Home Improvement

Softwood or Hardwood – Which type of firewood is ideal to purchase during winters?

If you are a regular buyer of wood logs, you must have come across softwoods and hardwoods. Of course, you might have heard these terms even during furniture or cabinet fittings in your home, but did you wonder what these are exactly and which one is ideal for buying bulk firewood in NSW?

What is Softwood?

Softwoods come from evergreen and conifer trees, like cedar, spruce, or pine. People use them in making buildings. Softwood doesn’t necessarily mean it’s soft, unlike its name. Professionals use softwoods, including carpenters, cabinetmakers, furniture makers, and woodcarvers, since they are environmentally friendly and grow more quickly than Hardwood. 

What is Hardwood?

Hardwood is the densest form of wood, and it comes from broadleaved trees such as oak, ash, and beech. People use Cherry, Oak, and Hickory in the construction of kitchen cabinetry. However, they are primarily used in constructing housing interiors because they are more durable than hardwoods. Since they are more expensive, people interested in grain patterns and color quality are the usual buyers.

What are the benefits of burning softwood logs?

  1. Softwood firewoods are great for building a fire and keep it blazing. However, to get a great fire, you must ensure that their moisture content is 25 percent or below.
  1. Softwoods build a great and instant fire that radiates through the room quickly, and we hardly have any particular reasons not to burn it. 
  1. There are many benefits of burning softwood, as they do not cause much trouble, unlike Hardwood, but it is ideal for building a fire instead of keeping it going. 
  1. It’s cheaper than Hardwood, but it wears out quickly. On the other hand, some people enjoy feeding fires and do not mind using them in their fireplaces. 

What are the benefits of burning hardwood logs?

  1. Hardwoods are a great option to keep your fire alive for a long period. 
  1. Once you get your fire seasoned with the softwood, add some stringybark firewood and enjoy your roaring firewood happily. 
  1. The hardwoods must be kiln-dried to maintain the standards of burning. Usually, they burn for a longer duration. Therefore it is advised that you add the hardwood logs to your fire when it’s starting to settle down. 
  1. The good quality firewood burns up to 5 to 6 hours, so it’s convenient to say that once you light it, you can forget about it for a fairly long period. 

Suggestion-

  • Be it softwood or Hardwood; if you want a safe and environmentally friendly warmth in your house, then we suggest you sweep your chimney at least once a year by an approved chimney sweep.
  • Newer stoves are much more efficient in burning firewood and reduce particulate emissions. 

In the end, no different type of firewood is better than the other. They have different qualities that add a different complement to each other if used proportionally. Softwood builds a great fire while the Hardwood keeps ongoing. Choose what suits you the best. 

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