Heating with wood in New Hampshire isn't a lifestyle choice. For a lot of people around here, it's the primary way their house stays warm from November through April — five months of real burn season, sometimes six. The difference between good firewood and bad firewood isn't about convenience. It's the difference between a house that holds seventy-two degrees at ten degrees outside and one that struggles to break sixty-five with the stove roaring.
Green oak cut six weeks ago. Punky birch from a blowdown that's been sitting in someone's yard for three years. Mixed species dumped in a pile with no idea what's in it. I've walked up on all of it being sold for full price. Here's what actually separates a good cord from a bad one.
What “seasoned” actually means
Seasoned firewood is wood that's been cut, split, and air-dried until its moisture content is below 20%. Fresh-cut hardwood is typically around 50% moisture. Getting from one to the other takes time — and there's no shortcut.
For most species, that's 12 to 18 months split and stacked in the open, with sun and airflow. For oak, it's closer to 18 to 24 months. Oak is stubborn. It holds moisture longer than anything else you'll find around here.
“Water doesn't burn. Every log that comes into the stove has to boil off its moisture before it can give up its heat.”
The problem with burning wood that isn't seasoned is simple: water doesn't burn. Every log that comes into the stove has to boil off its moisture before it can give up its heat. You end up with a fire that sizzles, smolders, and sends a slow stream of unburned particles up your chimney. That residue is creosote — and a thick enough layer of it is what causes chimney fires.
The species that matter in NH
You hear a lot of opinions about firewood species. The short version:
- Sugar maple, white ash, yellow birch, American beech — top-tier NH hardwoods. High density, 24–27 million BTU per cord, clean burn, reasonable seasoning time.
- Red oak, white oak — the highest-BTU wood you can burn in this region (26–29 million per cord). The trade-off is seasoning. Plan on two full years.
- Red maple, black cherry, elm — solid mid-tier. Good heat, seasons reasonably, easy to split.
- White birch, paper birch — burns fast and hot but goes quickly. Better mixed in than as your primary fuel.
- Pine, hemlock, spruce, fir — softwoods. Fine for kindling or shoulder-season fires. Don't burn them as your main wood — they throw sparks and leave more creosote.
For most homes in the Lakes Region, a mix of sugar maple, ash, and yellow birch is hard to beat. That's the blend I try to deliver when I can.
Note on ash: a lot of white ash in NH is being killed by emerald ash borer. Standing dead ash is already half-seasoned on the stump, and it's going to come down one way or another. When I can harvest it responsibly, it's some of the best firewood in the state.
How to tell if wood is actually seasoned
A dishonest supplier can dump a pile of 40% moisture wood in your driveway and call it seasoned. Here's how to check:
- Checks and cracks. Seasoned wood has cracks (the word is checks) radiating outward from the center of each round. Green wood is smooth on the end grain.
- Color. Fresh-cut hardwood is bright yellow, cream, or reddish inside. Seasoned wood is faded, gray, or tan. Bark starts loosening and sometimes falls off.
- Weight. Pick up two pieces of similar size. Seasoned oak is startlingly lighter than green oak of the same dimensions.
- Sound. Knock two split pieces of seasoned wood together. You'll hear a ringing “clink.” Green wood makes a dull thud.
- Moisture meter. A $25 meter will settle every debate. Stick the pins into a freshly-split face — not a weathered surface — and read. Under 20% is good. Over 25% is too wet.
Stacking matters more than people think
You can buy properly seasoned wood and ruin it with bad storage. The rules are simple:
- Stack off the ground on pallets, cinder blocks, or pressure-treated runners. Wood in direct contact with dirt wicks moisture back up.
- Cover the top, leave the sides open. Tarps that wrap the whole pile trap humidity. You want rain and snow off the wood but air moving through it.
- Sun and wind. South-facing exposure if you've got it. A pile tucked under trees in a damp corner will never really dry.
- Single row if possible. A double-stacked pile dries slower on the inside face. If space is tight, leave a gap between rows.
One cord of wood is a stack four feet high, four feet wide, and eight feet long — 128 cubic feet. Count what you're buying.
A word on safety
If you're burning a full season every year, your chimney needs to be swept at least once a year — more often if you're running a lot of cold starts or lower-grade wood. Creosote fires move fast and can destroy a house in under twenty minutes.
Burn hot. Cold smoldering fires produce more creosote than roaring ones. Get the stove up to temperature first, then dial it back. Don't choke it off with green wood and the damper closed down.
What we do
I deliver cut, split, and seasoned hardwood across central New Hampshire — mostly sugar maple, ash, and yellow birch, with oak when I've had it down long enough. Every cord is stacked honestly and measured the same way whether you're getting one or ten.
The best cords go first. If you heat with wood, it pays to reserve your winter delivery in late summer — not the week before your first fire.