Based in the historic market town of Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire, logsforsale.co.uk was founded in response to the lack of dry and high quality hardwood logs available locally.

Why we’re in the firewood business

My name is Peter Owen and I’m the founder of logsforsale.co.uk.

After moving with my wife and children to a rural property in Beverley in 2012 that had a wood burning stove, we couldn’t wait to try it out – we imagined cosy nights in front of the stove and taking the chill off outside of winter. Unfortunately that didn’t happen for some time.

After buying the occasional bag of logs at petrol stations and receiving many “ton” bags from local suppliers offering seasoned logs – all of which struggled to light and failed to keep burning, I turned to the Internet in search of answers.

I soon learned the term seasoned was an ambiguous term which generally meant the log could hold between 30-45% water, and that for a log to be truly dry (less than 20% moisture content and suitable for wood burners) it would have to air-dry for at least 3 years in the British climate, and even then it would be a struggle for the wood to release it’s moisture due to the varying humidity throughout the seasons – the inside of the logs would always be wet.

We obtained a moisture meter and discovered the logs we were purchasing were above 30% – some even measuring 60% moisture content. There’s no wonder all they did was sit there giving off steam and hissing – all that was happening was the little heat generated was being used to boil off the water content off the logs, meaning our home stayed cold and we couldn’t enjoy our stove.

Kiln Dried Logs: The Solution

During our research we kept hearing information, especially from stove manufacturers, that kiln dried firewood was recommended for use in wood burners – they protected the flu from tar deposits, reduced the need for chimney sweeping and kept the window of the stove clear and free from soot. The main benefit being the logs were easy to lite, stayed burning and with such a high heat output only 1 or 2 logs were required in the stove at any one time.

Kiln dried logs are logs that have sat in an enclosed building resembling an oven that reaches incredibly high temperatures, with vents to control the humidity, which removes moisture from the logs over a 7-10 day period. Only 10 days after felling the tree, the logs are ready to burn and less than 15% moisture content. No steam, no hissing, no smoke.

We searched everywhere locally for kiln dried firewood

We tried the Yellow Pages, local newspapers and couldn’t find a single source of kiln dried firewood locally – the only places we could find any was from stores such as B&Q or occasionally Wickes had a stock of kiln dried logs in winter – at more than £7 per bag. This seemed extortionate – we knew it would still be more economical than burning seasoned logs, but buying small bags at £7 each didn’t seem to make sense. It was time to find a source of bulk kiln dried logs, and the Internet was the only place we could find them.

Buying in bulk off the Internet made sense, but most companies had limited options

Most companies were offering full pallets of logs and limited to 80 nets on a pallet or large crates. This was ideal for intensive users, but for my wife and I who mainly used the wood burner during the evenings for a few hours, it was simply too much. We needed more than the £7 bags but far less than huge crates.

This is when I realized there was a demand not being fulfilled by most Internet firewood retailers – surely there were others like us in a similar situation, and being self-employed as a web designer at the time, this is when I sat down and had a serious think about using my skills to build an online company that could delivery better solutions for all customers looking to purchase high quality firewood that’s ready to burn.

Moving forward to 2015, I believe I have achieved what I set out to do – with quantities of nets starting from 20, to barrow bags that hold approximately 10-12 nets worth of logs, to medium bulk bags and larger crates, I believe at logsforsale.co.uk we offer the widest range of buying options for everyone – from casual users to intensive users.

Thank you for visiting – please call us free any time Monday to Friday (0800 915 5416) from 9am-5pm or Saturday 9am-1pm for buying advice or to place an order over the telephone.

—

Peter Owen
Company Director