Presto Log Believer

[Ski-Patroller]

We have been using mostly Northern Idaho Energy logs in our Jotul Castine this winter (such as it has been), and I am a believer. They are much easier to live with than cord wood. They cost more than cord wood, but not that much more, and I don't have to re-split them. Two logs put out a lot of heat. Three is too much. The stove will overheat with three logs on a hot bed of coals. Once the stove is hot one log will burn for 8+ hours, and still have enough coals to start a fire up again.

I will admit to using the ash door opening to get the fire started up again, but it only takes 3-5 minutes and I'm back in business. We still use some real wood kindling, and occasionally some real logs, but mostly just the compressed logs.

We have also learned to regulate the fire by the amount of fuel we add, as much as the air control. I'm really happy with both the logs and the stove now.

 

[begreen]

These logs are very dense and need either a hot kindling bed or a starter. They are packed with heat. Get some SuperCedars so that you don't need to use the ash pan door. My max load in the Castine with the NIELs was 3.5 logs. It was a nice hot burn, but not out of control.

 

[BrotherBart]

Wish we could get'em around here. Or anything like them.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Wish we could get'em around here. Or anything like them.

Damn, yeah. The only such objects within 40 miles I can get are the extremely suspect cheap ones at the local supermarkets. With an abundant wood supply and a largely pre-EPA stove population of burners, and a sparse population anyway, we're not exactly a prime market. I keep hoping, but can't get anything at all I'd put in my stove.

 

[Jags]

The only brand I have tried were the Eco brand. I did it just for the sake of doing it. They burned. Easily controlled. My personal experience left me with...Meh. I am not sure if I was expecting rainbows to sprout from my stove glass or what, but I was left with an unimpressed feeling. I will stick to the well seasoned white oak.

For the record the first load on hot coals was of 3 bricks, then 4, then 5.

The price I paid was $.58 (tax not included) per log or each load of 5 costing just under 3 bucks.

 

[ToltingColtAcres]

I bought a pallet of pressed sawdust logs from woodpellets.com two years ago. Hated them with a passion. They reminded me of those "smoke snake" fireworks I had as a kid. As they heated, they would expand like a snake, and the increased surface area would make them burn out hot and fast. They were tough to get started. I found their best use was to use a firestarter against a pressed log, and then real cordwood on top. The log would act as a catalyst to get the cordwood going and I would get a good bed of coals to build upon with larger splits. Never again. I will keep a few bricks around from TSC in case of emergency but that's about it.

 

[begreen]

Yes, I would avoid the lower compressed logs and bricks. They burn up much too quickly and create a lot of ash. NIELs and HomeFire Prest-Logs are a very different product. They are so dense that they sink in water rather than float.

 

[Jags]

Yes, I would avoid the lower compressed logs and bricks. They burn up much too quickly and create a lot of ash. NIELs and HomeFire Prest-Logs are a very different product. They are so dense that they sink in water rather than float.

In your testing days, did you ever try the Eco brand (I don't recall). If so, how do they compare in density to the NIELS, etc.?

ETA: from the NIELS website I don't have a single supplier within 50 miles.

 

[begreen]

I don't recall trying them, I tried BioBricks which I think are quite similar. My best results with the BioBricks was by following their instructions and creating a mass of bricks. They burned steadily for many hours that way. My tests were done in the somewhat shallow firebox of the Castine. It would be nice to test again in the big belly of the T6. Maybe next fall if I can find some Eco bricks in this area. The BioBricks had to be shipped out here for the test.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/biobricks/

Note that there appear to be different varieties of Eco bricks. There is the original product and then there is a larger and what seems to be a less dense version. We had a similar less dense product out here called Tacoma bricks. They did not impress me. Here's the original Eco Brick: http://ecobrick.net/ . They're only 1748 miles away from me.
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/i-took-the-eco-brick-challenge.81350/#post-1040224

 

[Jags]

The original ones appear to be the version I used.

 

[ToltingColtAcres]

I don't recall trying them, I tried BioBricks which I think are quite similar.

I ran Bio-Bricks in my non-cat VC Encore one season. They were not bad. My experience was similar to yours. I find the TSC 3-pack of bricks to be an inferior product, but an okay stand-by in case of emergency.

 

[Ski-Patroller]

These logs are very dense and need either a hot kindling bed or a starter. They are packed with heat. Get some SuperCedars so that you don't need to use the ash pan door. My max load in the Castine with the NIELs was 3.5 logs. It was a nice hot burn, but not out of control.

You may recall my post earlier this winter when we put 3 NIELs logs on a hot bed of coals. I got really nervous when the stove top thermometer reached 900. I blanked the main air intake to the stove to throttle it back. I wish I had tried opening the main door to see if it would cool the fire, but honestly I was afraid to at the time. After that I read on NIEL's website never to use more than 2 on a bed of coals and we don't.

My comment about the ash door related to bringing a virtually dead fire back to life. Last Sunday for example we had a one log fire that burned for 8 or 9 hours and still had enough coals in the center to start up some kindling when I opened the ash door. As soon as the kindling caught well I closed the door and added some fuel.

