat with manageable smoke.

Hickory

Hickory is a very dense, heavy, straight-grained tree. All of the varieties of Hickory work well as firewood, but they require a seasoning time of at least one year. Hickory needs time, or it’s more trouble than it’s worth.

Mountain Mahogany

Mountain mahogany is a highly dense hardwood that makes excellent firewood. It produces slow-burning coals and burns noticeably hotter than most common hardwoods.

Red Oak

Red Oak has a high heat output and provides a decently long fire. It is widely available, making it a popular firewood choice. One drawback is its long drying time. Red oak often needs 18–24 months of seasoning to burn efficiently.

Rock Maple

Although it has a lower density than other hardwoods, Rock Maple is easy to burn, burns cleanly, and splits well. Rock Maple is easy to find, but in some regions it costs more than other common firewood. It can also lead to more creosote than some other hardwoods.

Sugar Maple

Sugar Maple burns long, slow, and steady, and since it can be found just about everywhere in the continental United States, it’s a smart choice for fireplaces and wood stoves. Sugar Maple is better known for syrup, but it also makes excellent firewood. Because Sugar Maple has higher sap content, proper seasoning is important to prevent creosote buildup.

White Ash

White Ash is one of the best types of firewood to burn. It is a clean burning hardwood that produces an adequate amount of heat. White Ash can be moderately difficult to split, especially the larger diameter rounds with knots in the wood.

White Oak

White oak is known for steady, long-lasting heat. Because White Oak is relatively drier, when seasoned correctly and given the time to dry fully, it will burn cleaner than other woods, creating less smoke. One downside is that White Oak can spark more than other hardwoods, especially in open fireplaces.

Best Softwood Firewood (Fast Heat and Easy Ignition)

Softwoods are trees that drop bare seeds, like pine and fir. Softwoods burn faster, so you’ll go through more wood, but they’re often cheaper and easier to find.

Alder

Seasoned alder firewood burns relatively fast but creates a hot fire with decent coals. Alder works well in the fall and spring when you don’t need all-day heat. Or you can mix the wood in with other dense hardwoods like oak, maple, or beech.

Bigleaf Maple

Bigleaf Maple has considerably higher BTUs than other softwoods. It starts decently, burns for a long time, and leaves behind a decent bed of coals.

Cedar

Cedar lights easily and makes great kindling, but it offers relatively low heat output compared to most other common firewood types.

Douglas Fir

Douglas fir firewood is a great all-around, user-friendly firewood choice. It produces decent heat and splits easily with only moderate sparks.

Larch/Tamarack

Larch (aka Tamarak) is a “hard softwood” that is even harder than some genuine hardwood species. It won’t burn the longest or the hottest, but if you’re cutting the wood yourself, you’ll love its other features. It dries out after splitting quickly and burns hot.

Pine

Pine has a long history of bad advice attached to it. Generations have passed down that you should never burn pine indoors, but those beliefs have been debunked. When properly seasoned and burned in a well-maintained stove or fireplace, pine is safe to burn.

Its high resin content makes it excellent for starting fires, but it burns quickly and should be mixed with hardwoods for longer heat.

Poplar

Poplar is good for firewood because it lights quickly when dry and will warm your house well during the shoulder seasons. Poplar is a relatively quick-burning firewood.

Red Maple

Red Maple produces fewer BTUs than some other softwoods. It can provide moderate heat for some hours, which can be suitable for autumn but not for harsh winters.

Redwood

Redwood is average firewood that has low heating efficiency, burns fast, and sparks excessively. However, it is easy to split, quick to season, and lights easily.

Spruce

Spruce firewood is relatively easy to split and burns quickly. It has a relatively low BTU but since spruce is readily available, it’s not a bad choice when it comes to looking for wood to burn.

Comparing the Best Firewood for Burning

Click here to access a printer-friendly and easy-to-read version of the comparison guide for the best firewood to burn.

Make Sure Your Wood Is Dry

Firewood seasons best when it gets sun and steady airflow. A single row exposed to the sun and prevailing winds are best because the sun heats and evaporates the water from the wood and the wind helps carry that moisture off.

Each wood has its own dry time, as indicated in the chart above. 

Burning damp wood leads to cooler fires, excess smoke, and creosote buildup, which increases the risk of chimney fires and reduces air quality. A moisture meter will tell you exactly how seasoned your firewood is. See how to use a moisture meter.

Woods to Avoid

Don’t burn driftwood. Driftwood contains salt, which releases toxic chemicals when burned. Driftwood can, however, be burned in a burn barrel.

Don’t burn treated, painted, or sealed wood. These materials release harmful chemicals when burned.

Don’t burn green (wet) wood. Green wood produces cooler fires, more smoke, and dangerous creosote buildup.

Common Questions About Firewood & Burning Wood

Here are the questions people usually ask once they start burning wood.

Pin this to keep a handy firewood comparison guide ready for heating season.

Using the right firewood makes a noticeable difference in how your stove runs. The best firewood is the one that’s properly seasoned, safely burned, and suited to your heating needs.

What is your favorite type of firewood to burn in your wood stove or fireplace? Share your experiences and insights in the comments below!