Firewood is one of the most commonly used woods for homemakers. The people who use must know which burs are better and hotter. Knowing few things and facts about firewood will help a homemaker to purchase the right type and amount of firewood that will best suit for their needs. Firewood is also very useful for grilling and cooking. People enjoy cozy fires in fireplaces during winters or for outdoors bonfires. They should know the different types as each type of wood has its own properties and strengths.

Heat Content: The official measurement for the heat or energy content of wood is BTU (British Thermal Unit). Every type of wood will produce a different BTU when burnt.

Different Types of Firewood

There are different types of firewood with different properties and strengths based on different BTU. It is obtained from trees that are unwanted or unusable for building supplies. It is a reusable source. Basically the firewood is divided into two major types:

- Hardwoods - Softwoods

Hardwoods: These are considered to be the best types as these don't tend to leave much smoke on ignition and at the same time easy to split. Add on quality with hardwood is that it provides more heat for warmth or cooking. Common types of hardwood are Red oak, Walnut, Birch, Beech, Dogwood, Ash etc.

Softwoods: These are considered to be lesser in quality as compared to hardwood but as compared to hardwood softwood ignites much faster. Therefore Softwood is used as a starter wood to get the hardwood fire going. Common types of softwood are Cedar, Cypress, Redwood, Fur, and Pine.

Split and Seasoned Wood: Whatever type of wood any one may take for the use of fireplace the most important is to split the wood in a way that it is easy to fit in the fireplace and grills.

Seasoning: Seasoning of wood after splitting is equally important as which ever wood may be considered. It has to be dried out properly to ignite it properly It takes 6 months to a year for a wood to be seasoned. This burns best it has lost water content in it.

Firewood for Cooking: There is special firewood available for cooking as these add fragrance and taste into the grilled food. Apple wood adds more flavor to poultry and pork. Cedar wood compliment more pork and fish.

Storage: One has to be very careful while storing the firewood. One has to be very careful that the wood should not rot while ageing. The wood should not be piled or laid directly on the ground. It should be placed on a build platform or just be careful as to make sure that the air circulate around the wood, to stop the rotting process.

Knowing just few facts make any homemakers life simpler and organized as to make oneself ready for the coming winter season for the use of firewood.......!!

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You might want to know about How to Plain Floors in Your Room and also How to Deciding a Wood Floor in your House. Click here to view more articles by Manzoor Mani.