The best wood for a log burner is any well-seasoned or kiln-dried log with 20% moisture or less; dryness matters more than species. Among UK woods, ash, beech, oak, hornbeam, birch and fruitwoods such as apple and cherry are the most popular, with dense oak and beech burning longest and birch and softwoods lighting quickly and burning faster.
Never burn painted, treated or salty wood. In England, bags and loads of wood under 2 cubic metres must be certified Ready to Burn. This guide covers how the common firewoods compare, how to buy, season and store logs, what size to cut them and what never to put in a stove.
Dry beats everything: the 20% rule
Freshly felled wood is heavy with water. Burning it wastes energy boiling that water off, which cools the fire, blackens the glass, tars the flue and makes smoke. Dry wood burns hotter and cleaner, and a dry log of an average species will outperform a wet log of the best one every time.
In England this is the law for sellers. Under the Air Quality (Domestic Solid Fuels Standards) (England) Regulations 2020, wood sold in volumes under 2 cubic metres must be certified Ready to Burn, which confirms a moisture content of 20% or less. Larger loads can be sold wet, but the supplier must give you a notice explaining how to dry, store and check the wood before use.
How to check your own logs
Split a log and push the pins of a moisture meter into the freshly split face, near the middle and along the grain. The outside of a log dries first, so testing the bark or the cut end gives a falsely low reading. Test a few logs from different parts of the stack, not just the driest-looking one. If the reading is over 20%, leave the wood to season longer.
Your stove manual has the final say. Ready to Burn sets 20% as the ceiling for wood sold in small loads. Some stove makers recommend drier wood still, so check the fuel section of your manual and follow it.
Hardwood or softwood?
Hardwoods come from broadleaved, mostly deciduous trees such as oak, ash and beech. Softwoods come from conifers such as pine, spruce and larch. Per kilo, dry hardwood and dry softwood release similar amounts of heat. The difference is density. Hardwoods pack more wood into each log, so a load burns for longer and you refuel less often.
Softwoods are lighter and more resinous. They catch quickly and burn fast and bright, which makes them excellent kindling and perfectly good fuel when they are properly dry. Softwood's reputation for tarring chimneys mostly comes from burning it wet or smouldering it on a low setting.
Most owners use both: softwood kindling to get the fire going and heat the flue, then hardwood logs to keep it going through the evening.
How the common UK firewoods compare
| Wood | Type | Burn | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ash | Hardwood | Steady, good heat | Splits easily and dries faster than oak. Ash dieback means plenty is available |
| Beech | Hardwood | Long, hot | Dense; needs thorough seasoning |
| Oak | Hardwood | Very long, slow | Dense; slow to season, often two years or more in log form |
| Hornbeam | Hardwood | Very long, hot | One of the densest UK woods; hard to split |
| Birch | Hardwood | Fast, bright | Lights easily and seasons quickly; mix with denser logs |
| Apple, cherry, pear | Hardwood | Steady, pleasant smell | Good if you can get it; often in small sizes |
| Sycamore and maple | Hardwood | Medium | Fair firewood when dry |
| Poplar, willow, alder | Hardwood | Fast, low heat | Light woods; better as kindling |
| Horse chestnut | Hardwood | Fast, lower heat | Tends to spit; best mixed with better logs |
| Pine, spruce, larch | Softwood | Fast, bright | Good kindling; burn only when dry |
Burn time depends far more on log size, moisture and how the stove is set than on species, so treat the table as a guide to character rather than a stopwatch. Many people simply buy a mixed hardwood load and get the best of each.
Burn time and heat output
If you want a fire that lasts all evening with fewer trips to the log basket, dense hardwood is the answer. Oak, beech and hornbeam hold more fuel in the same size of log, so each load lasts longer. If you want a quick blast of heat to take the chill off a room, lighter woods such as birch or dry softwood get there faster.
How you burn matters just as much as what you burn:
- Light hot, then settle. Get the stove and flue up to temperature with kindling and small logs before adding larger ones.
- Load little and often. Two or three logs on a bed of glowing embers burn cleaner than a firebox packed to the top.
- Turn down, not off. Once logs are burning well, reduce the air until the flames are steady and lazy. Never shut the air off to make a load last overnight: a starved fire smoulders, tars the flue and produces carbon monoxide.
- Size the stove to the room. An oversized stove has to be choked to stop the room overheating. See what size stove you need.
Can you burn conifer or pine?
Yes, with care. Conifers such as pine, spruce, larch and leylandii are softwoods with a high resin content. When dry they light easily and smell good, but they burn quickly, can spit and crackle, and leave more soot if burnt cool. Use them mainly as kindling or mixed with hardwood, make sure they are thoroughly seasoned or kiln-dried, and keep the stove door closed while they burn. If you burn a lot of softwood, have the chimney swept more often and keep an eye on the glass and flue for tar.
What you should never burn
- Painted, varnished, stained or pressure-treated timber. The coatings release harmful fumes and damage the stove and flue.
- Pallets, fence panels and old furniture. Defra lists these as treated waste wood that can give off harmful fumes when burnt. Only burn offcuts you know are untreated and dry.
- Plywood, chipboard and MDF. The glues give off harmful smoke.
- Driftwood. The salt corrodes stoves and flue liners.
- Household rubbish, plastic and packaging.
- Wet or green wood. It causes heavy smoke and tar, and tar in the flue is a chimney fire risk.
- Any fuel your stove's manual does not list. Wood-only stoves should not burn coal or smokeless fuel.
