fatwood vs dried kiln wood from lowes

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micaaronfl

Member
Dec 5, 2010
199
pennsylvania
is fatwood better for a wood insert or dried kiln sticks from lowes?

also are the fire started gel packs ok to use in an insert? been using newspaper but its kinda smokey.

lastly i heard black sycamore burns the hottest? around me in Pennsylvania i can only find a mix of pa hardwoods. anyone Pennsylvanians know where to get it locally?
 
gd9704 said:
I'm not a fatwood fan. Way too smokey for me. Do yourself a favor, e-mail a request to [email protected] and get your free sample of Super Cedars. You'll "see the light" and never look back!

Yep.... Super Cedars all the way. Lights fast, burns long, and builds quick heat to get draft going (if you have a starting problem). Also 1 Super cedar can be broke into quarters. So you can use as much, or as little as you want.

I tried Fatwood. It works. Just not as good. IMO. To each there own.
 
I've seen enough glowing reviews of super cedars to know that what I will use if we ever run out of dead fall...

However even on my small half acre I get more dead fallen branches every year than I know what to do with. I'd rather use them to light the stove than pile in the woods or have to burn in a pit. Maybe my trees are sickly but I just can't picture ever needing to buy kinling and I'm not exactly in a rural area...
 
I use one stick of fatwood per startup. Unles it's one of those crappy fatwoods (about one in ten or so), then I use two. I haven'y tried the SupeCedars yet, so I don't know how they compare to the fatwood. Although, there seems to be ALOT of SuperCedar fans on Hearth, so that may steer you in one diretcion....
 
We used to use fatwood and it was okay but certainly not the best. After graduating to the Super Cedars, I'll never go back to fatwood or newspapers.
 
I haven't tried the super cedars yet but maybe I will sometime in the future. Right now I get a box of "starter logg" at Walmart for $10.00 and then cut the log bricks into 1"x2" sections on my miter saw. I get almost 100 pieces cutting them like this which equals out to $0.10 per start. That's pretty cheap I think. I light one of those along with some pallet slats (pallets are free) and then add my splits.
 
micaaronfl said:
so do you guys just light the cedar, no newspaper needed?

You got it! I break into quarters, one in front and one in back, let burn for a about 5 minutes, then load small splits and kindling around them. Works awesome - just takes some tinkering to get the right method for your stove, like any other aspect of burning. Of course, 24/7 now - probably won't see a SC for a few months! Cheers!
 
+...? How many is it now..? Super Cedars. Yeah, defintely. I'm a convert and a true believer.
 
micaaronfl said:
so do you guys just light the cedar, no newspaper needed?

A "Super Cedar Firestarter" is a cake made of wax and cedar sawdust, I think. You can light it with a match and it burns for several minutes (10? 20? I don't usually burn a whole one and don't use a stop watch so I am not sure) but the point is it burns long enough to ignite kindling or dry splits. I find that in order to use just a supercedar and no kindling you need very dry firewood, not just seasoned and stored outside but seasoned and kept indoors long enough for the surface layer to be pretty dry. I always use lots of kindling because my flue is made of clay tile and it works best if I get the fire hot fast. So, for me it is firestarter plus kindling.

I have never heard of any tree called Black Sycamore. I am not sure why the American Sycamore which is common in PA would make especially good kindling - maybe it splits easily into small sizes? I usually use red cedar, pine, or spruce for kindling but you can use what you have as long as it splits easily.
 
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