Wet Wood And Coal To be Phased Out in England
In February, the Government announced plans to phase out wet wood and coal sales in England. The goal is to reduce harmful PM2.5 particles that contribute to air pollution.
Wood burning stoves and open fires remain legal. However, you won’t be able to burn coal or wood with a moisture content above 20%. The aim is to encourage cleaner alternatives such as kiln dried logs.
From February 2021, you can no longer buy bagged coal. Loose coal delivered directly to customers will be phased out by February 2023. Sales of wet wood under 2m³ stopped in February 2021. Larger volumes over 2m³ can still be sold, but suppliers must give clear advice on how to dry the wood to below 20% moisture.
You will no longer be able to purchase wet bagged logs, that usually can be found at petrol stations and garden centres. Only logs dried to the correct moisture level are available.
What should you look for when buying logs?
Choose suppliers that hold the Woodsure Ready to Burn accreditation, such as Walker’s Logs. This scheme certifies that the wood contains 20% moisture or less.
Buying from an approved supplier gives you confidence that your logs are ready to burn immediately. Look for the Ready to Burn logo and visit the Woodsure website if you want to learn more.
FACT:
1m3 Wet Logs = 600 kw/h of heat
1m3 Kiln Dried Logs = 1,400 kw/h of heat
Why choose kiln dried logs over wet logs?
When you burn wet wood, the fire uses most of its energy to evaporate the excess water inside the logs. As a result, you get less heat and more smoke, which adds to air pollution.
Wet logs also create soot that builds up in chimneys and increases the risk of chimney fires. If you buy wet logs to season at home, you must wait until they dry fully below 20% moisture – and that can take a long time.
Kiln dried logs avoid all of these issues. Our logs reach below 20% moisture before we deliver them. They light easily and burn hotter and longer because they contain so little water.
What impact will this have on Walkers Logs?
These changes do not affect us negatively. We only supply kiln dried logs, so the wet wood ban doesn’t change our process.
We kiln dry all our logs at our farm in the Cotswolds. This allows us to control every stage and guarantee that our customers receive logs with moisture levels below 20%. For now, we’re pleased to see a movement toward cleaner and more efficient wood burning.
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