So when the temperature plummeted to minus four degrees early yesterday, it was the start of what he describes as the silly season.

The local bloke who specialises in firewood supplies is ready for the winter rush, having just taken delivery of semi-trailer loads of blocked ironbark and yellow box timber from out west.

“My phone hasn’t stopped ringing,” he said yesterday. “The colder the better, I say. I love it. The frosty mornings remind everyone it’s time to get their wood shed in order for what’s ahead.”

Mr Roberts is a regular advertiser in the Western Advocate classifieds for AAA Firewood and says his latest shipment is timber felled from land clearing or from private properties in the far west of the state.

“We bring it to Bathurst blocked up on the back of trucks and split it in our yard here,” he said. “I don’t know how many horsepower it cranks out, but it’s a fair bit because it runs from a V8 engine. There hasn’t been anything yet this beast can’t handle.”

With Bathurst famous for its notoriously cold winter, Mr Roberts said he moved to Bathurst from Sydney’s lower north shore a couple of years ago to take over the business from his brother-in-law Simon.

“My girlfriend made the move first and kept hinting that I should follow her and make a tree change, too,” he said. “It’s a decision I haven’t regretted. Business is great and I love the city.”

As for the people who prefer a wood heater, Mr Roberts says it’s a cross-section of people who live both in and out of town.

“A wood fire is a much better form of heat than gas,” he said. “There’s just something about it that you don’t get from an air conditioner.

“The more senior residents grew up with an open fire and throwing another log on the heater brings back special memories for them.

“There’s also the rising price of electricity to consider and wood heating is more cost effective.”