If you were raised burning firewood for heat, no doubt you used hardwood as the primary source. In all likelihood, softwood was overlooked as it simply didn’t have the long burn times of hardwood.
Times have changed and firewood has evolved! Softwood has always burned hotter and emitted more heat than hardwood due to the natural lignins, but the downfall was always short burn times. This was due to the lighter density of softwood. If you picked up a softwood log in your left hand and a hardwood log in your right, you would definitely notice that the hardwood is heavier.
BUT….in brick form, the softwood’s density is altered to ensure long burn times AND more heat as the natural lignins remain. In the manufacturing process of our wood bricks, we dry the raw material and then compress it at 22,000 psi. This ensures that the brick is extremely dense and can burn far longer than it could in its natural state.
Once the density is changed in this manner, softwood is by far the preferred choice in a wood brick or pellet.
When we look at wood as a renewable resource, softwood is beneficial for the environment as well. It can take over 50 years for a hardwood tree to mature. However, most softwood species are fully grown at 10-20 years and are therefore ‘renewable’ much sooner!
Finally, at 8966 BTU/lb, Fiber Fuel provides more heat output than most any other wood brick on the market. Try Fiber Fuel for yourself and see why so many wood burners love it! We’re confident you’ll love it too!