Hearthstone says NO to BioBricks

[DAKSY]

I was perusing the Hearthstone site for an answer to a gas question & found this in the FAQ section:

Can I burn BioBricks in a Hearthstone woodstove?

No. Our wood stoves are tested and certified with natural cord wood only. Burning properly seasoned cord wood in your HearthStone stove will produce a clean burn that exceeds the EPA efficiency requirements. BioBricks, and similar manmade products, can burn too hot and fast to be a good source of fuel, and may cause the stove to overheat. Keep in mind that damage due to over-firing will not be covered by the warranty.
Not trying to raise a ruckus or anything... Once you've bought YOUR stove & it's installed in YOUR house, I suppose it's YOURS to do what you want, but there it is, right from the people in the know...

 

[BrowningBAR]

can burn too hot and fast to be a good source of fuel,

Odd, as a lot of reports here show that they burn slower. Also at a lower temp if I recall. Not sure, though.

 

[BurnIt13]

I find that odd. Last year I went through a pallet (cord) of Eco-Bricks from Tractor Supply in my Englander 30. They are very comparable to the BioBricks from what I've read.

I found them to burn slower and at relatively lower temperatures than dry cord wood. The best thing about them is that they are predictable. Every time you load the stove you get the same result.

As a matter of fact I am splitting a pallet of Envi-8's with my dad right now. Same result.

Maybe they do weird things with cat stoves?

 

[Grisu]

Just a thought: Maybe they did not even test them in their stoves?

 

[BrowningBAR]

I find that odd. Last year I went through a pallet (cord) of Eco-Bricks from Tractor Supply in my Englander 30. They are very comparable to the BioBricks from what I've read.

I found them to burn slower and at relatively lower temperatures than dry cord wood. The best thing about them is that they are predictable. Every time you load the stove you get the same result.

As a matter of fact I am splitting a pallet of Envi-8's with my dad right now. Same result.

Maybe they do weird things with cat stoves?

Hearthstone only makes non-cats stoves in their current model line.

 

[firebroad]

I have used the Eco Bricks (same thing as Bio), and found that they do burn hotter, but that is because there is negligable moisture in them. In fact, that was the reason I bought them--to counteract the less-than-perfect wood I had to burn last year. In my experience I found that I was in no danger of overfiring the stove, but then I have never burned them exclusively--always added one or two to the rest of the splits.

 

[corey21]

Just a thought: Maybe they did not even test them in their stoves?

I would say you are correct.

 

[Highbeam]

Liability. Hearthstone makes the general statement that biobricks AND SIMILAR MANMADE PRODUCTS are prohibited becuase some yahoo will stuff wax logs in their stove. Or something that bubba made with kingsford briquets and diesel.

 

[rideau]

Actually, asked Woodstock about this the other day, as I have someone housesitting for a few weeks who has a previously broken bdack and I felt the bricks might be easier.

They didn't say not to, just said they don't recommend it as they tried them and found they don't put out very much heat....didn't express any concern at all about safety or overheating. Though I wouldn't burn a full load of the bricks, for sure. Was thinking of having them available as a supplement, because I really haven't room for three weeks of wood in the house.

Will be having a friend restock the wood supply, after my conversation with Woodstock, I guess.

Am going to put a "Dennis chair" by the stove for ease of loading. May be easier on the back.

 

[David Tackett]

It is a CYA item from the manufacturer.

 

[David Tackett]

I find that odd. Last year I went through a pallet (cord) of Eco-Bricks from Tractor Supply in my Englander 30. They are very comparable to the BioBricks from what I've read.

I found them to burn slower and at relatively lower temperatures than dry cord wood. The best thing about them is that they are predictable. Every time you load the stove you get the same result.

As a matter of fact I am splitting a pallet of Envi-8's with my dad right now. Same result.

Maybe they do weird things with cat stoves?

How much is a pallet of these bricks? My local TSC only lists them on the web as bricks of 6 for 3.49.

 

[firebroad]

How much is a pallet of these bricks? My local TSC only lists them on the web as bricks of 6 for 3.49.

Yeah, price went through the ceiling. I paid 2.99 last year for 8.

 

[Slow1]

I had a pile left over from my first year burning (still do as a matter of fact). When I checked with Woodstock they were fine with my burning them. I don't really consider them to be all that great a fuel frankly - better than semi-seasoned hardwood but worse than dry wood in terms of heat output. Predictable, yes - but very expensive for what you get. I want to get the rest of them burned this year, perhaps I'll succeed if I remember to drag them upstairs, I could use the storage space.

 

[BrotherBart]

Jotul has said for a long time not to use them in their stoves.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like overfire concerns. Hearthstone is cautious with their soapstone stoves, warning against taking the stovetop over 600F. There is such a diversity in the density and quality of these products and such an opportunity for abuse (what me read instructions?) that I can see some stove mfgs. deferring to caution rather than dealing with warranty claims. Used correctly I didn't find these products caused unpredictably hot fires, but if I had put one more log on or not packed the biobricks tightly (per directions), then I strongly suspect I would have been in overfire territory. This was in the Castine. Haven't tried them in the T6.

