Cut to 8–10 inches · ready to burn
Cut to 8–10 inches for a standard UK firebox, ready to burn the day it lands. Work out a whole winter in about ten seconds from your own stove rather than somebody’s average.
From£12net bag · free delivery across most BH postcodes
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Winter Sizer
Most people either run out in February or have a ton bag rotting in the garden by May. This works from your stove’s output and how you actually use it.
1Stove output
It is on the data plate, usually on the back or underneath.
2Evenings a week
3What you burn on
4How long the season lasts
For the season
2.7m³of firewood
A modern 5kW stove lit four evenings a week from October to April burns about 813kg of dry hardwood: 7.8kg an evening. Order a half transit and a ton bag of seasoned mixed, or take a full transit and have some in hand.
Kiln dried costs a little more for the same volume and lights faster. An open fire needs more than double.
Will It Fit?
The single most common ordering mistake is a bulk load of logs that will not go through the door at an angle. Ours are 8–10 inches – 20 to 25cm. Slide to your firebox width and see.
1Internal firebox width
Measure left to right at the widest point inside. Not the door frame, and not the outside of the stove.
A 40cm firebox
Fits easily
Our logs are 8–10 inches: 20 to 25cm. A 40cm firebox has room to lay one in and still close the door on it. Anything from 28cm of internal width upwards is comfortable.
Under about 24cm you would be splitting every log. If your stove is a small model made for 6 inch logs, ring us before ordering a bulk load.
Eight to ten inches is the standard length in the UK for a reason: it leaves room to get a log in at an angle, close the door, and still have air moving round it. Anything from 28cm of internal width upwards is comfortable with our logs.
Below that it gets fiddly, and below about 24cm you are splitting every log before it goes in, which nobody keeps doing past the first fortnight. If your stove is one of the small 4kW models designed around 6 inch logs, tell us before you order bulk – it is a conversation worth having rather than a load you cannot use.
Three Common Problems
Stove owners blame the stove, the flue, the weather and the sweep. Three times out of four it is the wood, and the three problems below are the same problem wearing different clothes.
Wet wood, or the air closed down too far
Below roughly 260°C the smoke does not ignite. Those unburnt particles have to go somewhere, and the coolest surface in the stove is the glass.
The fix Burn drier wood and give it more air for the first twenty minutes. The airwash only works once the fire is properly hot.
Wood too wet, or logs too big too soon
A cold stove needs a small, fierce fire to establish a draught. A big damp log on cold kindling smothers it before the flue warms up.
The fix Kindling, then thin splits, then full logs. Kiln dried lights noticeably faster from cold than seasoned.
The same unburnt smoke, cooled in the flue
Creosote is what black glass looks like when it happens up the chimney instead. It builds fastest on damp wood burnt slowly, and it is what actually catches fire.
The fix Dry wood, a hot burn, and a sweep at least once a year. This is the safety argument for dry wood, not just the efficiency one.
Try it
Same stove, same kindling, same match. Pick a basket of logs, lay the fire and see what the moisture in the wood does to it.
Which Of The Four
Every one of these is kept under cover, is ready the day it arrives and cut to the same 8–10 inches. The choice is about how you use the stove, not about quality.
Burning it tonight
5 to 11% moisture
Dried right down in our kiln. It lights first time, burns the hottest and leaves the least soot on your glass and in your flue.
from £15
OrderBest everyday value
9 to 14% moisture
Air-dried local hardwood mix: ash, oak, beech, sycamore and birch as it comes off the jobs. The one most customers come back for.
from £12
OrderDense and slow
9 to 14% moisture
Pure hardwood, no softwood in the mix. Denser logs that hold their heat longer, so there are fewer trips to the log basket on a cold night.
from £14
OrderThe one people ask for by name
9 to 14% moisture
A single species, not a mix. Ash lights easily, barely spits and gives a steady, clean flame, which is why it is the favourite for open fires.
from £15
OrderKeep reading
For a typical 5kW stove burning most evenings through a normal Dorset winter, budget around 3 to 4 cubic metres – which is close to a full transit load. Burn every day and it is nearer 5. An open fire rather than a stove roughly doubles it. The calculator on this page works it out from your own stove and habits rather than an average.
We cut to 8 to 10 inches, about 20 to 25cm, which is the standard UK stove length and fits the large majority of fireboxes with room to get the door shut. Measure the internal width of yours before ordering a bulk load – anything from 28cm up is comfortable. Some very small stoves want 6 inch logs, and ours would need splitting for those.
Nearly always wet wood, or the air shut down too far, or both. Below about 260°C the smoke does not burn properly and the unburnt particles land on the glass and go up the flue as creosote. Dry wood and a proper burn on a decent air setting keeps the glass clear – the airwash on a modern stove only works if the fire is hot enough to drive it.
Sometimes. Kiln dried is drier, so it lights faster, burns hotter and keeps the glass cleaner – worth it if you light the stove at short notice or you have a small, fussy firebox. Seasoned mixed is ready to burn too and is about £7 a cubic metre cheaper in a full transit. Plenty of people buy seasoned for the bulk of the winter and a few nets of kiln dried for lighting.
Dense hardwood. Our seasoned hardwood and seasoned ash both hold a fire longer than the mixed load, because there is no lighter timber in them. The technique matters as much as the wood: a good bed of embers, one or two large split logs rather than several small ones, and the air turned down but not shut off.
No, apart from the unseasoned range, which is sold deliberately fresh for people stocking up for future winters. Everything else – kiln dried, seasoned mixed, seasoned hardwood, seasoned ash – is ready to burn the day it arrives. Keep it dry once it is with you: off the ground, covered on top, open at the sides.
Once a year at minimum for a stove burning dry wood, and twice for heavy use or if you burn anything damp. Wet wood is the thing that builds creosote fastest, which is the thing that causes chimney fires, so dry wood is a safety argument as much as an efficiency one. A sweep will also tell you honestly whether your wood is up to scratch.
Yes. There are no smoke control areas in Bournemouth, Christchurch or Poole at present, so there is no legal restriction on burning wood in a stove or open fire. BCP Council recommends dry seasoned wood and Ecodesign appliances, which is sound advice regardless. Local rules can change, so it is worth checking the council's own page if you are buying a new stove.
A full transit is 4.4m³ tipped where you want it. Free delivery, pay on the day.
Delivery slots up to a month ahead.
Pay the driver on delivery. No deposit. 01202 022560
