How dry does my wood need to be?

One of the most critical factors in wood burning is the moisture content of the wood - take a look at the Burnright website to learn more.  This is where wood seasoning comes into play. Freshly cut wood will contain moisture content of around 65-90%. This wood should never be used. Apart from producing very low outputs this wet wood will also generate large amounts of soot and tar, which can potentially lead to chimney fires (as these particles will coat your chimney and will fuel a chimney fire). For best results wood should have a moisture content of less than 20%. The process of removing the excess moisture is called seasoning. Seasoning is air drying the wood and can take up to two years. Wood should be stored in a well ventilated (but covered) structure, outdoors. Your stored wood should have good ventilation above, below and through it. You can buy kiln dried wood but this is not as environmentally friendly as air dried wood. 

You can test wood by using a moisture meter. Green Man Stoves sells a simple device for around £35, it is good enough for you to reject a load of wet wood. 

There are some obvious signs if you are burning wet wood:

• The fire will be difficult to light and even more difficult to keep going
• There won't be much heat. All you are doing when burning wet wood is essentially boiling water!
• The fire will be very smoky
• Your stove glass will turn black
• You will find your flue will become restricted or blocked with creosote (tar). This is highly dangerous as it is exceedingly flammable and the prime cause of chimney fires.

Do I need to buy and store wood in advance?

If you have a local friendly merchant then you can use him for regular deliveries. Most folk will buy wood and store it in a wood store. This has the advantage of ensuring the wood is dry and conditioned. It is also there when you need it. If you have room, build a wood store, or use space in the shed. Ideally, try to stay one year ahead. That way you will ensure you are only burning well seasoned wood.

How much wood will I need?

We have 2 woodburning stoves and will probably use between 2 and 5 cubic meters of wood this year. Most merchants sell by the load, and of course the amounts and costs can vary.

Where do I find a reliable wood merchant?

We work with Rob The Log, Log Boy, and Love Logs. We recommend them to all our customers, and actually use them ourselves for firewood in our home. They are extremely reliable and provide firewood of a consistently good quality (some providers product quality tails off as the end of the season approaches) You can be sure that firewood from them is going to be perfectly good to burn in your woodburner all year round.