BeGreen said:
NY Soapstone said:
Comparing the cordwood to bricks using BG's numbers, you need 1.5 tons of Bios (at about 17MBtus/ton) to equal 1 cord of wood (25MBtus).
They are very convenient but not a cheaper option than wood unless you're paying $375/cord for wood. (assuming the Bios are $250/ton)
-Colin
Colin, you are missing the weight of a cord of wood. That's correct as long as you remember a cord of wood is going to be 2 tons or more. So the bios make economic sense in many areas where cord wood is expensive.
BeGreen said:
A better comparison is the btus per ton. One ton of bio bricks = 17,000,000 btus (50 pkgs x 20 bricks x 17,000 btus). By comparison, a cord of white oak = 4000 - 4500#, 25,700,000 btus or if very dry, 12,850,000 btus / ton. Bio bricks emit 50% less particulates per cord burned which is impressive. Also, in a correctly packed stove, they release meaningful heat over a much longer time. This is one of the best features, especially for overnight burns.
BG - the BTU number I used (25M Btus) was your number by the cord - which is how the wood is sold. You could do the calculation on a unit ton of each as well - but you'd have to divide the price of the cord roughly in half when translating to dollars, since a ton of wood is a lot less than a cord, as you state, and I think it makes the comparison less clear:
Example:
1 ton of BioBricks = 17M BTUs for $250
1 ton of wood = ~1/2 (cordwood price) = $200/cord * 0.5 = $100/ton = 13M BTUs for $100
Either way you'd come out to the same conclusion which you also said in your last post - you have to be paying in the ballpark of $400/cord before the biobricks are cheaper.
Colin, Have you ever burned BioBricks(tm)? One pound of BioBricks DELIVERS the same heat as 1.7 lb of 21% cordwood. An average NE cord of wood weighs 3400 lb. A pallet of biobricks weighs at least 3250 they are the same.
-Colin
