Had read of some inquiries about the brave new world of wood substitutes for wood stoves: biologs, presto logs etc. I bought some Enviro-logs at Home Depot in one of my midwinter meanderings. My thinking being that if somehow there were no more wood in the world, or no one to sell it to me this might be a good back up.
I will say that they seem to be as advertised. They appear to burn cleaner, longer and run much hotter than a comparable length of firewood. Little to no smoke either in the stove or out of the chimney. They burn evenly and reduce to little or no ash left in the stove as well. I estimate one log burned about 2.5 hours damped down and at about 450 degrees. They even have a nice wood look in the stove itself as they burn.. However, they do want to burn. I would not put more than one in the stove at a time, at least in a smaller stove like mine. The log did respond to damping down, though. So from the practical side they seem just fine.
From another point of view, though, they're just not the genuine article, kind of like polyester. Reminded me of why they're called "wood" stoves.
I think maybe as a backup, or for some unimagined emergency, for those on an environmental mission or those who watch BTU per buck very closely, they are something worth exploring. For me, though, I'll put them somewhere where I'll know where they are if I need them. Meanwhile, I'll just go out to the wood pile and get another armful of the real thing.
I will say that they seem to be as advertised. They appear to burn cleaner, longer and run much hotter than a comparable length of firewood. Little to no smoke either in the stove or out of the chimney. They burn evenly and reduce to little or no ash left in the stove as well. I estimate one log burned about 2.5 hours damped down and at about 450 degrees. They even have a nice wood look in the stove itself as they burn.. However, they do want to burn. I would not put more than one in the stove at a time, at least in a smaller stove like mine. The log did respond to damping down, though. So from the practical side they seem just fine.
From another point of view, though, they're just not the genuine article, kind of like polyester. Reminded me of why they're called "wood" stoves.
I think maybe as a backup, or for some unimagined emergency, for those on an environmental mission or those who watch BTU per buck very closely, they are something worth exploring. For me, though, I'll put them somewhere where I'll know where they are if I need them. Meanwhile, I'll just go out to the wood pile and get another armful of the real thing.
