How to Buy Firewood
A short guide to buying firewood
In this article I will cover what you need to consider when buying firewood. If you are new to buying wood for your fireplace or fire pit, here you will find a firewood buying checklist to make sure you get it right and some useful tips to find the best firewood.
Things you need to know when buying firewood
What to consider when buying firewood? Here is a list of things to check and know before ordering your firewood.
Firewood buying checklist
- when to order
- firewood type
- moisture content
- how much to order
- log size
Let’s look into the details of each of the points from the checklist.
Top firewood buying tips
When to order firewood
Plan in advance
When thinking about buying firewood, the first thing to remember is that it’s best to plan ahead. You want to order your firewood early enough to make sure it’s well seasoned and ready for the days when you want to use it.
Decide on the type of firewood
When ordering your firewood supply, you want to know whether the wood is seasoned or not and whether it’s softwood or hardwood. If you’re going to use it in an outdoor fire pit, it doesn’t matter that much if you burn softwood or hardwood.
However, when buying wood for an indoor fire, you want to make sure it doesn’t produce too much smoke, burns clean, for a long time and gives off a good amount of heat. To find out more about different types of firewood and which are best for an indoor fireplace or stove, check out this article about firewood types.
Moisture content
The moisture content is crucial when buying firewood. You can only burn seasoned wood to get a nice warm fire! So do check with the merchant what moisture content they declare and go for wood which has no more than 25%. (The best firewood will have a 20% moisture content).
Moisture meter for firewood
A handy tool to help you measure the moisture level in your wood logs is a moisture meter. It’s certainly worth checking if the wood logs delivered have the same moisture content as specified by the seller as well as whether it changed. It can happen when you store it for a while, so it’s always good to check before burning to use only nicely dry wood.
How much firewood to buy
Winter firewood supply
How much wood do I need for winter?
The amount of firewood you need will depend on the burner type and how big a batch you use at a time as well as how often you will need it. Here is how much wood you will need for winter depending on whether you use your fireplace or woodburner a few evenings a week or all the time.
- a few evenings a week: 2 m3
- most evenings: 3 – 4 m3
- all of the time, day and evening: 6 m3 or more
How much wood do I need for a campfire or fire pit?
For a small campfire or fire pit lasting 4 – 6 hours you will need around 2 to 3 bundles or 20 to 30 logs.
How long does wood burn in a fireplace? How much wood do I need for a fireplace for one night?
As a general rule, larger wood logs burn for about 4-8 hours. However, this will depend on the kind of wood, the size of logs, the batch size, and the airflow. In certain conditions the wood logs can burn out as quickly as within an hour. This can also vary depending on the fireplace or wood stove type and size. How quickly the wood burns will also depend on how the logs are arranged and the airflow – the more airflow, the quicker the logs will burn.
So unfortunately there isn’t one straightforward answer to the question: how much wood do you need for one night for a fireplace or wood stove. You need to try out and see how much yours will consume. I would give it a go with 2 bundles (around 20 logs) this should be enough for one long evening.
Firewood measurements
When planning the amount of firewood to order, first let’s look into how it’s measured. You can buy firewood in quantities measured in the three different ways:
- cords
- tonne bags
- retail bags or boxes
Cord of firewood
What is a cord of firewood?
A unit of wood is called a cord. A cord of firewood is approximately 128 cubic feet, it’s a stack of wood 8 x 4 x 4 feet.
If you need firewood which is ready to use (you’re not going to season it yourself) go for kiln dried firewood with moisture content below 25%. Ideally, check the moisture content with a moisture reader at delivery.
Other terms used to describe the amount of wood are a rick of firewood and a face cord. Are they the same as a cord of wood?
A rick of wood vs cord of wood vs face cord
What is a rick of firewood?
A rick of wood is a stack of wood which is 4 feet high, 8 feet long and its width may vary. The width of a wood rick will depend on the log length and may be: 12 inches., 16 inches., or 24 inches. 16-inch firewood logs are the most common.
What is a face cord?
A rick of firewood can be used interchangeably with a face cord, but it’s not the same as a cord of wood.
Is it better to buy wood logs per cord or per tonne bag?
It’s better to buy wood per cord. In fact, you should always buy your firewood by volume not by weight. Here is why:
Green wood can hold up to 60% of moisture and is much heavier than seasoned wood. By the time the wood is ready to use as firewood, it will lose a lot of moisture (to around 20% moisture content). At the same time the wood will lose a lot of weight. The drier the wood, the lighter it gets, that’s why you don’t want to buy firewood by weight, only by volume.
Are the logs loose loaded or stacked
This is an important question to ask when ordering firewood. The volume of firewood can be measured in two different formats – stacked or loose-fill and they do differ. Logs that are loose loaded take up 40 – 60% more space than logs neatly stacked. This makes a huge difference in how much wood you will get.
Firewood in tonne bags (builder bags)
You don’t get a tonne of wood in a tonne bag!
Why? A tonne bag, also called builders bag, holds a cubic metre of gravel when fully filled, however wood is lighter than gravel. In a builders bag you will actually get around 0.7m³ of wood. The weight will also depend on whether the firewood is stacked in the tonne bag or the logs are loose loaded. So check with your wood merchant the weight you will really get in a bag.
Firewood calculator
Another useful tip I want to share with you is that you can use a firewood calculator to figure out the amount of firewood you need. As there are various measures of firewood, you may find it useful to use a firewood cord calculator like this one.
Retail or bulk firewood ordering
Retail firewood packaging
You may not need a huge amount of wood. Buying wood logs in small boxes or bags is convenient and you don’t need to worry about the storage. When you buy smaller quantities of firewood, the logs are packaged in plastic bags, plastic nets or cardboard boxes. Firewood kept in sealed plastic bags for an extended period of time can get mouldy, so I recommend removing it from any plastic or sealed packaging for storage to allow good air circulation. Cardboard boxes are certainly better as they allow the wood to breathe.
Buying firewood in bulk
Buying firewood in bulk is cheaper than buying in smaller quantities. However, you need to consider whether you have enough space and the right conditions to store your wood logs properly.
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Firewood log size
When you are ordering your firewood, you need to specify the length of the log. It needs to fit the size of your stove doorway or your fireplace size. The diameter of the logs is also an important factor for efficient burning.
What is the best firewood log size?
Apart from considering the requirements of your wood burning device, the optimal wood logs are 3 – 6 inches wide and 16 inches long.
Standard firewood length
What is the standard firewood log length?
The standard firewood length is 16 inches.
Are thicker logs better?
Thicker logs take longer to burn out, so they are better if you want your fire to keep going tof longer. However, they take longer to catch fire, so they aren’t great for starting the fire.
Tip: it’s good to have wood logs of different diameters. You will have more flexibility in how long the fire will last. You will also want to have the smaller ones to start the fire and the thicker ones later to have a long lasting fire.
Where to buy firewood
How to find firewood?
If you are new to buying wood for your fireplace or fire pit, I would recommend asking your neighbours first, where they get their firewood supply.
Google search is an obvious option, so I’ll only mention what to search for. Try searching your town or area together with the type of firewood you’re looking for to narrow down the search. Search terms such as ‘firewood merchant’ may fetch too many options or if you want to buy online, check firewood on Amazon.
Summary
Here I’ve explained what to think about when buying firewood. Apart from the above, don’t forget to consider the space and conditions you need for its storage, if you buy larger quantities of firewood. Your winter firewood supply can take up a lot of space and the conditions in which you store it have a huge impact on the quality of your firewood and the burning efficiency.
