Are you ready to snuggle up to a warm fire with a blanket, sweatshirt, and hot cup of coffee? If you are, then you’ll be happy to see the days fly right off of the calendar. With each passing day, we get a little closer to winter.

But if you are planning on snuggling up to a fire, then you better have your materials ready. You’ll need to make sure that your woodstove and fireplace are cleaned all out and also make sure that you have plenty of wood for burning.

Yet, you may be asking yourself, what is the best firewood? In reality, the answer is going to be different for everyone. Your answer will depend on which area you live in and the weather you experience. It will also include how warm you actually want to keep your home.

Well, I’ve got all of the info you need to make these decisions and stock your wood sheds. Here are some of the local "Piedmont triad " types your more likely to find.

I’m sure we’ve all heard of the term ‘hardwood.’ We usually use it in reference to floors. But do you really know the difference?

Well, hardwood is a more dense wood and can be more expensive too, if you are purchasing your firewood it will give you the most bang for your buck. 

However, softwood is usually easy to get a fire started. Though, it isn’t the best for heating your home for long periods of time as it burns up pretty quickly in comparison to hardwood. Learning to use a mixture of both hard and softwood and when to use one over the o other will cause a easier time starting and maintaining for fireplace or a  woodstove.

When you are burning firewood, seasoned wood should be your first choice. It is the kind of wood that has been left out in the weather after cutting for a long time. It will be gray or dusty in appearance from the outside. It is usually best when the barks starts to fall off without much effort in removing it.

Yet, it will be white and dry on the inside. This is what you want to burn because there aren’t huge amounts of residue that come from the wood and cause chimney blockages. These blockages are made of class 3 creosote and are the cause of chimney fires and cracked liners.

However, if you choose unseasoned wood, this is the wood that is freshly cut and is often referred to as greenwood. It may be easier to come by, but you need to just stay on top of keeping your chimney clean if using it.But I highly recommend looking a bit harder and find hardwood.

But it could be a great choice for wood if you are burning wood outside of your home in something like a firepit or water stove. But unseasoned or overly wet firewood increases your chance of building up class 3 and having a chimney fire.

1. Apple

If you like to cook outdoors or over an open fire in your fireplace, then you might be interested in this type of wood. It is a variety that burns slower which means it will require less wood to keep a fire going.

But it also puts off a nice smell which is great when cooking a meal over an open fire. Some of that tasty fragrance will be soaked up by your food. That sounds delicious!

2. Ash

Are you looking for a type of firewood that will help you keep a steady burning fire? If you are someone that depends strictly upon wood heat, then you would be interested in this type of wood.

So this wood will definitely keep a steady rolling fire going in your fireplace or wood stove. However, it needs to be noted that this firewood works best if it is seasoned.

3. Birch

Birchwood is a softwood. This means that it will ignite faster and can be burned pretty easily as greenwood. However, you need to keep in mind that it can cause a blockage in your chimney, and it will also burn up quickly which means you’ll need to attend your fire more regularly and need more firewood to keep your home heated.

4. Maple

Maple trees are a very familiar tree throughout most of the United States. It may be more difficult to locate in different areas of the world, though.

But if you are in an area where maple is available, then you’ll be happy to know that it is a hardwood which means it is dense and durable. This equates to burning longer and often hotter.

5. Oak

Oak trees are another very common tree in a lot of areas. Though this tree is readily available in the piedmont yet, it still needs some care when being burned.

So you’ll need to make sure that it is really well seasoned before burning. Otherwise, it won’t burn as slow and steady as most prefer.

6. Pine

I love pine wood as a fire starter. I don’t burn it as a fuel source because of being a soft fast burning wood. Pine has long had the reputation of causing chimney fires which is just a wives tell it actually has no more chance than any of your softwoods.

7. Sycamore

When I think of the sycamore tree, I think of the old song we sang in Sunday school about Zacchaeus. I didn’t really think about it as a great firewood.

But Sycamore actually is, if it is seasoned well. It puts off a nice amount of warm heat that works well for warming your home over winter.

8. Walnut

Walnut is one of those types of wood that are great all the way around. Walnut is a hardwood which means it is dense and durable. This equates to the wood burning longer without needing more added to the fire.

10.Black Locust

This tree is one that isn’t available all over. From my experience it is mainly available in the Appalachian Mountains and here and there in the piedmont.

However, if you are able to find it, Black Locust is great firewood use it is durable and dense which means it will burn longer.