Advice

Firewood is a proven environmentally beneficial fuel, not only does it reduce the amount of carbon dioxide being released it can cut emissions if sourced locally from your local tree surgeon or firewood merchant, the firewood merchant may supply you with FSC certified wood, but the tree surgeons arisings may be just as sustainable coming from tree work which is encouraging growth of healthy trees and saving timber from going to landfill where its deterioration would give off greenhouses gases.

At Joy Lane and sons, we sell Seasoned Wood,  measured sold and delivered in cubic metres, this is the preferred volume to deliver wood in, as firewood should be as dry as possible when seasoned and therefore as light as possible – some firewood from other merchants will be sold as “green” or freshly felled and the customer should allow time for the wood to loose its moisture from around 60% down to around 25% before being able to be burned efficiently.
Yeomans Firewood offer a variety of products to suit customers budgets from mixed loads of different species of timber, to the premium species of hardwood we will be able to give you precisely what species makes up the loads delivered; but all wood is of a calorific value, some better than others, the main requirement for wood to burn efficiently is its moisture content which should be below 30%, often referred to as “seasoning”. 

Why buy from Joy Lane & sons? - we are bona fide firewood merchants and have been around for many years, our knowledge of this industry is second to none, our timber is first class, we air dry all our timber to match readings achieved by kiln drying! all our timber is cut in the summer months and allowed to naturally air dry, this means moisture is allowed to leach out of the log naturally and not forced out by kiln drying, making the firewood log more stable once delivered to the customer, as kiln drying leaves the kilned logs like sponges and on damp days logs can suck back in the moisture the kiln drying process has pushed out.  We have a product to suit every purse and every situation, from barrow bags of hardwood to suit the terrace house delivery to large tipped loads for deliveries with more space to accept larger quantities.  All our timber is personally checked and graded in house.

All wood will burn, however some are best suited to stoves as they can spit such as horse chestnut, pines and spruces. Wood is an efficient fuel producing less than 1% of ash when burnt, this ash can be put on the garden as a useful natural fertiliser, neutralising acid soils.

What is the difference between hardwood and softwood? – Hardwoods such as Beech, Ash and Oak (deciduous trees) all take longer to grow than softwoods such as pines and larch (coniferous) thereby the wood is denser and heavier, the denser the wood the tighter the grain or the growing rings this makes the wood burn slower for longer, Softwoods are very good woods to burn in stoves, indeed on the continent it is the only timber available and most of todays stove technology comes from Europe ; , these softwoods burn hotter but quicker, so stoves get up to temperature alot quicker with softwoods but the wood does burn twice as quick, at J Lane and sons we offer a mixed wood load of 50/50 hardwood and softwood mix and ideal choice for woodburning stove installations.

How to Light your stove or fire
To start a fire well, leave a bed of ash and lay a layer of scrunched up newspapers and then a couple of handfuls of kindling sticks, criss crossed over the paper, leave the damper open and light the fire, once the kindling has lit, put on larger logs and shut the damper once the dark smoke has gone and the wood has started to burn well. Emptying of ash pans needs only to be done when full, leaving a good bed of ash helps the fire burn efficiently.

If you live in a “Smoke Control Areas” some stoves are exempted from this legislation as they are classed as burning efficiently – ask your local Environmental Health Officers and stove installers for a list of which appliances can be fitted in your area.

Asking your supplier for the following information about the firewood, will give an informed choice as to what product is best for you.
What type of wood is being sold,
How is it sold; in nets or tipped loads of what volume?
Is it seasoned and what is the Moisture Content?
Does the price include delivery and VAT?

You can help the seller by providing information about what you require;
Is the wood to be burnt on an open fire or in a stove, 
What size logs are required, 
does the seller offer any other products such as kindling sticks and a stacking service; 
is access good for a tip load or will the logs have to be delivered by some other means such as nets.

Once you have your logs store your wood in an airy place, a purpose built log store is ideal as it has open sides and a covered roof; allowing air flow, unlike coal, wood needs to be allowed to have air flow through it, as it may go mouldy or musty if put in an enclosed area.