How to load Bio bricks w/ wood for overnight burns

I experimented last winter with my Pleasant Hearth.

I took a clue from their directions regarding placing the bricks as close together as possible and not leaving air gaps between them.

But I just put one brick on the bare firebrick (not on coals) and boxed it in with splits that had straight surfaces, with the splits right up against the front, back and top of the brick. All that was exposed was the ends.

That way, the splits burn for a while and eventually the brick sees the light of day, and then it does its thing.

With the bigger firebox in my Englander 30, I would probably adapt this notion but use two or four bricks. Just haven't done it yet.

Let us know what you try and how it works.

Nancy

I burn 100% bricks and have been for a couple of years now. When your stovetop is about 300 as your burn is winding down, push all your coals to the rear (n/s loader) or rear corner (e/w loader) of the stove. Stack your bricks in a solid mass (no gaps), pushing them tight into the coalbed. You want to pack the bricks so that you have about 3/4 to an inch between the brickpile and the sides of the stove. Face the "Bio" imprints towards the glass (in other words, the bricks are sitting "wide"), as the bricks expand more front to back than they do side to side. Do not pack them tight against the front door, you want at least a brick and a half depth between the door and the pile. Size of pile is dependent on your stove. A Blaze King will probably eat 20+ bricks. My little Kent, which is about the same size as a PE TrueNorth, will eat only about 12 max, but if I set it up right up in the evening, I can easily restart the stove 10 hours later without needing anything but what's left over from the previous nights' run.

Leave the door cracked open until you see good visible flame coming the rearmost bricks. You should be able to close the door and do whatever you do to your air to maintain efficient combustion and good heat output.

About 30 to 40 minutes into the burn, you'll see the front face of the bricks go "thermonuclear". Relax. It's ok. It's just the surfaces catching and lighting off. It's quite the show, and after about 10 minutes or so, it'll subside back down to beautiful lazy blue flame. It's also entirely possible that a one or two of the top front bricks will fall off the stack, especially if the pile is more than 2 rows high. It's cool...just let it go and let it burn.

The above works stellarly in my Kent Sherwood. Obviously, every stove burns a little differently, so until you're used to how to work with these things, I wouldn't pack a stove full-up with them. Start with a smaller mass (say 6 or 8 bricks) until you figure out how they work. They ain't rocket science, but they ain't cordwood either.

I just looked, these things are $4 for a pack of 8 at TSC. Even at the sale price yall say of $3/8, how can this even be cost effective to burn these, esp pure bio bricks. Your talking in a small stove your burning 12 bricks for 10-12 hours that will cost you $6, thats $12/day for the heat. or in a Blaze king king your gonna use about $9 for a load

Firewood has to be way cheaper to even buy it!

Wow...we usually use 5-6 for a cold night or day with a split on each side n/s. I can't imagine packing that many in there!

li_jotul550 said:

I have been somewhat successful with my overnight burns so far using wood splits. However, on really cold nights I was thinking about mixing in some bio bricks to have a little more heat output. Wondering how people load bio bricks for an overnight burn? I was thinking 3 bio bricks or so n/s on a coal bed, then wood splits e/w on top? Please share your experiences, thanks!

Click to expand...

We put a good split n/s on each side, then bricks e/w between, and sometimes one split e/w on the end closest to the glass. Wood seems to burn faster than the bricks in our experiance. If it's extremely cold, like now (3-10 degrees), we'll put a few smaller splits on top. They do expand so keep that in mind. Also, in reading on the ecobricks site, they say they are like charcoal, they work better in a group so try more than one at a time-at least three seems best.

I find that the fact that the bricks burn so much slower and eventually need a lot more air to burn down than wood, its a tough puzzle to mix the two for longer burns. For hotter burns, and to get my lame semi-seasoned wood up to temp, I will pack 1-3 of the brick in the middle of the stove and surround them with splits. This helps me get my wood going better, quicker and the initial "flash heat" of the bricks really gets stove temps going for a good hour. In short, I use them for cold days/nights for more heat but rarely do they help me extend burn times...