unprocessed logs required

[pond]

I have a very efficient stove and I can make one small log last over an hour with good heat output, but I have to be more or less in full attendance feeding the stove hourly etc I can make half a bulk bag last a week burning 24/7

 

Mine is a smokeless double burn. A dunsley yorkshire.

 

As long as the wood is between 18 and 20% yes you could be very efficient.

 

See, I knew it!!

 

All I need then is someone who's willing to share their logs with me.

[Marko]

My brother and his wife runs a cottage B&B in Wales which has recently been converted to be heated entirely by wood fuel.

 

He uses around 30 cubic meters a year (a mix of around 50/50 oak and fir) which he processes himself to keep the outgoing cash to a minimum. All this was known and planned for.

 

It might sound daft but what was the real surprise was just how much room 30 cubic meters of wood takes up. The even bigger surprise was the realisation that, as they are processing freshly felled wood, they actually need space for the 3-4 years worth of wood which is drying out at any one time. Yep....120 cubic meters.

 

You will need to be really sure you have the supply channels, space, tools and enthusiasm to handle the actual quantities you will need to process before making the committment. A pellet boiler will look very cheap compared to going down this path without all your ducks in a row.

 

If your interested, please see http://www.coedcae.co.uk/light_my_fire.html for the whole story.

[detritus21]

This Winter so far I'd say we've only gone through 3-4 cubic metres of wood but then we burn coal as well. Keep the fire in about 10 hours a day on a warmer day at the weekend its on 24 hours. If we just have hte central heating stove on we go through 10-15 reasonable size logs and a bucket of anthracite in a day. Coal Wise I'd say its still cheaper than gas still.

[Marko]

Forgot to mention... at home we have two log burners (a 5kw and an 8kw) which we try and light to keep the gas central heating at bay. We go through approx 15 cubic meters a year of mixed very well seasoned logs.

[Tom D]

I do about 3/4 of a cube a week sometimes a little more if its cold, I run a rayburn and a boiler stove linked up by a nutraliser. At the price I sell wood at it works out slightly cheaper than the lpg system that was here when we moved in. We still burn a little lpg when the fires are low first thing in the morning, about £150 a year.

[pond]

So how much would a cubic metre of seasoned split logs cost at delivered prices?

 

Is a 'cube' roughly a ton?

[garth mc garth]

weight depends on what type of wood and how well seasoned it is, as the moisture content drops the weight comes down too.

also a cube of stacked timber is vastly different from a cubic meter box or bag that has been roughly loaded, ie chucked in

[Tom D]

A cube of logs ia way less than a ton, a cubic metre of heavy timber like oak in a solid block would only just weigh a ton so logs even when stacked will still be full of air spaces, and also hopefully seasoned and so lighter still.

 

Since this issue comes up so often if anyone gets the chance to weigh a cube I'd love to know what it actualy weighs. My guess is about 500kg.

[treedave]

I was loose filling a 1 cube bag with 18" cut wet oak and the loader gauge was coming in between 450 and 500kg. I believe that if they were cut smaller you'd get less air and more logs, so more weight even for loose filled bags.

[Marko]

Been meaning to ask this for some time.... A cube bag??? Do you guys buy in 1 Cubic meter bags or is this just a term for a builders bag.

 

If it is the latter then the standard size was only .66 of a cubic meter when I measured it.

 

Not many of us would be that happy if served only 2/3rds of a pint!

 

So... if builders bags are the unit of measurement I use 23 a year. If cubic meters are the unit of measurement I use around 15 a year.

 

A big difference! I am sure we will have Trading Standards involved sooner or later if we don't clarify this. It doesn't change the price - it is still going to be £45 or whatever for a builders bag full however much wood is actually in it.