This is always a hot topic with customers: why does kiln-dried wood cost more, and is it better?
What kiln-drying is
Kiln-dried logs are logs stacked in crates and put into a kiln. The kiln usually has heating panels above the crates, a bit like large radiators, which warm the logs to drive the moisture out. Those panels need hot water, which is heated in various ways; the projects we have been involved in used large log gasification boilers to heat the water that dried the logs, though other heat sources can be used.
So kiln-dried wood costs more because of the cost of building and running the kiln. It also costs more because people believe it is better and are willing to pay for it — so showrooms and online fuel suppliers charge more for what has become a fashionable fuel.
Dry wood is dry wood
Air-dried logs are simply stacked in crates under some kind of roof to keep the rain off, typically for two years, until they have dried down to 20% moisture. The only advantage of kiln-drying is speed — at the cost of the energy used to run the kiln, and the premium you pay for the logs.
So you are burning logs to dry logs. Does that make sense? Not to us: why burn a perfectly good fuel for nothing?
Whether you buy kiln-dried or air-dried, all that matters is the moisture content. You should not be burning logs above 20% moisture — and below it, dry wood is dry wood. Why pay more?
