With winter fast approaching firewood merchants have a steady stream of customers stocking up for the cold months ahead.
The Bay of Plenty Regional Council has been encouraging people to get their wood early to ensure it's dry in time for winter.
Alan Newby of Burnable Firewood in Rotorua said the last few months had been very busy with the rush starting earlier than usual this year. He said the firm prided itself on providing dry wood.
"When we run out of the good stuff we stop selling rather than sell anything wet," he said. "But last year we sold out in August so we almost got through the whole winter."
Fabian Goldbert of Blazing Firewood reckons he knows a thing or two about firewood after selling it in Rotorua for 22 years. Despite the temporary inconvenience of being located by the recently demolished Lake Rd bridge, he said business was going well.
"We are always busy, we are the biggest in the Bay," he said.
He said he had kept his price at $85 per cubic metre since 2006 which was "extremely tough" to do and was only possible due to the massive volume and high quality of the wood he traded.
"The firewood corporation I work with approached me with the best firewood out there. It had stood dead for three years so is already 70-75 per cent dry when we get it, we got it in October/November last year and cut, split and covered it," he said.
"It contains no sap, which is the pollutant."
Firewood Direct's Claire Pryde said they started getting busy about three weeks ago when the mornings began to get cooler.
She said while most people knew they should get their supplies early, many couldn't afford to get an entire winter's worth at once, or they didn't have the storage space.
"People are therefore relying on merchants to have it dry, so they need to make sure the merchant has dry wood," she said.
Top Quality Firewood's Darren Evans said he guaranteed his firewood, offering replacement wood or money back if a customer was not happy.
"I've been doing that for five years, it takes the guessing game out for people," he said.
"But generally we get it right first time."
He said he hadn't been too busy yet.
"March is traditionally a big month but times are different now," he said.
"You get a lot of fly-by-nighters on the side of the road and people are penny pinching."
He said he sold mainly to farms and rural areas and his price varied depending on type of wood and delivery destination.
Goodwood Firewood owner Tony Redstone said his business mainly sold wood by the truckload. This year he had seen a lot of people ordering two or three at once, stocking up for the winter.
Leppers Wood Yard owner John Stranks said March had been busier than normal.
"The council has been advertising to get wood early plus we have been advertising as well," he said.
"People should always get in early because you don't know how cold it's going to be and people could run out of dry wood."
Mr Stranks said he thought Rotorua people had become more aware of the importance of burning dry wood and now looked more closely at what they were buying.
Rod Vanner of Ohaaki Heat said while his wood was more expensive than others on the market, it was thermally enhanced so burned hotter and for longer than other wood.
"You only need one or two pieces to burn at a time. People that use it soon work that out for themselves," he said.
Nearly half of Rotorua residents use wood burners, open fires or multi-burners as their main source of heating. These are the biggest contributor to winter air pollution and the council has until September 2013 to reduce pollution levels in line with national standards.
For information on how to store wood correctly and clean wood burning tips visit www.boprc.govt.nz
Firewood Tips
Courtesy of Bay of Plenty Regional Council
FIREWOOD PRICES
Per cubic metre (includes delivery within certain areas)
Burnable Firewood
Pine: $50
Douglas fir: $65
Gum: $75
Top Quality Firewood
From $60- $100
Firewood Direct
Douglas fir/gum mix: $75
Blazing Firewood
Gum: $85
Leppers Woodyard
Douglas fir: $80
Gum: $85
Goodwood Firewood*
Macrocarpa: $250
Native Mix: $300
Ohaaki Heat Firewood**
Enhanced pine $12.50 shop/$10 online
*Price per truckload - approx 3.5 cubic metres
**Price per bundle - approx 10-12 bundles per cubic metre