The wife loves making trips to PA Dutch country (Lancaster) and came home last weekend with a package of no-name compressed wood fuel (the small ones, not the three-pack you get at TSC). Just s clear plastic wrapper with no label. She thought they were fire starters.
I put six of them on a bed of coals at 9:30 PM the other night and had they took off immediately. I had the air completely closed within 15 minutes and the secondaries were still rolling when I last looked at about 11. Unlike at any time with any wood the insert was still throwing heat at 5:30 the next morning. I opened the air and opened the door to see what was left of them and the blower actually came back on. There was a glow that surely could have lit-off another load. It was the most heat I've ever gotten from a single load.
I'm a huge fan of the "free" aspect of heating with wood but if I had local access to whatever that stuff was I'd reconsider in a heartbeat. The ease of stacking, the lack of mess, the value of time (enjoyment aside) and the superior heat have me thinking in a big way that a pallet of the stuff would be a really good investment. I just wish I knew what it was so I could run a longer experiment.
All of that said, any fellow Lancaster-area people know what this stuff is? I regret not taking a pic of it.
I put six of them on a bed of coals at 9:30 PM the other night and had they took off immediately. I had the air completely closed within 15 minutes and the secondaries were still rolling when I last looked at about 11. Unlike at any time with any wood the insert was still throwing heat at 5:30 the next morning. I opened the air and opened the door to see what was left of them and the blower actually came back on. There was a glow that surely could have lit-off another load. It was the most heat I've ever gotten from a single load.
I'm a huge fan of the "free" aspect of heating with wood but if I had local access to whatever that stuff was I'd reconsider in a heartbeat. The ease of stacking, the lack of mess, the value of time (enjoyment aside) and the superior heat have me thinking in a big way that a pallet of the stuff would be a really good investment. I just wish I knew what it was so I could run a longer experiment.
All of that said, any fellow Lancaster-area people know what this stuff is? I regret not taking a pic of it.
