BioBrick Experiences?

[soupy1957]

Today I made a run over to my wood stove supplier, and we talked a bit about secondary burn and more particularly, about overnight burns.

I expressed a desire to continue to learn more about sustained overnight burns, given the firebox limitations (can't "N/S-E/W" build, due to the shallow nature of our stove, thus limiting the amount of wood I can fill the box with).

The owner of the company was the fella I was talking with, (he hadn't heard of Hearth.com, so I put in a plug for it, by the way), and he suggested BioBricks. He stated that if I was to put a couple of BioBricks on top of a good bed of glowing embers, and then load a big-A__ log on top of them, I'd not only get a full burn of the large piece of wood (apparently "sometimes the BIG logs tend NOT to burn all the way thru," or so HE says), but I'd get a LONGER burn, overnight.

Any thoughts? Any experience with BioBricks? Any alternate uses? I paid $7.00 for 20.

Link to the product: http://biopellet.net/

-Soupy1957

 

[BrotherBart]

Take a look here.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/BioBricks/

 

[agartner]

Personally, I love them. I'm running almost 100% on BioBricks and a stove full of them gives me a nice overnight burn with enough left over in the morning to get things going again with a sheet of newsprint.

Seven bucks for 20 is expensive, however. The thing to do is buy them by the pallet. That will bring your cost down to somewhere in the $5 to $6 range.

As to the alternatives - they're out there, but so far from what I've seen and used, the BioBricks are pretty much at the top of the stack for this type of product. I used "EcoBrix" last season and they're just not nearly as dense, which makes for a crappy, smoldering mess in your stove. I also tried "EnviLogs", which were also a dense, good burning product, but they come in like a 5 or 6lb log instead of the 2lb brick. I find the brick to be a bit easier to use, and the Envi's, at least for me, are a bit harder to find in pallet loads.

 

[begreen]

Sounds a little like he is suggesting making a tunnel of love under some EW loaded splits. If that is the case, a couple of 2" round limbs or splits would do the same thing.
I did this in the Castine. It worked well on the largest hardwood splits.

 

[Dune]

I like them a lot. Clean, easy, convenient, but expensive, especialy compared to scrounged wood. I will probably buy a few for my wife to use as firestarters if I am out of town.

 

[soupy1957]

For the record, ...........I threw a couple into the firebox this afternoon, (fire's been out since last night), with about 5 sheets of scrunched up newspaper pages, some kindling sticks and a couple of smaller splits. They lit fairly soon after I lit the newspaper, and lasted a couple of hours. Left a strange "black" ash in the firebox...........

Very expensive........I calculate about $800.00 if I were loading 20 a day in two loads, times the number of days from Oct. 1st to March 31st.......that's certainly more than I pay for 3 cords of hardwood.

I'll play with them some more and see what I think, over time. Note: I tried to take my axe to one of them, thinking perhaps I could split one in thirds...........no way!! I'm thinkin a Band Saw would be better for that.

-Soupy1957

 

[Dune]

I burned a ton or so one year when I was working out of state. Easy on the wife, but very expensive. Lit up with just newspaper. I have a bandsaw, so I will get a bag or two and cut them into quarters for firestarters. Easier than teacher her, and the kids are not always around either. Don't get me wrong, she's very teachable, just doesn't like listening to me. Can't say I blame her either.

 

[Renovation]

If anyone has experiences in the Michigan area, please share them.

I did a little research, and it sounded like people liked the "Envi" (something like that, the company with the barefoot on the bricks) the best, but when I sent them a note, they said there are no dealers in MI

Anyone find any good, cheap ones in MI? Might be good as a backup.

 

[joshlaugh]

I got two cases free last year when I bought my Jotul. They work fine but I would never pay money for something I can cut/split and burn for free.

 

[argus66]

great product and makes no creosote at all. but i too am a full wood burner only cause i can get it for free.

 

[hearthstoneheat]

I just started trying EcoBrick made here in Ohio. They do seem to burn pretty well- clean, hot and long. Only down side I see so far, is they are hard to start on their own. A good bed of coals is definitely needed.

 

[fredarm]

I just started trying EcoBrick made here in Ohio. They do seem to burn pretty well- clean, hot and long. Only down side I see so far, is they are hard to start on their own. A good bed of coals is definitely needed.

Use half of a Supercedar. Lights up my Geo Bricks no problem, no kindling, no newspaper. If you haven't tried them, email Thomas (he's on this forum) and he'll send you 2 free samples. I guarantee you'll be hooked!

 

[hearthstoneheat]

I may try that, thanks.

 

[agartner]

+1 on the cedars. But I only use a quarter cedar and it starts up my BioBricks just fine.

 

[spirilis]

fwiw I use a quarter of a supercedar and to make things start super fast in my smoke dragon Defiant upstairs (and develop strong flames quickly) I add 2 charcoal briquettes under the teepee.

 

[fredarm]

I'm too lazy to quarter them and they make too much mess.

 

[dafattkidd]

I'm too lazy to quarter them and they make too much mess.

Break the super cedar by hand in the package before you open it. Use 1/4 of it. I store the open package of super cedar in a zip lock bag after opening it to collect the messy sawdust. Each super cedar gives a significant amount of dust/mess that collects in the ziplock bag. After three or so super cedars I compact the dust (it's sort of sticky) and create a new 1/4 super cedar. It works well. I really like super cedars. I get like 5 fire starts out of one of them. Hope that helps.

 

[agartner]

Another good use for the bricks - they work great in the BBQ smoker outside. I've done some mighty tasty pork products with biobricks.

