Wife picked them up last night. At 2am when I got home from work I put 4 in with a couple medium splits. Came down 6 hrs later and stove top was 400 degrees. I left the stove at 550 when I went to bed. Thats pretty darn good performance. All of the bricks were still visible as red hot coals with blue flames coming off. My initial assessment is they won't burn as hot as cord wood but do hold a cooler fire longer. I'll try them again today when I go to work.
I Took the Eco Brick Challenge
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I got up to 650F heat from the BioBricks in pretty short order. Which did you buy? Are these lower density compressed bricks, roughly 9x3x3"? Or the high-density blocks - 4 x 6 x 2.5"? The low density Eco Bricks look like the Tacoma bricks I tested this year. I was not that impressed with the Tacoma bricks. They burned up much quicker than BioBricks or the original Eco-Brick:
http://www.lehmans.com/store/Stoves..._High_Density_Heating_Bricks___1127900?Args=/
Or did you find the original Eco-Brick which is like the BioBrick:
http://ecobrick.net/
http://www.lehmans.com/store/Stoves..._High_Density_Heating_Bricks___1127900?Args=/
Or did you find the original Eco-Brick which is like the BioBrick:
http://ecobrick.net/
I use these, they are now part of my every day burning and will be into the future. Fast high heat, long burn time. I'm not sure how readily available they are in the U.S.
http://canawick.com/en/produits.php?cat=Bricks&c=9
http://canawick.com/en/produits.php?cat=Bricks&c=9
The parent company of Canawick manufactures hard wood flooring. I assume this is where the sawdust comes from.
Luv2BWarm
Member
With regard to the sizing of the Ecobricks, I had no idea there were two types of density under the same name. I bought mine at Tractor Supply, they say Ecobrick, but they are 9x3x3. Does this mean I should be searching elsewhere?
HotCoals
Minister of Fire
I'm not home to measure but I think they might be the 3x3x9ers. They came 8 to a pack. Not complaining about the temp as I started out at 550 and it wasn't like I was trying to blow torch them up. When I saw 550 that was good enough for me to close off the primary and go to bed. Got up 6 hrs later and saw 400. For me thats pretty darn good hold time on the temp for only 4 bricks and hard to say how much longer it might have gone but since I was up I did a reload anyway. Based on what I saw I would say another 2hrs would have been an easy stretch.
Day three and I take back what I said about the stove temps. Last 2 loads of those bricks resulted in 750 degree top temps and a good 8hr burn with damper and primary fully closed. Never seen such beautiful secondaries. Most I've put in at one time is 8. Anyone having trouble with their stove should get these (not necessarily this brand) before going any further. Heat output is fantastic! I reloaded an hr ago and I went from 250 -750 in a very short time. Nice coal bed was left after a full 8hr burn. Maybe a little expensive to burn only the bricks but they will be a nice addition to my heating portfolio.
Luv2BWarm said:
This happens. One company capitalizes on another's brand identity. We saw it out here with Presto-Logs. The original sold out the brand name and now this named product is not so hot. But the original that is sold under the cumbersome name of Northern Idaho Energy Logs, is still an awesome product.
Note there is a difference. One is Eco Brick, the other is Eco-Brick. The original Eco-Bricks just say Eco on them with the ecology logo. There isn't room enough to say Eco Bricks on the brick face.
Luv2BWarm
Member
The 9x3x3 ones I have say only Eco on the front with the logo. But I did find a place in Bedford NH that sells Biobrick (they are sold out now). I'm going to look into them for next season.
Yep mine are like the ones on the right.
Only difference between me and anybody else is the Elm primary butterfly allows complete shutdown. Its not a perfect seal so some air still gets by but very very little. Only thing I can figure is these bricks are so dry I can maintain a near perfect secondary burn with almost no primary air. This only proves any stoves performance is directly linked to good dry fuel.
Only difference between me and anybody else is the Elm primary butterfly allows complete shutdown. Its not a perfect seal so some air still gets by but very very little. Only thing I can figure is these bricks are so dry I can maintain a near perfect secondary burn with almost no primary air. This only proves any stoves performance is directly linked to good dry fuel.
Mine were the ones on the right also, they weren't polished but flaky instead. I didn't check the label, I figured since ecobrick.net said their retailer was tractor supply it was the same product. Either way it was decent, I had no ash build up and they got the stove cranking, just no 4+ hrs burns. I went to get some more Friday but they were sold out, think Tractor Supply only gets a pallet a yr. Across the highway is a guy selling firewood which might contribute to that. Simple Simon Hardwood at Shoprite is better. Its always dry, takes right off, and has the long burns, but is also pricey and not practical, I added it up last year to a $1000 a cord.
http://estonianforest.com/eco-forest/Simple-Simon-Hardwood/
http://estonianforest.com/eco-forest/Simple-Simon-Hardwood/
jjs777_fzr
Feeling the Heat
My normal source for BioBricks switched to Canawick. I'm burning three bricks now with couple splits of maple. I'm a fan of augmenting wood burning with bricks. Just promotes a good long fire.
1 ton I picked up for $292 so that's a price point I can live with.
My dad also likes using the bricks along with splits in his wood stove insert.
They fill in the gaps nicely. Not sure why my source switched but these Canawick's appear to be a more solid - less flaky product than the biobricks. Doubt if there is much of a difference between the two.
But as with all bricks - they stack so neatly compared to pellets and wood its hard to resist.
Got mine from Northeast Fence in Saugus MA
I haven't priced bricks this yr yet. Still have a ton+ several packs left from last yr. I paid just a tad over 200.00 for a ton last yr. Like everything I'm sure they went up and really don't know how they compare to similar products on the market. My wood supply if far better than last yr but I can still see myself adding in a brick or 2 per load to use as an energy pill.
Sprinter
Minister of Fire
I'm glad you mentioned that. I recently saw some Presto-Logs for sale somewhere and I got confused because I knew about the Energy Logs being the old Presto-Logs. I didn't realize someone else was using the name for an inferior product. I'm beginning to agree with Vanskills...
Still, I might try some good ones just as a supplement or special need.
I'm using the envi-8 blocks and the biobricks.The blocks are about twice the size of the bricks and are a better burn.One thing I like to have some of both because the bricks will fill the voids between the splits where the blocks are too big.
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