Where to buy firewood near me

Firewood is heavy and bulky. A cubic metre weighs 360 to 380 kilos and takes up more space than a washing machine. Haulage is a real cost, and somebody pays it — either you in the delivery charge, or the supplier in a higher price per cubic metre.

Distance changes the whole experience, not just the price:

•     A local merchant delivers on their own vehicle, rings you to agree a time, and can see your drive before they commit to reversing up it

•     A national seller books a pallet courier. You get a text window, a pallet on the pavement, and a shrink-wrapped cube you then have to move yourself

If you have ever had a pallet of logs left at the kerb in the rain, you already know which you prefer.

Ask these of any supplier, including us.

1. A moisture figure, not a word. “Seasoned” has no legal definition. Ask for a percentage. Under 20% for kiln dried; ask what seasoned means to them.

2. Ready to Burn, with a certificate number. The logo on its own is worth very little. A certified supplier has a number and will give it to you. Ours are WS7474/00001 for logs and WS7474/00002 for kindling.

3. What the volume actually is. There is no legal standard bag size. A “bulk bag” can be a third of a cubic metre or a whole one. Ask for cubic metres, not bags, and compare on that.

4. Loose or stacked. A stacked cubic metre contains roughly 30% more wood than a loose one, because there is no air between the logs. Suppliers quoting stacked volumes are not lying, but you cannot compare the two prices directly.

5. Who is delivering. Their own vehicle, or a courier. This decides whether you get a phone call and an agreed time or a text and a wait.

6. What happens if it is wrong. A local merchant with a name to protect will come back. Ask.

Around the Midlands, at the time of writing:

•     Kiln dried, loose m³ — Typical range: £200–£280 · Ours: £225

•     Seasoned, loose m³ — Typical range: £150–£200 · Ours: £180

•     Kiln dried bulk bag (0.5m³) — Typical range: £120–£160 · Ours: £140

•     Net of kindling — Typical range: £4–£7 · Ours: £5

•     Smokeless fuel, 25kg — Typical range: £16–£24 · Ours: from £18.25

If it is well below the range, ask why

Firewood at half the going rate is usually one of three things: a smaller volume than it appears, wetter than it should be, or softwood sold as hardwood. Occasionally it is a genuine bargain from someone clearing a yard. Ask the six questions above and you will know which.

Note that domestic firewood carries VAT at 5%, not 20%. If a quote looks oddly high, check whether they have applied the wrong rate.

This is the single biggest saving available to anyone who burns wood, and almost nobody takes it.

•     Prices climb from September as everyone fills their store at once

•     By the first proper cold snap the good local suppliers are booked, and you are choosing from whoever has stock rather than whoever is best

•     Borderline wood gets a summer to finish drying in your store rather than arriving marginal in November

•     You get a choice of delivery day instead of taking what you are given

Our fresh cut and part seasoned logs exist for exactly this. They are cut in April and May, sold at a discount, and you season them yourself over the summer. It is the cheapest firewood we sell and it asks only that you plan ahead.

You can tell a great deal in two minutes.

•     Do they ask about your access? A merchant who delivers themselves always does, because they are the one who has to reverse up it

•     Do they ask what you are burning on? Stove, open fire, pizza oven — it changes what they should send you

•     Will they give you a moisture figure without hesitating?

•     Do they tell you when, or do they tell you a window?

•     Do they answer the phone at all? In November this separates the field quickly

None of that requires you to know anything about firewood. It just requires you to notice whether they know anything about you.

Both can be fine. Both can be a problem. The difference is usually whether they will answer the six questions above.

Online marketplaces. Often reselling somebody else’s wood with a margin on top, delivered by courier. You are paying for the platform and the haulage, and if something is wrong you are dealing with a middleman rather than the person who cut it.

Local ads and social media. Sometimes a genuine small producer, sometimes somebody clearing a garden. Ask what species, how long it has been stacked, and what the volume is. If the answer to all three is vague, the price probably reflects that.

Tree surgeons selling arisings. Can be excellent value, but it is usually fresh cut rather than seasoned, and often mixed with softwood. Fine if you are buying to season yourself and you know that is what you are doing.

The one thing worth insisting on

Ask what the volume is in cubic metres, loose. Everything else is preference. That one question makes every quote comparable, and it is the question the weakest sellers cannot answer.

•     April–May — Cheapest wood of the year. Fresh cut, to season yourself

•     June–July — Part seasoned at a discount. Still plenty of time to finish it

•     August — Seasoned stock comes available. Best combination of price and choice

•     September — Still quiet. A good month to fill a store without waiting

•     October–November — Demand climbs sharply. Order a week or two ahead

•     December–February — Busiest. Kiln dried only if you have left it late

•     March — Quiet again. A decent time to top up for the tail of the season

The pattern is simple enough: the further ahead you buy, the less you pay and the more choice you get. Almost everybody buys in the three months when both of those are at their worst.

We cut and split at Hallam Road in Uttoxeter and deliver on our own vehicle and tipping trailer across Staffordshire and Derbyshire.

•     Inside eight miles — ST14, DE6, DE13, DE65, WS15, ST20 — delivery is free on orders over £50

•     Eight to fifteen miles — free over £250, otherwise a flat £24

•     Beyond fifteen miles we do not deliver, because we would have to use couriers and that is the one thing we will not do

The postcode checker on any product page will tell you where you stand in about two seconds, before you commit to anything.

Woodland & Forestry Ltd has been working in woodland since 1992, and 5.0 from 22 Google reviews is the version of that you can check yourself.