Firewood for Indoor Fireplaces: What Really Matters
Here’s the thing. Using the right firewood for indoor fireplaces is not just about heat, it’s about safety, air quality, and how clean your fireplace stays. The wrong wood creates excess smoke, creosote buildup, and wasted heat. Properly seasoned firewood burns hotter, cleaner, and more efficiently, giving you steady warmth without filling your home with smoke or odors. This one choice quietly controls how well everything else works.
There’s a specific kind of magic that happens when you light a fire. The world outside gets a little quieter, the room glows, and suddenly, your living room is the only place anyone wants to be.
But as any homeowner knows, that “cozy” dream can quickly turn into a living room full of smoke and a frantic search for the window keys if you aren’t burning the right wood. At 12 Point Farm LLC, we’re big believers that a fireplace should be a source of relaxation, not a chore.
To help you get it right every time, we’ve put together a guide on picking the best firewood for indoor use so you can spend less time fussing with the matches and more time enjoying the warmth.
Hardwood vs. Softwood: What’s the Real Difference?
If you’ve ever walked through a lumber yard, you know there’s a massive variety of trees out there. But for indoor burning, we generally split them into two camps: hardwoods and softwoods.
Hardwoods (The “Set It and Forget It” Choice)
Coming from deciduous trees like Oak, Hickory, and Maple, hardwoods are dense and heavy. Because they are so packed with fiber, they provide high-heat firewood for efficient burning.
They take a little longer to get going, but once they’re lit, they burn for hours. If you’re looking for a fire that will last through a whole movie—or the whole night—hardwood is your best friend.
Softwoods (The “Quick Start” Assistants)
Trees like Pine, Fir, and Spruce grow fast and are filled with resin (sap). This makes them great for outdoor bonfires, but they aren’t the safe firewood types for indoor fireplaces that we usually recommend for a main burn. They pop, they spark, and they burn out in a flash.
Our Advice: Keep a few sticks of softwood around as kindling to get the flames started, but feed the fire with hardwoods to keep it steady.
The Golden Rule: Seasoned Firewood for Indoor Fireplaces Only
The biggest mistake people make isn’t the type of wood; it’s the moisture in the wood. Freshly cut wood (called “green” wood) is basically a sponge.
If you try to burn it, all the heat goes into evaporating the water inside, which creates a hissing sound and a thick, nasty smoke.
To avoid a “smokestack” in your kitchen, you need seasoned firewood for indoor fireplaces. Seasoning is just a fancy way of saying the wood has been dried out until its firewood moisture content for home use is below 20%.
How to spot seasoned wood:
- The Sound: Knock two logs together. If they sound like bowling pins (a hollow “clink”), they’re ready. If they make a dull “thud,” they’re still wet.
- The Look: Look for cracks in the ends and a greyish, weathered color.
- The Weight: Dried wood is surprisingly light compared to a fresh, heavy log.
Choosing Your Vibe: The Best Species for the Hearth
Every wood has its own “personality.” Depending on what you’re looking for, here are our top picks:
| Wood Type | Personality | Best For… |
| Oak | The Reliable Workhorse | Long, slow burns that keep the house warm all night. |
| Hickory | The Powerhouse | The highest heat output for those sub-zero nights. |
| Ash | The Clean Burner | Very low smoke firewood for indoor fireplaces; easy to light. |
| Cherry | The Romantic | An aromatic firewood for cozy ambiance with a sweet scent. |
Keeping Firewood for Indoor Fireplaces Safe and Clean
Safety is the one area where we never compromise. Burning the wrong stuff doesn’t just make a mess; it can be dangerous.
- Avoid “The Junk”: Never burn pallet wood, painted boards, or pressure-treated lumber. The chemicals used to treat them are toxic when inhaled.
- Watch the Creosote: Using unseasoned wood or high-resin pine causes creosote (a black, tar-like soot) to build up in your chimney. This is the #1 cause of chimney fires.
- Check Your Airflow: A clean chimney and an open damper are just as important as the wood itself.
Why Trust 12 Point Farm LLC?
We live and breathe the outdoors, and we know that a good fire starts long before you strike the match. It starts with how the wood is sourced, split, and dried.
At 12 Point Farm LLC, we’re committed to providing our community with premium, seasoned hardwood that burns hot, stays clean, and makes your home feel like a sanctuary.We don’t just sell logs; we sell the peace of mind that comes with knowing your hearth is fueled by the best.