Why not burn seasoned soft wood in log burners

[difflock]

Or since most on here are selling, and will price their product to reflect their entirely reasonable need to make a profit (i.e. the same profit across their product range)

The customer will be the one to carry the £10.00 surcharge.

Therefore the savvy customer will prefer hardwood.

Cos it is better heating value per unit cost.

Simples.

[Woodworks]

Or since most on here are selling, and will price their product to reflect their entirely reasonable need to make a profit (i.e. the same profit across their product range)

The customer will be the one to carry the £10.00 surcharge.

Therefore the savvy customer will prefer hardwood.

Cos it is better heating value per unit cost.

Simples.

 

And the reality is the customers do want hard so maybe they are savvy already.

[skyhuck]

For those using processor, softwood of the correct size is far easier to source and for that size material the price difference between hard and soft is greater I think than £20 per tonne.

[skyhuck]

And the reality is the customers do want hard so maybe they are savvy already.

 

If they were savvy they would haggle for a better price on the soft, they have been told its no good a believe it.

[likeitorlumpit]

I'll burn anything- cedar at the moment= fantastic heat

If I was though offered a cube of oak at £100 or a cube of 'softwood' at £80 I would go for the oak. Then use a bit of softwood to regulate the burn

So what price should the softwood be to get my business.

[rangerover860]

have been selling softwood for 2 1/2 years now and no complaints

[gensetsteve]

The public will only buy what they think they need or have been told by the stove sellers. Let them have hardwood plenty of other uses for the softwood. If you want to make your loads pay mix in Poplar its still hardwood so is Willow.

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

The argument I hear against softwoods is that the resins tar up the chimney. I have no experience of this it's just what I hear my customers say.

 

that old chestnut; needs put to death for good that old lie. Both h/wood and s/wood form creosotes if not seasoned properly.

 

Am I correct in thinking that most Scandinavian countries burn mostly softwood in there log burners, the countries from which they originated from, as I thought that the biggest percentage of there forests are softwood.

If so WHY OH WHY,do log burner suppliers tell customers to use only well seasoned hard wood,and not to use softwood,especially now hardwood is getting so expensive and scarce.

Sustainability of wood as a fuel???????

 

Why oh why indeed

 

Totally agree. But they just won't be educated

 

 

Because most of them have no idea of the bigger picture and frankly once the stove is out of the door and paid for care even less.

 

You are quite correct, most wood burnt in Scandinavian countries is soft, it grows well in those climates, so they have lots of it. Morso test their stoves using Pine, in burns hotter than most.

 

I offer both hard and soft, use the charts on Wilsons site to prove that soft burns hotter than hard and another to demonstrate the effect of moisture on heat output. Helps me sell logs.

 

With the cost of both hard and soft cord on the rise I may now start to look hard at importing as opposed to buying cord and preparing my own. Probably run them side by side for a while.

 

A

 

you got a link to this chart on Wilsons site? Thanks.

 

I sell both and tar is only an issue really if you don't season it, I've had several customers change from hardwood to softwood, the main issue is for sure the stove sellers telling people only seasoned hardwood. I prefer douglas & larch for my stove, wasn't too fond of pine and spruce is good on a chilly summer night not sure I'd want it for -20

 

I don't burn hardwood, I sell it. I try to sell softwood too but boy oh boy is it a struggle. Hand on heart I have never sold softwood alone, only as half a double load.

I do try the softwood sell but the fear of burning softwood is so ingrained it's proving a very hard nut to crack.

 

Thank you for all your replies so far. Still waiting for a Stove Supplier to comment,but starting to think we might have a long wait!!!

So seriously , any sensible, realistic suggestions, of how we can make a joint effort, of making inroads to change this situation,about hardwood only to be used in wood burning stoves

 

I will join you in re-educating; I'm in.

 

I don't think there will a choice for much longer; I've gone 50/50 hard/soft this year, providing a newsletter to customers to explain why. There simply isn't enough hardwood to meet demand. I know that 1 out of 10 stove shops in the Plymouth area installed 250 new woodburners between May and August this year! They and the chimney sweep unfortunately tell the new stove owners to burn only hardwood and that softwood is evil blah blah blah.

 

For instance look at this well known shops web page info on the matter; immediately starts with saying alder is a poor firewood!!

 

Which Wood? - Dean Forge

 

Then you've got this page saying "hardwood burns hottest"

 

http://www.logs2u.co.uk/product-faqs

 

The stove manufacturer and the woodman have complete opposite viewpoints; how can that be remedied?

Edited December 1, 2013 by TimberCutterDartmoor

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

At last!

 

The 10 Log People Commandments - dos and don'ts for a roaring fire that will burn for hours

[Mark Bolam]

But softwood tars up your chimney.

And gives you bronchitis.

 

Bloke down the pub said.