Saw these at lowes the other day and was curious about them. I have also read a few post on them. Not sure if anyone has used them before. Wouldn't plan on using them very often. Just thought they may help in some overnight burns...
biobricks
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Luv2BWarm
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I finally found some Ecobricks at Tractor Supply this week. Bought 6 pkgs of 8 ($3.99/pack, which I know is high). Been struggling with a bit of damp wood. I've used about 2 pkgs so far. Put in two blocks with 3 or 4 splits when we leave at 7am and at 5:30pm still have some good coals to make stove starting easier. Also have used one block with wood for my overnights (I get up at 2am to reload) and same scenario - easier to keep burning and heats up like a charm in the a.m.
I got 2 cords of "seasoned wood" in September.......unfortunately it wasn't very seasoned at all
so i bought 2 tons of Biobricks @ woodpellets.com
and have been using them solely this year.
They are absolutely great. Puts out great heat, less mess, very clean, and easy to store.
I Paid $275/Ton, but think the price might have went up a little since.
I've been very impressed.
Cord word around here, seasoned, is a good $300/cord.
so i bought 2 tons of Biobricks @ woodpellets.com
and have been using them solely this year.
They are absolutely great. Puts out great heat, less mess, very clean, and easy to store.
I Paid $275/Ton, but think the price might have went up a little since.
I've been very impressed.
Cord word around here, seasoned, is a good $300/cord.
Really?trylon said:
I have tried both and I find it the other way around..but eh..maybe your stove is that much diff..I dunno.
Eco-bricks is what I bought from TSC.
eclecticcottage
Minister of Fire
I've been playing with them a bit. I'm not that impressed. They burn well, but leave you hardly anything to restart with like a hot bed of coals do. I've been using them to fill small voids in the firebox to better pack the stove.
My TS stopped selling them before Christmas as they clearanced all heating supplies by Jan 1 
My Lowe's does not carry those.
My Lowe's does not carry those.
I burn almost exclusively biobricks right now (new home, moved in here November, didn't want to have to trust finding seasoned wood).
The only suggestion I'd have is to follow the advice they give usage (stacking / number to use), as they can really take off. If you build a wall with them (so they become almost like one log), you can get some pretty decent burn times out of them.
I usually have about 13-15 in the stove going at a time - a wall of 9 in front, with the bricks I used to start the fire pushed to the rear. Hearth has a good page on them here: https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/BioBricks/
Overall, I like them. When the wood I cut is finished seasoning, I'll still probably get a pallet of them to supplement.
The only suggestion I'd have is to follow the advice they give usage (stacking / number to use), as they can really take off. If you build a wall with them (so they become almost like one log), you can get some pretty decent burn times out of them.
I usually have about 13-15 in the stove going at a time - a wall of 9 in front, with the bricks I used to start the fire pushed to the rear. Hearth has a good page on them here: https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/wiki/BioBricks/
Overall, I like them. When the wood I cut is finished seasoning, I'll still probably get a pallet of them to supplement.
AndrewInCT said:
I burn Envi-8 Blocks and agree - if you align the blocks so they become one bigger mega block, it then burns like a larger piece of wood and you get longer burn times. You are arranging the blocks to get minimum surface area, so there is less exposed wood to burn. It will still get plenty hot. The Envi's are all hardwood and I think the Bio's are a mix of softwood and hardwood, so the Bio's I would guess will not give quite as good long burn times.
kallsop said:
My observations are on par with that... Not going to get really long burn times at desired temperatures (well, I have a blower running which I'm sure impacts that greatly). I'd say 4-6 hours typically on a load, but I've gone longer on warm days.
The other slight concern is that the bricks of course expand when the are on fire - and a couple of times this has caused the wall to break apart, exposing note only more surface area on the exterior of the bricks, but also the interior of the bricks. When that has happened, the temp on the stove can get a bit high if you are not watching.
Burned correctly I found the Bios gave good burn times and there were coal like embers for a restart. Not as good as a real hardwood fire remnants, but not all that bad. It may take a little more practice to get them burning right. They should be layered like kallsop described, with the new layer placed at right angles to the one underneath it. That makes it a more solid wall with less air passages.
BeGreen said:
I'll try this when I reload in a bit - may be a user error on my part is contributing to quicker burn times.
trailrated said:
You're waiting too long to restart. Once the flames are gone after two hours or so, the bricks are solid red coal which you can break up at any point to create that coal bed. I'd say an hour a brick it realistic heat time, I burn 4 at a time and get 4 hrs of nice heat with the blower on. I'll pick some more up today and take some temp readings with the IR, blower off.
I am getting long burn times with my BioBricks.
I have trouble getting them started from scratch, so I usually get a real hot fire going first with half of a pine pallet. That will burn for 2.5 hours or so, and then I'll load on 12-15 bricks on top of the coals. Last night, with the outside temp in the 20s, I loaded 12 bricks on top of the coals at around 10:00 pm. Stove top reached max of about 700*, before I went to bed at midnight. When I came downstairs at 8:00 this morning, stove top was at 200* and I could have relit with coals (but didn't). 10 hour burn time.
When used properly, this is a very impressive product.
I have trouble getting them started from scratch, so I usually get a real hot fire going first with half of a pine pallet. That will burn for 2.5 hours or so, and then I'll load on 12-15 bricks on top of the coals. Last night, with the outside temp in the 20s, I loaded 12 bricks on top of the coals at around 10:00 pm. Stove top reached max of about 700*, before I went to bed at midnight. When I came downstairs at 8:00 this morning, stove top was at 200* and I could have relit with coals (but didn't). 10 hour burn time.
When used properly, this is a very impressive product.
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