compressed wood bricks

[mass_burner]

i am intrigued the NIELS because they are not supposed to swell and behave like chunk coals when burnt down. these other bricks have a tendency to swell and then turn into a big lump with a hot center and black ash on the outside. the hot center doesn't radiate all the heat it can being covered by the black ash envelope. NIELS are supposed to break apart like splits into red hot coals.

 

[BurningBrutus]

Unfortunately i cant get the Niels around here, i was gonna have my brother in law pick up a pallet of them if he goes threw idaho, he is a truck driver, but his schedule is limited right now, so im just gonna go with these. Accordian? if you are referring to separation then yes a little, but they pretty much stay together the whole time.

 

[mass_burner]

did you check thier website for retailers. there's one in oxford, ma .

 

[BurningBrutus]

yes, i have to agree on that statement, you definitely have to babysit these bricks more in the form of playing with the air control, about half way through i turn up the air control because of the described burn pattern you stated with the bricks. I would love to try the neils.

 

[mass_burner]

sorry, i thought amhearst was on the NY/MA border.

 

[BurningBrutus]

Im in WNY area, its about 8 hrs away. Shipping would be horrible to me. I called a dealer in Idaho and he sells a pallet for $199! where in MA is $290

 

[mass_burner]

plus shipping of $60 right?

 

[BurningBrutus]

I didnt even ask how much shipping would be to me, im sure it would be a 3rd party provider, i would expect at least $100, where did you get the $60 from? did they quote you that?

 

[mass_burner]

i called the oxford place and that's what i seem to remember.

 

[BurningBrutus]

ya, im sure you are close to them, i doubt they would deliver 8 hrs away

 

[dyerkutn]

There are large quality differences between the various compressed products on the market. Some are excellent, highly compressed bricks or logs. They burn like good hardwood or better. Other use lower compression and are not so hot. They flake easily, burn fast and make a lot of ash. For the best results stick with the highly compressed products. In my testing these are products like BioBricks, EcoBricks, Prest-Logs and Northern Idaho Energy logs.

What about Hot Bricks from Waterbury CT.--I just saw some around here. They are 8 bricks for $4.99 and say they have no wax or additives--they look a lot like BioBricks but the dealer is closer to my house.

 

[mass_burner]

i forgot to mention, we have a chain of brick oven pizza houses here called Bertucci's, well they recently converted from hardwood to BioBricks in the ovens.

 

[Sprinter]

NIEL's say that each 8 pound log provides 68,000 BTU. Do the other brick alternatives say anything like that? That would be the best way to determine value if they do. I just haven't seen those figures from the other products.

 

[weatherguy]

NIEL's say that each 8 pound log provides 68,000 BTU. Do the other brick alternatives say anything like that? That would be the best way to determine value if they do. I just haven't seen those figures from the other products.

Not sure about btu's but the weight of each tells you quite a bit, I've seen some other products that weigh 1 lb per log, quite a bit of difference.

 

[Sprinter]

Not sure about btu's but the weight of each tells you quite a bit, I've seen some other products that weigh 1 lb per log, quite a bit of difference.

I'm not sure if you could go by weight or not. But all wood is supposed to provide the same number of BTU's per pound (dry), so maybe you could just determine value that way assuming moisture content is the same.

The other thing to watch for if you want to use these kinds of products for supplement or straight is whether they are all compressed wood or have some wax in them. I think most of the ones mentioned don't use wax, but some logs like Duraflame's do and wouldn't be a good match for a stove used that way.

Edit: Wood does provide 8500 BTU/pound which is just what NIEL claims, so you can go by the pound to compare prices as long as they're all 100% wood.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I decided to pick up some Eco-Bricks from TSC.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/eco-bricksreg;-fuel-blocks-pack-of-3

They are on sale again. I want to see what they will do. The package says they have over 8K btu per lb. If they do well in the big Englander, I'll run them in the Century and really put them to the test. I don't want any surprises with the Century though. When I'm running that, it's my only source of heat. I know what a load of dry red oak will do, l want to see if I can get longer burn times with the denser product.

 

[Mary Briggeman]

I see our local TSC has these in again, so I think I'll pick some up this week. They must have just come in as I have been checking every week.

 

[dyerkutn]

I have been using a lot of biobricks and also some HotBricks from Conn. and I find they do not put out nearly as much heat as my very dry hardwood (e.g. oak, ash, birch). I know some people on the forum love them. Maybe I am doing something wrong. I can put in 6 or 7 whereas if I put in than many splits the temp would shoot up too high. I have been using them mostly to supplement to stretch out my wood supply or when am too lazy to bring in more wood. Any thoughts on this would be helpful.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

If brick like, you might not be letting enough air get around them. The splits likely have a higher surface area so there is more area off gassing.

 

[mass_burner]

I have been using a lot of biobricks and also some HotBricks from Conn. and I find they do not put out nearly as much heat as my very dry hardwood (e.g. oak, ash, birch). I know some people on the forum love them. Maybe I am doing something wrong. I can put in 6 or 7 whereas if I put in than many splits the temp would shoot up too high. I have been using them mostly to supplement to stretch out my wood supply or when am too lazy to bring in more wood. Any thoughts on this would be helpful.

I think the Eco bricks from TS are too big. They start off fine but they soon cool down. I bought about 3 packs and ended up chopping them in half, they seem to burn hotter that way.

 

[dyerkutn]

I think the Eco bricks from TS are too big.

these are 6" by 3.5" by 2.5"

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Cutting them in half would give you a higher surface area. Whether or not they would work in the slow burning mode probably depends on what you are after with them.

I'm looking for a longer burn time in a small stove. My Century only has around a 1 ft3 firbox. My hope is that the 8800 btu/lb and the low surface area will give me a longer burn than the oak I've been using in it. Tonight I'll do my nightly burn with 2 of them to see how that reacts.

 

[Sprinter]

I've never used those, so this is FWIW, but if they are about 8600 btu/pound, then they are oven dry. Seems to me the best way to use them is as a supplement with wetter wood. Used perhaps half and half, you could probably use up to about 30% wood mixed that way.

I think you'd want to be very careful using them 100%. If you had a stove full of them, they could really take off.

 

[begreen]

If genuine EcoBrick or BioBricks are burned correctly they will not take off. Follow the instructions and you can burn a stove loaded with them. The trick is no air spaces.

http://ecobrick.net/instructions

 

[Sprinter]

If genuine EcoBrick or BioBricks are burned correctly they will not take off. Follow the instructions and you can burn a stove loaded with them. The trick is no air spaces.

http://ecobrick.net/instructions

That does make sense. What about round logs like the North Idaho Energy Logs? How may of those could be used by themselves do you think? I know you have some experience with them.