Logs, fuel and kindling | What wood should I choose

Logs, fuel and kindling | What wood should I choose

Posted May 1, 2011 by:

Which wood?

All OLUS wood fuel products are seasoned and split, ready for burning and available by the bag from our online store.

Note that all types of wood burn better when seasoned and generally burn better when split rather than as whole logs. In general the better woods for burning that you are most likely to come by (including non-native species) are:

Apple and pear – burning slowly and steadily with little flame but good heat. The scent is also pleasing, but can be in short supply,

Ash – the best burning wood providing plenty of heat (will also burn green but you should not need to do this!), ( in the Olus mix.)

Beech and hornbeam – good when well seasoned,( in the Olus mix)

Birch – good heat and a bright flame – burns quickly.( In the Olus mix)

Blackthorn and hawthorn – very good – burn slowly but with good heat

Cypress – burns well but fast when seasoned, and may spit

Hazel – good, but hazel has so many other uses hopefully you won’t have to burn it!

Willow – very good – in fact there is growing interest in biomass production of coppiced willow as a fuel.

Horse Chestnut – good flame and heating power but spits a lot.

Larch – fairly good for heat but crackles and spits

Maple – good.

Oak – very old dry seasoned oak is excellent, burning slowly with a good heat,( in the Olus mix)

Cherry – also burns slowly with good heat and a pleasant scent.

Pine – burns well with a bright flame but crackles and spits

Poplar – avoid all poplar wood – it burns very slowly with little heat – which is why poplar is used to make matchsticks.

Holly – good when well seasoned

All OLUS wood fuel products are seasoned and split, ready for burning and available by the bag from our online store.