Firewood requirement calculator

Three examples run through the calculator. Daily use is the kilos you burn on a normal working day. Weigh one full day of wood once and you have a number you can trust.

To turn this into a budget, add your price per tonne. For example, at Rs 4,000 a tonne (a sample figure, not our price) the restaurant above spends about Rs 6,240 a month before delivery.

• Moisture. Freshly cut wood can hold close to half its weight in water, and that water has to boil off before the wood gives useful heat. Drier wood gives more heat per kilo and less smoke, so you burn fewer tonnes.
• Size of the pieces. Split pieces catch faster and burn more evenly. Thick logs suit boilers and furnaces that run for long hours.
• How you burn it. A closed firebox or boiler with good airflow gets more heat out of each kilo than an open fire.
• Season. Rain slows drying and makes stored wood damp, so many buyers keep more stock through the monsoon.

Read how to buy firewood by the tonne for the checks to make on each load.

• Stack wood off the ground on bricks or pallets so it does not soak up water from the floor.
• Cover the top of the stack but keep the sides open, so air can move through and keep drying it.
• Use the oldest wood first, so nothing sits long enough to rot.
• Keep a clear gap between the stack, walls and any open flame.

Buying for a business? See eucalyptus firewood by the tonne for supply and delivery.