Similar to the human body, trees and plants also contain quite a staggering amount of water. In fact, when a tree is cut down and chopped to be used as firewood, the moisture inside will still remain inside for quite a while even though the tree dies. In this state, firewood is called ‘green’.
Due to this excess of moisture, greenwood does not burn well. In fact, you will find that a lot of the time it won’t burn at all and if it does manage to catch a spark, it will create too much smoke and can release dangerous by-products that are damaging to your chimney.
Due to this, before any kind of firewood can be used, it has to undergo a drying process that is known as ‘seasoning’. In fact, there are many different ways of seasoning firewood. In recent days however, experts have begun recommending kiln dried logs.
While the traditional form of seasoning, which involves the wood being cut, split and stacked where it will get a lot of air, does work, it has many issues. For example, it takes a lot of space to store the wood, many suppliers rush the process to meet demands and the British climate is very wet. Kiln drying is the solution.
The wood is placed inside a kiln which is powered by either electricity, natural gases or solar energy. When the wood is baked in such a way, all of the moisture evaporates. As a result, the time needed and the storage required is reduced significantly.
Kiln dried logs are perfect to use, especially for those who are new to using a fireplace. Here at Pearson Fuels, we may be the best coal merchants around but we also sell some top quality kiln dried logs too! Get in contact today to find out more!