Kiln Dried Logs

Bebop

This is our first winter with our Wanders wood burning stove and I am having problems sourcing suitable logs in Dublin at the right price
The stove just burns wood, the heat is brilliant but it just seems to eat up fuel, I bought a 1.4M3 pallet of hotlogs (kiln dried) costing €270 but they only lasted about 8 weeks, I have tried most of our local fuel suppliers but most of their logs are over 20% moisture content and just don't burn that well, I also tried a few of the man-made firelogs and they seem to burn OK, maybe somebody out there with a wood burner could advise me

An Ri rua

Check out Woodies (online special) as the kiln dried logs for 4.99 for 10kg may be worth it for the euro/ heat ratio. I've been burning the Eko Logs from Woodies recently. A LOT of ash but exceptional heat. Particularly as they are only 2.50 (2 for the price of 1). So 9+ hours of heat for 2.50!! Incredible.

Also the heat logs currently in Lidl are quite good also. €4 for 10kg. I bought about 40 boxes of the Aldi stocked Heat Logs (www.heatlogs.co.uk) and they are EXCEPTIONAL. So much heat. So little ash, so easy to store in the house (recommend storing indoors).

I also bought some of that so-called damp wood in Aldi. As a test. After a few weeks seasoning in my living room, it has burned AS WELL as 3 year old seasoned hardwood that I had (beech, oak). Try some kiln dried wood alongside some heat logs or Eko Logs. You won't regret it.

Anybody have recommendations for low-priced kiln dried logs in 2018?

Woodies at €8.99 for a small bag from Staffords (the bag is a lot smaller - no kg size on it - when you see it in the shop than on the website) seems extortionate.

looksee

At the moment my local Supervalue has logs with no labelling - in a yellow mesh sack - for €7.50. That is a good bit more than others I have been buying, but the heat is spectacular - one decent log will heat the room almost too much. I think they are ash but I have had other ash, from Tesco and Lidl and they have not been nearly so good. They do improve with seasoning in the room, but even then they can be a bit reluctant to burn.

Jamesgrace

There's someone selling olive wood firewood on Facebook, might be worth checking out.

Hurrache

Where are you? The Natural Stone Yard just outside Ashbourne sell 1 tonne bags for €135 with free delivery I think, they have a bunch of different choices
http://www.naturalstoneyard.ie/Fire%20Logs.htm

I bought one of those smalls yellow mesh bags from a local filling station and they were awful wet yokes.

Deep Thought

just with the fire, do you have knobs at the bottom to control the air?

When its nice and toasty , close these as the more air, the quicker it burns,

We leave them open until the fire is roaring and has a nice heat, we then shut them off.

Bebop

B&Q did have Bord na Mona Kiln Dried logs in 10Kg bags priced €26 Euro for 4 but they seem to be out of stock for the last 2 weeks
I found them quite good..

I bought a bulk bag of mixed logs online but they were mostly Birch and burned up very quickly, with bulk bags its hard to know how much you are getting, they can be very loosely packed, I think you are better off with the crate pack of 1 M or 2 M square

zac8

I was using bord ba mona too until recently but can’t get them anymore. Was paying 5.50 per 10kg bag and thought they were excellent.

Using Aldi logs at the moment but they’re quite poor.

Thanks for all suggestions so far. I've never had to get logs for an inset stove before and the pricing and quality variation seems large. This may be a silly question if if I were to bulk buy would storing them outside in a shed reduce the 'kiln dried' quality of the wood? Do they need to be stored at a warmer temperature?

In terms of heat and duration is oak, ash or birch the best type of firewood? I notice one company (Heatco in Rathfarnham) has an "oak-ash mix" firewood for €5.50 per 10kg. Are such mixes of better or lesser quality?

Here are some prices I'm coming across in the Dublin area in March 2018. I'm only comparing m3 prices as many of the places state they have "bags" of kiln dried wood and don't state the size so can't be compared. I've just ignored companies coming it at higher prices than below.

