Bummer.

[91LMS]

thank god for great friends. got a couple cord "lent" as a favor to be given back this spring. i had no idea what to expect just getting online this january. wont happen again, but i assume consumption is way up, especially prior to changes in my system. this winter has made me a nervous wreck trying to keep storage temps up and make my boiler perform. change to lower temp emitters/ ditch the baseboard, fire up the plasma cutter and welder this summer for more changes and be ready for next year.....

most prices i have heard and researched myself are ballpark 120 for tree length. no one seems to want to deliver partial loads though, 9 cord or none.

 

[heaterman]

I'm burning crappier wood this winter, and it's been colder - but I think I'm burning less of it. I'm fully depleting storage before lighting, and not charging it as high - nothing scientifically proven, but I really think it made a pretty big difference in my wood consumption.

This is very true. Viessmann studied this extensively and showed some pretty significant savings in not only boiler efficiency but also overall system efficiency by utilizing lower water temps.
The study was mainly about the advantages of condensing boilers but if I remember the class correctly there was a measured 8% efficiency increase to be had by dropping system temperature from 180 to 140*.
Below 140* water temps (not advisable for most bio fueled equipment!) the efficiency increase was 1% for every 3 degree drop of system operating temperature.

 

[maple1]

change to lower temp emitters/ ditch the baseboard, fire up the plasma cutter and welder this summer for more changes and be ready for next year.....

Not sure what you're planning to do with the cutter and welder - sure sounds interesting, but if I were you I would keep my eyes wide open and ears right to the ground and look for a decent used gassifying boiler. Once you get through this winter, you'll have a bit of time on your side before the next one hits - you might get lucky & find a good one for a good price. Keep an eye on the classifieds in this place for starters. Or, if budget permits - watch for season ending deals on a new one starting right now. You're just one good component away from wood heating heaven.

 

[91LMS]

Not sure what you're planning to do with the cutter and welder - sure sounds interesting, but if I were you I would keep my eyes wide open and ears right to the ground and look for a decent used gassifying boiler. Once you get through this winter, you'll have a bit of time on your side before the next one hits - you might get lucky & find a good one for a good price. Keep an eye on the classifieds in this place for starters. Or, if budget permits - watch for season ending deals on a new one starting right now. You're just one good component away from wood heating heaven.

10-4 maple. plans to add a gassifier for sure, budget permitting. i am certainly in the market if anyone hears of anything.

 

[Chris Hoskin]

Dysart's in Bangor "temporarily out of stock" on bio-brick-type fuel according to their website.

 

[91LMS]

Dysart's in Bangor "temporarily out of stock" on bio-brick-type fuel according to their website.

chris i do know of some in the bangor area if anyone is in need. i tried them but wasnt overly impressed other the convenience.

 

[kopeck]

The local EBS has them, they will also deliver for free which wasn't 100% nessisary but one less thing I would have to do.

I'm 99% I'm going to give them a go. It doesn't take long to rack up $300 bucks in oil...I'm going to spend it one way or another.

K

 

[91LMS]

The local EBS has them, they will also deliver for free which wasn't 100% nessisary but one less thing I would have to do.

I'm 99% I'm going to give them a go. It doesn't take long to rack up $300 bucks in oil...I'm going to spend it one way or another.

K

where bouts are you kopeck? i only burned the few bundles i got in my cat stove. awesome for lighting the stove and getting up to temp. not sure what burn times would be like. keep us posted.

 

[kopeck]

Midcoast, from what they tell be Belfast has plenty on hand.

K

 

[DZL_Damon]

I just found my receipt for Bio Bricks from EBS in Bar Harbor: $5 for 25lbs... that works out to $400/ton!

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

I just cant wrap my head around buying wood or bio bricks. I suppose maybe it makes "cents" if your only alternative is propane, but if i had to buy it i'd rather just turn on the gas furnace. Probably cheaper and a lot less hassle. Just wouldnt make sense in my situation anyways.

 

[velvetfoot]

When I was going to the hardware store just now, I noticed they had a ton of Eco bricks (I think it was called) for $275.

 

[skfire]

245 a ton in troy pa, envi8 blocks, 1 pallet

 

[kopeck]

I just cant wrap my head around buying wood or bio bricks. I suppose maybe it makes "cents" if your only alternative is propane, but if i had to buy it i'd rather just turn on the gas furnace. Probably cheaper and a lot less hassle. Just wouldnt make sense in my situation anyways.

If they really are as good as they claim it would still be about half the price of oil. I'm planing on mixing in my own wood so that might make it around a quarter of the price of oil.

As far as the cost goes it's $320 (or around there) for a pallet, which is a ton, delivered from EBS in Belfast ME. Those other prices are pretty nice, I wish that's what I could get them here for.

The way I see it I'm going to spend money one way or the other...I might as well spend less money.

