Nice exchange here.
Comments on these "firebricks", compressed chips, etc..wanted.
Price/Btu compared to CSD wood.
Heat compared to ave. firewood.
How well they store ( if wet will they burn ?)
They do burn clean.
Thx.
Some of my comments probably aren't worth much to you, Dumf, as my stove and cottage are smaller than most in the US and prices will be different here in Scotland - but here goes anyway....
The best (in terms of relationship between price and performance) I've tried so far are the ones made by companies who are processing their own wood waste using the Ruf briquetting system. These come in sealed packs of 12 here - and I would expect one pack to give me at least 12 hours of meaningful heat. If buying bulk, one pack works out at around £2.60 (approx $3.70). Over here, if you're buying decent firewood it would cost twice that to heat for the same period of time. I'd be interested to hear now the relative prices of briquettes and wood compare in the US.
In terms of how they behave, I would say the ruf briquettes I've used are equal to the best mixed hardwood (oak, ash, beech, poplar, cherry) I've had. Where they undoubtedly excel compared to wood is their uniformity; you always know exactly how the next load will behave; you'll know exactly how long a load will burn, when to reduce the air etc., because it will be exactly like the last load and the load before that. So once, you've got to know them in the context of your set up you can pretty much do it without thinking. Speaking Personally, I like that almost digital 'set and forgetness' when I need to get out in a hurry and don't have time to tinker with a new load of wood, but generally I prefer the more organic relationship I have with real wood.. Clearly there are plusses on both sides, depending on personal inclination and circumstances. Example - today is a lovely snowy day and I plan to go out in the hills for a good long walk: I don't know how long I'll be out, but it will be quite a few hours. I will use briquettes rather than wood in my load before leaving as the stove will be cruising within 10 minutes and I will be guaranteed enough coals for an easy reload when I get back at dusk... In my wee F3, that same scenario, but with wood, is likely to have me returning home to ashes.
Heat .... My stove is small, so your story will no doubt be different. I loose stack a max of four ruf briquettes at a time in my stove on cold days. If I put in any more it will over-fire....( I haven't tried the 'load way more briquettes, but tightly-packed' method BeGreen has described elsewhere on the forum, but I will one day!) I dial down the air by 50% right away as I have a strong draft and these things need a whisper of air to ignite, no more. My air is 100% shut down much, much sooner than wood. I get great billowing secondaries and 600 deg stove top for 60-90 mins on four briquettes. I won't reload for another four hours from a comfort POV, but I would feel confident that I could have glowing coals (but not meaningful heat) the next morning if I loaded four briquettes into the stove at 9pm.
Yes, they burn very clean, as they are <10%MC.
They store well for long periods IF KEPT DRY. If they get wet... or even damp, they will lose their compression and return to sawdust and become useless. They are very easy to store in a garage or basement, because they are uniformly sized and stack like....well...bricks. A winter's worth or briquettes would take up 1/4 the space of a winter's worth of splits. They come in a sealed polythene wrap. Theyre easy to handle for the same reason.. Just open one pkt at the time, as you use it. Watch out not to trail the inevitable little bits of saw dust through the house!!
Good briquettes are the most highly compressed ones, they are recognisable by the fact that they less likely to expand a great deal when they burn.
For those of us who are aesthetically minded - briquettes don't look so pretty as logs when sitting by the stove!
