Kiln Dried Firewood VS Seasoned Firewood

Kiln Dried Firewood vs Seasoned Firewood

When it comes to firewood a lot of people may think “whats the difference, chopped wood is chopped wood right?” Well that answer couldn’t be more wrong. There are so many different factors that come into play when comparing kiln dried wood to seasoned wood.

To start off we should talk about what each are.

Seasoned Firewood

Seasoned Firewood refers to the natural process of letting wood dry out. This can take a varying amount of time to happen depending on a number of different reasons (anywhere between a year to three years!). These factors can be the time of year that the tree was cut, with summer being ideal, is the wood stacked with enough airflow, and what kind of wood it is as softwood will dry faster than hardwood.

Even after all that you cannot guarantee uniformity of moisture level in each piece, or the potential for pests, disease, or even for rotting to occur during that time.

Kiln Dried Firewood

Kiln dried firewood on the other hand (and more specifically RW Fuel) has been dried out by baking at 80 degrees celsius for 6 days. This eliminates any pests that may be living in the wood along with any diseases or mould.

This process reduces the water within the wood, when it comes to firewood the lower the moisture content the better. Anything around 20% moisture content is great, our RW Kiln Dried Firewood comes in at less than 15% moisture content.

The Difference Between the Two

Getting your fire started with Kiln dried wood is an absolute breeze, the low moisture content gives you a quick start compared to seasoned wood especially with the help of some kindling to really get things going. As it is so well dried out your bag of kiln dried firewood will feel lighter than a bag of seasoned wood but don’t be fooled by this as it also leads to a more efficient burn with a greater heat output meaning that you’ll use less wood to keep warm on those chilly nights.

Seasoned wood will produce more smoke and cause that black tar build up on the glass of your stove, whereas kiln dried wood produces a cleaner fire that’s better for you, your stove and the environment.

Kiln Dried wood is also physically cleaner making it the ideal choice for stacking beside your fireplace.

Below you will find a quick video of me highlighting these differences, you can also follow this link to check out our Kiln Dried Fuel products.