1. Woodfuel.ie, Trim: €220 per m3 (oak and ash, 25cm) [free delivery]

2. Quality Firewood, Terenure: €219.95 per m3 (ash, 25cm) [free delivery] (€355 for 2.5 m3)

3. Natural Stone Yard, The Ward: €200 per m3 ("hardwood", no size)

4. Heating Solutions, Malahide: €189 per m3, plus €20 Co Dublin delivery (ash, 25cm)

Can anybody add to this list?

lordgoat

Deleted User wrote: »

Here are some prices I'm coming across in the Dublin area in March 2018. I'm only comparing m3 prices as many of the places state they have "bags" of kiln dried wood and don't state the size so can't be compared. I've just ignored companies coming it at higher prices than below.

1. Woodfuel.ie, Trim: €220 per m3 (oak and ash, 25cm) [free delivery]

2. Quality Firewood, Terenure: €219.95 per m3 (ash, 25cm) [free delivery] (€355 for 2.5 m3)

3. Natural Stone Yard, The Ward: €200 per m3 ("hardwood", no size)

4. Heating Solutions, Malahide: €189 per m3, plus €20 Co Dublin delivery (ash, 25cm)

Can anybody add to this list?

https://logonfirewood.ie/shop/kiln-dried-logs-for-stoves/jumbo-bags/
€200 per m3 ("hardwood", no size) ( I think)

wayoutwest

lordgoat wrote: »

https://logonfirewood.ie/shop/kiln-dried-logs-for-stoves/jumbo-bags/
€200 per m3 ("hardwood", no size) ( I think)

Fuaranach's four price comparisons are for tightly stacked cubic metres. Logsonfire are offering 1.4 cubic metres of 'loose fill' (not tightly stacked) for €280.
The ratio of 1.4 can be used to compare loose fill/thrown and tightly stacked. 1.4 M3 loose = 1 M3 tight stacked.

lordgoat

wayoutwest wrote: »

Fuaranach's four price comparisons are for tightly stacked cubic metres. Logsonfire are offering 1.4 cubic metres of 'loose fill' (not tightly stacked) for €280.
The ratio of 1.4 can be used to compare loose fill/thrown and tightly stacked. 1.4 M3 loose = 1 M3 tight stacked.

Much obliged for that!

Calahonda52

No website: Kieran lalor in Lissenhall, Swords
53.484256, -6.200220

very obliging with shoving the stacked units into my garage, will even cut the top off the 2m high ones and bag the surplus if garage head is too low

Ubbquittious

Are kiln dried logs really that much better than ones that have been left to dry naturally?

mashed13

Sorry for jumping on to this thread, just wondering here, do people really pay 200e+ for a cu/m of firewood? what moisture levels would you get for that price and how much would this usually last for ( I know this might be very rough question though any answers are welcome

wayoutwest

Ubbquittious wrote: »

Are kiln dried logs really that much better than ones that have been left to dry naturally?

,
No - not if the naturally (air dried) logs are properly seasoned (18 % moisture content).The advantage of buying kiln dried logs is that you can be sure that the M,C will be in the 15 to 18%. range, whereas someone selling 'seasoned' air dried logs might not have 'seasoned' them for long enough.

looksee

I had a few tree branches (birch) that had been stacked in my garden for a couple of years beside a shed ut not really protected. I decided to burn them and discovered that once they had been stacked beside the stove for a couple of days so that they dried out superficially, they burned amazingly well - they were really light and had evidently seasoned very well.

wayoutwest

mashed13 wrote: »

Sorry for jumping on to this thread, just wondering here, do people really pay 200e+ for a cu/m of firewood? what moisture levels would you get for that price and how much would this usually last for ( I know this might be very rough question though any answers are welcome

If its kiln dried it couldn't get much drier. How long it would last would depend the amount of kilowatts you need. How big is your stove + whats it heating?

Some excellent info on this thread in the past few days. Storing the branches from outside next to the stove inside could be a good money saving trick.

1. Are there any differences in terms of heat or duration between birch, oak and ash kiln dried logs? Which is the best to buy?

2. Does buying a mixture of "ash and oak" kiln dried logs have any benefit over getting one type of wood only?

3. I bought one of these sheds. If I were to store kiln dried logs in it would they become less moist/kiln dried by virtue of being stored outside in one of those? Does storing these logs out in the cold undermine their heat quality in any way? Does the kiln-dried process reverse itself when the logs are stored in cold or wet conditions?

currants

wayoutwest wrote: »

,
No - not if the naturally (air dried) logs are properly seasoned (18 % moisture content).The advantage of buying kiln dried logs is that you can be sure that the M,C will be in the 15 to 18%. range, whereas someone selling 'seasoned' air dried logs might not have 'seasoned' them for long enough.

