At Hardwood Logs, we’re passionate about providing high quality wood and fire supplies to our local communities across Derbyshire. 

As a family-run business situated in Matlock, beside the beautiful Peak District National Park, sustainability is an important aspect of our approach to the log-selling sector. In this commitment to sustainability, we are part of Woodsure’s ‘Ready to Burn’ scheme, which sets out regulations for us to follow in our logs, firewood and fire lighter products.

In following the Ready to Burn scheme, we also receive a certification as proof of our work towards sustainability. However, we’re also aware that whilst this badge may look good, some of customers still won’t know *exactly* what it means.

In this blog, we’ll be taking you through the Ready to Burn scheme, explaining each of its points and its benefits to both businesses like Hardwood Logs, and the people who buy from us. 

About Woodsure and it’s Ready to Burn scheme

Woodsure is a not-for-profit organisation that works towards “rais[ing] the quality of woodfuel in the industry”, by promoting the use and burning of properly dried firewood.

As the UK’s only woodfield quality assurers, Woodure’s Ready to Burn certification scheme and logo shows consumers that their wood products and its suppliers are to be trusted in quality and sustainability.

For those who are buying wood for their home fires, Ready to Burn makes it easier for people to find wood that is considered ‘clean’ within the Air Quality Regulations set out in the government’s sustainability targets – which outlawed the use of wet wood and house-coal.

This Clean Air Strategy provides people with a clear and achievable way in which they can contribute to reducing their carbon footprint.

Why is Ready to Burn important?

For suppliers like us here at Hardwood Logs, Ready to Burn ensures that we can provide these clean wood products to customers. 

In achieving the certification from Woodsure, we prove the regulation of our products, for example keeping wood at the right moisture level of less than 20%. This regulation enables people to burn their firewood at home with less smoke and harmful emissions, working towards improving the UK’s air quality.

To find out more about our Ready to Burn certified products, visit our online shop.

When it comes to stocking up the wood supply for your log burner, it can be confusing to know what type of wood to go for, and whether it really matters… 

At Hardwood Logs, we know that there’s a great deal of difference between wood types, with each impacting burning efficiency, effectiveness and safety for the people that burn them. However, we also see that many people wouldn’t typically be aware of all the benefits and uses of different wood types. 

In this short blog, we’ll be sharing some of our insights, and explaining why dried hardwood should be your go-to wood to use in your log burner.

Log Burner wood should be dry…

First and foremost, the wood you burn in your log burner should be dry. 

When wood is not dried, its water content will be much higher and thus burn less efficiently, producing a low amount of heat into your home. Undried wood also poses a safety risk, blackening up your log burner window and causing tarring, as well as being harmful to the environment due to its moisture levels. 

A way to make sure you use dry-aged wood is to buy wood that is Ready to Burn certified. This is a certification we have here at Hardwood Logs, ensuring that our logs are dried to a moisture level of below 20% and quite literally ready to burn when buying. 

If you don’t buy Ready to Burn certified logs, you should buy them in advance for their use, and let them dry over time to a moisture level below 20%. 

…And it should be hardwood

The best wood to burn in a log burner should not only be dried, but also hardwood. 

This is because, in most cases, hardwood is produced by trees that grow over a long period of time. 

This density of hardwoods make them much better for burning, as they will quickly light (due to the dryness), and burn slowly whilst producing a high output of heat. A good tip to remember is that the heavier (denser) the hardwood, the better its heat output and burning time!

The most ideal hardwoods for log burner use would be Ash, Beech, Oak, Elm and Birch, though at Hardwood Logs we offer mixed bags of hardwood logs. 

Check out our range of logs, kindling and wood supplies here for more information.