We’ve renewed our Ready To Burn registration for another year, which means our seasoned firewood (including kindling) has a moisture content of 20% or less and complies with air quality regulations in England.
Here we shed a bit more light on what ‘Ready To Burn’ certification means for you and your fuel…
What is the Ready to Burn scheme?
Ready to Burn is an official government-backed certification scheme that applies to firewood and manufactured solid fuels (e.g. smokeless coal and briquettes, heat logs, and coffee logs). The scheme makes it easy for people to find the cleanest fuels for burning at home, and was introduced as part of the UK’s Clean Air Strategy, to improve air quality by reducing the harmful emissions caused by burning wet or poorly dried wood at home.
Two bodies administer the scheme on behalf of Defra (the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs): HETAS certifies manufactured solid fuels, and Woodsure certifies firewood.
Since May 2021, logs sold in quantities under 2m³ must be certified as Ready to Burn. That means if you’re buying bags of firewood or kindling, your supplier is legally required to have Ready To Burn certification.
What does Ready To Burn certification actually check?
The key requirement is moisture content. To qualify as ‘Ready to Burn’, firewood must have a moisture content of 20% or less. Wood with a higher moisture content (wet wood) burns inefficiently, produces more smoke, and releases harmful particles into the air. It also creates more creosote inside your chimney or flue, increasing the risk of blockages and chimney fires.
Certification is rigorous; suppliers must be audited and their fuel must be tested every year to ensure it meets the required moisture standard. Woodsure carries out mystery shops and collects samples from certified suppliers to independently verify the quality of wood sold to customers.
Why does wet wood cause problems?
When wood is too damp, a lot of the energy produced by burning goes into evaporating that moisture rather than generating heat. The result is a fire that’s harder to light, harder to keep going, and much smokier – which is both unpleasant and a genuine air quality issue. Wet wood is one of the most polluting domestic fuels.
Dry, certified firewood burns hotter and cleaner. You’ll use less of it to achieve the same warmth, your fire or wood-burning appliance will be more efficient, and you’ll have less residue building up in your chimney flue.
What does it mean for you when buying from Four Seasons Fuel?
When you buy Ready to Burn firewood from us, you can be confident that it has been independently tested and meets the legal moisture standard. We renew our certification every year, too; far from being a one-time tick-box exercise, it’s an ongoing guarantee of high-quality firewood.
Look for the Ready to Burn logo on our packaging. It’s your guarantee that the wood you’re bringing home will burn well, burn cleanly, and keep your fire (your chimney) in good shape.