In a wood burning stove, kiln dried logs burn much more slowly and cleanly and provide a huge amount of heat – nothing can be more efficient. In a modern Ecodesign stove the importance of logs below 20% becomes even more evident. Keeping things real here: green wood is not going to be your friend when you want to start a fire. This wood has very high moisture content from 60% plus. We need to extract as much as much moisture as possible, if we are to get the best burn from every log. Enter the kiln drying method. Wood is placed in a special kiln where the environment and environmental temperature can be controlled. Then heat is circulated over the wood pieces, removing water and impurities thus lowering the internal moisture levels. Hardwood kiln drying schedules typically keep the dry bulb temperature below 80 °C. Difficult-to-dry species might not exceed 60 °C. The rule of thumb is, longer the drying time the lower the temperature. Faster the drying time, hotter the temperature. Just like any great product, kiln drying wood takes a certain level of knowledge and skill to perfect.

The co-founders of Hardwood Bros from an early age had a passion and respect for the outdoors. Over the years, while exploring the natural beauty of the forests, mountains and rivers of the Northeast we developed a consuming curiosity about the forest and all its magnificence.Naturally, we will say British sourced every time as we don't import any logs and we believe British should be supported for the obvious reasons: However, there are a lot of imported kiln dried logs on the market; much of it is of good quality and Woodsure ‘Ready to Burn’ approved. However, whilst the likes of silver birch or alder provide a very nice even and consistent sample of logs and burn very nicely, they will burn 20-25% faster than mixed hardwood British logs such as oak logs, ash logs and beech logs because the wood is less dense and more like softwood. That is a massive difference in terms of the amount of wood you will burn, so be careful when you select what you buy. It might seem cheaper on the face of it, but you will end up buying more logs for the same amount of heat output, therefore costing you more.

The time taken to dry logs in kilns can vary depending on the drying system used, but typically it will take about 7-10 days in a chamber which runs at around 60 – 70 °C. At Certainly Wood we have a unique drying system which runs at much higher temperatures with fans to circulate the hot air. Our kilns can dry wood in approx. 50-hour cycles and each time, we put 18 tonnes into a kiln and take 12 tonnes out – therefore removing 6 tonnes (6,000 litres) of water!

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If you are still reading this, we naturally assume that you could be keen on some high-quality wood for your fireplace, fire pit or stove. Kiln dried wood definitely has its perks, so let us spell a few out for you.

This a common question and the answer is yes, but only if burnt on an open fire which has no air control, but it is still recommended to burn kiln dried logs on open fires to avoid tarring up the chimney. Those who think mixing wet logs with kiln dried is good to slow the burn then this is completely false economy as not only will you reduce the heat output, therefore needing more logs, but also you will tar the chimney. If space permits, the ideal place to store your kiln dried logs, to keep them at their best for longer, is in a purpose-built log store. Fundamentally, logs should be stored off the ground, in a well-ventilated area and covered; this is why purpose-built log stores are the perfect environment for your logs as all of the above are considered. Your log store should be strategically located with access to sunlight, good airflow easy access for delivery vehicles, and, more importantly, a short distance from the house (to save the long trips in the winter!)Yes, very much so, but they will almost always be more expensive because they are ready to burn and the majority of the water is already removed for you. Being so dry, hopefully below 20% moisture content will mean you will get far more heat output and therefore if burning in an efficient stove it will mean you will use far less wood. So, it's actually far better value for money. The other benefit is that you should never have to overpay your chimney sweep to spend time removing tar from your chimney or flue!