Murphy’s Law of firewood delivery says it will always pour down when your load of logs arrives. So make sure you’re well prepared in advance to stack and store your firewood ready for use.

Firewood is often ordered by the cubic metre or the load. If you’re ordering for your first winter and you’re not sure how much you’re going to need, talk to either the supplier of your wood-burner, or your local tree surgeon, who may well also supply seasoned firewood and ready cut logs. Both will be experienced and will be able to give you a good guesstimate, based on factors such as the size of your house and wood-burner, the efficiency of your stove and the insulation to your property.

Remember you could end up using twice as much firewood as you should if it’s not been properly seasoned, or allowed to dry out after felling. Unseasoned wood produces less heat energy so you use much more than if burning seasoned logs.

Plan where you are going to store the bulk of your firewood. Too far from the house and it’s not a pleasant task to trot out on a dark, wet night to bring the logs in! Firewood seasons and dries well if stored outdoors, off the ground, so the air can circulate, protected from the worst of the rain by some sort of a roof, rather than a tarpaulin which doesn’t allow the wood to breathe and dry out naturally.

When delivered, your firewood will probably be tipped into a pile, so the sooner you can get it neatly stacked, the better, especially if, as usually happens, it’s raining when it arrives. A little rain won’t do much harm, the term seasoning actually refers to the drying out of the naturally occurring water within the wood when it is felled. But regular soaking by rain won’t do it any good. Once you have a firewood delivery date, it’s well worth roping in a few extra hands to help you move your logs to your chosen storage area.

Stack logs all in the same direction, to allow easy air access, and help to keep the log pile as stable as possible, avoiding accidents. Bring your daily requirement into the house to save time and effort, but remember wood is a natural product and as such, it will come with its own supply of creepy-crawlies. This is perfectly natural, but if you’re not keen on sharing your home with them, think of keeping a small stack in the porch, or by the back door.

Your local tree surgeon or reputable firewood merchant should have a plentiful supply of well seasoned firewood from a sustainable source available throughout the year. But if the weather is colder than average, they may well have a sudden rush of orders at the end of the year and risk running low on seasoned logs.

So the time to place your next order is well before you get to the bottom of your firewood stack, to enjoy that blissful feet up by the roaring fire moment.

James W Kendall is a professional tree surgeon trying to carve out a sustainable, ethical living with Lincolnshire Tree Services in the Lincolnshire Wolds, UK. With a team of 20 highly qualified arborists we carry out domestic and commercial tree work We recycle timber as logs, woodchip sustainable tree charcoal, chainsaw carvings, wood turning, woodland crafts and rustic furniture.