Tips for choosing the best firewood for a wood-burning fireplace
Do you have a fireplace but don’t know what type of wood to use? We answer your questions to enjoy a quality fireplace. Winter will set in slowly but surely. For those who have a fireplace in their home, indeed, you are considering using it! But attention to quality wood burning fireplace and cheaply, use some wood. What types of wood? The drying time? We help you choose the best firewood to use in your fireplace.
How to store your firewood?
First of all, you must have your firewood in a dry and ventilated place, ideally sheltered as a shed or a courtyard. To protect it, place a tarp over it. Ditto to protect it from the ground; if it is earthen, place the logs on a wooden pallet. If the wood is laid along a wall, leave at least 10 cm of space between the wall and the wood to circulate the air.
Hardwoods, the best wood to last
Hardwoods remain the most suitable firewood for wood burning fireplace. Oak, beech, hornbeam, ash: They all have the particularity of being denser and giving off more heat, making your wood stove more efficient. Indeed, the fibers being denser, combustion takes longer. In other words, you will have to reload your stove less often, and your consumption of logs is lower. If you order hardwood, you will keep your stock longer. Also, with so-called “hard hardwood,” the embers last longer and radiate more.
However, these woods have some drawbacks. They take longer to dry and are difficult to split and ignite. Favor wood species with a high calorific output, such as oak, hornbeam, and beech, which are recognized for their quality.
Soft hardwoods, the best wood to start a fire
Soft hardwoods, less calorific than hard hardwoods, flare quickly, which makes them perfectly suited as fire starter wood. The main disadvantage of soft hardwoods is that they are not suitable for use as firewood. But on the other hand, they will prove to be perfect kindling.
Moreover, the drying time is speedy. However, be careful with soft hardwoods, which degrade quickly in the event of low storage. Example of soft hardwoods: poplar, willow, lime, birch, etc.
Softwoods, the best wood for heating quickly.
Like soft hardwoods, softwoods have a low calorific value. Due to their high resin content, they ignite very quickly and are very popular for their rapid temperature rise. If you need to heat your home quickly, softwoods like fir or pine are well suited for the wood burning fireplace.
In use, however, some precautions must be taken. The conifer outbreak can cause small projections outside the focus called cinders. Always incandescent, they can damage a floor or ignite a sensitive material. Remember to protect your floor with a protective plate to avoid this type of projection on your floor.