We recommend burning one of the many hardwoods that are available in the UK on a wood burner or open fire. Hardwoods are generally more dense than softwood and therefore burn for longer and produce more heat. Hardwoods are also less resinous than softwoods and are therefore less likely to result in a build up of tar deposits in your flue, reducing its efficiency or increasing the risk of a flue fire. Despite providing a more efficient fuel source, hardwood can be difficult to ignite from cold. Softwood kindling is therefore best used to get a fire started, the resinous and fibrous nature of softwood helping it to burn from cold. Once a fire is established and there is some heat in the base of the fire, it should be fuelled with hardwood to maintain a slow burning fire with a good heat output. Softwood can produce a pleasing flame to look at but it will burn very quickly and you will get through a large volume of wood in a short time.