 

[wkpoor]

Since learning about the design characteristics of most EPA stoves in that the primary air can only be limited so far, I can see where mfgs would not want a hotter fuel used. If your stove allowed full air control then it seems to me one could keep temps in check.

 

[begreen]

Since learning about the design characteristics of most EPA stoves in that the primary air can only be limited so far, I can see where mfgs would not want a hotter fuel used. If your stove allowed full air control then it seems to me one could keep temps in check.

It's a trade off. Hard to keep emissions in check with a stove that had the built in ability to smolder.

 

[eclecticcottage]

I can see why. They CAN burn hot and fast if you aren't attentive to how you load them and how you control your stove. You can't load them loosely (well, more than one or two) and you can shut down the air quicker with them. We used a lot of ecobricks last season-mostly with some not seasoned wood, but occasionally by themselves. IMO, they perform better with a few wood splits. My morning for the day stove load was two big splits on each side, 4 ecobricks in the middle a smaller split across the front and top if possible. 10-12 hours later the Cottage was still warm and there were coals to relight from. If you keep the bricks within about 1/16-1/8 of each other they'll expand and burn as a mass. Like a really big low moisture content semi hardwood split. The pack even says how close to put them in order to accomplish this. But I know there are plenty of people that would just throw a bunch of them in the stove and let it go-and that would be a recipe for an overfire.

 

[blades]

It is real hard to justify a 150-200k expenditure for a compressed wood block line when stove mfg's here state side keep saying no. Yet it is more viable than pellets. It is true at present the cost is a bit more than cord wood( Although the current pricing of Oak in my area is considerable more than compressed and you are going to have to stack it for two years to dry it out before using). Mfg costs are about the same as pellets. Long run actually cheaper as there is considerably less die and machine wear/ part replacement than pellets production units. Part of this is also consumer fault for not reading following instructions, overfires with compressed I would rate the same as over fires with bulk. As with pellets good, so-so, bad- this of course is a mfg problem. On the consumer side many pluses weather they be a ambience type or serious heat.

 

[Doug MacIVER]

Jotul has said for a long time not to use them in their stoves.

stove mfg's don't need to spend money testing, cheaper to say don't use. you can over fire any stove w/ regular cord wood. i start using canawick brick this fall in a jotul f-100, in fall weather 30 at night burns 6-8 hrs with 0 draft, no creasote on glass. 3000sq.ft. open raised ranch, 60-62 bedrooms 66-68 living,kitch,family rm.stove overnite 275-350 on stove top, flue 400-600. in short i love these things, $285.00 so. mass.

 

[Rich L]

I find that odd. Last year I went through a pallet (cord) of Eco-Bricks from Tractor Supply in my Englander 30. They are very comparable to the BioBricks from what I've read.

I found them to burn slower and at relatively lower temperatures than dry cord wood. The best thing about them is that they are predictable. Every time you load the stove you get the same result.

As a matter of fact I am splitting a pallet of Envi-8's with my dad right now. Same result.

Maybe they do weird things with cat stoves?

What ? My envi-8 blocks burn hot as hell.My pipe damper is the only thing that will keep them from overfire.
Look it's been stated here that many companies say don't use them in their stoves due to overfire.So why do others say they don't burn as hot as cord wood.They burn hotter than cord wood if you stack to many.I really like them to fill the gaps between splits and yes I burn them in the Mansfield and it's still going strong.Just don't load too many and too close together.

 

[rijim]

I buy some from Tractor Supply for the fall, throw 2 splits E/W on bottom the 2 of these N/S on top; stove top runs between 450 - 500. I keep my wood away from house until we get plenty of cold weather to kill off bugs; then load up the porch. These work fine and I haven't had any problems with excessive burn temps; my chimney is only around 15' so my draft is ok but isn't ideal until temps are below 40.

 

[Pallet Pete]

Jotul told me it was because they had below 20% moister that it would be really bad. We had a pallet last winter because I got behind on cutting time and decided to buy one on sale to supplement with. Well long story short they did well mixed with wood at 6-8% moister. Funny some of my wood in the past has been that low and burns fine too. I wonder if they have heard of relative humidity before ?

Pete

 

[Pallet Pete]

How much is a pallet of these bricks? My local TSC only lists them on the web as bricks of 6 for 3.49.

They are pricey for sure we got them on sale at 149.00 for the pallet last year and that was a steal ! Thats the only reason I convinced myself it was worth buying them.

Pete

 

[wkpoor]

It's a trade off. Hard to keep emissions in check with a stove that had the built in ability to smolder.

That trade won't even work for cord wood in my case with such a tall chimney which lead to failure of my first EPA stove before I learned what was going on.