Best Supermarket Logs: Asda, ALDI, Tesco, LIDL, Sainsbury's (Updated December 2023)

As the cost of living crisis rages on, more and more people switching from expensive gas and electric heating to more affordable wood heating this year. After purchasing their new wood stoves and perhaps a few log burner accessories, these novice customers are faced with an unexpected problem: Where to buy Ready to Burn logs and wood briquettes?

Is it best to purchase logs and briquettes from a local sawmill or a specialist wood fuel supplier, or will the offerings of your nearest supermarket more than suffice?

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That last option, purchasing your wood fuels at the supermarket, is particularly tempting. After all, what can be more convenient than purchasing a box of firewood or heat logs while going grocery shopping? The prices are reasonable. You don't have to wait for delivery. And you can purchase as much (or as little) as you want. Sounds perfect, doesn't it?

Unfortunately, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. As supermarkets don’t specialise in logs and briquettes, the quality of their offerings depends solely on their supply partners. Some of us have also had pleasant experiences with supermarket logs, and many others have had bad experiences.

To help you make the right choice and understand what is it that you're buying, we’ll compare supermarket logs from Asda, Aldi, Tesco, LIDL, and Sainsbury's.

Buying wood fuel at a local supermarket or petrol station can be tempting.

In this article, we’ll compare the logs from all these supermarkets based on three criteria:

• Wood Fuel Quality. How good is the quality of the logs and briquettes that the supermarket is actually selling?
• Product Selection. How wide is their wood fuel selection? Do they only stock basic seasoned logs, or can you also purchase more niche products, such as fire logs, night briquettes, and natural firelighters?
• Product Price. Lastly, we need to talk about price. Are you actually saving money when buying your logs at the supermarket. Or are you paying speciality prices for a low end product?

At the end of the article, we’ll tell you which supermarket chain sells the best logs, which chain has the widest wood fuel product selection, and which chain offers the best prices.

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Why Would I Buy Logs From Asda, ALDI, or Tesco?

Here are the main benefits of buying your logs and briquettes from a nationwide supermarket chain, according to our wood fuel experts:

• Convenience and availability. Few things can be more convenient buying your firewood at your local LIDL or Aldi while you're already there doing your grocery shopping.
• No need to wait for delivery. Nobody likes waiting for delivery. By nipping into your local supermarket, you can get your logs in just a few minutes, rather than having to wait upwards of several days for delivery.
• Ability to buy wood fuel in smaller quantities. If you only need a single pack of birch logs, buying them from a supermarket makes a lot of sense, since you don't have to pay for delivery. While a speciality supplier like Lekto can offer free UK delivery on orders over £75, you will have to pay a a £5.95 delivery fee if you want to make a smaller order.
• Lower price when buying in small quantities. And if you're only planning on buying one box, the prices you get from a supermarket can actually beat out a speciality supplier. This being said, you can get a much better price from a speciality supplier if you order in bulk or take advantage of Value Bundles.

As you can see. Going to your local supermarket is a lot easier than finding a local wood fuel supplier near you. And you’re working with a known brand, so there’s less that can wrong with the transaction itself.

Supermarket Logs vs Logs From National Suppliers

Before we tell you which are the best supermarket logs, let's discuss another option of sourcing your household's logs and briquettes. If you have an experienced wood fuel user in your life, then they most likely already told you about it. What is it?

The vast majority of experienced log burner appliance users agree that the best way to stock up on wood fuels is by purchasing them from a trusted supplier that specialises in wood fuels, rather than a supermarket or petrol station.

