If you have a wood-burning fireplace, a fireplace insert or a woodstove, the wood you burn matters more than most people realise. The simplest answer is to use the driest, best-seasoned wood you can get. Dry wood burns more completely than green wood, producing a hotter fire with less smoke.
Unseasoned wood does the opposite. A cool, smoky fire deposits far more creosote buildup in your chimney liner than dry firewood does. That means cleaning the flue more often than you'd like, and creosote is highly combustible — a genuine fire hazard. It also narrows the flue, which reduces draft and makes every subsequent fire dirtier than the last.
Hardwood, Softwood and What They Cost
Beyond dryness, there's the question of cost. If you own a chainsaw and a pickup, you may be able to get firewood for little more than your time and fuel — ask nearby landowners about cutting their deadwood, or look into a permit from your state or federal forest agency for cutting on public land. In that case the species matters far less, because you're not paying by the cord.
If you're buying, the hardwood-versus-softwood comparison is worth running. Heating values are published for every common species and easy to look up. A cord of red oak holds roughly 24 million BTUs; a cord of white pine holds a little over 14 million. So you can end up paying seventy percent more for oak and get the same heat you'd have got from pine.
Keep Both On Hand
The practical approach is to stock both. Softwood cut small makes excellent tinder and kindling for getting a hot fire started quickly. Once it's going, larger softwood mixed with hardwood gives a steady burn while you're in the room enjoying it. And if you want the fire to hold overnight, feed it a few large chunks of hardwood before bed — you'll usually find enough hot coals in the morning to start the next one without kindling.