Heat'rs brand Densified energy logs

[wg_bent]

But if I can pick up a pallet of biobricks for ~$200 delivered, I'll do that as well.

Yea, I suspect that is a pickup wholesale price. That is a big factor for a one ton pallet located in CT. If you pickup wood, it's a heck of a lot cheaper (usually free) but also makes for some interesting threads as we saw on here a few weeks back

I'm not sure how I'd haul a one-ton pallet - can't even put in a compact pickup. (maybe they can be distributed in 1000 lb pallets since most any truck and probabl some SUVs can handle that with ease?) I'd also guess that nobody is going to deliver it for free either... I'd guess you'd add on at least $50-$100 per pallet to get it to your place. Heck, a load of mulch costs $50 to deliver and that doesn't require a forklift to unload.

Sounds like some of the urban folks are getting hammered on wood prices - I bet a lot of it is traffic and delivery hassle to homeowners, so I would be interested in how that will be managed for the compressed log products. In the end, woodburning has always made a lot more sense for rural communities where fuel is plentiful and sourced locally.

If anyone does find these or comparable products in the Dutchess County, NY area, let me know - would like to evaluate them this winter to see how they compare in a continuously operated cat stove.

-Colin

Working on it Colin. Not a cat stove though. But maybe we should meet on this off line.

 

[BrotherBart]

I just love this guy - its great to deal with sentient beings

"Sentient" is certainly a rarely used word, BP. My son's blog is titled "Amorphous Sentiency".... and I STILL ain't totally familiar with how to use the word.[/quote]

Yeah I got a chuckle when I saw that. I think he meant to say that Mo is sapient, implying wisdom and knowledge.

Hell my cat is a "sentient being" and he is dump as a stump.

 

[Turner-n-Burner]

But if I can pick up a pallet of biobricks for ~$200 delivered, I'll do that as well.

I'm not sure how I'd haul a one-ton pallet - can't even put in a compact pickup. (maybe they can be distributed in 1000 lb pallets since most any truck and probabl some SUVs can handle that with ease?) I'd also guess that nobody is going to deliver it for free either... I'd guess you'd add on at least $50-$100 per pallet to get it to your place. Heck, a load of mulch costs $50 to deliver and that doesn't require a forklift to unload.

-Colin

Yeah, I think as energy prices continue to rise, delivery of goods is going to be a bigger and bigger issue - even for products that are designed to be "alternative energies". Figureing out delivery could well be the greatest barrier to the success of this product.

as you say, most pickups can't handle 2000 lbs in the bed. My half ton is rated at just under 1500 lbs. I could do it with a trailer, but unless I had a heavy duty trailer, I could only carry one pallet at a time. Then I'd have to figure out how to unload. If I unstack the pallet and restack it, I've just lost one selling point over cordwood.

I've seen a trailer on the market that was specifically designed to load and unload pallets and only pallets, it would be ideal if the point of purchase was near you and they let you borrow it with a qualified purchase.

For mass delivery I think you'd have to run a full size flatbed truck with a hitchhiker forklift like the sod companies run. You might be able to get away with a flat bed tilt wrecker truck like the towing companies run. Load it up at home base and go out for a day of deliveries... unstrap one pallet, and tilt the bed and slide her off.

I think if the delivery cost exceeds 15-20% of the retail price, the manufacturer is working for the delivery Co instead of the other way around.

-Dan

 

[babalu87]

Going to see if the wife can pick up a few 40lb bags on her way to teach tommorow, hopefully they have them in stock.
I wouldnt buy a pallet without seeing them in action.

http://www.en-r-gysaver.com/index.html

 

[BioPellet]

Going to see if the wife can pick up a few 40lb bags on her way to teach tommorow, hopefully they have them in stock.
I wouldnt buy a pallet without seeing them in action.

http://www.en-r-gysaver.com/index.html

Don't forget to stack them in the stove laying flat and tight together. That way they give off the woodgasses slowly and from the outside in.

