anyone ever write a rebuttal to kiln drying

[arboriculturist]

It's not like it takes any effort. You just have your store divided so that you can have a rotation. You have fresh firewood delivered and put it in the section for next year. You then to proceed to use last year's timber for burning this year. Not complicated.

 

Most firewood customers are idiots though, so I see your point.

 

I am relieved someone finally someone said that :001_smile:

[se7enthdevil]

It's not like it takes any effort. You just have your store divided so that you can have a rotation. You have fresh firewood delivered and put it in the section for next year. You then to proceed to use last year's timber for burning this year. Not complicated.

 

Most firewood customers are idiots though, so I see your point.

 

i make all my own firewood and leave it to dry for at least 12 months in the sun and wind. i've never actually taken a moisture meter to it so i might try it this year.

 

lots of my wood is offcuts from my skittles business which are kiln dried and i've seen no difference between that and air dried logs.

 

i bring in logs and put them in front of the fire anyway so they get a bit of a roasting/drying before they go in the stove anyway and if i get the occasional bit that is obviously wet i leave it there a few nights before it goes in.

 

drying wood with a source of heat or wind that is already there is fine, kilning them or using electricity sounds daft to me.

[arboriculturist]

i make all my own firewood and leave it to dry for at least 12 months in the sun and wind. i've never actually taken a moisture meter to it so i might try it this year.

 

lots of my wood is offcuts from my skittles business which are kiln dried and i've seen no difference between that and air dried logs.

 

i bring in logs and put them in front of the fire anyway so they get a bit of a roasting/drying before they go in the stove anyway and if i get the occasional bit that is obviously wet i leave it there a few nights before it goes in.

 

drying wood with a source of heat or wind that is already there is fine, kilning them or using electricity sounds daft to me.

 

The main reasons for drying firewood by people who sell quantity is they cannot afford to buy 250 m3 of timber x months ahead of the date of sale and store / handle it.

 

If you are earning income via RHI payments to dry the Firewood it makes business sense.

 

Maybe not so daft Steve if you consider these 2 factors.

[gensetsteve]

I find poly tunnels are great for drying timber. I can understand kiln drying with waste wood and sawdust. It's a shame the boilers can't be certified to 600 deg so they can burn the mountain of waste treated wood you see in the recycling centres.

I think some customers sometimes just don't realise the logs will season at their property, it's like some mystical art form, if they are paying all that money they should be ready to burn. We live in an instant society so the public are no longer patient. You don't make wine or jam now you just buy two get one free.

[R5log]

For those not recieving Government funding in the form of RHI payments to dry their firewood, it may tempting for some to draw to the attention of the public that the vast majority of kiln dried firewood sold in the UK is imported from abroad or funded by the taxpayer.

 

 

 

It is never wise to name names though - that's just un-professional.

 

 

I take it you don't receive RHI?

[arboriculturist]

I take it you don't receive RHI?

 

No, I don't recieve RHI, but we can all understand why the financial incentives encouraged many to sign up when the Tariff level was at 8.8p / KwH

[Duffryn]

There is absolutely no difference between an air dried 20% m/c log and a Kiln dried 20% log.

 

I think the issue is that in the eyes of the ignorant consumer there is a big difference because they are not comparing like with like.

 

So many ""air dried seasoned logs" sold are actually green, that when the consumer tries kiln dried they notice a big difference and then swear by it.

 

Why are so many logs sold green ? I guess it because it takes a lot of space, cash and time to dry logs by air as so the temptation is obvious. A kiln solves these issues.

 

The real issue here is surely not kiln drying or no kiln drying it is how to stop people being conned by green logs. I don't have the answer for this....

[arboriculturist]

There is absolutely no difference between an air dried 20% m/c log and a Kiln dried 20% log.

 

I think the issue is that in the eyes of the ignorant consumer there is a big difference because they are not comparing like with like.

 

So many ""air dried seasoned logs" sold are actually green, that when the consumer tries kiln dried they notice a big difference and then swear by it.

 

Why are so many logs sold green ? I guess it because it takes a lot of space, cash and time to dry logs by air as so the temptation is obvious. A kiln solves these issues.

 

The real issue here is surely not kiln drying or no kiln drying it is how to stop people being conned by green logs. I don't have the answer for this....

 

Some people never lose interest in the 'drying' debate - good to see you back.

 

There can be a difference in 'force' dried firewood and 'naturally' dried firewood, however using the general UK method of 'force' drying firewood - there is no appreciable difference.

 

'Like for like' - I'm always using that phrase to the end user. Through media I am slowly educating the public in my region.

 

We love others selling 'green' timber - not great for the consumer, but for us it is great

 

Ooh - how many years has the current phase of Bio-mass RHI payments left to run ? 20 years soon passes.

[Windy Trick]

I love firewood, yes it's a bit sad, and everything associated with producing it. Primarily though I am a retailer first and producer second. I retail wood. Any retailer gives the customer what he wants. We produce air dried firewood and import kiln dried as we don't have a kiln. Some customers love our air dried product. Most, however, only want to talk about kiln dried hardwood (I actually quite like softwood firewood too, but the customer doesn't want to hear it, even though it is extremely cheap). So I give them what they want and bite my tongue whilst jingling the coins in my pocket.

[ash_smith123]

You would have to mostly thank companies like certainly wood for the "kiln dried" popularity over the last 10/15 years. Its grown from them and It's completely genius! They had a product, speeded up the process, marketed it as a better product and sold it for more money. Like you said there is no difference in the wood at all but it's how you market it. A lot of people (like myself) have jumped on the bandwagon and are riding the wave. My sales this winter are pretty much split 50/50 kiln dried/seasoned. Even kiln dried softwood is selling well!!

I can only imagine you will be shocked by this but I actually kiln dry my "seasoned firewood". It just comes out at an average of 25% moisture (around 50 hours) where the kiln dried is 15% and is in there for (around 80 hours)

I just wouldn't be able to keep up! I advertise the wood at the 2 different moisture contents and the customer can choose.

Last September I sold about 50 cubic metres, we did 220 cubic metres this septemver. October is looking like it's going to be bigger again pushing 300 cube.

Both kilns are running flatout and we still can't keep up! Another one will be going in soon I think [emoji12]