The honest guide

Red Gum firewood: is it really the best?

Red Gum is one of Australia's most prized firewoods — but there's a lot of marketing nonsense written about it. Here's the honest version: what it's genuinely good at, how it compares to other wood, and how to tell if what you're buying is properly seasoned.

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What is Red Gum, and why is it prized?

River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) is a dense Australian hardwood that's long been the firewood of choice across Victoria and southern New South Wales. Its strength is that it produces long-lasting, excellent coals that hold heat — ideal for keeping a slow-combustion heater going overnight — and, because it's a single known species, every load burns consistently.

Being straight with you: Red Gum is not the single hottest-burning firewood. On the Victorian Government's own firewood table, a few species such as Grey Box and Red Ironbark are denser again. But Red Gum sits firmly in the premium tier for density and coals, and it's far more consistent — and easier to get in quantity — than a random "mixed hardwood" load.

Where does ours come from? Our Red Gum is sustainably sourced from local Victorian farmers — not logged from native forests. It's farm-sourced here in Victoria rather than native-forest timber, which is a more responsible source, and it means we can tell you exactly where every load originates. Where our wood comes from →

Split seasoned red gum firewood stacked, showing dense grain and dry checked ends

Red Gum vs "mixed hardwood": density is value

Here's the fact most sellers won't tell you: all properly dried firewood contains roughly the same energy per kilogram — about 19–21 MJ/kg — regardless of species. What changes with species is the energy per cubic metre, because denser wood packs more mass (and so more heat) into the same volume.

So when you buy firewood by the cubic metre, a denser species is simply better value — you get more heat for the same volume. That's the real case for Red Gum over "mixed hardwood," which has no standard definition and can legitimately be padded with much lighter, lower-density timbers.

Firewood	Density	Coals	Best for
River Red Gum	High	Excellent	Slow-combustion heaters, overnight burns
Box / Ironbark	Very high	Excellent	Also premium — denser again than Red Gum
"Mixed hardwood"	Varies	Varies	Cheaper, but inconsistent load to load
Pine / softwood	Low	Poor	Kindling and starting fires only

Species heat and density figures reflect the Victorian Government's firewood properties guidance and the Firewood Association of Australia. We sell only Red Gum.

How much firewood do I need? →

Open fireplace or slow-combustion heater?

Red Gum is at its very best in a slow-combustion wood heater, where its dense coals really earn their keep. In an open fireplace it behaves a little differently, and it's worth knowing before you buy.

It burns steadily, not with big flames. The Firewood Association notes Red Gum doesn't produce a lot of flame, so some people prefer a livelier species for the "show" of an open fire.
It can spit a little, so use a fire screen with an open fire.
It's slow to catch. Start your fire with kindling or a lighter species, then add Red Gum once you have a bed of coals.

One efficiency note worth knowing: according to the Australian Government's YourHome guidance, an open fireplace loses up to 90% of its heat straight up the chimney, while a modern slow-combustion heater can be up to 85% efficient. If you heat mainly with an open fire, you'll simply get through more wood — see how much firewood you need.

What "seasoned" means — and how to spot green wood

"Seasoned" means the wood has been dried to a low moisture content — generally 12–20%, and below 25% at the most — so it burns hot and clean. This matters more than species: burning green (unseasoned) wood gives off only about 40% of the energy of dry wood, and the rest is wasted boiling off water and building creosote in your flue, which is both inefficient and a chimney-fire risk.

You can check firewood yourself. Signs that wood is still green:

The split face is darker in the middle than at the edges.
It feels cool or damp to the touch.
It's noticeably heavy for its size.
Knocked together, two pieces give a dull thud rather than a sharp, ringing crack.

Bring a moisture meter. A basic firewood moisture meter costs about $30, and you're welcome to test our wood on delivery. We'd rather you check than wonder.

How long does seasoning take? Sources vary — the Victorian Government's guidance says at least six months, EPA Victoria recommends at least eight, and the Firewood Association puts it at roughly 6–12 months depending on how the wood is cut and stored. The point is that properly dried wood, however long it took, is what you want to be burning.

Ready when you are: seasoned Red Gum, $499/m³, delivered and stacked across inner and middle Melbourne.

Order Online → 📞 0414 103 255

Storing firewood at home

Once it's delivered, a few simple habits keep firewood in good condition:

Keep it off the ground on pallets, bricks or timber so moisture isn't drawn up from the soil.
Cover the top, leave the sides open — an open-sided shed or a spot with good airflow is ideal. EPA Victoria suggests stacking in a criss-cross pattern for air movement.
Not against the house — firewood against a wall can act as a bridge for termites.
In bushfire-prone areas, keep the stack well clear of the building.

When we deliver, we stack the wood with all of this in mind — that's the whole point of our delivered-and-stacked service.

Ready for a warmer winter?

Seasoned Red Gum, $499 per cubic metre, delivered and stacked across inner and middle Melbourne. Call or text Jake — we answer personally.

Order Online — $499/m³ → 📞 Call Us — 0414 103 255

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