How to Store Firewood Properly — Getting the Best From Your Logs in Cumbria

We supply firewood to homeowners across Grange-over-Sands, Kendal, Cartmel, Ulverston and surrounding areas, and over the years we have had plenty of conversations with customers about why their logs are not burning as well as expected. In the majority of cases, the answer comes down to storage rather than the quality of the wood itself.

The Cumbrian climate, with its high rainfall and persistent damp, is not the easiest environment for storing firewood. But with a few straightforward principles, you can keep your logs in good condition and ensure they burn efficiently all winter.

The Most Important Rule: Keep the Rain Off, Let the Air In

This is the principle that underpins all good firewood storage. Logs need to be kept dry from above, meaning protected from rain and snow, but they need air movement around and beneath them to allow moisture to escape from the wood and prevent the base of the pile from becoming damp through contact with wet ground.

A log store with a solid roof, open sides and a raised base is the ideal solution. The roof keeps the rain off. The open sides allow air to circulate freely around the logs, carrying moisture away. The raised base prevents ground moisture wicking up into the bottom layer of the pile.

Storing logs in a closed shed or garage with poor ventilation is often worse than a well-designed open-sided log store, because the moisture from the wood has nowhere to go and the interior of the store can become damp. If you are using a shed for log storage, leave ventilation gaps and avoid packing the logs in so tightly that air cannot circulate between them.

Position Matters in Cumbria

In the Lake District and South Lakeland, prevailing winds bring rain from the south-west for much of the year. Position your log store so that the open sides face away from the prevailing wet wind, typically facing east or south-east in most Cumbrian locations. This reduces the amount of wind-driven rain that reaches the logs even with an open-sided design.

Avoid positioning a log store directly against the wall of the house. A gap of at least ten to fifteen centimetres allows air to circulate between the store and the building and prevents damp transferring to the wall. This is particularly important in older stone-built properties where rising damp can already be a consideration.

How Long Does Seasoning Take in Cumbria?

If you buy green or freshly cut wood rather than barn-dried logs, the seasoning time in Cumbrian conditions is typically longer than in the south of England, simply because the climate is wetter and the air is more humid. A rough guide for hardwood logs in Cumbria:

Split logs, stacked in a well-ventilated log store from spring onward: typically ready to burn by the following winter, around twelve to eighteen months from cutting. Unsplit rounds take considerably longer because the bark slows moisture loss significantly. We always recommend splitting wood before storing it.

Logs stored in a damp shed or without adequate ventilation may take two to three years to reach a usable moisture content in Cumbria, if they reach it at all. This is the situation that produces the most complaints about log quality and is almost always a storage issue rather than a wood quality issue.

If you want to check whether your stored logs are ready to burn, a moisture meter is a very useful and inexpensive tool. Available from most hardware and garden retailers for fifteen to twenty pounds, they give you an instant reading of the moisture content of the wood. Below twenty percent is the target for efficient, clean burning. Below fifteen percent is ideal.

Barn-Dried vs Seasoned Logs

Our barn-dried hardwood logs are stored in covered, ventilated conditions for up to twelve months before delivery, bringing them to a moisture content of twenty percent or less before they leave us. This means they are ready to burn immediately when they arrive at your property, with no additional seasoning time required in Cumbria's damp climate.

Green logs, which we also supply, are freshly cut and need the full seasoning period described above. They are typically cheaper per crate and are a good option for customers who have good storage and are happy to plan ahead.

Order Firewood in Cumbria

We deliver barn-dried and green hardwood logs in large IBC crates to Grange-over-Sands, Cartmel, Kendal, Ulverston, Windermere and all surrounding areas in Cumbria and Lancashire. Free delivery. Call us to discuss your requirements.

Phone/WhatsApp: 07376804724
Email: enquiries@maxreynoldstreeservices.com

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