What to look for when choosing your logs

You might already know how to make the perfect log fire, but do you know how to choose the right logs?

With so much variety offered in the market, what are the properties to look out for to get the best value for your money? We have prepared this simple guide which tells you everything you need to know.

Moisture content

By far the most important consideration is whether the wood has been properly seasoned. Seasoned wood is the wood that has been dried to remove as much moisture content as possible. This can be achieved in multiple ways, with quite different environmental impact. 

Let's start by considering what happens if you burn unseasoned wood. First of all, high levels of moisture will make it difficult to start the fire. If you do manage to get the fire burning, it will produce a lot of smoke to burn the moisture off and this will also make your fire prone to going out. The smoke released by burning unseasoned wood causes air pollution, which is harmful to the environment and your health.

Logs with average moisture content below 20% are considered well-seasoned and this is the average moisture level guaranteed for our logs. They burn bright and clean and have the smallest possible environmental footprint. There are digital moisture meters you can buy and use to determine the precise level of moisture content, like this one available from Amazon, but you can also learn how to recognise seasoned wood using our simple check-list:

  1. Look. Seasoned wood has more subdued colour than green wood. The bark on dry wood is loose and it can be removed with no difficulty. On some dry logs you may notice cracks, starting from the centre of the log and reaching out towards the edges.
  2. Listen. Hit two logs of approximately equal size against each other. Dry wood will make a hollow sound. On the other hand, wet wood will produce a dull thud when hit against another piece.
  3. Smell. Green wood has a stronger smell. As the logs dry, the stronger scent will fade to ultimately be replaced by a light woody smell.
  4. Split open. You can also check the moisture level of a log by splitting it open and checking if it feels dry to the touch.

Wood type

Two main wood types are hardwood and softwood. Hardwoods are flowering trees which have a seasonal lifecycle. They shed their leaves in the fall and go dormant in the winter. Their leaves are mostly flat and broad. Because hardwoods grow slowly, they tend to be denser than softwoods. Some common examples are oak, ash, birch...

Softwoods are non-flowering, evergreen trees. They have needle-like leaves that do not shed during the winter. Because they grow quickly, they tend to be less dense. Typical softwoods are pine, spruce, and cedar.

Because of their density, hardwoods they burn longer and produce more heat than softwoods, which is why they are generally considered better firewood. All our logs are hardwood.

Log size

An easily overlooked property of the logs is their size. You want to make sure that the logs you choose fit in your fireplace or log burner. Our logs are about 8-10" (20-25cm) long and easily fit in all standard log burners.

Environmental impact

Finally, different seasoning methods leave different environmental footprint, the lightest one being left by air seasoning. All our logs are naturally wind seasoned over long periods of time, to achieve low moisture contents while minimising the damage done to the environment.