Kiln dried logs appear to be very trendy at the moment but few people seem to realise that air-dried logs are very eco-friendly.

So much greener than kiln-dried logs

The drying of timber is essential in log production, traditionally produced air-dried logs are seasoned and matured for 2-4 years in order to get of the sap from the tree so that the logs burn more efficiently.

Seasoned for 2-4 years

We stack our wood in stockpiles very carefully so that it air dries, we leave the wood to season in our dedicated timber yard allowing the wind to blow through it. The natural elements (the sun, wind and rain) give our wood (just like a bottle of wine) time to improve with age. On average it takes 2-4 years to get the timber down to 25% moisture level before it's ready for us to process into firewood logs.

Air-dried vs kiln-dried

Kiln drying timber for logs is far from traditional, Kiln-dried timber is a forced seasoning process; in our opinion, kiln-dried logs are not environmentally friendly. The kilns themselves are typically big gas-driven ovens which are similar to big gas turbines. Kilns requiring fossil fuel are not essentially environmentally friendly when compared to the traditional process of air-drying and seasoning logs which have been used for the last 700 years.

Kiln-dried logs are sold because log producers of kiln-dried logs achieve fast turnaround times and turn stock over quickly. A tree is cut down, split and put in the kiln. 20 days later it's out again. It's about mass manufacture and not necessarily delivering a quality product; consumers see that the logs on sale are kiln-dried which sounds appealing, rather like finding something that is hand-finished or oak-smoked.

Kiln-dried developments

We conservatively estimate that 90% of timber kilns are gas-driven at the moment. There will come a time (if it hasn't already happened) when a company installs a sawdust burner to create hot air to dry their timber; that then will be completely ozone friendly. Bio tariffs will encourage the adoption of burning wood/sawdust but until that moment comes, kilns will remain predominantly gas-driven and far less eco-friendly than air-dried timber.

Wildlife habitat

However, regardless of how ozone-friendly and sustainable kiln-drying becomes, there's one aspect of our business that has accelerated. Mass-manufacture processing is unable to match the natural habitat for wildlife that stacking timber to air-dry for 2-4 years creates. Our timber stockpiles provide shelter and nesting for birds and a wide variety of animals and insects; walking through our yard late at night you'll often see owls perched high on the timber.