Five great sources of free wood for your wood-burning stove

Five great sources of free wood for your wood-burning stove

Wood is already one of the cheapest ways to heat your home. But if you can find a way to secure free wood then it suddenly becomes much cheaper.

In this blog post, we’re going to look at some places you might be able to track down free or very cheap wood for your home.

1. Industrial woodworkers
If you’ve got sawmills, joiners or other woodworkers near to your home, it’s worth a quick telephone call to find out if they ever have off-cuts of wood that they need to get rid of. If one of the staff has a fire or wood-burning stove, you might find that any spare wood has already been spoken for. But you’d be surprised how many places not only have leftover wood but are also paying to dispose of it and are only too glad to give it away for free.

2. Recycling websites
Sites such as Freegle and Freecycle often advertise wood that is free to a good home. This might be because the users have leftover wood from work – such as the examples given above – or perhaps they’ve had a tree cut down in their garden and want to see it put to good use. Whatever the motive, you’ll regularly find people offering free wood if you’re happy to collect it.

3. Skips
Keep your eyes peeled for skips as you go about your business. It’s worth having a look to see if there’s any suitable wood inside and, if there is, asking the owner whether you can take it. Often people with skips are being charged by the volume of rubbish that they’re disposing, so they might be pleased for you to reduce the volume.

4. Pallet suppliers and distribution companies
Wooden pallets are still widely used in retail and distribution. But with lots of heavy loads placed upon them and the strain of being hoisted by forklift trucks, these pallets are prone to getting broken, at which point they’re of no use. You can contact companies that supply and use pallets to see if they have any broken pallets to get rid of, or to ask that they call you when they do. As with all the other options on this list, just make sure the pallets are untreated to avoid damage to your appliance.

5. Tidying up after a storm
If you’re usually fed up when there’s a storm outside, it’s time to change that attitude. Traditionally, there is calm before the storm… but afterwards it’s the perfect opportunity to get busy collecting wood. With fallen trees and branches available, you can clear up your local area and collect some free wood at the same time.

Have you found a great source of free wood? Let us know in the comments section below.

8 thoughts on “Five great sources of free wood for your wood-burning stove

  1. I have been lucky in the last 2 years, in collecting wood from neighbours’ refurbishments and extensions. Unwanted old joists and rafters and floorboards for burning and tile battens for kindling. Also 5 trunks from a removed holly hedge opposite. I have also been to my local double glazing firm and got old hardwood door and window frames. You have to remove all the gooey stuff and varnish but it helps me, as a pensioner to keep fit and they are a very good long lasting burn. You can always try a tree surgeon, they sell their larger wood but often dump the branches.

  2. Our relative works for a builders merchants who have more than their fare share of pallets which they can’t burn in their yard and removal costs are great so they are glad when we pick up said pallets for our wood burner. The pallets are also useful for stacking logs etc to dry over time. Freecycle is often a good source of obtaining old wood from d.i.y building projects etc, we have to ensure the timber is free from preservatives etc.

  3. I have fund a local guy who deals in used scaffold boards and he let’s me have the ones which are split etc for from,. A bit of work with a circular saw and I have all the free wood I can burn.

    • Hi Wendy

      It depends what they’re made from. Pine isn’t an ideal wood for a stove in an form, including pallets. But the main problem with pallet wood is if it has been treated. This can cause damage to your stove.

      Thanks,

      Gr8Fires

  4. Hi
    We’ve loads of roof joists from a Victorian house. 1900’s. Are these ok to burn on our log burner? I’ve heard they may produce arsenic?
    Thankyou.

    • Hi Keri

      It will all depend on whether the timber has been treated. If it’s untreated, you should be okay to burn it.

      The arsenic thing probaby refers to chromated copper arsenate, a wood treatment that came into use in the 1930s.

      Thanks,

      Gr8Fires

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