People have used wood as a fuel source for heating their homes for hundreds of years. Over time firewood became less popular and was replaced with less labor-intensive fuels such as coal, oil, propane or natural gas except in areas where firewood was still abundant. Although wood heating has been singled out as a serious health hazard in many regions of the world, today with rising fuel costs people are returning to firewood produced heat as a good, cheap, alternative to gas, oil and electricity.

Firewood is generally sold by volume, the most common measure being the cord. A cord of firewood is a legally defined term in New York and corresponds to a woodpile 8 ft wide × 4 ft high of 4 ft-long logs. After firewood is cut it needs to season or dry in a stack for at least 9 months before it is burned. The firewood dries through the cut ends of each log and will burn very well when there is less that 20% moisture left in the firewood.

If you are planning to purchase firewood to help heat your New York home, the following list ranks types of wood for the amount of heat produced in order of best to least--Rock Elm, Shagbark Hickory, White Oak (dried at least 24 months), Bitternut Hickory, Sugar Maple, Beech, Red Oak (dried at least 24 months), Yellow Birch, Red Elm, White Ash, Red Maple, Tamarack, Black Cherry, White Birch, Black Ash, Green Ash, Silver Maple. All the above trees are make excellent firewood with over 20,000 BTUs of heat produced when dry.

To locate a source of firewood to use in heating your New York home, please visit the Lawn & Garden Yellow Pages.