Is your log burner going through wood fuel at a rate of knots? Too much airflow and poor quality firewood are the two biggest reasons for a fast-burning fire.
The solution: gradually close your stove’s air vents as the fire progresses, check for worn door seals and consider investing in a dense, high-quality wood fuel.
Too much oxygen
Fires of course need oxygen, but too much turns the fire into a roaring blaze that fizzles out too fast.
If your fire has huge crackling flames, it’s possibly burning too quickly as a result of excessive airflow. The aim should be a consistent glow. You may want to:
- Adjust air vents: Open them at first to get the fire going, then slightly close the vents (but not completely) to ensure more controlled warmth.
- Stack your logs: Another trick for moderating the amount of oxygen your logs are exposed to is to stack them close together.
- Check for leaks: Gaps in your log burner can introduce unwanted oxygen. A worn gasket (the flexible seal that lines the stove door) is a common cause.
Poor quality firewood
Softwoods like spruce and pine are relatively lightweight and will combust very quickly.
Similarly, for obvious reasons, firewood that is small in size will combust much quicker than a chunkier, denser equivalent.
You will almost certainly see improvements by switching to a denser wood fuel, such as hardwood logs or wood briquettes.
Made from highly-compacted wood, briquettes are surprisingly heavy – a 30x7.5cm briquette weighs around 1.5kg.
This gives the fire much more content to chew through, producing a hotter, longer-lasting burn (as the results below show).
Wood briquettes burn much longer than firewood
We’ve run tests comparing the heat performance of wood briquettes with regular firewood.
After 2 hours 30 minutes of burning, regular firewood logs recorded an average temperature of 30°C.
After the same amount of time, briquettes posted an average temperature of 92°C – 207% higher.
Logs | ||||
| Time (HH:MM) | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Average |
| 00:00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 00:30 | 45 | 100 | 45 | 63 |
| 01:00 | 140 | 170 | 100 | 137 |
| 01:30 | 90 | 130 | 70 | 97 |
| 02:00 | 50 | 60 | 50 | 53 |
| 02:30 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 30 |
Briquettes | ||||
| Time (HH:MM) | Test 1 | Test 2 | Test 3 | Average |
| 00:00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 00:30 | 50 | 40 | 100 | 63 |
| 01:00 | 210 | 170 | 220 | 200 |
| 01:30 | 180 | 210 | 200 | 197 |
| 02:00 | 125 | 120 | 150 | 132 |
| 02:30 | 70 | 105 | 100 | 92 |
Their superior performance also means that briquettes are around 60% more cost-effective than traditional logs.
Taking average UK household use, this could amount to over £250 in savings over the course of the year.
Level up your fire with Lava Logs
Sick of your fast-burning firewood?
Lava Logs are premium wood briquettes available in boxes (18 briquettes), half pallets (318 briquettes) and full pallets (630 briquettes) with fast, free UK delivery.
Each briquette is made from highly-compacted recycled wood by-products from our milling and machining operations, without binders or glue.
Consider switching to Lava Logs for a burn that’s hotter, longer, cheaper and more sustainable.