Deciding on what firewood to use is an important decision because you are probably planning on heating your house with it. There are many types of firewood out there, but some are much more efficient than others.

Pine is good firewood if you are going to use if for kindling. It makes a great fire-starter, but because of its high sap and resin content, you should consider whether you want to use it exclusively as an indoor firewood. Its a messy wood to work with, but smells great!

Keep reading to learn more about Pine and whether you want to choose it as your firewood.

Common Characteristics of Pine Trees

Pine is a softwood which generally means they are cheaper and easier to work with than hardwoods.

They are the most common tree worldwide, and prefer wide open areas with plenty of sunlight. They are an evergreen tree, which means they keep their needles until new ones are ready to grow in their place. Their needles are long and narrow, 1 to 11 inches long. They connect near the point where they attach to the branch.

Don’t mistake a Fir or Spruce for a Pine. If the needles emerge singly from a branch, the tree is more likely to be one of those instead of a Pine.

Large cones are a key feature for a Pine tree. Both the male and the female cones appear on a tree. The male cones are usually smaller than the female cones.

Pine bark is usually reddish brown in color and grows in a rectangular scale like pattern around the trunk of the tree. The bark is generally thick with square scales. Some species of Pine have flaky bark that you can pick off with your fingers.

Common varieties of Pine trees used for firewood

There are somewhere around 126 different species of Pine, but 36 major species are native to North America. The Southern Yellow Pine, Eastern White Pine, Western White Pine, Sugar Pine, Ponderosa Pine, Jack Pine, Norway Pine, and Pitch Pine are all commonly used as firewood in the United States.

All produce a low to medium amount of heat and are easy to burn.

Working with Pine Firewood

What does Pine smell like?

Pine has a very distinctive smell. All types of wood can be used as firewood but some are better than others. Besides investigating how much heat is produced you also need to consider the aroma of the wood. Most woods produce fruity, nutty, or piney fragrances. Pine has a pleasant aroma that many say smells festive.

Is Pine sap messy?

Pine is very sappy and full of resin. The sap from pine trees will stick to your clothes, gloves and chain saw. Some people choose to

clean their chain saw with Lestoil and a tooth brush while others just go and cut something else.

Best advice is to wear clothes and shoes that you don’t mind ruining or plan to throw away because the sap gets everywhere!

How hard is Pine to split?

Split wood dries quicker and burns better than round logs.

Green Pine is generally very difficult to split by hand. Pine tends to have a lot of knots, which makes it even more difficult. If you get lucky and have a Pine with no knots, your job will be a whole lot easier!

Some people prefer to split Pine when it’s very cold, because it’s not as “juicy’. With a hydraulic splitter it doesn’t make much of a difference though. Seasoned Pine will split like butter for you!

Store your split firewood outside of your home in a covered woodshed or storage area. Store it with the bark side of the log on top. Bark is a natural barrier and will keep the rain from saturating your wood, but using a large tarp is recommended especially over the winter.

You want to keep your firewood pile well ventilated so don’t fully cover the pile on all sides. Keep it off the ground by using a firewood rack or a pallet. Avoid stacking firewood directly against a wall.

How long does Pine take to season?

Pine will season fairly quickly, but if you let it get really dry you might not get much out of it because it burns quickly as it is. Typically one summer under cover is all Pine need to burn fast and hot.

Buy an inexpensive easy to use moisture meter like this one, to ensure your split wood is ready for the fire.

Does Pine burn clean?

It burns very quickly and you may find yourself hauling heavy loads of wood more often than you’d like if you are burning Pine exclusively indoor.  Make sure to clean your chimney once per year to avoid excess creosote build up in your chimney.

Pine tends to burn a little smokey. That’s another reason its not the best indoor firewood.

Heat Output and Efficiency of Pine

Depending on the species, Pine produces anywhere from 14.3 to 17.1 million BTUs per cord.

On average a cord of Pine is equal approximately to the following common heat sources:

• 15,140 cubic feet of natural gas.
• 172 gallons of propane.
• 113 gallons of heating oil.
• 4,601 kilowatt hours of electricity.

BTU stands for British Thermal Unit. One BTU the amount of energy required to heat one pound of liquid water by one degree Fahrenheit.

A cord of firewood is equal to 128 cubic feet of wood. Typically firewood is cut into 16 inch lengths and is tightly stacked in three rows, 4 feet high and 8 feet long, totaling 128 cubic feet.

How does Pine compare to other types of firewood?

Pine falls somewhere towards the bottom in terms of BTUs per cord. At the high end would be Eucalyptus at 34.5 million BTUs per cord and Osage-Orange at 32.9 million. On the low end you have Ohio Buckeye at 12.1 million BTUs per cord and Linden Basswood burning at 13.8 million.

Despite its low BTU people like to burn Pine because it is inexpensive, abundant, and great for kindling.

Fire quality, amount of smoke and creosote.

Green wood tends to smoke and smolder creating the possibility for creosote to form in the chimney. Creosote is nothing more than a condensation of small, unburned particles contained in the smoke that coats the chimney surface as it exits. The creosote will stick to the sides of the chimney and can ignite, causing a chimney fire.

Many believe that Pine creates a dangerous amount of creosote because it contains a lot of pitch. All wood creates creosote and it’s unavoidable that you will accumulate it in your chimney. Its best to use a mixture of both hardwoods with softwoods in your firewood supply. Hardwoods burn longer and softwoods like Pine ignite easier.

Pine firewood produces a hot flame since it burns rapidly. If you want a hot fire with lots of flames use Pine exclusively.

The Pros and Cons of Burning Pine as Firewood

Pros

• Easy to light.
• Pleasant aroma.
• Makes great kindling.
• Hot flames.

Cons

• Very sappy and full of resin.
• Pops and crackles a lot.
• Difficult to split because contains lots of knots.

Other Common Uses

Pine wood is widely used in high valued carpentry items such as furniture, window frames, paneling, floors, and roofing.

They are also commercially grown and harvested for Christmas trees.

Pine resin can be used to make a lamp while out camping. It is very flammable and can be used as a fire starter.

There are many different firewood species to choose from. However, not all of the options will be available to you since some trees only grow in certain parts of the country. In my opinion, Pine is a great choice for kindling and campfires.

Tell me what your favorite type of firewood is in the comments below.