The benefits of dry wood

How Dry Is Dry and why does it matter?

In New Zealand, Dry firewood is firewood that has a moisture content below 25%. If firewood has a moisture content above 25% then it will not burn as hot as the fire has to heat up all the extra water in the wood and cause it to evaporate before the wood will burn. Burning wet wood will also create a tar-like substance that will stick to the inside of your chimney and can create a serious risk of a chimney fire.

We regularly check our firewood to make sure we are complying with the NZ standards and if our wood isn't 'DRY' we will tell you. When we measure the moisture content we not only measure the outside of the log we split some open and test the heartwood (the bit in the middle) as this can often be higher than the outside, we want to make sure all of the wood is dry not just the outside.