FWIW these things weigh over 8 lbs apiece. They do kind of grow like a snake when they burn, but one log will burn by itself because of this. We still use cord wood also, but the NIELs burn longer and cleaner, and it is easier to control the heat output. Our cabin is 2 stories over the basement, and is very tight. We need a lot of heat to warm it up from cold, but not much to keep it warm once we get it comfortable inside (especially this past winter. You PNWs know what I'm talking about. The Easterners that have all our snow may not.).

 

[begreen]

That is an important difference. My tests were done from a cold start.

 

[littlericky]

I've heard of the Northern Idaho Energy Logs they don't sell those where I live but I do burn the Envy 8 bricks and I like those. They burn nice and hot and 3 of them in my stove will burn for about 4 hours. I would like to try the Northern Idaho, I hope they come to our area some day.

 

[blades]

I've used the Eco bricks on large coal beds of my NC30 to reduce the coal bed size. This has worked out very well- 1 or 2 bricks. I get a nice bunch of heat in the morning and a nice reduction of the coal bed before I refill the fire box for the rest of the day. Energy logs not available here and TSC is too far to try some of theirs. Duraflame are in all the stores around here but they do not look to be as dense as Eco's so haven't wasted any cash on them. Oh ya that 1 Eco on the coal bed is good for at least a couple hours if not disturbed. I do pull coals forward for burn down, when refilling I heap them down the middle leaving a bit of a tunnel to the back of the firebox- this seems to work well for me even after 14 hours I will have enough coals if I rake them up a bit to restart for the evening. Even as cold as it was ( 1-22 through 2-22) my NG bill was $38, $19 of that was distribution charges. Thermostat set at 65 when not there - will bump it to 68-70 when I get home until stove takes over. Got to get one of those watt meters as something is draining me on that side. stove top , dryer and hot water all gas - oven is electric- don't use it much- more time on toaster oven course that isn't all the efficient.

 

[prezes13]

I burn eco bricks and I like them. I mix them with cord wood. Usually four bricks and some splits. It gives me a nice burn for 6-7 hours depends what kind if wood I use. However last night I had the pleasure to burn a NIEL I just bought 12 logs to try. I put one log and some sycamore at 8 pm. 5 am fan was still on and enough coals to have another fire going almost instantly. NIELS are great much better than eco bricks, but also much more expensive. Skid of Eco bricks go for $260, skid of NIELS for $435.

 

[Jags]

NIELS are great much better than eco bricks,

Thank you for that. I was looking for a direct comparison.

 

[begreen]

NIELs will cost more, they pack a lot more energy. 3.5 NIELs burned much longer and hotter than 13 BioBricks.

 

[prezes13]

NIELs will cost more, they pack a lot more energy. 3.5 NIELs burned much longer and hotter than 13 BioBricks.

Oh no question. I think I would be scared to put 3 NIELs at once. One gave me a really nice longer burn.

 

[begreen]

I would only do that with a cold start fire, not putting them on hot coals. With a cold startup they burned vigorously once the fire got going, but not into overfire territory. This was in a 1.7 cu ft fire box. I need to get a fresh batch and try them again in the T6.

 

[jatoxico]

Just had an opportunity to burn Bio-Bricks and although I am not super "wowed" I do like them better that the Envi-Bricks I had used in the past. The Envi's left a haze on my glass and the rest of the fire box and expanded much more than the Bio's. Found them harder to light too. Feel like they burned cooler as well. Maybe it's operator error but that was my observation. Right now I'm using the Bio's as a mix in with cord wood so I never tried a full load, but 3-5 bricks at a time don't throw as much heat as I was expecting.

Really would like to try the NIELs especially if the burn times are as advertised but then again I don't get nearly the burn time from the bricks that people report so who knows?

 

[Jags]

Just checked the NIELS site and there ain't SQUAT around in a 3 state area.

 

[OhioBurner©]

I've only found Red Stone Ecobricks around here. They have saved my butt this winter and barely cost more than junk cordwood and much easier to deal with. Compared to ash cordwood I'm getting over 50% longer burn times with a straight load of 10-12 bricks (12=42lbs), but I do mixed burns as well and that works good too. Seems much less ash to deal with too. Bought 3 tons for this winter, along with 1 cord of ash and 6 tons of pellets.

 

[weatherguy]

I've experimented with different compressed log products and without a doubt the NEIL's are the best, the Presto logs may be equal but I never tried them although I think they're a tad smaller in length. I found the best way for me to use them was to lay 3 NEIL's down on the bottom and then I'd put 4 splits of oak on top, I get a nice long even overnight burn and the next morning the logs would be about 1/2 the size and glowing red still putting out good heat, there would be a few leftover coals from the oak. I'd then lay 4 more splits of oak on top for the day burn and repeat a third time for the last burn. Before bed I'd repeat the process starting with three new logs. I did this for the long cold snap we had an got more heat than just using cord wood and used about 1/3 less cord wood. Next year I'm going to get a pallet delivered.

 

[begreen]

NIELs were the original Presto Log. They sold the name. The current product called Presto Log does not compare. To confuse matters worse there is the HomeFire product called Prest Log that is also an excellent product. The Prest Log is also very dense and high btu, but not quite as dense as NIELs.