Buying Firewood in Bulk: Is It Worth It?

Whether you have enough storage space for a whole season’s firewood can make a big difference on how much you spend on fuel. Buying in bulk is the cheapest way to buy kiln-dried firewood, but you must be able to keep it dry once it’s been delivered. There’s no point getting a big crate of nice dry logs and then let them spoil in the UK winter weather.

What is bulk buying?

Buying anything in bulk means buying a larger volume at once. Firewood is measured in many different units - the one we use for price comparison is loose m³ (loose cubic meters), which is the volume of the logs when loosely piled/bagged rather than neatly stacked.

We monitor the price of various kiln-dried log crate sizes daily, and we consistently see that crate sizes above 1.7 loose m³ have significant discounts over smaller crates.

Kiln-dried makes it easier to buy in bulk

Buying kiln-dried wood can simplify and reduce your storage requirements - if you were buying green or wet logs and seasoning them yourself, you would need to store several years’ worth to ensure a steady supply of dry wood. Buying kiln-dried means you only need to stock up for the season ahead, as it’s Ready to Burn.

In addition to having to plan ahead less, kiln-dried wood has a higher energy density than wet wood, meaning that you need less fuel for the same amount of heat output. You should burn wood that is less than 20% moisture. Kiln-dried wood can often be much lower than this, even below 10%.

What if I don’t burn much wood?

How much wood you need is also a factor to consider when buying in bulk - if you only burn a small amount each winter but have a lot of dry log storage space, you might consider a bulk order to benefit from the lower costs. This allows you to fill up your log store with a well-priced, multi-year supply.

If your storage space is tight, consider asking friends, family or neighbours if they would like to split an order - this will be a bit more effort moving from one place to another once it’s delivered, but you might find it’s worth it.

So how much cheaper is bulk buying?

Using the latest UK price data for kiln-dried firewood crates, the graphic below highlights just how much cheaper buying in bulk is.

Bulk-buying can consistently save you between £20-30 per loose m³ on the cheapest products. For an average home in the UK (burning 2-3 loose m³ per season), this equates to £70-100 of annual savings!

The graphic above also highlights how much variation there is between the most expensive logs and the cheapest - this is why we publish the lowest prices we can find, every day.

In terms of cost savings, buying in summer can offer additional savings to buying in bulk, our email subscription will send you the lowest prices in the UK at the cheapest time of the year.

Why is bulk buying cheaper?

The main factor for bulk-savings on kiln-dried logs is delivery costs. It costs roughly the same amount to ship a small crate of logs using one of the UK’s pallet distribution networks as it does to ship a large one. Often “free” delivery charges are factored into the overall product price, so when you buy a larger crate, the delivery cost is spread out over a larger volume of logs.

Local suppliers have lower delivery overheads, typically using their own vehicles - e.g a low loader or flatbed truck rather than forklift-assisted pallet lorries. Even when buying locally, bulk buying from local suppliers will be cheaper as it’s the same amount of handling & mileage, just for more logs.

Considerations for buying in bulk

Before you spend hundreds of pounds on a crate of kiln-dried wood, make sure you're allowed to burn it first.

It's important first of all to make sure you have enough space to store the logs you're buying in a dry, well ventilated and sheltered spot. Ideally this would be in an easy to access location, or at least easy enough to refill your indoor store periodically. Another big consideration is access - if you have ordered a crate or pallet of logs, most suppliers have rules on where they can deliver. Most will provide kerbside delivery if your driveway is sloped or gravel, but consider if it's feasible for you to then transfer the logs to the store.

If you can - buy in bulk!

If you have the storage space, we’ve shown it pays to buy in bulk. If you don’t have a lot of storage space: we publish crate sizes alongside price per loose m³ so that you can find the cheapest crate in the size that you need.