wood & ECO brick combination

[Mainely Saws]

Hello folks ,
Just thought that I would pass on a combination that works well for me . I have an east/west stove ( Hampton 300 ) with a 1.7 cft fire box . I typically don't get very long burn times due to the size of the fire box & the east/west orientation but recently bought a ton of ECO bricks from the Tractor Store ( on sale for $239 ) & thought I would give them a try . I have found that by putting two small halves about 3" in diameter E/W on top of the coals & then laying in 3 ECO bricks north/south on top of those & finally a large half E/W on top of the ECO bricks that I can get a much longer burn with a more even heat from the stove over that period of time . My regular supply of wood is dry & burns well but this combo of bricks & dry firewood has easily lengthened my overall burn times . I used this method recently on a cold night at about 9:30 PM & still had coals to start a new fire the next morning at 6:00 Am & I had never been able to do this before .
Has anyone else used some combination of sawdust bricks & firewood ?

 

[fredarm]

All the time. I usually start the fire with splits in the back and (Geo) Bricks in the front with half a Supercedar. Sort of a sideways front-to-back top-down fire. It's pretty much fool-proof. Light the Supercedar, wait about 15 minutes, close the draft to half, wait another 15 minutes or so, close the draft all the way (unless I need more heat) and it will cruise for another 2 to 3 hours. I'll have to try the bricks north-south on the reload with some splits. With a 1.5 cu. ft. firebox north-south loading is pretty much impossible except with the bricks or very short pieces of wood.

 

[Mainely Saws]

That's what I like about the ECO bricks . They are about 10" long , which is perfect for N/S loading . I have cut 16" firewood in half to do the same thing but it's a pain .......

 

[kayakkeith]

What does a ton of Ecobricks equal in cord wood???

 

[Mainely Saws]

they say a ton of ECO bricks equals about a cord of hardwood .

 

[Jerry_NJ]

Late getting to this post, but as I have been trying to come up with some sort of economic analysis for ecobrick (nearest Tractor Supply is out) I'll jump in.

I have seen somewhere on the web a statement that a ton of ecobricks has about the same BTU content as a cord of seasoned hardwood. Further I believe a cord of seasoned hardwood has about 25,000,000 BTU. I also understand a pound of seasoned hardwood has about 8,000 BTU content and assume a pound of hardwood ecobrick would be about the same. But, dividing 25,000,000 BTU/2000 pounds I get 12,500 BTU per pound of ecobrick. It may be that the ecobrick is so tightly packed that it has more heat per pound than seasoned HW. I also saw on the ecobrick web site a statement that they contain something like 9,000 to 14,000 BTU per pound. I wonder what's the difference, but assume it is the kind of hardwood that the ecobrick is made from.

I think I'll figure on getting at least 10,000 BTU/pound of ecobrick. That being the case and paying about $3.00 for 25 pounds (sale price or bulk price) or per package of eight bricks, I see the use of ecobrick for general heating compared to heating oil at $3 a gallon a cost savings That is if I assume 130,000 BTU out of a gallon of oil (high efficiency) it would take 13 pounds of bricks to get the same energy (taking 100% efficiency - likely get less than 80%). So, rounding up about 5 bricks (3 pounds per brick - and some losses) which would cost about $1.90, well below the cost of heating oil. I get the $1.90 by dividing $3/8bricks x 5 bricks. I like working with brick count rather than pound count, the brick is what we see and handle.

I have about enough hardwood to get through this winter, but I will buy some ecobricks for a try if I can find some. The problem for small purchases is the cost goes way up to $4 per 8 bricks, in that case the above analysis would put the cost 5 bricks at $2.50, still well below the cost of heating oil. This makes me feel a bit like I now have the advantage of a pellet stove and wood stove in one stove. Yes, I know I still have to manually feed the wood stove fire, but the ecobricks seem to be as clean to handle as pellets, and have the advantage of knowing what you are buying. I have never, to my measure, gotten a full cord of wood when I purchase. The bricks are measured by certified scales, I assume, you really get a ton when you pay for a ton.