The Secrets Of Buying Good Firewood
Try and buy well in advance of needing to use your logs or firewood
, that way the wood you buy will have a chance to dry out and continue to season. The best time for wood to dry fastest is during the summer. If this is not possible don't worry you can generally buy firewood which is dry and fully seasoned. Storage is also important as you will be using the logs during the wet season so you will need somewhere undercover to store your logs. The best log storage is where the logs are protected from the prevailing rains but the storage allows in some sun, air and breeze. In essence somewhere that keeps the rain off and lets the air in will work really well.
The best logs are produced using hardwood species like Oak, Beech and Ash. A little birch is often mixed in and this is fine, dry birch will burn a little faster. Once experienced you may find yourself picking different logs from the mix for different occasions. Chestnut is also a hardwood, however it should not be used on an open fire and is not included in the best quality hardwood log mix as it is prone to spit. Chestnut, or Sweet Chestnut to use its full name, is a fine fuel wood once dry and is suitable for wood burning stoves. Chestnut is a by product of the coppice industry so guaranteed to be from a renewable source. Softwood logs such as pine and spruce are also not great for open fires. They also tend to burn much faster so they need to be considerably cheaper than hardwood logs. It is hard to beat seasoned hardwood logs for open fires, with oak being the best wood of all.
Know what you are buying with your money is the best advice I can give. Logs are increasingly sold by the bulk bag and there is no denying it is convenient. It also makes less mess than having a load of logs tipped up on the driveway. Beware these log bulk bags are produced in a range of sizes and contain by volume for the smallest 0.6 metre to 1.6 metres for the largest. Bulk builder's bags come in at around approx. 0.73meters. The amount of actual wood you get will vary slightly depending on the size of the logs. You may think that buying by weight would be a good answer but the more wood dries out the less it weighs. Therefore this method would penalise your firewood merchant who sells great quality bone dry firewood logs. Hardwood and softwood logs also vary hugely in weight. The main secret is just be aware of exactly what you get when buying from the supplier and beware of anyone who is vague about it.
Finally don't forget to buy some kindling, that's the name for small wood which is finely chopped and is suitable for getting your fire started. You should not need to use firelighter blocks if you have plenty of dry kindling laid on screwed up newspaper. -The kindling will soon catch the logs as long as they are seasoned and dry.
by: john mce
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