Domestic Fuel

The most common and convenient forms of woody biomass for wood burning stoves and domestic heating appliances are Split Logs, Wood Pellets, Heat Logs, Briquettes and Wood Chips.

Wood Pellets, Heat Logs and Briquettes

To make pellet fuel natural wood shavings and sawdust are compressed and formed into small cylindrical rolls. The wood particles are held together by lignin - there are no additives or artificial binding agents. During the pellet making process the natural resin or lignin present in the wood naturally moves to the surface of the pellet creating a protective coating which helps the pellet keep its structure.

Heat Logs and Briquettes are made using the same process. This results in a clean, convenient fuel with a high calorific value and very low ash content.

Split Logs

Traditional logs are still widely used for heating. Logs are generally suitable only for manually fed appliances and due to the longer period of seasoning they require a greater area for storage.

Different species of wood burn slightly differently which is significant in purchasing decisions. All woods burn better when well seasoned and all burn better when split.

All wood species have a similar calorific value per unit weight provided the moisture content is the same but due to the differing densities they have a different calorific value per unit of volume and thus the amount of fuel storage required. The energy output from a single firing when using a log boiler varies from species to species.