Is your firewood dry enough?

Eight months, under cover

EPA Victoria's advice is to burn only dry, seasoned, untreated hardwood, and to store it for at least 8 months in a shed or covered area with good air flow. Stack it criss-cross so air gets through. Forest Fire Management Victoria puts it the other way round: most firewood is green when it's cut and needs 8 to 12 months to dry.

So wood cut this spring is next winter's. EPA notes that unseasoned wood is cheaper to buy in spring, if you have the room to dry it yourself.

Checked 25 October 2026 against EPA Victoria: manage smoke from wood heaters and Forest Fire Management Victoria: find a firewood collection area.

Drying wood in the hills

Cover and air flow are the two things EPA asks for. A stack left uncovered, or pushed against a damp wall, gets neither. Keeping it off bare earth helps too. In a bushfire area, CFA's advice is to keep it away from the house in summer (see woodpiles and fire season).

Checked 25 October 2026 against EPA Victoria: manage smoke from wood heaters and CFA: preparing for bushfire season.

What never goes in the heater

• Painted wood, which can contain chemicals.
• Treated timber, including the green-coloured pine logs used in parks and playgrounds.
• Coal, coke, driftwood and household rubbish.
• Building offcuts, old fence timber and railway sleepers, which Knox council warns may be treated with a preservative.

Use the fuel named on your heater's compliance plate.

Checked 25 October 2026 against EPA Victoria: manage smoke from wood heaters and Knox City Council: wood heaters and woodsmoke.

Asking a supplier

Ask how long the wood has been cut and how it was stored. A supplier who sells green wood should say so, and price it that way. Where the wood came from is the other question worth asking; the buying guide covers it.