Just taken a gas fire out and now burning logs on an open fire. I've just been buying bags of logs from petrol stations and they last no time. Looking at bulk buying but what's best? Kiln dried hard wood, soft wood, seasoned, unseasoned ?
Seasoned if you want to burn it this year. You need to burn 20x as much wood as coal for half the heat. Go for sacks of coal from a merchant (not the garage), or wood by the ton. If you're short of space, coal for the win.
I burnt half this heap (to get rid after chopping down some trees in the garden) in one winter, with the central heating on, and I don't remember being warm - had to sit near the fire. Wood's good if it's free but I wouldn't pay for it unless you were warm enough already and just wanted something to look at.
wise words zed ......thats a very tidy log pile mine is just a big heap in the garden....and the coal shead .....and the green house : mind you, it was the left overs from the house extension, all the old timber battons and roof joist's that have been seasoning for 50 years ;D
We burn anything and everything in ours, but Dog will be along soon to tell you what not to burn!! The stuff that will clog your chimney and cause problems.
You may find a supplier of bulk seasoned hard wood, but better get some bags of coal and then keep an eye out for fallen branches when you can find them.
theres an old woodsman's poem that goes........ Beechwood flames are bright and clear, If the logs be kept a year. Oaken logs burn steadily, If the wood be old and dry. Chestnut's only good they say, If long dry years it's laid away. But Ash when new or Ash when old, Is fit for a queen with a crown of gold. Birch and Fir they burn too fast, Blaze too bright and will not last. Build a fire of elder tree, Death within your house you'll see. If you would bake the sweetest bread, Use Hawthorn, or so 'tis said. But Ash when green or Ash when brown, Will please a queen with a golden crown. Elm will burn like churchyard mould, Even the very flames are cold. Poplar gives a bitter smoke, Burns your eyes and makes you choke. Applewood will scent your room, With the scent of flowers in bloom. But Ash when wet or Ash when dry, A queen may warm her slippers by.
This site is like google except that the answers are more relevant to the question you asked. I think that you could ask anything on this site and someone would know the answer.
Live olive trees dont burn very good ??? Learned that in greece after the great fires. Fruit wood logs normally burn slow.
Try and get hard wood well seasoned. Kiln dryed is too dry and will burn to quick, the best fire wood is about 20% moisture most kiln dryed wood is only 5-10% wet stuff! If youve got a open fire avoid most pines as they spit but are fine for a wood burner but takes longer to season as sappier to start with. Beech and Hazel are the best (years ago only the lord would be able to burn logs the commoners burned hazel) Ash will burn green (fresh) but a couple of weeks old will give more heat than the day its cut! If you want to use less fuel and get more heat find a multi fuel burner. Im a woodsman/tree surgon so i do have a clue and our only heating is wood (a small amount of coal keeps the rayburn going over night for the winter) When looking to buy fire wood ask what the quantity in cubic meters. If they quote my truck is x cubic meters you will get about 75% of that as wood rest is air!!!! Mixed seasoned hard wood usally comes in at about 3/4ton a cube Black thorn/ Hawthorn is great wood but the pagen's say to burn it is to invite the devil into your house :laugh2: Sorry if ive rambled
If it's an open fire I always found logs from the garage crackled a lot and spat embers out of the grate. You need to use a guard with logs to stop this.
