What To Look For In Firewood Logs

As the days get shorter and winter slowly draws in, thoughts often turn to luxurious ways of keeping warm in the cold weather. The most romantic way to warm your cockles over the winter period is to enjoy a good, old fashioned log fire. Unless you have a stash of dry firewood, you’re going to need to order some in, so what should you look for in log firewood?

The most important part of having a nice fire is to ensure that the wood is nice and dry. The easiest way to ensure a good burn is to buy early so you have time to dry the wood yourself. You should try to buy the driest wood available, particularly in the winter time as it can be hard to dry wood in cold, damp weather. Drying wood in the summer and storing it undercover, protected from rain and damp but exposed to some sun and ventilation, is the best way to condition firewood.

Trying to buy dry firewood can be tricky, as they often come in bulk-buy bags. The bags are very convenient for purchasing, transporting and storage, but it can be hard to differentiate between a bag that is heavy because it contains lots of hardwood, and a bag which is heavy because it has not been dried properly.

In terms of the different woods available, Beech, Oak and Ash are generally considered the best for fireplaces. If you buy bags of wood you will generally find that there will be some softwood mixed in, such as Birch, and this will burn slightly faster than the rest. The right log to use depends on the situation – whether you want a short or long term burn from the logs. Softwoods burn the fastest, and this is why they are the cheapest. Hardwoods will burn for a long time and the price reflects this, with Oak generally being considered the best of all.

Lastly, make sure you can light your fire cleanly. Using firelighters might be easy but it can also cause an unpleasant smell. It is much better to use finely chopped wood, or kindling, to start a fire. Using dry kindling and screwed up newspaper will be quite sufficient to light your firewood logs as long as they have been properly dried.