advice on compressed wood vs. The Real Thing

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sebois

sebois

Member
Oct 19, 2010
28
Maine
I've heated with mixed hardwood for my entire adult life and love it, but I have had a couple of friends that have switched over to compressed wood and swear by it.

Now, to someone from the deep south of the far north, who has grown up around smoke dragons and has put in 5-8 cords ever fall since they were seven years old, the words "compressed wood" give me the same feeling as the term "all-season radials". I've heard that many people are switching over to this stuff, but have no experience with the engineered/compressed bricks.

Am I missing the boat?

There's a retailer near me who sells Canawick compressed products. They produce something called a Big Block that - were I to turn to the dark side - looks like something that might work. I should also mention that I'm about two weeks away from picking up a Jotul F600 and retiring my Fisher Mama Bear (don't worry, she's going to spend her retirement years at our camp). I know that the newer stoves like the dry stuff, so I'm thinking that if I'm going to make the jump this would be the year.

Specs on the Big Blocks are as follows:

Weight 6 lb
Size 4'' x 4'' x 10 1/2''
Composition Hardwood (no additives)
Calorific value 7650 btu/lb (17.8 MJ/kg)
Moisture content 6.43%
Ash content 0.37%
 
Search the forum for "biobrick" or "envi" You'll find lot's of reviews.

My own experience is similar to others here: at something like 5 to 7% moisture content, these blocks burn extremely hot. Several manufacturers will tell you that burning them will void your warranty because they make it so easy to overfire your stove. It's best to experiment with them, starting with three or four and then working your way up. I've used them mixed with cord wood that wasn't quite into the 20% sweet spot for moisture that the new stoves demand. Packing the stove with these is dicey unless you have rigged up some control over the secondary air. If I had a cat stove I'd definitely consider burning nothing but the bricks.
 
At the end of last season I burned Eco bricks exclusively. I tried bio bricks and hot bricks, I liked Eco the most. They are about twice the size of the other mentioned bricks. I found out that I had to use at least 8 at the time when starting with a cold stove to give me any heat. They burn hot. Very little ash, very easy to start fire with them. On a 45 degrees day I achieved a 13 hours burn from 10 bricks which means about 2/3 capacity of my fire box. They are not as nice to look at when burned as a real wood. I don't burn them too much because I get free wood and I have to pay for those bricks $265 a ton. However I will buy a ton of them this year to mix them with my wood just to extent the burn time. They are great alternative if your wood is not seasoned well or if you have to pay for your wood. Think of them as a premium hardwood (hickory, oak, locust etc.) very well seasoned.
 
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My cat stove loves them..but a bit pricey. That said when I get to old to want to move real firewood around I will be burning those blocks instead of my heat pump with back up resistance furnace(big toaster).

Pros-
Can burn right away..no need to set around for a year meaning I don't have to move them twice.
Low ash
No bugs
They take up less room.
 
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I burned a few in my Oslo . . . they burned OK. My own take on it was that it may be useful to folks with unseasoned wood . . . or folks who want to simply order up a few pallets and stack them in their garage, basement, etc. . . . but for me personally the cost of them vs. the cost of wood was the real deciding factor. I believe it's still cheaper to get a load of tree length wood and process it yourself.
 
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firefighterjake said:
I burned a few in my Oslo . . . they burned OK. My own take on it was that it may be useful to folks with unseasoned wood . . . or folks who want to simply order up a few pallets and stack them in their garage, basement, etc. . . . but for me personally the cost of them vs. the cost of wood was the real deciding factor. I believe it's still cheaper to get a load of tree length wood and process it yourself.
Click to expand...
I concur with that for sure!
That said i pay 70/fc for my wood. Usually 10-12 fc/season.
So 700-840 a season.
But I buy it and stack it out back then in the fall I bring in 10 fc. that was there the summer before,that way I know it is seasoned well.
But it's getting to be a lot of work for me but i do have my 14 year old grandson to help me.
When he moves out in 4 or 5 years or so I will go to bricks. Prolly cost 1,000 or a little more to heat the shack but it won't bust me.. still way cheaper the electric heat and that would be no where as warm. The only other option I might consider is a nice pellet stove but i hate the thought of pulling the BKK out.
 