In a cold start sit. first make a Teepee with three bricks leaning over some loosely wadded newsprint, put a fourth brick ontop if you like. You may have to blow on it to get it going. Let this burn for an hour or so and then push the coals back to the back of the stove and build your pile in front of and up over the coals. Don;t stir the fire - you don't need to. The plots on my website are with the door closed to whole time.

It takes a few tries to go from a good burn to a great burn.....

 

[seaken]

I am curious about these bricks. I would like to try them out. Colin and Warren, if you find a source here in the HV please let us know.

I agree with Colin, but it is definitely regional. We are in wood country. Blessed with good hardwood, and many folks have it on their own property. It's hard to beat this situation for saving money on the heating bill. Even if you do the work yourself (felling, cutting, splitting, stacking) and your time is worth $100/hour (more or less) it's a good deal. Plus, you save on gym fees. But this is not the case in other regions, even in the rural areas of the northeast. If you're paying upwards of $300/cord for unseasoned wood it is merely a labor of love. The reasons for installing a wood stove in that case is not simply financial. In fact, the majority of the woodstoves we sell are sold for reasons other than financial. And we are in the country! I think there is a market for these bricks/logs. Maybe I'll put some out on the deck and see if there is any interest. Maybe it will catch on and you'll be able to get your "bricks" from the local hearth dealer.

Sean

 

[babalu87]

Going to see if the wife can pick up a few 40lb bags on her way to teach tommorow, hopefully they have them in stock.
I wouldnt buy a pallet without seeing them in action.

http://www.en-r-gysaver.com/index.html

20 brick bags $25.00 for three bags?
That would be $416.50 for a full pallet, seems pretty excessive considering the place in Bristol, CT has them for $200 a pallet
They havent been selling them by the pallet, just to people for chimneas etc.......... well no wonder at that price.

I'll probably buy 3 bags anyway, I am really curious to see how they burn.

Maybe BioPellet can give them a call and lean on them a little

 

[BioPellet]

Going to see if the wife can pick up a few 40lb bags on her way to teach tommorow, hopefully they have them in stock.
I wouldnt buy a pallet without seeing them in action.

http://www.en-r-gysaver.com/index.html

20 brick bags $25.00 for three bags?
That would be $416.50 for a full pallet, seems pretty excessive considering the place in Bristol, CT has them for $200 a pallet
They havent been selling them by the pallet, just to people for chimneas etc.......... well no wonder at that price.

I'll probably buy 3 bags anyway, I am really curious to see how they burn.

Maybe BioPellet can give them a call and lean on them a little

It's a shame they are sellign them for that much - I hope you are right about the chimeneas. I know a lot of companies up there thinking about selling BioBricks. How about visiting your local stove shop and asking them if they would carry my product?

Is there anyone up there distributing Wood Pellets to homes???

BR Thomas

 

[DonCT]

The bricks I picked up at BT burned really well. I used them more for starters, but I can see where a packed stove would burn hot and long.

The way I used them was to start them using the TeePee (?) setup, let them burn about 30-35 min, knock down the coals and load my splits on top. The coals were more than hot enough to instantly light the splits. If you used just the bricks, you would load the stove with them instead.

 

[babalu87]

Don, how much were they selling them for at BT?

I am leaning away from buying them at EN-ER-GY savers due to the severe mark up on them, I know BT has them listed for $200/pallet with 50 bags/pallet

 

[DonCT]

$4.50/bag, $200/ton (1 pallet)

 

[babalu87]

Thanks Don

I called BT, the guy couldnt have been nicer........ I just wish they were within a 30 minute drive
I think I'll call back the other place and ask them how they figure out what to charge per bag?

 

[DonCT]

BT is right on my commute. Not even 5 min from my house. It's nice to know I'll have a good backup source

 

[babalu87]

Yes Don, like I was saying to (Dave?) at BT I would like to have a pallet around for those times when its a blizzard outside and I feel like staying warm and cozy.