The Main Advantages of Choosing a Specialised Wood Fuel Supplier

• Larger product selection. A specialised wood fuel supplier will generally have a larger product selection. This gives you the convenience to purchase all of the firewood, wood briquettes, fire starting materials, and kindling you’ll need for the heating season in one place.
• Higher product quality. Unlike supermarkets,  which sell a little bit of everything, dedicated wood fuel suppliers build their entire reputation on the quality of their firewood and briquettes, so you can expect a higher quality product when purchasing from a well-known supplier.
• Ability to save by buying in bulk. One of the great things about buying from a national supplier is the ability to save by ordering in bulk. When purchasing a pallet of briquettes, you can expect to pay half of what you’d pay when buying a single pack.
• Free UK delivery. If you live far away from a supermarket that sells firewood, you may find it difficult to stock up for the winter. Most large online wood fuel suppliers offer free UK delivery on orders over £75.
• Knowledgeable customer support. Wood fuel suppliers specialise in what they sell, so their customer support staff will be more than happy to give you expert feedback.

With this out of the way, let’s see which supermarket sells the best logs in the UK.

Asda offers a selection of logs, briquettes, coal, and fire starting products.

Are Asda Logs & Briquettes Any Good?

Asda sells a modest selection of kiln-dried logs, briquettes, coal, and fire starting products on the Logs & Winter Fuel section of their official website. These products come from a wide-variety of low-end wood fuel brands. Some of these suppliers are well-established, while others are unheard of. As a result, quality may vary wildly depending on which brand of fuel you go with.

Asda Logs & Briquettes Brands

As of December 2023, Asda sources their winter fuel products from the following brands:

• Homefire.
• Surefire Wood.
• Warma.
• True Flame.
• ZIP.

In the past, they sold products by Big K and Fuelsell.

What Logs to Buy at Asda?

The only brand of logs, briquettes, and other heating fuels that you can find at Asda that our wood fuel experts can recommend is Homefire. While Homefire's cannot offer the same quality as a specialised supplier like Lekto, they are leaps and bounds ahead of other brands you can find at Asda. Homefire's offerings are fully certified according to Defra's Ready to Burn quality assurance scheme (read more about it here) and offer good consistency for a low-end supplier.

You can read more about Homefire in our full Homefire review.

What Logs to Avoid at Asda?

In addition to time-tested Homefire logs and briquettes, Asda sells a variety of heating fuels from lesser-known low-end brands, such as Surefire Wood, Warma, True Flame, ZIP, and Surefire Wood. With reputation being everything in the wood fuel industry, we would avoid these brands in favour of Homefire.

Asda Logs Ready to Burn Certification

Their logs and briquettes are certified according to Defra’s Ready to Burn standard, which means they contain no more than 20% moisture. This makes them safe to use in log burners and multi-fuel stoves.

Asda Logs Customer Reviews

According to online reviews, Asda customers are generally satisfied with the quality they get for their money. This being said, most of these are older reviews from a time when Asda's shelves were dominated by products from Homefire.

Tesco sources its logs and briquettes from Homefire Group Ltd. 

Are Tesco Logs Any Good?

As of December 2023, Tesco sells a miniscule selection of kiln-dried logs and briquettes under the CPL and Homefire brands. Both of these brands are produced by Homefire Group Ltd, a wholesale producer who also supplies wood fuels to Asda, B&Q, Morrisons, and Sainsbury’s. While Homefire's offerings cannot compete with speciality suppliers in terms of quality, they're as good as it gets when it comes to what you can buy at a supermarket or a petrol station.

Tesco Logs Customer Reviews

Tesco’s CPL kiln-dried logs have a customer rating of 2.4 stars. Such a rating is typical of logs purchased at a supermarket or petrol station. If you are seeking higher quality logs, consider buying them from a well-known speciality supplier like Lekto Woodfuels.

Customer reviews frequently mention that the logs purchased at Tesco are wet and sometimes even mouldy. If this is true, it is unacceptable for a wood fuel as wet wood smokes and produces dozens of toxic compounds (such as creosote) when burned. This most likely means that employees in certain Tesco locations aren't overly diligent about storing their wood fuel products properly. 

Tesco Logs & Briquettes Brands

As of December 2023, Tesco sells wood fuels under the Homefire and CPL brands. Both of these brands are manufactured by Homefire Group Ltd.