I've found it impossible to get properly seasoned air dried logs, rang round 4 places last Summer and none of them would guarantee me 20% moisture or less, they all seemed to be selling wood felled earlier in 2017 or late 2016.
For big hardwood splits you need at least 2 years drying, 3 is optimal unless they're felling dead trees. I use kiln dried and but buy the cheaper 2m3 as I have storage for it, both oak and ash.

The kiln dried stuff is imported from Eastern Europe by ship and burns very well but having some leftover last year I found it burned even better this year. when I say better I mean it burned on a lower combustion setting on my stove and so lasted longer and saved me money. I would advise going to see your kiln dried supplier and see where the crates are stored, if they're outside you'd probably be as well off going for good quality air-dried properly seasoned logs.

I dry smaller branches (1-3" wide)etc from the garden and they're great after a
year in the shed, birch is great but burns hot but quick. The best wood I sourced so far was a dead cherry blossom that was taken down 2 years ago, stacked some and threw the rest unsplit into a pile in the corner that got covered with garden cushions etc. The stacked stuff is even better than kiln dried heatwise, the jumbled stuff is not ready and will be properly split and stacked for the Summer.

If your stove is a basic one air control type then don't waste your money on kiln dried wood- you wont get the heat benefit from it for to make it affordable as you cant control the burn as well and half your money will go up in flames:D Take out the grate if its a multi-fuel and burn on the flat.

I can make 6x 25cm logs of good wood last from 5.30 to 12 heating a drafty old 20m2 room, my oh uses 10-12 logs to do the same as he doesn't control the burn as much. I love burning wood, there is an art to it though and you need a controllable airflow to make kiln dried cost effective. Even then smokeless coal is a lot cheaper but I find it dirty and hate paying to get rid of the ashes.

wayoutwest

Deleted User wrote: »

Some excellent info on this thread in the past few days. Storing the branches from outside next to the stove inside could be a good money saving trick.

1. Are there any differences in terms of heat or duration between birch, oak and ash kiln dried logs? Which is the best to buy?

2. Does buying a mixture of "ash and oak" kiln dried logs have any benefit over getting one type of wood only?

3. I bought one of these sheds. If I were to store kiln dried logs in it would they become less moist/kiln dried by virtue of being stored outside in one of those? Does storing these logs out in the cold undermine their heat quality in any way? Does the kiln-dried process reverse itself when the logs are stored in cold or wet conditions?

Wouldn't recommend trying to season logs buy storing them next to the stove (effectively kiln drying). The evaporating water will make the house damper....and a damp house requires more kilowatts of heat to achieve a given temperature, than a dry one. I think that Looksee meant that he put his fully seasoned Birch next to the stove to get rid of any surface dampness. Putting 18 - 20% M.C logs next to stove for a day or two will reduce M.C down to 14 or 16 %, which is o.k.

1) Birch will burn the fastest, followed by Ash, then oak (being the densest). There is actually very little difference between the kilowatt energy value of different hardwoods when compering kilo for kilo. For example, a ton of dry birch will produce, more or less, the same energy as a ton of dry oak. But, because the ton of oak is denser, it will occupy less space than the ton of birch. Off the top of my head, i think a solid M3 of dry ash weighs about 500 kilos, whereas a M3 of oak is about 600 kilos.(spruce is around 350 - 400 kilos).

2) Yes - oak is a bit slow to get going, but creates a better heat core than the ash - start off with the ash, and then introduce the oak once the fire is established - perfect.

