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What is the Difference Between Hardwood and Softwood Firewood?
Hardwood or softwood doesn’t necessarily relate to the hardness or softness of the wood. Most hardwoods do tend to be harder than most softwoods but with some species that’s not always the case. Some hardwoods such as aspen cottonwood and alder are softer than some softwoods. Whether a type of wood is a hardwood or a softwood has more to do with the way the wood fibers are structured.
Difference in cellular structure of hardwoods vs softwoods
Hardwood comes from deciduous trees such as oak, tanoak, madrone, myrtle, hickory, elm and maple. Hardwood is usually more dense, burns longer and produces more heat than softwood. Hardwood tends to produce more coals when it burns which produce more radiant heat over a long period of time. This makes hardwoods ideal for wood stoves for heating and cooking.
Softwood comes from conifers such as fir, pine, cedar, and redwood. Softwood is usually less dense and more resinous, burns faster and produces less heat than hardwood. Softwood is good for starting fires and making kindling. Softwood produces more flames and sometimes more intense heat than hardwood but over a shorter period of time. Softwood is good for starting fires or in a fireplace where you want a crackling fire with nice flames. Softwood is also nice for a campfire for the flames but throw some hardwood in to make a nice bed of coals for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows.
There are approximately 100 times more hardwood species in the world than softwoods. All wood has about the same amount of energy per pound. The difference is the density that varies between species. The more dense the wood is the more energy it will have per volume.