What Logs to Buy at Tesco?

As all wood fuels sold at Tesco are made by Homefire group, they can be of more than acceptable quality for something you buy at a supermarket or a petrol station.

Curious about Homefire? Find out more by reading our review of the Homefire brand.

What Logs to Avoid at Tesco?

When buying logs at Tesco, examine the packaging for damage and sings of mould. This is necessary because several customer reviews mention Tesco logs being wet and mouldy. The problem is most likely caused by improper storage.

Tesco Logs Ready to Burn Certification

All Tesco logs and briquettes are certified according to Defra’s Ready to Burn standard.

The sole kiln-dried log product at ALDI was taken down after receiving negative reviews.

Are ALDI Logs & Briquettes Any Good?

At the time this article was written, ALDI didn’t have any logs or briquettes in stock. In the past, they have sold firewood and heat logs from the Winter Flame brand. These products received negative reviews from buyers and were discontinued as a result. We have no information on whether they will continue selling wood fuels in the future.

ALDI Logs Customer Reviews

ALDI's Winter Flame logs received negative reviews from buyers. As a result, the product was discontinued. The sole review that is still visible on ALDI's website is a one-star review from a UK customer.

Are Sainsbury's Logs Any Good?

In terms of quality, Sainsbury's logs are second to none. As of December 2023, Sainsbury’s only sells two wood fuel products, those being Instant Firelogs from Rectella International and Tiger Tim Firelogs from Tiger Tim Products. Both products are highly rated by customers, have Ready to Burn certification, and are of high quality.

The only problem is the high price. At the time of writing, these products will set you back between £3.00 and £3.50 per log. In comparison, Lekto’s Pini Kay Eco Logs, a nearly identical product, cost just a little over £1 per log (£24.95 per pack of 24).

Sainsbury’s Logs Customer Reviews

Both of Sainsbury’s wood fuel products are well-reviewed and have high customer ratings, which is to be expected for the premium price.

Sainsbury’s Logs & Briquettes Brands

As of December 2023, Sainsbury’s sells wood fuel products by Rectella International and Tiger Tim Products. Both of these are lesser-known premium brands.

What Logs to Buy at Sainsbury’s?

All logs sold at Sainsbury’s are of a very high quality. This being said, the prices of these products are very steep. Purchasing your logs and briquettes from a speciality supplier will be a lot more affordable.

What Logs to Avoid at Sainsbury’s?

If you don't look at prices when entering the supermarket, you can safely buy any log product at Sainsbury’s. If you are more budget-conscious, on the other hand, we would advise sourcing your logs from a speciality supplier.

Sainsbury’s Logs Ready to Burn Certification

All of the logs and briquettes sold at Sainsbury’s are 100% certified according to Defra’s Ready to Burn standard. This means they will burn cleanly, be easy to light, and produce less smoke when burned.

Are LIDL Logs Any Good?

LIDL Great Britain used to sell Heat Logs in the past, but they currently don’t sell any wood fuel products nation-wide. Wood fuels periodically pop up in LIDL, but never for a long time. This is likely caused by the recent supply draught in the UK wood fuel industry.

We will update this section of the article when LIDL begins to sell logs and briquettes consistently.

Which UK Supermarket Has the Best Logs?

Judging by quality alone, Sainsbury’s is by far the UK supermarket chain with the best logs. Their Instant Firelogs and Tiger Tim Firelogs are high-quality products that will grace any wood stove. The only con is their price, with them costing 3 times as much as a near-identical product purchased from a specialised wood fuel supplier.

Which Supermarket Has the Widest Log Selection?

Asda has by far the best log selection of all UK supermarkets. They offer a nice selection of firewood, briquettes, and kindling from several producers.  

Which Supermarket Has the Cheapest Logs?

On average, we’ve found Tesco’s firewood to be cheaper per kilogramme than what you find in Sainsbury’s and Asda. This being said, you need to inspect your logs before buying them at Tesco, since improper storage is a frequent issue with them.