New Guy; forced into burning for primary heat.

I believe Begreen did a review on bio bricks which is found on the wiki and had good things to stay. I was told Envi's are great quality too

Newb- that little century will throw some heat. I have had mine 3 years and it's done 80% of our heating. It struggles in the dead of winter but for most of the time it woks quite well. You will get short burn times(4hours of useable heat) because of the small firebox. If someone is around to feed it you will be ok. What's the house set up....sq. ft?, layout? I am switching my century out this year to a blazeking. Looking forward to the longer burn times. Keep up the good work. There are a lot of free wood on CL out where you are. Keep looking.

tigger said:

little century will throw some heat. I have had mine 3 years and it's done 80% of our heating. It struggles in the dead of winter but for most of the time it woks quite well. You will get short burn times(4hours of useable heat) because of the small firebox.

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Yours the 2500 as well?

BrotherBart said:

Yeah those big pellets are outrageously priced, compared to the little pellets.

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So how does that translate for weight, about the same as dry cordwood? ie, is 1000# maybe 1/4-1/3 cord depending on species?

newburner said:

So is there a difference in Eco bricks, bio bricks, and envi bricks? Or are these all just general terms to describe one product?

If they are different, which is better? With such a small firebox, my main concern is extending burn times as much as possible.

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They are all different brands. Try them all and find out which once work best for you. From all the once I tried Eco Bricks worked best for me. BT Enterprises have EcoBricks for $265 a ton plus $20 delivery. They are close to my house so I skipped the $20 fee and put it in my Tundra.

prezes13 said:

They are all different brands. Try them all and find out which once work best for you. From all the once I tried Eco Bricks worked best for me. BT Enterprises have EcoBricks for $265 a ton plus $20 delivery. They are close to my house so I skipped the $20 fee and put it in my Tundra.View attachment 137521

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Seriously.....how did the Tundra do handling that ton of bricks ??

Ran some bio bricks last year and they sort of burn ok. A lot of heat at first the not so much after. They will get the secondarys going for a bit then not enough heat to keep them lit. Ok for a bit of a cold day to take the chill off. Buy the Mrs. some long johns to help keep warm 72 on a zero day might be a bit optimistic.

Beer Belly said:

Seriously.....how did the Tundra do handling that ton of bricks ??

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Well it's about a 2 miles from my house so it did handle but I wouldn't travel across the state. It's a TRD truck so has a bit beefier suspension but still not a one ton truck.

ddahlgren said:

Ran some bio bricks last year and they sort of burn ok. A lot of heat at first the not so much after. They will get the secondarys going for a bit then not enough heat to keep them lit. Ok for a bit of a cold day to take the chill off. Buy the Mrs. some long johns to help keep warm 72 on a zero day might be a bit optimistic.

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I didn't like bio bricks for the reason you just mentioned. EckoBricks are almost twice the size and maybe a bit more compressed I found them working great for me. About 8-10 of them in the evening had the house nice and warm. I would start from scratch about 3:30 pm when I got home from work and by 6 house would be 70 or more degrees, from low 60.

prezes13 said:

I didn't like bio bricks for the reason you just mentioned. EckoBricks are almost twice the size and maybe a bit more compressed I found them working great for me. About 8-10 of them in the evening had the house nice and warm. I would start from scratch about 3:30 pm when I got home from work and by 6 house would be 70 or more degrees, from low 60.

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How do they do on an overnight burn?

By the way we are probably neighbors lol! When you describe places we are usually in the same proximity.

JTRock said:

By the way we are probably neighbors lol! When you describe places we are usually in the same proximity.

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I never really tried to burn them over night because I was being frugal "cheap", but one evening I loaded the stove at 5:30 I had to put 10 or 12 of them and when I was leaving for work at 6:30 am next morning fan was still on. It was at least 40s outside but still impressive.

Sounds like you could mow through a ton at that rate.

Hey, Newburner,
Sorry to hear about your oil burner.....NOT!
You'll be so glad not having to shell out money to the domestic terrorist oil companies.
Me personally, I don't buy a stick of wood after buying my first 2 cords of "seasoned" wood that was still wet to the touch.
I too came here as green as fresh split wood and never burned a fire other then a jobsite burning barrel full of framing scraps or a camp fire.
I now have 25 cord c/s/s and burn year round for heat and DHW
I have a pallet place that gives me for FREE 4'x4'x4' cribs of cut up pallet wood that are destined for the dumps. I use them only for summer hot water.

You'll do just fine.

I'm surprised, you and no one else as mentioned or asked, what are you doing for hot water?
I assume you have an oil fired indirect hot water heater?

bholler said:

I have a question infinitymike and i am not being critical i just have wondered for a while and you where the first person i came across to ask. Do you really think heating dhw with wood all summer makes sense? To me it seems like a waist of wood and effort. I used to run a coal furnace That heated my dhw all winter but i never even considered running it all summer i put in an electric tank for the summer and it really doesnt cost very much to run. But that is just my opinion

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Good question and I don't feel criticized at all.
There have been a lot of threads about this in the boiler room.

I don't use cord wood for fuel in the summer.
I use FREE pallet blocks that are already cut up.
It only takes about 10-15 blocks to bring the Wood Gun up to temp and charge the 40 gallon indirect tank.
Usually I will light a fire at 6am and shut the unit down when it reaches temp,15-20 minutes later.
Depending on how much laundry or dishwashing there is, my wife may have to light a fire around noon.
Then I will light a fire for the evening showers and start all over again, the next morning.

Really easy and not that I ever monitored it but I would guess the electric to run the Wood Gun, and circ pumps would be less then a electric water heater, but maybe I'm wrong.
But even still, if I went electric I would have to recoup my initial investment.

newburner said:

My wife is a bit more optimistic...

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...because you're the one who has to deliver the woodpile, and ultimately, the heat!

Mine too this first season on wood only (we had the same story with the failed primary heating system and lack of funds to replace).

Take heart, she has faith in you!

I dont Know About Mass, but In Ct there are alot of state subsidised programs to replace an old boiler. They offer financing rebates if you go with any energy star. I may get a heat pump for Domestic Hot water .....perfect for you wet basement since they act as a de-humidifier.


Found a link
http://www.mass.gov/eea/energy-util...ancing-and-tax-incentives-for-homeowners.html

Never got any video just sound.