Greetings - and a question - from a pellet burner

[RKS130]

Hello to all. I hope you will pardon the intrusion, but I need some information and have always found the folks on the forums here to be most helpful.

My sister in law lives up around Spencer MA, with my Mother in law - a nice respectable distance away from where I am in the lower Hudson Valley, NY. She heat her small frame bngalow/cottage sized home with wood as her primary and electricity for backup. As both women are getting up there, 50s/80s respectively, my wife and I (the wife is affectionately known over on the Pellet Forum as Madame DeFarge) were thinking about getting some pallets of pressed wood bricks delivered to them for next winter. We recently found out that this year they were apparently a bit cold due to a shortage of both wood and cash!

Any input on these wood bricks would be appreciated. I know Cleanfire makes them, but am aware there are many other brands out there which I assume are at least similar. Then again, the pellet heads argue endlessly about the minute differences between pellet brands, so I guess the same will be true as to the bricks.

Anyway, how is the heat? . . . how many pallets of bricks gives you the heat output of a cord of wood - or vice versa? . . . is this a cost effective way to help them out or should I just find some local firewood seller up there and have some cords sent over (of course that means I have to visit so that is a cost in itself!) . . . can unopened pallets be storder outdoors?

Many thanks for any input you can provide on these and any other relevant issue I haven't even thought of?

 

[kennyp2339]

I have used redstone fire bricks from tractor supply, there pretty good, but slightly expensive at $3.85 for a pack of 3 @ 4"x6"x12", I also tried and bought my father a pallet of *Wood Brick Fuel from Kuiken Bro's lumber, these were great at $305.00 a ton, you get 24 in a pack if I remember correctly, they are slightly smaller bricks 3"x4"x7" but I found that they were compressed better then the redstones and burned a little better to.
I always have cord wood ready to go, but after last year with the persistent cold / snow I will always keep at least a half ton of fire bricks in my basement, they really helped out, especially when I worked crazy hours and the girlfriend was in charge of loading the stove.

 

[Jags]

I am no expert on the pressed fuel front but I do understand quite clearly that they are not created equal. From my understanding - NEILS are the gold standard of fuel bricks. @begreen has done some of the most extensive testing I am aware of. Hopefully he will be along with his take on the subject.

 

[prezes13]

Out of all the bricks I have used I liked eco bricks the most. Also northern Idaho energy logs are great but hard to come by. Eco bricks are $260 a ton here in ct. NIELs are $450 a skid. I like to mix them with wood which give me extended hotter burn.

 

[begreen]

Like pellets, the quality of bricks and pressed logs varies a lot between products. This is usually a result of the difference in the equipment used to press the sawdust. It takes an enormous amount of pressure to form a good product. The more dense the log or brick, the longer it will burn. There are a lot of cheap pressed logs on the market that have been formed under low pressure. These logs burn quickly and expand rapidly leaving a lot of ash. Avoid them. Premium pressed logs perform almost the opposite with little expansion and ash, and a hotter fire plus much longer burn. In testing pressed logs I found NIELs to be exceptional with Home Fire Prest-Logs also performing well. In bricks so far I have had the best results from BioBricks. Next fall when it gets cool again I plan on testing some more product in the T6. For past reviews go to: https://www.hearth.com/talk/wiki/fuels/

 

[Oldman47]

One main question you seem to have is storage. Any of the pressed wood products are simply sawdust pressed together. If they get wet they are toast. Unlike cord wood they must be protected from moisture at all times.

 

[Highbeam]

I would buy them firewood. The bricks can run away uncontrollably in a regular noncat woodstove. Your relatives know how to burn and store wood, they just need more.

I've tried the niels and two other brands in various stoves. I could make them all work but the experience was always much different than firewood and not better.

 

[billb3]

can unopened pallets be stored outdoors?

No different than the pellets you use already if you are buying them in bags.
I've tried some that TSC had just to try them . They work but seem like an expensive albeit convenient source of wood stove supply.
Any way to ask them who they used to get wood from and go that route ?

 

[Dmitry]

I've burned 3,5 tons of BioBricks this winter and loved it. They are uniform, easy to put in insert, with consistent heat output, less mess in a room, low ash amount, cleaner glass due to low moisture content My wife handled bricks with no problem. Never had runaway situation. The fire is easier to control, you just have to know how many bricks your stove can handle. I would never buy ''seasoned " wood again, unless it's dirt cheap.Learned it hard way. With Biobricks you know exactly what you're getting. No punk wood, no guessing if it's a cord or less. The amount of BTU you are buying for your money is fairly close here in CT were cord of "seasoned" wood runs around $250 .
Your women will appreciate how easy it is to handle these bricks