Henry Ford famously told customers hungry for his ground-breaking Model-T that they couldhave it in ‘any colour they want, as long as it’s black’. Here around Redhill, we recommend anybody burning logs in an open grate or a wood burning stove, and wanting maximum heat and lowest possible particulate emissions, should follow a similar mantra – burn any colour wood you want as long as it’s grey. As wood dries out it naturally turns grey. Grey wood typically has a moisture content of around 20% which is ideal for burning. It catches light more quickly, burns hotter, and produces far less smoke and noxious particulates.
DON’T BE A WET CREOSOTE BLANKET
Freshly cut wood is never grey. Still full of sap it is generally a raw golden-brown colour. This is because of the fluid content – fresh logs often contain as much as 40% water. As such they’re not that good for burning and produce a heavy smoke that condenses on the flue or chimney creating a blanket of tar (in effect creosote) and acidic residue. This can not only damage your chimney or flue, it is the major cause of chimney fires.Since February 2021, in order to reduce these risks, and reduce the emission of pollutants,the Government has laid down guidelines with regard to the sale of ‘wet wood’ –house holders can buy it, but need to ensure they dry it properly before burning.
IT’S THE AIR-DRYING SEASON
When wood is dry it is referred to as being ‘seasoned’. The easiest and cheapest way to season wood is to air-dry it naturally. Whenever spring comes around in Horley, we enter the cutting and air-drying season – fresh timber is felled and cut to size and we offer it for sale as ‘wet wood’ ready for air-drying.
Following Government guidelines we recommend to all of our customers that they leave their wood open to the elements for as long as possible to let the sun and wind get to work –certainly 6 months is the minimum. If you want to check your logs’ moisture levels, a moisture meter is a good investment (usually around £20) Come the end of September orearly October logs can then be added to the wood pile and protected from rain although, inpractice, dry wood won’t really soak up much precipitation so the burning and heating qualities won’t be diminished.
WHAT’S NOT TO LIKE ABOUT A SPLIT PERSONALITY?
Another thing to say about air-dried timber is that it’s much easier to split cleanly as the wood fibres don’t cling so tightly together. With half of the moisture gone it’s also a lot lighter to carry. That’s two things we’ll all be thankful for come the cold winter days when the nights are drawing in and it’s time to kindle a warming conflagration.If you need heating the Reigate area before your own wood is seasoned, we do of course offer ‘kiln dried’ logs where the water content has been reduced to 20% by gently heating logs in a controlled kiln environment.
