Could firewood be threatened? Not really. Certainly, the use of traditional chimney with an open fireplace is increasingly criticized and sometimes prohibited in view of the pollution it releases. But wood nonetheless remains the country’s leading renewable energy, used by 7 million households, or one in four French people. Logs traditional, densified logs, pellets or granules… wood constitutes a particularly attractive economical and ecological alternative. A price up to 5 times lower than electricity and overall 30% more advantageous than gas.
Heating with wood represents, however, a real budget (count 860 euros per year for a 100 m² house) and the method of distribution still remains fairly local and punctual. Based on this observation, the Fioulreduc company, which has operated a fuel oil ordering website since 2012, has chosen to expand its activity to firewood by launching Boisreduc. “In both cases, the word reduction applies to the price but also to the idea of better controlling and understanding one’s energy consumption to reduce it», underlines Maëlle Ricard, director of operations at Boisreduc.
Less than 20% humidity
In this case, the company does not necessarily claim to offer the lowest price but rather “the fairest price depending on location”. It is true that with its network of 41 distribution partners, it only covers half of the territory (18,100 municipalities and 76 departments) while waiting to cover three quarters by the end of the year. In the future, the company also plans to offer bulk orders at reduced prices, as it already does for fuel oil.
For the moment, it tries to distinguish itself by offering wood of French and regional origin as much as possible and systematically certified to guarantee a quality product, low humidity and based on species adapted to its location (hardwood for logs: oak, hornbeam, elm, chestnut, softwood for pellets). “Quality wood must have less than 20% humidity, recalls Maëlle Ricard. Otherwise, the fuel pollutes more and will clog the boiler, the stove or the insert.”
For the moment, the majority of firewood consumption still concerns traditional logs (89%), far ahead of pellets, these wood pellets (10%), chips and other densified logs representing fully more than 1%. . However, it should be noted that the sale of pellets has increased tenfold over the last 10 years and is still far from its full potential.
But confinement caused an unprecedented surge in prices, with that of pellets having almost doubled between spring 2021 and the peak of October 2022. Since then, prices have calmed down a little and started to fall again.