Tar is a fire risk. Black, sticky deposits on the glass or at flue joints mean the fire is running too cool or the wood is too wet. Switch to dry logs, burn hotter and book a sweep. If you ever hear roaring in the chimney or see sparks or flames from the pot, call 999.
Kiln-dried or seasoned?
Seasoned logs are dried in the open air, usually for one to two years depending on species and log size. Kiln-dried logs are dried with heat in a matter of days and arrive ready to burn. Both are fine if they are under 20% moisture. Kiln-dried is the easy choice if you have nowhere to season wood or you burn only occasionally; seasoning your own works out well if you have space and a steady supply.
Buying logs: what to check
- The Ready to Burn logo and certificate number on bags and on loads under 2 cubic metres.
- The drying notice on larger loads, and whether the wood is sold wet or dry.
- A moisture reading taken on a freshly split face when it arrives.
- Clean, split logs without mould, sized to fit your stove.
- Somewhere dry to keep them before they arrive, so dry logs stay dry.
How to season and store your own logs
- Split early. Cut to length and split as soon as you can: split logs dry far faster than rounds.
- Raise them. Stack logs off the ground on a slatted floor or bearers, with gaps for air.
- Roof, not walls. Cover the top but leave the sides open so wind can carry moisture away. A sunny, breezy spot is ideal.
- Rotate. Burn the oldest wood first and stack new wood behind it.
- Warm before burning. Bring a few days' supply indoors so the surface is dry and room temperature.
A purpose-made log store does all of this. Choose by how much wood you keep and the space you have:
For a winter's supply
Large open-fronted stores
The Shire large heavy duty log store is a dip treated 6x3 pent-roof store, about 190cm wide, with slatted sides and a raised floor for airflow.
Logs and kindling together
Triangular stores
Apex stores with a kindling shelf keep a few weeks of logs by the back door. The small version is about 82cm wide and 118cm high.
For narrow spaces
Tall wall stores
A slim pent-roof store about 47cm deep that sits against a house or garden wall, with a raised floor to keep logs off wet ground.
Logs plus tools
Stores with a lockable side
The Shire Country pairs an open log bay with an enclosed, padlockable compartment for an axe, a moisture meter and kindling.
Browse all log stores.
What size logs?
Check your stove's maximum log length and cut a little shorter, so logs lie flat without touching the glass or blocking the airwash above the door. Our stoves show how much this varies:
- The Woolly Mammoth 5 takes logs up to 250mm.
- The FDC4 and FDC5 Eco take logs up to about 300mm, and the FDC8 about 375mm.
- The Opus Harmony and Melody stoves take logs up to 330mm, and the Woolly Mammoth 8 up to 400mm.
For thickness, logs about the size of your wrist to your forearm burn well. Very large rounds smoulder and are slow to catch; very small pieces burn through quickly. Split anything thicker than your forearm.
Burning wood in a smoke control area
Many parts of England are smoke control areas. Wood is not an authorised fuel there, so you can only burn it in an exempt stove on Defra's list, using the fuels its maker specifies. In England a chimney releasing smoke in a smoke control area can bring a penalty of up to £300. Check your address on your council's map before you buy, and see are wood burners being banned? for the full picture.
Looking for a stove that can burn wood legally in a smoke control area? These are on our smoke control approved stoves list:
Dry logs also make lighting far easier. Our step-by-step guide to lighting a log burner shows the top-down method.
Common questions
What is the best wood to burn in a log burner?
Any well-seasoned or kiln-dried hardwood under 20% moisture. Ash, beech, oak, hornbeam, birch and fruitwoods are all good choices; dense woods like oak and beech burn longest.
Should I choose hardwood or softwood logs?
Hardwood for keeping a fire going, because it is denser and each log lasts longer. Dry softwood is ideal as kindling and for a quick, hot fire. Many people use softwood to start the fire and hardwood to keep it going.
Which wood burns the longest in a log burner?
Dense hardwoods such as oak, hornbeam and beech burn longest. Oak can be slow to catch, so add it once you have a good bed of embers. Log size, moisture and the air setting matter as much as species.
Is ash good for log burners?
Yes. Ash is one of the most popular UK firewoods: it splits easily, seasons faster than oak and burns steadily. Like all wood, it should be dried to under 20% moisture before burning.
Is birch good for log burners?
Yes. Birch lights easily and burns bright and fast, so it is good for getting a fire going. Mix it with denser logs like oak or beech for longer burns.
Birch or ash: which is better?
Ash gives a steadier, longer burn; birch lights faster and burns quicker. Many people use birch to start the fire and ash or oak to keep it going.
Can you burn pine or conifer in a log burner?
Yes, if it is dry. Softwoods burn faster and spit more, so they suit kindling and quick fires. Wet softwood is what causes heavy tarring, and if you burn a lot of it, sweep the chimney more often.
Are fruitwoods good for log burners?
Yes. Apple, cherry and pear are dense hardwoods that burn steadily with a pleasant smell. They are often only available in small amounts.
What wood should you not burn in a log burner?
Painted, treated or varnished wood, pallets, fence panels, old furniture, plywood, chipboard, MDF, driftwood and anything wet. Never burn rubbish or plastic.
What size logs do I need for my log burner?
Cut logs a little shorter than the maximum length in your stove's manual so they lie flat away from the glass. Lengths vary by model, for example 250mm for the Woolly Mammoth 5 and up to 400mm for the Woolly Mammoth 8. Split anything thicker than your forearm.
Keep your logs dry
A good log store pays for itself in hotter, cleaner fires. Not sure which size you need? Send us a photo of the space and we will help you choose.