The place here is 24.99 for 60 bricks and BT is $4.50 for 15 bricks, not as bad as I thought but still more than they should be charging.

BT = $0.30/brick + tax
EN-R-GY saver = $0.42/brick + tax

For the extra dime I want to know if I like them enough to push a local dealer to start carrying them for 2006-07 heating season.

 

[BioPellet]

Yes Don, like I was saying to (Dave?) at BT I would like to have a pallet around for those times when its a blizzard outside and I feel like staying warm and cozy.

The place here is 24.99 for 60 bricks and BT is $4.50 for 15 bricks, not as bad as I thought but still more than they should be charging.

BT = $0.30/brick + tax
EN-R-GY saver = $0.42/brick + tax

For the extra dime I want to know if I like them enough to push a local dealer to start carrying them for 2006-07 heating season.

$4.50 for TWENTY bricks - total weight roughly 40 lb lot cheaper than shrink wrapped cordwood at the grocery

 

[DonCT]

And alot more consistant

Yea, it was $4.50 for 20 bricks, so it's $0.225/brick, no tax. I paid $4.50 straight up.

 

[DonCT]

Maybe they have the tax built into the price. Maybe it's $4.25 per bag with $0.25 for tax

 

[wg_bent]

I'm working with HV dealers and Thomas to carry BioBricks. I have a number of dealers I'm going to contact, and if there are any in the HV I should contact (other than Sean), I'll work with them to carry BioBricks.

I've burned some (although not what I anticipate for a full review) and they are impressive. They burn for a very long time, and that is under much less than ideal conditions. They burned comletely, with absolutely no unburned peices, and very little ash. They are extremely heavy (they'll actually sink in water) and since they are square they can be packed extremely tight in a stove.

 

[NWfuel]

Does anybody know how many lbs. of pressure per square inch to form these?
Thank you.
Thomas

 

[wg_bent]

Does anybody know how many lbs. of pressure per square inch to form these?
Thank you.
Thomas

1435 N/cm2...whatever N is. Ruf has a PDF with the specs, but mostly in German. (I thought Ruf made hot Porsches)

 

[BioPellet]

Does anybody know how many lbs. of pressure per square inch to form these?
Thank you.
Thomas

1435 N/cm2...whatever N is. Ruf has a PDF with the specs, but mostly in German. (I thought Ruf made hot Porsches)

'N' stands for newtons, a unit of FORCE (weight)....Heck, I thought EVERYONE knew that one newton equalled 10,000 dynes.

Seriously tho, one newton is about 0.224 pounds.

Remember back in the seventies when the United States was 'gonna go metirc' and 'there was nothing you could do to stop it'??

Anyway, there is a misprint on the spec sheet -= it's actually 1700 kg/cm2 applied to the wood. That's 24000 psi or 360,000 pounds of force - enough to press the dickens out of any cellulose

 

[babalu87]

Well now I know why I overpaid for them, the retailer overpaid for them because they couldnt commit to buying a tractor-trailerload.
Makes sense, they have to pass it on somewhere.
I think I will leave the windows open when I get home and let the house get cool so I can light them off and see how they burn.

Any thoughts to making them bigger?
If they were double the length they would be perfect for my stove

 

[BioPellet]

Well now I know why I overpaid for them, the retailer overpaid for them because they couldnt commit to buying a tractor-trailerload.
Makes sense, they have to pass it on somewhere.
I think I will leave the windows open when I get home and let the house get cool so I can light them off and see how they burn.

Any thoughts to making them bigger?
If they were double the length they would be perfect for my stove

There will be a longer one this winter - but youn really don't want that. The size is already perfect for filling every nook and crany of your stove - otherwise you end up with empty space because the log is too long to fit two...

 

[babalu87]

They sure would fill the stove pretty tight, I couldnt do that until next season though.
If I fill that volcano with the temps anything more than 25 I could bake in the living room and have saunas in the bedrooms

I think they will be a nice back-up to my "free" wood supply though.

 

[DonCT]

My thoughts exactly