Firewood prices go up as cold moves in

A pile of firewood for sale. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Put another log on the fire - well, hold that thought.

As the autumn days get chillier, the cost of warming your feet before an open fire is rising.

Many types of wood are selling for more than $100 a cubic metre.

Firewood sellers say price rises are on the way, continuing a pattern of yearly increases that began in the early 2000s.

Statistics NZ figures show the price of firewood began to climb from 2001 after several stable years - and sellers say further rises are likely this winter.

Consumer advocates say the best way to get cheap, dry wood is to buy it at the end of winter and store it over summer.

But human nature means many people leave it until autumn, when they begin to feel cold.

Sellers blamed rising fuel costs and demand for export logs for price rises.

Hudson Lusty of The Woodshed said prices rose $5 a cubic metre last year, and slow-burning ti-tree, which was becoming difficult to get, would go up another $10 over Easter.

North Shore firewood seller Noel Crawford said prices had been rising about 5 per cent a year, mainly because of the rising cost of the fuel needed to transport wood from forests in places such as Northland and Gisborne.

Another central Auckland firewood seller, who did not want to be named, said he would probably increase his prices by $5 a metre this year - an increase of about 5 per cent.

Auckland may be feeling the pinch worse than other places: A survey of 82 firewood sellers by Consumer Magazine in February found Auckland and Wellington were the most expensive places to buy firewood.

The average cost in Auckland was $75 a metre for pine, $85 for macrocarpa and $105 for gum.

An informal Herald survey of eight Auckland suppliers this week found several businesses were selling wood for more than that.

Pine, the cheapest wood, was selling for $70 to $100 a cubic metre, ti-tree was fetching between $140 and $150, and wattle, gum and totara were between these extremes.

Consumer Magazine senior writer Bill Whitley said firewood was still a good option if users followed recommended guidelines.

The cost-effectiveness varied, depending on the type of fire and the skill of the person operating it, he said.

Dry firewood cut into small pieces and burned hot in a modern, low-emissions woodburner was the cheapest and warmest, and the best type of fire for the environment, he said.

"In general we still find that firewood is probably the cheapest heating fuel of the lot."

He said if wood was bought in November and stored over summer it would be dry by the time it was needed, and would probably cost a more reasonable price.

"If you wait until you are feeling cold then you pay more ... and I wouldn't be too trusting about how dry it is."

Environment regulators say inefficient domestic fires are a major source of air pollution, and contribute to winter asthma rates and breathing difficulties.

Open fires were not assessed for Consumer's latest home heating survey because the magazine said they were poor heaters and created a lot of pollution for the amount of heat.

"With a modern low emissions burner, if it is burned properly there should be very little smoke coming out of the chimney - but it is dependent on the person operating the fire," said Mr Whitley.

Another issue to watch for was log size: "Often the chunks you get [from a firewood seller] are too big for modern woodburners."