Firewood & Fire Starters

The single rule that matters most: burn dry wood. For a safe and efficient fire, prioritize kiln-dried hardwood logs with moisture content below 20%. Dryness beats species, beats brand, beats everything else. Wet wood smolders, smokes, and packs your chimney with creosote. In a Montana heating season that runs October into April, that’s the difference between a stove that throws heat all winter and one that fights you every night.

For broader project planning, explore WBC’s building materials resources.

This guide covers what to buy — firewood and the starters that get it going — and how to use it. The category splits into three buckets: cordwood and boxed firewood for fuel, manufactured firelogs for convenience, and starters of every format for ignition.

Choosing Firewood: Moisture First, Species Second

Get a pin-type moisture meter and check before you burn. Use a pin-type moisture meter to verify dryness before use. Below 20% reads, you’re good. Above that, you’re wasting heat and coating your flue.

Once dryness is handled, species determines how the fire behaves. Hardwoods like oak, hickory, ash, and beech are dense, providing long-lasting heat and minimal smoke. That density is what you want for an overnight burn or holding heat through a cold snap. Softwoods play a different role. Use softwoods like pine only as kindling to aid ignition. Pine lights fast and burns hot and quick — perfect for getting things started, wrong for the main fuel load.

Retail firewood comes in measured small-volume boxes for indoor stove and fireplace use. The formats sold include hardwood firewood, European split white birch, and kiln-dried mixed firewood. Birch and similar species come boxed in volumes like 0.6 cubic feet, while kiln-dried firewood shows up in boxes around 0.75 cubic feet. These measured boxes are the convenient route for indoor burning when you don’t want to deal with a full cord.

Type	Best Use	Notes
Dense hardwood (oak, hickory, ash, beech)	Primary heat, long burns	Long-lasting, minimal smoke
Pine / softwood	Kindling only	Lights fast, burns quick
European split white birch	Indoor stove/fireplace	Sold ~0.6 cu ft boxed
Kiln-dried mixed firewood	Indoor stove/fireplace	Sold ~0.75 cu ft boxed

Fire Starters and Manufactured Logs

The starter aisle confuses people because the formats all do roughly the same job through very different means. Here’s the sort:

• Fatwood — resin-rich natural kindling, sold by weight in formats like 3 lb and 10 lb.
• Firestarter squares — wax-and-paper cubes, often packed two dozen to a box.
• Gel — squeeze-bottle starter fluid in sizes like 16 oz and 32 oz.
• Multi-fuel pellets — work for both wood fires and charcoal.
• Lighterballs and kindling boxes — measured-volume natural kindling, sold in volumes like 0.2 and 0.33 cubic feet.

A natural starter buys you enough burn time to get kindling going. Place natural fire starters such as fatwood or wax-dipped starters at the base, and the firestarter burns up to 20 minutes leaving no mess to clean up. That window is plenty to ignite kindling and small logs.

Manufactured firelogs are a different animal — they replace the whole wood-and-kindling setup. They’re sold by burn time, with common ratings of 1.5-hour, 2-hour, and 3-hour logs. Western Building Center’s lineup includes an 8-pound fire log sold in 2-packs and by the pallet, plus a “seconds” pallet for buyers who want value over cosmetics.

How to Build and Light the Fire

For a traditional wood fire, the sequence matters. Arrange dry kindling in a crisscross or log-cabin pattern to maximize airflow, then add small logs once the kindling is established. Airflow is the whole game early on. Starve the flame and you get smoke instead of heat.

Patience on the big stuff. Avoid adding large logs too early, as this smothers the flame and creates smoke. Build the fire in stages.

A repeatable method with a natural starter: Stack your firewood on the grate in your fireplace, firepit, or wood stove. If you don’t have a grate, stack your firewood in an X pattern on the hearth to ensure there’s a space to place a firestarter underneath. Place one firestarter on a level surface underneath your firewood and light the paper rim in 2 or 3 locations with a match or wand lighter. Then feed it. Add kindling or paper as needed to help the firewood ignite.

Manufactured logs skip all of that. Firelogs are a quick and easy alternative to firewood — no firestarter or kindling is needed. The steps are simple: loosen the wrapper around the firelog to ensure proper airflow, place the firelog on the grate seam up, then tear open the seam and light the wrapper at both ends. Want more heat? Add another firelog for a bigger and warmer fire.

Storing Firewood So It Stays Dry

Buying dry wood means nothing if it reabsorbs moisture in the yard. Always store wood off the ground in a well-ventilated, covered area to prevent moisture buildup. Off the ground, under cover, with air moving through it. That’s the formula. Then verify with the meter before you carry it inside.

Frequently Asked Questions

What moisture content should firewood be? Below 20%. For a safe and efficient fire, prioritize kiln-dried hardwood logs with moisture content below 20%. Check it with a pin-type moisture meter before burning.

Which firewood burns hottest and longest? Dense hardwoods. Hardwoods like oak, hickory, ash, and beech are dense, providing long-lasting heat and minimal smoke.

Can I burn pine? Use it as kindling, not as your main fuel. Use softwoods like pine only as kindling to aid ignition.

How long does a natural fire starter burn? Up to about 20 minutes. The firestarter burns up to 20 minutes leaving no mess to clean up. That’s enough to get kindling and small logs lit.

Do manufactured firelogs need kindling? No. Firelogs are a quick and easy alternative to firewood — no firestarter or kindling is needed. Loosen the wrapper, set it seam-up on the grate, and light both ends.

How are manufactured firelogs sized? By burn time. Common ratings run 1.5-hour, 2-hour, and 3-hour. Add a second log for more heat.

Can one starter work for both a wood fire and a charcoal grill? Some can. Multi-fuel pellets and certain firestarters work for both wood fires and charcoal grilling. For charcoal, place one firestarter cup on a level surface under your grill grate, arrange the charcoal around it in a pyramid pattern leaving room to light the starter, then light the rim in 2 to 3 locations.