The future of firewood Back to Home Page

Our firewood range consists of:

· UK made briquettes from trees grown in UK forests

· Our own fully dried and ready to burn bags of sawmill offcuts

· Our own bags of kindling

· Bags of pure oak wood for food smoking

· Bags of pure apple wood for food smoking

We aim to always have the briquettes available on site (even in summer) but the other products are simply available as and when we get surplus. For the best selection please visit anytime we are open (weekdays 8:30 to 3:00pm, except Wednesday when we close at 1:00pm; and Saturday morning 9:00 to 12:30pm).

About our briquettes

They are UK made from UK grown timber (from commercial forestry waste). They light easily and burn really hot and long. Unlike logs they are guaranteed properly dry and very compact to store.

Our briquettes are all the same, except the large ones are longer whereas the regular ones are random lengths up to about 200mm. The full size briquettes are a foot long (300mm), so may be too large for some woodburners, but are the cheapest option. If required they can be snapped easily.

Here at Wentwood Timber Centre we have been selling firewood and testing different types of briquettes (with assistance from our Dachsunds who are connoisseurs of warmth) for more than a decade, so we know a good briquette. We have burned coffee briquettes, bark briquettes, sawdust briquettes, everything except imported briquettes (for environmental reasons); and we can guarantee the ones we sell are some of the best.

But what are briquettes?

They are pure wood chips compressed under great pressure so they naturally bind together to form an artificial log which has all the burning qualities of a really well dried hardwood log, but in a much neater form.

Here they are being tested by us recently.

This lovely fire burned just two large briquettes all evening, and was lit really easily with a few sheets of newspaper and a little kindling.

Here are the prices of all our firewood products if you collect from us in Wentwood Forest.

· 10 kilo pack of full size wood chip briquettes: £6 (best value briquette)

· Cardboard box of 15 kilos of smaller wood chip briquettes: £11

· Bag of 20 kilos of the smaller wood chip briquettes: £13

· Paper bag of our own hardwood offcuts: £8 (when available)

· Paper bag of our own kindling: £6 (when available)

· Paper bag of apple or oak logs for smoking: £15

Which is best?

The full size wood chip briquettes in the ten kilo pack are the best value and performance overall. If you are concerned about the size and your ability to snap them opt for one of the other briquettes instead as these are smaller. Our own sawmill offcuts are excellent and produce a very quick blast of heat, but they will generally be less chunky than logs or briquettes so they are intended for mixing with briquettes or logs.

What happens to all the packaging?

The paper and cardboard packaging is generally used to light the fire, but can easily be recycled in most areas as household recycling. The plastic packaging we prefer to avoid completely, but we do offer a recycling service. If the plastic packaging is returned to us still dry we will properly recycle it for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you deliver?

We have a seasonal delivery round which covers Newport, Chepstow and Usk. Of course we have to charge a little more for this service. Full details can be found here. Happily it is really easy to fit plenty of our firewood in a car and unlike logs they are easy and clean to handle. Feel free to come into the beautiful Wentwood Forest and try some of our firewood between 8:30 and 3:00 weekdays (except Wednesday when we close at 1pm) and 9 to 12:30 Saturdays.

Are briquettes a poor substitute for logs?

No, they are far superior to logs. They are clean, take up a fraction the space in storage, light easily, burn long and give more heat. Gavin (the owner of Wentwood Timber) is a convert, and is of the opinion that briquettes from clean wood waste is the sustainable way forward.

What are your briquettes made from?

Wood and only wood. UK forests supply sawmills and other processors millions of tons of logs every year, but all the branches and treetops are useless for timber – but wonderful for burning. Some clever businesses turn this waste into a useful product. Our briquettes are from a small business based in Girvan (Land Energy).

Are your briquettes suitable for firepits, chimineas and pizza ovens?

Yes our briquettes are ideal for firepits chimineas and pizza ovens as well as open fires and woodburners. The briquettes are made from pure wood from forestry – no binders or additives.

Do the briquettes have any drawbacks?

This depends on your point of view – some people prefer the appearance of a traditional log sitting in a log basket. The only other disadvantage is that they do need to be stored in a dry place, as they are so dry to start with, otherwise they will absorb moisture.

How should I store the briquettes?

Our briquettes are a very dry product and need to be stored in properly dry conditions, so an outdoor log store is OK as long as it is not leaky or damp. As they are such a clean tightly packed product it is actually easy to store quite a few bags neatly in a porch or understairs cupboard, and leave no mess.

Is moisture content Important?

Yes. Our briquettes are very dry indeed – less than 10% in fact. This results in a lot of heat, less soot and less smoke.

In addition, burning wood that isn’t properly dry will produce harmful deposits which can harm your flue. The author of this website burns dry wood and never has to clean the glass in his woodburner – it simply never soots up. If you find your glass soots up it may be because your firewood is not dry.

What does a smoky fire mean?

Thick smoke coming from a wood fire indicates either wet wood or incomplete combustion. Burning truly dry wood like ours will be virtually smokeless most of the time.

Are your briquettes sustainable?

Yes, they are an excellent way of heating with a by-product. Rather than burn fossil fuels which will ultimately result in dangerous increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide, when you burn responsibly sourced timber you are actually helping to conserve valuable woodlands and forests. Of course we would never condone irresponsible logging, and for this reason all our products are from UK grown trees, and in most cases we personally have visited the forests where the trees are sourced.

Doesn’t wood burning cause local pollution?

Burning any wood that is not dry, or with incomplete combustion will produce emissions, and this has been the case ever since humans first learnt to control fire more than a quarter of a million years ago. The key to minimise emissions is to burn dry wood (all our wood is really dry) and have complete combustion. This means some woodburners are more efficient than others. Some indication can be taken from having your flue swept – even after a full year of burning there should be no more than a handful or two of soot. Also if your glass door soots up this is a sure sign of high emissions.

What about carbon dioxide?

Burning fossil fuels contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. The problem is very simple – the carbon is locked away in gas, oil and coal very slowly, but is being released by humans very quickly. Burning wood on the other hand is only contributing to greenhouse gas emissions if it results in deforestation; and this is the reason that at Wentwood Timber we insist on everything we sell being UK grown so we know it is sustainably sourced. Indeed the UK is planting more trees than it is cutting down, so overall Britain is a net absorber of atmospheric carbon dioxide - at least in terms of forestry.