The best wood for a wood burner is a dense hardwood such as ash, beech, oak or hornbeam, started off with birch or softwood kindling. Dense logs hold more heat in each piece and burn for longer between reloads, while lighter woods catch quickly and bring the stove up to temperature. 

This guide compares the most common UK firewoods, matches each one to a stage of the fire, and covers the woods that are best avoided. Everything here assumes your logs are dry. If you're building up your own supply, our guide to storing logs and firewood covers keeping them that way.

What makes one firewood better than another

Weight for weight, most firewood gives off a similar amount of heat. Forest Research's technical supplement on wood as fuel notes that hardwood and softwood species have a very similar calorific value per kilo. What separates a good log from a disappointing one is density. Hardwoods are generally denser than softwoods, so a cubic metre of hardwood gives more heat than a cubic metre of softwood at the same moisture content.

In plain terms, a dense log packs more fuel into the same space. It burns for longer, and your stove needs feeding less often. A few other qualities are worth weighing alongside density:

Lighting and burn speed: Lighter woods catch quickly and burn fast. Dense woods take longer to get going but settle into a long, steady burn once the stove is hot.

Spitting: Some species throw sparks as they burn. A closed stove door contains most of it, but it's worth knowing which woods do it when you open up to reload.

Flame and scent: A bright flame and a pleasant smell come from certain species, fruitwoods in particular. They're a bonus rather than a reason to choose one wood over another.

The best wood for a wood burner

These are the firewoods you're most likely to find in UK log deliveries and garden prunings, and the ones that perform reliably in a stove.

Ash

Ash is widely listed as one of the best firewoods in the UK (including in Hyndburn Borough Council's firewood guide) and it's a sensible choice if you only buy one type. It lights more readily than most hardwoods and gives a good, steady heat. That combination suits almost every stage of the fire, from warming a cold stove to keeping an evening burn going. It's also easy to find from UK log suppliers.

Beech

Beech is dense and burns hot and long, with a bright, clear flame. It's slower to catch than ash, so it works best when the fire is already established. A load of beech on a good bed of embers gives a long, even spell of heat with little attention.

Oak

Oak is a very dense wood, and it burns slowly and steadily as a result. The trade-off is that it's slow to light and gives little flame on its own in a cold stove. Treat oak as a log for an established fire. Add it once the stove is hot, and it will keep going long after lighter woods have burnt through, leaving a deep bed of embers behind it.

Hornbeam & hawthorn

Hornbeam and hawthorn are both dense hardwoods that burn hot and slowly. Neither turns up in bagged logs as often as ash or oak, but if a supplier offers them, or you have them in a hedge or garden, they're worth burning. Use them as you would oak or beech, on a fire that's already going.

Birch

Birch lights easily and burns fast and bright, which makes it ideal for getting a cold stove up to temperature. On its own it doesn't last long, and it gives the most when mixed with slower hardwoods such as oak or beech. Strips of birch bark also make a useful natural firelighter.

Apple, cherry and other fruitwoods

Apple and cherry burn slowly, with a steady heat and a pleasant scent. They rarely appear in bagged firewood, and most people come by them as orchard or garden prunings. If you have a supply, save them for an evening fire where the smell of the wood is part of the appeal.

Hardwood vs softwood

Hardwood is the better firewood for most of the burn, but dry softwood is perfectly usable in a wood burner. Pine, spruce and other softwoods are less dense, so they burn faster and need reloading more often. By weight they give out much the same heat as hardwood; there's simply less of it in each log.

Softwood comes into its own at the start of the fire. Dry softwood kindling catches quickly and burns hot, which gets a cold stove going with far less effort than hardwood alone.

Density also affects value. Logs are usually sold by volume, and a bag of softwood holds less heat than the same size bag of hardwood. That doesn't make softwood a poor buy, but you'll get through more of it over a winter, and the price should reflect that.

Before burning softwood, check your stove manufacturer's instructions, as some stoves are approved for specific fuels. If you live in a smoke control area, GOV.UK requires you to use only the fuels the manufacturer says the appliance can burn.

Matching the wood to the fire

Most good fires use more than one kind of wood. Thinking in stages makes it easier to choose:

• Lighting: Dry softwood kindling and birch bark catch quickly and burn hot enough to get larger logs going.

• Building heat: Ash and birch take hold fast and bring a cold stove up to temperature without much coaxing.

• A long, steady evening: Beech and ash give a steady heat, and adding oak once the fire is established cuts down on reloading.

• Winding down: Oak and hornbeam burn down slowly, leaving a deep bed of embers that keeps giving off heat as the fire dies back.

When you're finished for the evening, let the fire burn out rather than loading it up and turning the air down to keep it smouldering. For safety purposes, we advise ensuring a fire is out before leaving it to go to bed. 

Wood to leave out of your wood burner

Some woods burn poorly even when they're dry. Poplar, willow and alder give little heat and burn quickly, leaving you reloading more than enjoying the fire. Horse chestnut and sweet chestnut are both prone to spitting. Space in a log store is better spent on the woods above.

Treated and waste timber should never go in a wood burner. That includes painted, varnished or treated wood, old furniture, fence panels and pallets. If you don't know where a piece of timber came from or what it has been treated with, leave it out.

Buying firewood and keeping it at its best

If you'd rather not source and dry your own, kiln-dried logs arrive ready to use. We sell kiln-dried hardwood and softwood logs in bulk bags, which makes it easy to keep a mix of both: softwood for lighting, hardwood for the long burn.

Even the best firewood is only as good as the place you keep it. Kiln-dried logs can take on moisture again if they're left exposed, and they need a dry, well-ventilated home to stay at their best. Our log stores are built for the job, and our guide to storing logs and firewood covers siting, stacking and keeping logs dry through winter.

FAQs about burning wood

Can I burn softwood in a wood burner?

Yes, as long as it's dry and your stove manufacturer allows it. Softwood burns faster than hardwood and needs reloading more often, but it's excellent for lighting. Many people use softwood to get the fire going and hardwood to keep it burning.

Which wood burns the longest?

Dense hardwoods burn the longest, with oak, hornbeam and beech among the slowest-burning woods you're likely to buy in the UK. They give their best when added to a fire that's already hot.

Is kiln-dried firewood better than seasoned?

Both burn well as long as they're dry. Kiln-dried logs are dried in a controlled process, and their moisture content tends to be more consistent from log to log than air-seasoned logs, which depend on how and where they were stored. In England, wood sold in quantities under 2 cubic metres must carry the Ready to Burn logo, which shows it has been certified at 20% moisture or less.

Can I mix hardwood and softwood?

Yes, and it's a good way to run a fire. Start with softwood kindling or birch to build heat quickly. Then add ash, beech or oak to keep the stove going steadily.

Which firewood smells the best?

Fruitwoods such as apple and cherry are known for their pleasant scent when burned. Because they come mostly from garden or orchard prunings rather than bagged logs, they tend to be an occasional treat rather than an everyday fuel.

Can I burn wood in a smoke control area?

Only in a Defra-exempt stove. GOV.UK classes wood as an unauthorised fuel in smoke control areas, which can only be burned in an exempt appliance and only if the manufacturer approves it for that model. You can check your stove against Defra's list of exempt appliances, and your local council can tell you whether you live in a smoke control area.