 

[Battenkiller]

Just before dinner last night, I put a package of six 3.5-pound Envi-8 bricks on a small bed of coals. They took a while to get going without any active flame to ignite them, but when I went down to check the stove after about 1/2 hour, the flue was at 600º and the stove top was pushing 850º! 20 pounds of dry oak would never do that in my stove.

I got a decent 4 hour burn out of those bricks (two layers, alternated to keep the mass tight and compact). Stove was still cranking at 500º. When I opened the doors, there was a pile of intense embers in there that nearly singed my nose hairs.

This morning I started the day with four small 2-pound Bio-Bricks (don't seem as dense as the Envi-8 bricks) and got a 550º stove within half an hour. I went down two hours later and the stove was at 450º and I put three more on. I checked all the surfaces with my IR gun and found that the stove was remarkably even in temperature all over. This is not usual for my stove, hot spots usually rule the day. Right now it is an even 450º all over, almost feeling like a nice soapstone stove. That's 6 hours on 14 pounds of fuel, and just perfect for me to work down there.

Well worth hunting some down and keeping them for special purposes if nothing else. Shop around, I am paying $250/ton no matter what quantity I get. I don't believe a ton of bricks is equal to a cord of dense hardwood, but they are real nice to burn and are probably equivalent on a cost per unit of heat produced to fully seasoned hardwood that sells around here for close to $350/cord (if you can find fully seasoned wood).

The only complaint I have is that some of the packages I bought (various makers) weigh less than others, depending on the density of the wood used to make them. One 3-brick pack of Envi brick weighed only 17 pounds as opposed to the 20 pounds I was billed at. That's a 15% difference (the 2# Wood Brick Fuel and the Envi-8 bricks were almost dead nuts on), and I feel the same about that as I would if a wood dealer showed up with 108 cu.ft on the truck instead of the 128 he promised me.

 

[soupy1957]

I just started trying EcoBrick made here in Ohio. They do seem to burn pretty well- clean, hot and long. Only down side I see so far, is they are hard to start on their own. A good bed of coals is definitely needed.

I thought they were made in Connecticut?! Where in Ohio are they made? We've got family out there in the Akron area, and we go out a couple of times a year. I think I might enjoy seeing the place where they are made.

-Nutmegger1957

 

[Battenkiller]

The only complaint I have is that some of the packages I bought (various makers) weigh less than others, depending on the density of the wood used to make them. One 3-brick pack of Envi brick weighed only 17 pounds as opposed to the 20 pounds I was billed at. That's a 15% difference (the 2# Wood Brick Fuel and the Envi-8 bricks were almost dead nuts on), and I feel the same about that as I would if a wood dealer showed up with 108 cu.ft on the truck instead of the 128 he promised me.

A correction to this comment is in order.

I just got off the phone with the folks I bought my bricks from. He said if you buy by the ton, there are 105 packs of the larger Envi-brick to a pallet compared to 100 packs of the smaller Envi-8 bricks. This is to get the weight up to a ton, so the ton prices are actually valid ($249/ton). At the single-pack price, he didn't want to complicate the bookkeeping by charging a slightly lower price for the bigger bricks that weigh only 17 pounds per pack, but assures me that if I buy a ton, I will get a ton.

I burned only bricks yesterday, and I went through 17 2-pound Bio-bricks all told, in four additions. Interestingly, I can get my flue temps up higher while in down-draft mode with the bricks than I usually can with cordwood. Temps stayed in the 350-400º range until the tail of each burn. Even when there was nothing but coals left and flue temps dropped to under 200º, stove temp was an even 500º all over. These coals are hot, and they burn to completion with little ash left at the end. The stove was still plenty warm at 8 PM when I decided to go to all hardwood for the overnight. Still haven't started a new fire today (12:30 PM) and this joint is at 68º right now. I attribute some of that to the higher flue temps that helped get my interior masonry chimney hotter than normal.

In the end, I used 34 pounds of Bio-brick at a cost of $8.50 (plus the load of cordwood at night) to heat this place for 28 hours. I imagine they would go a whole lot further in a cat stove because they burn at such a slow rate. I wouldn't be surprised if 30 pounds in a Fireview lasted an entire day with the stove in the 500º range the whole time.


Anyone living in my area (Capital District, NY) can get some of this superior fuel to try at:

Mulholland Enterprises
2084 Route 9n
Greenfield Center, NY 12833
518-893-2165

They have wood, pellet and coal burning stoves as well. They also carry several grades of anthracite coal, and are in the process (at my suggestion) of getting some low-sulfur blacksmithing bituminous coal for any smiths around here. Price will be less than 1/2 what smithing coal will cost elsewhere.

 

[Grossepellets]

Another good use for the bricks - they work great in the BBQ smoker outside. I've done some mighty tasty pork products with biobricks.

Glad to see you took them to your Smoker!

 

[SnapCracklePop]

I just started trying EcoBrick made here in Ohio. They do seem to burn pretty well- clean, hot and long. Only down side I see so far, is they are hard to start on their own. A good bed of coals is definitely needed.

I thought they were made in Connecticut?! Where in Ohio are they made? We've got family out there in the Akron area, and we go out a couple of times a year. I think I might enjoy seeing the place where they are made.

-Nutmegger1957

I can't remember the exact location, but I think it's not far from Akron. Their website says they deliver free within 150 miles. Of course, I live 151.4 miles from their factory.

I'd have to arrange for them to deliver somewhere around here within their 150 mile radius; a Lowe's or somewhere... And I'd have to rent a truck from Lowe's to get a skid home.

Still thinkin' on it...

Nancy