Not trying to start trouble...but...

i wouldnt wanna burn biobricks all the time..i tried them and wasnt impressed..if thats all i had i think i would invest in a pellet stove first, essentially thats what it is to me....pellets for a wood stove..they dont compare to cord wood....and 250 a cord...id be better off using electric heat i burn about 5 cords a year of hardwood...so im guessing 6 to 7 cords of biobricks i would burn...and cutting wood is just plain fun......its part of the whole experience for me..

You certainly could do that. I have both pellet and woodstoves. We have a wooded lot and access to scrounged wood. We like the smell and feel of wood and get a little thrill out of scrounging for free wood. I like that it's renewable and unless I drive a long way to get it, it's got a low cabron footprint and it's not manufactured or refined or produced by any company other than us.

If I were going to buy all my fuel, if I didn't have room to store 3+ years of wood comfortably, and if I didn't enjoy handling wood, I'd just stick with my pellet stove, I think. It's got a real set it and forget it mentality.

suprz said:

In my area a good cord of wood that is supposedly "seasoned" is 200.00 - 250.00 And for me this year if i want to use my stove at all, i would have to use something other than real wood. Any actual wood i buy this year will have to sit for at least 12 months before i would want to use it. NOW... Biobricks can be stored inside, (no bugs) easy to use, and a pallet for 250.00 or so can hold me over for this year allowing me the pleasure of using my stove. So that maybe i can scrounge free wood next summer. But i was just thinking why even bother with "real" wood at all? My bad back would appreciate not having to stack and splitting wood all summer long. Is there any real problems burning bibricks fulltime?

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Nothing wrong with Biobricks if they work well for you. It would probably be less frustrating than using wet wood. I have never used Biobricks, though.

We've used ecobricks before. Since we scrounge our wood, it's a LOT cheaper than buying the bricks. Maybe if they were cheaper and we couldn't get the wood free. Otherwise I'd compare to propane or pellets before going 100% bricks. The packs are 20ish lb-propane comes in a truck I don't have to lift, so....

Compressed bricks, reasons cited previously. Same btu amount stored in 1/3 the area. Course it doesn't have the cool factor of stacks to drive the neighbors crazy. Cost factor , well that is open for interpretation, How much is your time worth/ equipment/ storage ect. Not being dependant on power company for heat- priceless. When the power goes out none of those fancy furnaces work, or the appliances in the kitchen. Hot stove ,couple pans = hot dinner. One other thing Carbon Foot Print on your end Zero, plus using renewable resource. Before someone flies off the handle on that last part, think about the front end cost/ carbon print associated with gas, oil ,coal delivered it to your home, so that's a wash in my mind.

Do you have kiln dried firewood in your area? Maybe that would be an alternative , not as good for your bad back though!

I love those things!
I heat a small( 798 sq ft ) house. They allow me to sleep through the night for $2. Well worth it. Also a huge time saver.
Between 2009 and 2012, I worked an average of 53 - 60 hours a week, between my full time job and my Dad's business. Then,
factor in that I am single, and do EVERYTHING else, they work for me. I collect pallets for daytime use, and use when I am home. I use the bricks
for when I am gone longer than 8 hrs and its cold, and at night. It works for me. Tractor supply get to store them for me, no bugs,etc...

Interesting... do they really burn that long? The old wood stove in my cabin needs tending every couple of hours minimum, so it'd be nice to have something to fill and forget for the night. Can/do you toss them on top of a going wood fire, or do you have to stack them closely?

suprz said:

In my area a good cord of wood that is supposedly "seasoned" is 200.00 - 250.00 And for me this year if i want to use my stove at all, i would have to use something other than real wood. Any actual wood i buy this year will have to sit for at least 12 months before i would want to use it. NOW... Biobricks can be stored inside, (no bugs) easy to use, and a pallet for 250.00 or so can hold me over for this year allowing me the pleasure of using my stove. So that maybe i can scrounge free wood next summer. But i was just thinking why even bother with "real" wood at all? My bad back would appreciate not having to stack and splitting wood all summer long. Is there any real problems burning bibricks fulltime?

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I don't know much about biobricks, but I think you should start scrounging now for next winter's firewood. I scrounge a lot of my firewood one or two rounds at a time from the curb. It adds up if you start early.

I don't see a problem with them. I see a lot of benefits, depending on your area.. Here, a cord of hard wood delivered and dumped in my drive would be $150. Bricks are quite a bit more than that by the pallet. ($400) So..

Pellets are in the middle.. I think pellets are the "easiest" of the three.. but of course, they don't work if the power is out, and like the bricks, none of my trees grow them. The bricks are almost as easy, and clean, and your stove can still work if the power is out.

But real good old fashioned hardwoods cost me about $5 a cord to C/S/S, and I enjoy the time spent in my woods and at the "work" of doing it.

This year we are "rolling in it".. as the guy who bought our Homestead, his father is having a bunch of logging done on his property a few miles from us.. and we are getting all the "off cuts" loaded with an FEL, delivered by a dump trailer.. for the cost of gas. Between us we have processed 4 or more cords so far, and have that much laying on the ground at our homes to S/S... and I figure we have messed with about 10% of what will be available by the end of the fall...

If our backs.. well, mine.. he is younger and all that.. hold out.. I may very well be a decade ahead by spring.

FanMan said:

Interesting... do they really burn that long? The old wood stove in my cabin needs tending every couple of hours minimum, so it'd be nice to have something to fill and forget for the night. Can/do you toss them on top of a going wood fire, or do you have to stack them closely?

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They have a VERY low moisture content so I wouldn't toss them into a stove if you've got the fire going. Let it coal down first. Also better to pack tighter than loose, and they do expand as they burn. IMO, let it coal down then pack them in close for the night.

FanMan said:

Interesting... do they really burn that long? The old wood stove in my cabin needs tending every couple of hours minimum, so it'd be nice to have something to fill and forget for the night. Can/do you toss them on top of a going wood fire, or do you have to stack them closely?

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I have the stove going good, nice coal bed. Push the coal bed to the side, put the bricks in the middle. Go to bed at 10, get up at 5:30 or 6 and there is still enough to start a fire. Works for me..

You're a trouble maker......... Nah, I would burn them if my budget permits. I certainly wouldn't want to be staring at cold stove this winter so go for it! Don't forget pallets, though handling some of those can get hard on your back too.

Ah Benny's. Brings me back to my RI roots. If you scrounge some less dense woods like pine or poplar, split them small and stack them tall, you could have some wood for spring.

I like biobricks as a supplement, but I don't like the way they burn enough to use them as a primary fuel.

I burned some last year, out of curiosity. There was some speculation as to whether it was possible to burn a full load in a BKK, and how long it would burn. I have no reservations about the controlling this stove with a full load of bricks, so I bought some. I tried a few, and they seem to produce more fly ash than I would like to see for the cat. I bought six packs of ECO Bricks, and still have enough for a full load. I might still do it.

I think you're right in line. I would have no reservations burning them in a tube stove. Much better for playing with and learning a new stove than wet wood.

jeff what kind of burn times did u get out of the bricks in the bk?

steeltowninwv said:

jeff what kind of burn times did u get out of the bricks in the bk?

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I don't know. I burned three of them for... a long time. Ten hours, maybe a couple more. I might load it up when temps are a little cooler for a couple of days. I know I can go 48 hours on cordwood, and I would expect them to go at least that long.

I should probably pull the pipe up and give it a thorough cleaning before things get serious, anyway. The cat isn't hard to get to, just have to pull the stovepipe off the flue collar to get to the back of the cat.