3) Plastic outdoor store looks ok if you haven't got a shed (holds a respectable 1.7 M3) Should be grand for stacking kiln dried wood. The cold will not affect them. Logs will take on a little moisture from air, but thats not a problem cos they won't go over 18% .

wayoutwest

+ 1 for air seasoning chopped firewood for two years before burning - In irish conditions (high humidity/lack of hot dry summers) it just seems to take a couple of summers to get it down to 18% M.C. (if stored in well ventilated and covered space).
In some ways i feel a bit uneasy about the whole imported kiln dried firewood thing. The fact that a lot of energy has been used (you could say unnecessarily) to 'force' dry a product, which has then has to be shipped (more energy), seems to go against the whole green, low carbon, sustainability aspect of using wood as a solid fuel.

currants

wayoutwest wrote: »

+ 1 for air seasoning chopped firewood for two years before burning - In irish conditions (high humidity/lack of hot dry summers) it just seems to take a couple of summers to get it down to 18% M.C. (if stored in well ventilated and covered space).
In some ways i feel a bit uneasy about the whole imported kiln dried firewood thing. The fact that a lot of energy has been used (you could say unnecessarily) to 'force' dry a product, which has then has to be shipped (more energy), seems to go against the whole green, low carbon, sustainability aspect of using wood as a solid fuel.

Me too, and then there's this;
https://phys.org/news/2014-02-massive-deep-scars-eastern-europe.html

I'd hate them to be left like Ireland with very little native forests left. I'd love a good source of managed firewood grown here but its hard to get properly seasoned stuff and I'm not prepared to pay big bucks for poor quality native firewood. It seems that the biggest expense after felling and chopping is storage, we're not short of space here outside the cities so if somebody was willing to wait a couple of years after their initial investment in processing managed forestry they'd find a great market for high quality Irish grown seasoned wood.

iamtony

http://mulch.ie/mulch-products/winter
This place advertise dried to 15% seems like good wood.

wayoutwest

Ubbquittious wrote: »

Are kiln dried logs really that much better than ones that have been left to dry naturally?

No, not really (if the air dried logs are correctly seasoned down to 16 - 18 % M.C.)

wayoutwest

currants wrote: »

Me too, and then there's this;
https://phys.org/news/2014-02-massive-deep-scars-eastern-europe.html

I'd hate them to be left like Ireland with very little native forests left. I'd love a good source of managed firewood grown here but its hard to get properly seasoned stuff and I'm not prepared to pay big bucks for poor quality native firewood. It seems that the biggest expense after felling and chopping is storage, we're not short of space here outside the cities so if somebody was willing to wait a couple of years after their initial investment in processing managed forestry they'd find a great market for high quality Irish grown seasoned wood.

The thing with buying local loads of air dried firewood is it might not be (usually isn't) fully seasoned down to an 18% M.C. BUT it is usually cheaper to buy than kiln dried. If you have space for a well ventilated logstore, then you could just buy it in advance, so it has time to season further ie: now, so you have the summer months of drying before next Autumn.

househero

I felled twenty three 40ft + (some 55/60ft) 30 year old conifers last spring. Have them chopped, drying in the well ventilated, dry and lightly heated 'witches house' at the back of the property.

It never crossed my mind it would be worth money when I was paying for them to be cut down for safety reasons.

How much would I get for a cubic meter, if I dry chopped & split evergreens for 2 years?

wayoutwest

househero wrote: »

I felled twenty three 40ft + (some 55/60ft) 30 year old conifers last spring. Have them chopped, drying in the well ventilated, dry and lightly heated 'witches house' at the back of the property.

It never crossed my mind it would be worth money when I was paying for them to be cut down for safety reasons.

How much would I get for a cubic meter, if I dry chopped & split evergreens for 2 years?

Plenty of ads on donedeal ('heating' section) to gain an idea of prices. Lot of people selling bulk 'builders' bags (loose not stacked ) of softwood for about €50 - they hold about 3/4 M3.
You must have a mighty stack of firewood - did you split it all by hand?
What is a 'witches house' ??

lordgoat

wayoutwest wrote: »

What is a 'witches house' ??

The home of a witch!

MossM

Have been using shawbrook wood in Longford the past few years, very happy with quality, seasoned as opposed to kiln dried.

Philipmcnill

I do not know if it will be helpful yet, but I thought that I will also leave some information if I found a few addresses here. I buy from Finglas Fuels or Home Fuels homefuels.ie They have really reasonable prices, but the quality is just fantastic. No white mold, super dry. Maybe not so easy to start as kiln-dried logs but burning very long. (By the way, Finglas Fuels still have kilned dry logs in stock, but they are in bags).