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Dear Sebois, I have the Jotul F600, and started burning the big Envi Blocks last winter when my pile started getting low. They burn great. I put 4 close together after getting some good coals on the bottom going. This stove has a big box, but I don't ever go past 5 blocks for fear of over firing. No problem getting a nice overnite burn with these. I close the air intake all the way and have nice coals in the morning for easy re-load. Good luck.
 
I play around with them now and then. I put 126 lbs of the Eco-Bricks from TSC I my stove. I had room for more, but I had them packed too tight and was having trouble getting the load to take off.

If you load them properly the risk of overfire is not all that great. The shape of them allows them to be tightly packed, and less exposed surface area means offgassing is more controlled.

Still less expensive than propane.
 
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I burn with free mixed hardwoods and I only purchase when the gettins tough. That said, I keep a 1-ton pallet worth of wood brick fuel in my basement for back up ($280). They're wrapped in plastic, compact, bug free, convenient, and its equivalent to well over a cords worth of heat. I have a blaze king stove with a self regulating thermostat so its almost impossible to overfire.

Be aware that cord btu comparison charts dont always evenly compare heat output for wood bricks. In fact, besides the price, wood bricks are generally an amazing alternative. Be aware however that they have to be stored out of the rain/snow or completely covered.

My advice: You're not missing the boat per say, but wood bricks are another type of ammunition to help diversify your wood supply bc you never know what old man winter will bring.
 
Thanks for all the great advice.

My problem is that I'm having a hard time reconciling the fact that a neatly - wrapped pallet of sawdust might heat as well as a cord of seasoned beech. I had the same issue with my stove: even though I understand the mechanics of how modern stoves will outperform the older ones in terms of efficiency, it still took me a decade to swap my Mama Bear for an F600.

Looks like I'll probably order a couple of pallets of the compressed stuff to supplement my cordwood. Does anyone have any experience with the Canawick Big Blocks?
 
If your concern is solely about its ability to heat, this stuff will heat better than seasoned beech. Sawdust it is not. Its like charcoal on steroids. Its packed and pressed in such a way as to maximize heat, as opposed to light. And its heavy, very heavy. Trust me when you see a few blocks roarin and pourin w heat its more powerful than split log wood. My only hangup is the price. If it were 1/3 price, I"d love to purchase more.
 
Every so often I get a hankering to try these out again. I didn't like them too much in my hearthstone but the BK should eat them differently. Of particular interest is the ultra low moisture content which should minimize visible smoke output from the chimney during a burn ban.
 
Well, it is sawdust. Wood. And a pound of wood is pretty much the same BTU-wise, whether it is oak or willow.

Does a pallet of bricks replace a cord of wood? If the cord of wood weighs the same as a pallet of bricks, then yes. A cord is a measurement of volume. Pound for pound, the bricks are probably better, due to the lower moisture content.

Highbeam, I didn't notice much difference between them and 15-16% cordwood. They will still make enough smoke to overwhelm the cat.
 
There is a big difference between some compressed wood products, primarily in the degree of compression used on the sawdust. The best products are very highly compressed. This takes some very heavy duty equipment. The lightly compressed products are unsatisfying. They burn they expand rapidly and burn pretty quickly. A highly compressed log like a Northern Idaho Energy Log will hold it's shape burn 2-3 times longer and with much less ash. They are so dense they won't float in water.

Haven't tested Canawicks, but the reports here say they are a good product:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/north-idaho-energy-logs-and-canawick-blocks.125508/
Here are some reviews of these products:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/fuels/
 
I burned the tc bio bricks a few times last year. I wish I could say they were awesome but I didn't notice a difference between them and we'll seasoned dense firewood. They advertised being more dense than firewood or having more btu/lbs. I didn't notice it. They burned fine though. They would be fine if you're in a pinch.
 
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