K

 

[WiscWoody]

They aren't available to buy here in the Midwest according to the company that makes them.

 

[BoilerMan]

If they really are as good as they claim it would still be about half the price of oil. I'm planing on mixing in my own wood so that might make it around a quarter of the price of oil.

As far as the cost goes it's $320 (or around there) for a pallet, which is a ton, delivered from EBS in Belfast ME. Those other prices are pretty nice, I wish that's what I could get them here for.

The way I see it I'm going to spend money one way or the other...I might as well spend less money.

K

The way oil prices have been, burning straight vegetable oil is looking more and more attractive than heating oil/diesel. There is always the 5 gallon pails of waste oil that are sitting around............

TS

 

[kopeck]

And away we go!

Started using them tonight, put in a pack and filled the rest with cord wood. My tank was at 100 deg, and it took very little time to get it up to 140. Last I checked it was at 160 and still had plenty left in the firebox. Not the coldest night but pretty impressive all in all.

The one thing I do hate is starting my boiler when it's dead cold. Just takes longer to get the fire to catch and the I tend to get some smoke in the basement as I'm loading.

K

 

[WiscWoody]

I was surprised to see Eco bricks at a Menards store yesterday. They cost $5 for a six brick package. I might get some when they're on sale and try them for overnight burns.

 

[Roundgunner]

I brought home a cord and a half of Ash tops yesterday that were cut a couple weeks ago. Threw a few in yesterday and they burned, split most of it up today and hope to burn it in a week or so when I all but run out of properly seasoned wood. I'm hoping if the weather breaks it will keep me going till spring.

 

[Roundgunner]

I got the rest split and have burned a few load of mixed and just ash and it burns well for just cut. Some of you could maybe do this yourselves.

 

[Roundgunner]

I hate to be a thread killer, I was just throwing it out there. The Ash seems to work OK unseasoned and I hate to burn oil and wood blocks cost a lot too.

 

[kopeck]

Not a killer, I was just waiting to see how things went.

Bio Brick work fine but they're not "perfect" by any means. They seem to have plenty of BTUs stored up in those little cubes, so I can't complain about that. I don't think the one ton pallet quite equals a cord of wood but I do think there's more BTUs in there then a half cord, which is close to the same volume.

The biggest issues I've seen are:

Getting them going. I've more or less given up starting my fires with them. They just don't like to catch. I can have a roaring fire in no time with normal cord wood, it's simple not the case with the Bio Bricks. It must be due to their density, they're plenty dry and feel like they would touch of easily but they don't. I even tried them in my parlor stove with the same results. What does work is starting a fire with my dwindling pile of seasoned wood, pile in the Bio Bricks then put my less then ideal wood on top. This method seems to work pretty well.

Bridging. It's so tempting to stack these in here in a nice neat pile. They go in with plenty of room on each side but they seem to expand as the burn and can be almost impossible to break up. I've had the worst bridging I've ever seen with them in my Tarm. Now I really stack them loosely and the seem to work much better.

So, do I like them. Yeah, they're OK and better then burning oil but unless you have some sort of distaste of cord wood they're not a direct replacement dollar for dollar. Now if I was living in town with a wood stove as secondary heat and didn't have easy access to wood I would be all over these things. Super easy to handle and very clean as well. Plus they don't take up a lot of space.

Re Ash:

Yeah, they have a very low sap content. I've got some in my mix of not perfectly seasoned wood. I also cut down a dead standing ash that might as well be seasoned. That sucker split it self when it hit the ground. Of all the wood I have around here, if I was going to take a chance on burning something green it would be Ash.

K

 

[Gasifier]

K, I have added wood pellets in to the boiler to see how things burn. I wanted to see how that worked and I had some less than desirable pellets.They seem to throw heat just fine in the Gasser. I did not see a big difference. Of course I waited until I had a nice bed of coals going, threw a decent layer in, then added cord wood, then more pellets, etc. and I mixed them throughout the cord wood. That was just a test. I think they have about the same BTUs. Something to think about to try to make your wood go a little farther.

 

[Roundgunner]

Well it is still around zero at night and mid 20s for a daytime high. I have been running full loads of fresh Ash for days now with no obvious problems. I'm getting 8-9 hours instead of10-11 hours on a load but for what I have into it I'm good. If it doesn't warm up soon I will have to get another top. I'm hoping to be burning cherry soon, to cold for now. I have 2 cord of dry cherry for warmer weather if it ever gets here.

 

[Roundgunner]

Well I'm down to about a few days of the fresh cut Ash. It burned as well as dry wood except faster. The creosote you could see forming on the walls burned off when it would get down to coals. I never found any in the flues but have not cleaned the 6" stack yet. It is 20 and snowing again today with single digits at night, I may pick and choose thru the wood piles as I know some of that has to be dry by now. I may just get another Ash top if I can. The best news is I have not burned a bit of oil after the wood burner went 100% on line.