Why is seasoned wood essential?
At Crooked Pool Logs Ltd we take to care make sure the logs we deliver to you are properly seasoned and ready for burning.
The most critical factor when buying or burning
logs is to know their moisture content. Freshly felled wood, (called green wood), will contain roughly 55% water. So 1 tonne of timber will contain half a tonne of water.
Burning green wood will give very little heat as most of the energy is used up in boiling water. Therefore, the lower the moisture content the higher the heat energy. Damage to your flue and chimney can also be caused by the build up of tar residue from burning un-seasoned wood and is a fire hazard – this tar is very combustible.
What is “Seasoning”?
Seasoning is the process of removing
water from the wood and is usually
achieved by storing timber under cover and
off the ground.
We are looking to reach less than 20%
moisture content by air drying which can
take up to two years.
To speed up this process our firewood timber is converted to logs as soon as possible after felling and samples are tested on a monthly basis to keep an accurate record of drying.
Moisture meters are now in common use for testing the moisture content of firewood. There are 2 ways of calculating moisture content (MC) – the ‘dry basis’ and ‘wet basis’. This can lead to serious misunderstandings. Most moisture meters are calibrated on the dry basis. However the wet basis is easier to understand intuitively and has become the standard for the UK wood fuel industry. In simple terms the wet basis calculation works by describing a given weight of green wood as 50% wood fibre and 50% water. When half the water has been removed by seasoning the wood can be said to be at 25%MC.
The current UK standard is 20%MC maximum
Crooked Pool Logs sells on this basis. Drier wood means more heat, complete burning and minimum particulates going into the atmosphere.
To contact us:
07849 771 741 or 07933 717 601