Firewood Species Comparison
Not all firewood is equal. A cord of osage orange or hickory holds roughly twice the heat of a cord of aspen or cottonwood, splits very differently, and needs a different amount of time to dry. This table compares 23 woods commonly burned in the United States by heat per cord, weight, ease of splitting, seasoning time, smoke, sparks and coals. Sort any column, or filter by group, splitting and seasoning time.
| Species | Heat (million BTU per cord) | Weight per cord (lb, air-dried) | Ease of splitting (5 = easiest) | Seasoning time | Smoke | Sparks | Coals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Osage orange | 32.9 | 4,700 | ●●○○○ 2 | 12 to 18 months | Low | Many | Excellent |
| Black locust | 27.9 | 4,200 | ●●●○○ 3 | 12 months | Low | Few | Excellent |
| Hickory | 27.7 | 4,300 | ●●○○○ 2 | 12 to 18 months | Low | Few | Excellent |
| Hophornbeam | 27.3 | 4,200 | ●●○○○ 2 | 12 months | Low | Few | Excellent |
| Mesquite | 27.0 | 4,000 | ●●○○○ 2 | 6 to 12 months | Moderate | Moderate | Excellent |
| Eucalyptus | 27.0 | 4,500 | ●○○○○ 1 | 12 to 24 months | Moderate | Few | Good |
| Apple | 25.8 | 4,000 | ●●○○○ 2 | 12 to 18 months | Low | Few | Excellent |
| Oak (red and white) | 24.0 (red) to 25.7 (white) | 4,000 | ●●●●○ 4 | 12 to 24 months | Low | Few | Excellent |
| Beech | 24.0 | 3,750 | ●●●○○ 3 | 12 months | Low | Few | Excellent |
| Ash | 23.6 | 3,450 | ●●●●● 5 | 6 to 12 months | Low | Few | Good |
| Black walnut | 22.2 | 3,200 | ●●●●○ 4 | 12 months | Low | Few | Good |
| Maple (sugar and red) | 18.7 (red) to 25.5 (sugar) | 3,500 | ●●●○○ 3 | 9 to 12 months | Low | Few | Good |
| Douglas fir | 21.4 | 3,000 | ●●●●○ 4 | 6 to 9 months | Moderate | Moderate | Fair |
| Birch | 20.3 (paper) to 21.8 (yellow) | 3,200 | ●●●●○ 4 | 6 to 12 months | Moderate | Few | Fair |
| Tamarack | 20.8 | 3,000 | ●●●●○ 4 | 6 to 9 months | Moderate | Many | Fair |
| Cherry | 20.4 | 2,900 | ●●●●○ 4 | 6 to 12 months | Low | Few | Good |
| Elm | 20.0 | 3,000 | ●○○○○ 1 | 12 to 18 months | Moderate | Few | Good |
| Sycamore | 19.5 | 2,800 | ●○○○○ 1 | 12 to 18 months | Low | Few | Fair |
| Eastern red cedar | 18.2 | 2,600 | ●●●●● 5 | 6 months | Moderate | Many | Poor |
| Pine | 15.8 (white) to 17.1 (lodgepole) | 2,200 | ●●●●○ 4 | 6 to 9 months | Heavy | Moderate | Poor |
| Spruce | 15.9 | 2,100 | ●●●●○ 4 | 6 months | Moderate | Many | Poor |
| Cottonwood | 15.8 | 2,100 | ●●○○○ 2 | 12 to 18 months | Moderate | Few | Poor |
| Poplar and aspen | 14.7 (aspen) to 17.5 (tulip poplar) | 2,100 | ●●●●○ 4 | 6 to 12 months | Moderate | Few | Poor |
How to read the table
- Heat (million BTU per cord): the typical heat content of a full cord (128 cu ft) of air-dried wood at about 20% moisture. Denser wood holds more heat per cord. Per pound, most dry woods hold similar heat; the difference is how many pounds fit in a cord.
- Weight per cord: approximate weight of a full cord of air-dried wood. Green wood weighs considerably more.
- Ease of splitting: from 1 (stringy or interlocked grain that resists the wedge, like elm and sycamore) to 5 (splits clean, like ash and cedar). It feeds our log splitter tonnage calculator.
- Seasoning time: typical months from splitting and stacking to roughly 20% moisture in a sunny, breezy spot. Wood that is not split, stacked in shade or left uncovered on the ground takes longer. A moisture meter is the only way to know.
- Smoke, sparks and coals: how cleanly the wood burns once dry, how much it pops (matters for open fireplaces), and how long a bed of coals it leaves (matters for overnight burns).
Which firewood is best?
For main-season heating in a closed stove, dense hardwoods such as oak, hickory, black locust, sugar maple, beech and ash give the most heat per cord and the longest burns. Ash is the easiest of them to split and season. Oak needs the longest drying time. Softwoods and light hardwoods such as pine, spruce, aspen and cottonwood burn fast and hot, which makes them good kindling and shoulder-season wood, and they are fine to burn when properly dried; the creosote risk comes from wet wood and smoldering fires, not from softwood itself.
The best firewood is usually the dry hardwood you can get locally. Use the firewood cord calculator to see how species changes the number of cords a winter takes.
About these figures
Heat and weight values are typical published figures for air-dried wood. Individual trees vary with growing conditions, and a cord’s real heat depends on its moisture and how tightly it is stacked. Seasoning times depend on your climate and storage. Treat every figure here as a planning number.
Frequently Asked Questions
What firewood burns the hottest?
Among common US firewoods, osage orange, black locust, hickory, hophornbeam and mesquite have the highest heat per cord, followed by oak, beech and sugar maple. Very hot woods can overfire a small stove, so mix them with other wood and follow the stove’s loading instructions.
What is the easiest firewood to split?
Ash, cedar and straight-grained red oak, birch and cherry split easily. Elm, sycamore, eucalyptus and cottonwood are the hardest because of stringy or interlocked grain, and usually call for a hydraulic splitter.
How long does firewood need to season?
Most firewood needs 6 to 12 months after splitting and stacking, and oak often needs 12 to 24 months. Check with a moisture meter on a freshly split face: under about 20% is ready to burn.
Is it OK to burn pine?
Yes, if it is dry. Seasoned pine burns hot and fast and lights easily, which makes it good kindling and spring and fall wood. It produces less heat per cord than hardwood, so you load the stove more often. Creosote comes mainly from wet wood and smoldering fires, so dry wood and a hot fire matter more than the species.
Species guides
Each species has its own page with a fact box, notes on splitting, seasoning and burning, and links to the splitters, saws and stoves that suit it. Click any species name in the table.