Does birch wood produce more heat than other types of firewood?

Birch wood is a very popular firewood choice in the United Kingdom, offering numerous qualities. This hardwood is known for its thin trunk, covered in white bark. It offers a good burn duration and heat output. It is common in the United Kingdom, where we sustainably source it from managed forests.

Birch Wood Characteristics

Birch wood is popular as its effective in warming your home with easy lighting. It does burn slowly, and white it generates a lot of heat, it is not as hot as oak, for example. It is still an excellent firewood that is dried using our kiln drying method, ensuring it has a low moisture content of less than twenty percent.

BTU Ratings

While it may not get as hot as oak, birch does have a high heat output with a BTU (British Thermal Unit) rating or around 20.8 per cord. This is lower than oak, but is still plenty to ensure your room or home stays warm on cold winter nights. This is where our kiln dried logs come in, our birch logs provide good heat output because they are optimally dried. Wet firewood, on the other hand, will not produce the same high heat output.

Minimal Smoke

Birch is a preferred firewood because it naturally doesn’t produce must smoke, add our logs being kiln dried, and it provides minimal smoke. While it may not be the hottest firewood, the low smoke enables you to use it in smoke free areas, while improving indoor air quality, and reducing creosote build up.

Seasoning vs Kiln Drying

Birch offers a moderate heat, with a good burn time, and minimal smoke. In order to enjoy these excellent benefits, you need to ensure you choose the right wood. There is a big difference between seasoned and kiln dried birch wood.

Seasoning is a long process that involves allowing the wood to dry naturally, while protecting it from the elements, to reduce the moisture content. This process can take anywhere up to two years and cannot guarantee that the moisture content is consistently low throughout the log.

How Do You Know Your Birch Wood Will Produce Optimal Heat?

Now that you know birch wood may not be the hottest wood, but it does offer excellent warmth on colder nights, you want to know how to tell if the wood you are buying is seasoned or kiln dried. You may want to know how you know it has a low moisture content? All our kiln dried birch logs are Ready to Burn certified. What does this mean? It means they are regulated by the Woodsure Ready to Burn scheme.

The Woodsure Ready to Burn scheme was put in effect to eliminate the sale of wet firewood, reducing our impact on the environment, while providing you with a safer and more effective fuel for burning.

Our birch wood consistently undergoes testing, ensuring you purchase a firewood with a moisture content of less than twenty percent. If you are unsure or have any questions, get in touch with the Thomson Wood Fuel Ltd team today and let us help you make your firewood selection with confidence.