I've been meaning to post a review of my experience with ENVI blocks for a while now. I have a yard full of wood not yet ready to burn, so I've been experimenting with a ton of these compressed sawdust blocks.
A couple of times now I've been home or nearby for a long enough stretch to really monitor the burn. I fill my Heritage with 8 blocks in two layers with just a bit of a gap between in front of the doghouse. Next I drop a Super Cedar on the top of the stack at the back of the stove. Once lit, it takes maybe 1/2 hour to get some secondaries going. The next few hours require some attention to the air. It needs to be shut down fairly quickly and the flue damper closed soon after. Secondaries will go for hours with the stove top hitting 575 degrees within about 2 hours of lighting ( I know that's a long time for you non-stone stove folks!).
After 5 or 6 hours I've got a big stack of still well formed blocks glowing away and the stove temp will start to drop. At eight hours I open the side loading to door to pull these together in a tighter pile in the middle of the stove. At this point the top center stone is hovering around 325 on the IR thermometer. I open the air fully to create a large glowing lump of coal emitting a nearly invisible flame that will continue to provide some decent heat for at least another two hours.
The first time I did this it was 20 degrees outside for most of the day and comfy 80 in the stove room and 70 around the rest of my 1400 sq-ft. Today it's been in the upper 30's and it's probably more heat than I really need.
All in all, I'm impressed with these. If I had a cat stove (and I might if the Woodstock Ideal Steel pans out) I'd try burning these exclusively for a stretch. For now, they're great on their own or mixed in when the cord wood isn't quite perfect.
Paul
A couple of times now I've been home or nearby for a long enough stretch to really monitor the burn. I fill my Heritage with 8 blocks in two layers with just a bit of a gap between in front of the doghouse. Next I drop a Super Cedar on the top of the stack at the back of the stove. Once lit, it takes maybe 1/2 hour to get some secondaries going. The next few hours require some attention to the air. It needs to be shut down fairly quickly and the flue damper closed soon after. Secondaries will go for hours with the stove top hitting 575 degrees within about 2 hours of lighting ( I know that's a long time for you non-stone stove folks!).
After 5 or 6 hours I've got a big stack of still well formed blocks glowing away and the stove temp will start to drop. At eight hours I open the side loading to door to pull these together in a tighter pile in the middle of the stove. At this point the top center stone is hovering around 325 on the IR thermometer. I open the air fully to create a large glowing lump of coal emitting a nearly invisible flame that will continue to provide some decent heat for at least another two hours.
The first time I did this it was 20 degrees outside for most of the day and comfy 80 in the stove room and 70 around the rest of my 1400 sq-ft. Today it's been in the upper 30's and it's probably more heat than I really need.
All in all, I'm impressed with these. If I had a cat stove (and I might if the Woodstock Ideal Steel pans out) I'd try burning these exclusively for a stretch. For now, they're great on their own or mixed in when the cord wood isn't quite perfect.
Paul
