Why Buying Cheap Firewood Can Cost You In The Long Run?

With colder nights on the horizon, you can be forgiven for thinking you’ll be spending your winter evenings in an aesthetically-pleasing environment such as the one above: a roaring fire – complete with crackling firewood - thick blankets and one or two Christmas-themed ornaments.

But whether you enjoy whiling the hours away in front of a log burner, chiminea or an open fire, you could be doing your health, wallet and heat source some damage in the long run if you use traditional firewood logs with high moisture content.

Here we look at some of the questions our customers have faced when deciding whether to use firewood or hardwood logs…

How dry should firewood be?

As Ideally, you want your firewood to be as dry as possible, but that will often mean seasoning, as well as splitting and cutting it. This will eventually take its moisture content down to approximately 20%, while the Lekto Hardwood Heat Logs contain less than 9% moisture, creating a more reliable burn and therefore, less smoke. 

Is firewood smoke harmful?

In short, yes. Wood smoke consists of some hurtful toxic pollutants and gases that can cause harm and discomfort to eyes and throat, even causing bronchitis over the long-term.

Alternatively, Lekto Heat Logs are sourced from sustainable forests and no chemical additives are used during processing, ensuring much less smoke when they are burnt. 

Is firewood ash good for plants?

Drying firewood can take a while (up to 2 years, in some cases), but if you’re already thinking about what you can and cannot do with the ashes that will remain once the fire goes out, we have good news… firewood ash is a fantastic fertilizer and can help plants to thrive.

However, it’s also important to consider how many times you are going to be tending the garden during the winter months. Burning firewood will create the twin problem of cleaning the mess and finding a place to put all the resulting ash. With Hardwood Heat Logs, on the other hand, very little ash is created and, therefore, very little mess to clean up.

Should you cover firewood?

Here’s where the problems with firewood really become clear. Storage of your heat source choice is always tricky, but if you opt to use firewood, it should remain uncovered in order to dry properly. But this will be nigh on impossible to achieve as rain, sleet and snow may fall, which means bringing the firewood inside.

From Lekto, however, you can get a minipack that contains 10 x 2kg Hardwood Heat Logs. Each Heat Log is of a similar size, meaning they won’t take up much space when it comes to storing them in your home. An attractive basket or decoratively assembling them by your fireplace or wood burner can really set off your living space.

So, while traditional firewood may act as a delightful decoration to your cosy living room setting, Hardwood Heat Logs can offer a healthier, more effective and more economically-friendly alternative.

Photo by @jade.doutch (https://www.instagram.com/jade.doutch)