Hardwood vs. Softwood Logs – Is there a difference?

That’s right, today we are talking logs. At Deco-Pak, we think that having top-quality firewood is of utmost importance but we also want to make sure that our customers are using the right wood correctly and efficiently. Wood fuel can be divided into two categories:

• Softwood (Deciduous Trees)

• Hardwood (Conifers or Evergreens)

It can be easy to think that wood is wood and it’s as simple as setting fire to it and enjoying the warmth. If you thought this, then you would be right!

However, it goes a bit deeper than that.

Softwood

First, let’s have a little chat about softwood. Generally, it would take about twice as much softwood to attain the same heat output than from burning hardwood. Does this mean that you should choose hardwood in almost every situation over soft? No! Softwood lights more easily than hardwood and burns faster due to its resin content. This means that softwood is perfect for producing a quicker heat making it ideal for kindling or initial burning. One of the qualities of softwood is that it emits more smoke which would make it better for open campfires rather than wood stoves or home burning.

Hardwood

Now, in most home situations, you would want to choose hardwood because as previously mentioned it lasts longer than softwood and emits less smoke. Another positive of hardwood is that it produces hot coals which makes it easier to relight the fire once it has gone out which means you can let the fire go out and then the next morning it should be quite a bit easier to get it going again. Some of the downsides of hardwood are that it takes quite a bit longer to season (dry out) the logs so it takes a bit more forward planning if you want to enjoy hardwood burning. It also takes a bit more effort to start the fire with just hardwood logs (because of its density) so it can be recommended that you start the fire with softwood logs and then keep it going by transitioning to hardwood.

Summary

To summarise, in most home situations it would be better to choose hardwood logs because of the length of time that hardwood logs burn for. However, as we have discovered softwood logs does have its uses when it comes to getting the fire going and also it’s better as a short-term heat source because it’s quicker to dry out the logs.

This has been a guide on the differences and uses of hardwood and softwood logs and I hope it has enlightened you to be more efficient with your wood burning situations whatever they may be. Feel free to provide feedback on our twitter.

Looking for more on this topic? Then browse our range of winter fuels.