DURING the storms of January 7-8, more than 500,000 trees were blown down across Cumbria, including hardwoods, such as oaks, birch, beech and sycamore. Troutbeck man, Frank Leaver, who has been selling wood burning stoves for nearly 40 years, explains how to make the best use out of all the extra firewood, which will now be for sale...

Much of the timber brought down by the storms can be turned into posts or planks or can be used commercially. But there are still large amounts of wood, which can be used as firewood.

Nobody likes to see fallen trees, especially hardwoods, but you can make the most of the fallen timber by burning it as efficiently as possible.

The importance of burning dry and seasoned wood, cannot be over emphasised. Much of the wood available will be "green" and contain a lot of sap. It may also contain as much as 80 per cent moisture.

If the wood is burned in this condition, it could lead to a range of difficulties, such as condensation problems in chimneys and flues. The wood will not also create as much heat or burn for the same length of time as wood which has been seasoned.

So to get full benefit from wood which has blown down in the storms, ensure that it is stored in such a way that air can easily circulate around and let it dry for a minimum of six months.

If you are buying logs for immediate use make sure that your supplier can give you an assurance that the wood has been seasoned.

Seasoned logs will be light to the touch and will have radial cracks from the centre to the outside of the wood.