spirilis
Minister of Fire
Geez, reading this thread I should consider a blaze king for when I eventually get sick of the Jotul 8! (I burn these kinds of products exclusively right now)
Blaze King Ashford Bio-Brick challenge.
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Highbeam, you'll find the NIELs much cleaner burning (almost no visible smoke 
) and they put out lots of BTUs. I would try 3 for starters.
) and they put out lots of BTUs. I would try 3 for starters.
OhioBurner©
Minister of Fire
Cool stuff. I'll be highly considering BK, as I recall years ago I didn't care for the looks but perhaps the Ashford model wasn't out then which I do really like. The shorter burn times of a normal stove aren't so big of a deal with someone there all the time, sometimes overnight burns are problematic, but I'm going to be single here again shortly and my door to door time from work is ~14hrs. Neither of my stoves would usually have even enough coals left for a relite at that point, let alone keep my drafty house warm which they barely do at full output on a cold windy day. In the mean time I did get a pellet stove to help, but I got about the cheapest one I could that was decent so I don't have a lot into it. Probably wont happen for a few years but I'm really trying to buy some property with woods and if I do a BK is definitely high on the list.
Free wood would be the main advantage, but I'd be more than willing to pay a little extra for a 2-3 day burn if I was going to be out for a weekend every once in a while.
Free wood would be the main advantage, but I'd be more than willing to pay a little extra for a 2-3 day burn if I was going to be out for a weekend every once in a while.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Highbeam, you'll find the NIELs much cleaner burning (almost no visible smoke
I'm a little worried about them rolling away on me and snuffing themselves. I've loaded 43# of wood before so was going to maybe put 5 or 6 in and start them with kindling.
Smoke free during the burn and ASAP after ignition is more important to me than burn time right now. But I need a solid 12 hours at least.
300$ per ton which is supposed to be equivalent to 2 cords is pretty attractive in any case.
You mean 3 bundles right?Highbeam, you'll find the NIELs much cleaner burning (almost no visible smoke
A Blaze King isn't gonna run away on ya. It'll be fine!
They like to be started with a good firestarter, but kindling will work. 5 is a lot of firepower. I would do 3-4 for the first test. Lay down two, N/S with your kindling or some hot coals between them. Start the kindling (or fire starter) and then lay the next one or two on top of the bottom ones at right angles with a space between them if you put on two. 12 hrs should be no problem with that load. I suspect you will see a lot more than that.It's pretty mild out right now.
That is a good price. If I had a way to truck them here and offload them on a pallet I would get some for sure.
That is a good price. If I had a way to truck them here and offload them on a pallet I would get some for sure.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
You mean 3 bundles right?
Can the NIELs be started with a top down type of fire? SHould I stack them like a log cabin or like a package of hot dogs?
I've never used them. But they won't burn much different than others. It won't hurt to do a test, but your stove is so controlable you won't have any issues.
NinjaTech
Burning Hunk
I really wish they had those down here in St Louis! We have the bricks, but not nearly for that price per ton. If anyone does know of something similar in St Louis let me know.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
This place, Arrow Lumber, also sells pellets for 179$ a ton. They had a one day sale at 149$. I don't know the brand or if that's DF or whatever but if they sell Niel logs then maybe the pellets are DF.
I'm doing it. Tonight. As many NIELs as I can fit up to 6. Try to get them iginited rapidly.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Okay I did some math. Douglas fir has 17.5 Mbtu per cord and one pallet (240, ton) of NIELs has 16.3 Mbtu for 300$. So NIEL's advertising that a pallet is equivalent to 1.5 to 2 cords of firewood is BS. In fact, the ton of NIELs is equivalent to less than one cord of doug fir.
Today's price for a cord of doug fir in the PNW is 250$ so your extra 50$ buys you less smoke, bugs, mess, and handling but the firewood is still cheaper if you can get an honest cord.
Today's price for a cord of doug fir in the PNW is 250$ so your extra 50$ buys you less smoke, bugs, mess, and handling but the firewood is still cheaper if you can get an honest cord.
spirilis
Minister of Fire
Yeah the marketing used for those sawdust products is crap. But the main selling point, guaranteed low moisture content (IMO) doesn't sell with much of the population, so I can sort've see why they'd go to such lengths to lie in order to market them. (Not that I agree with it, that sort of marketing makes my blood boil.)
NIELs and HomeFire's Prest-Logs are good products. They are much denser than the average crap that is out there. In a modern stove they burn much cleaner than cord wood. That is important in an urban area. I'm looking forward to Highbeam's report on how they work for him.
They started out as a northwest product but now are sold in New England too. They are a log and bigger, heavier and much denser than a biobrick. They sink in water.
http://www.northidahoenergylogs.com
http://www.northidahoenergylogs.com
spirilis
Minister of Fire
Random side-note, the local "WoodBrickFuel" biobrick product that got pretty bad reviews in past years seems to have changed this year; the bricks (still 2lb each) appear to be compressed tighter, with more of a smooth & glossy texture to the outside, similar to the NIEL logs' look on their website, rather than the rough-textured somewhat loose wood chip appearance from previous years. Curious what changed; I sent the company an email asking about that but never got a response.
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