Finns heat their homes with wood
Finnish homes are still heated with wood, and it is an important heat source especially in detached houses. The most recent data collected by the Natural Resources Institute Finland, or Luke, are from the 2016/2017 heating season, when we burned a total of 5.9 million solid cubic meters of firewood.
If the 5.9 million solid cubic meters of firewood used during the 2016/2017 heating season were stacked as a 1-meter-high pile of split firewood, it would stretch nearly 8 times from one end of Finland to the other. This amount could heat an average fireplace 362 million times!
Average annual firewood consumption was 5.2 cubic meters in detached houses and 2.4 cubic meters at cabins.
The statistics are based on information provided by residents or owners of approximately 4,100 detached houses.
The origin of firewood
Of course, it is easy to determine the origin of wood felled from a local farmer’s own forest. A bag of wood picked up at a gas station or a batch ordered online requires a little more effort.
Mostly domestic wood is burned in Finland, but some is imported as well. According to statistics from Luke, 17,000 m3 of firewood was imported last year. According to Customs foreign trade statistics, most imports came from Russia, with the remainder coming from the Baltic countries, Sweden, and Ukraine. A total of 17,000 m3 of firewood was imported last year.
So, what should you find out about the origin of the wood? The quality of firewood is defined by the EN 14961-5 firewood standard. The best firewood is quality class A1. The quality of the firewood may also meet the requirements of the Norwegian Norsk Standard NS 4414.
Firewood may also be described as having grown in a PEFC-certified forest. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, PEFC is an international forest certification system that promotes ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable forestry around the world. In Finland, around 90%, or 18.1 Mha, of commercially managed forests are PEFC-certified.
The Key Flag Symbol, in turn, verifies that the product is domestic.
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