Dry is best
The most important thing to remember is that wood needs to be fully dry before it’s ready to burn. The standard that appliance manufacturers work to allows for wood fuel between 12% – 20% moisture content. This small amount of moisture moderates the combustion process and liberates the right amount of heat energy to the room in accordance with the appliance design.
To give you a rough idea how much moisture wood contains once its cut, a 1kg freshly cut log could contain around 500-600ml of water i.e. around one pint of water. This is why it can take up to 2 years to allow wood to dry sufficiency and be ready to burn.
Storing logs
Logs should be stored in a place where the sun can warm the wood and wind can blow through it. Ideally it should be stacked on a firewood rack to allow maximum airflow from all sides and with the logs off the ground.
If you have a log basket or space around your fireplace, you can bring the logs in to dry even quicker in the warmth of your home.
Where to buy fire wood
There are plenty of good reputable suppliers out there, however, there will always be some suppliers out there that claim their wood is seasoned when it is clearly not. Make sure they are selling seasoned firewood and ask them about the logs’ moisture content. If you are in doubt, you can purchase a moisture metre which allows you to accurately measure the average water in the logs. If you spot radial cracks in the wood then that’s a good sign that they’re ready to burn. Alternatively, you can knock two logs together, if you hear a dull thud it’s likely the wood is still too moist.
Lighting your wood burning fire
Lighting your wood burning fire has been made easy and hassle-free, thanks to the award-winning Grenadier Electric Firelighter. Its powerful concentrated heat is guaranteed to light any solid fuel fire, including wood, coal and smokeless fuel within minutes, without matches, paper, sticks or chemical firelighters.