Help burning pressed blocks

[wizards8507]

I recently ran out of firewood and won't have any more for the winter so I picked up a bunch of "Redstone Fuel Blocks" from Tractor Supply. They're basically Bio Bricks but bigger. Pressed hardwood sawdust. The package says to burn one or two at a time. I'm having a ton of trouble with them. They burn extremely quickly, about three hours, and aren't heating the house nearly as well as the crap green wood (up to 30% moisture) that I've been burning all winter. What am I doing wrong?

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/redstone-fuel-blocks

 

[Babaganoosh]

Try closing the air down more. You don't need anywhere near as much air as wet wood. Also try packing them in there kind of tight. With less airspace they will burn longer.

 

[wizards8507]

Try closing the air down more. You don't need anywhere near as much air as wet wood. Also try packing them in there kind of tight. With less airspace they will burn longer.

These things are pretty large, I wouldn't be able to fit more than three. When I close the air down I lose a flame completely. Plus, if I need to burn three at a time I think it would be cheaper to just use oil. 3x four loads per day at a buck a brick is $360 a month, which is about how much oil I'd use.

I've also seen reports of people getting coals from these but all I end up with is a bed of glowing sawdust.

 

[weatherguy]

These things are pretty large, I wouldn't be able to fit more than three. When I close the air down I lose a flame completely. Plus, if I need to burn three at a time I think it would be cheaper to just use oil. 3x four loads per day at a buck a brick is $360 a month, which is about how much oil I'd use.

I've also seen reports of people getting coals from these but all I end up with is a bed of glowing sawdust.

I get the same thing, that's why I always mix wood. You have more wood at all?

 

[wizards8507]

I get the same thing, that's why I always mix wood. You have more wood at all?

Some knots and crotches that I left outside. I was banking on the blocks being a good solution so I didn't bring them in and now they're buried under 12 inches of global warming.

 

[Wickets]

I use two at a time....one on top of another. Mine don't 'flame' either, but they do give off a fair amount of heat for what they are, but they don't burn for a long time.

 

[bcrtops]

The "glowing sawdust" is the coaling stage on these. They are not highly compressed & very much like the "Bear Bricks" that we can get here. They burn hot & fast without a long term coal stage like the more highly compressed products. I like to mix them with a split or two -- I'd suggest putting a piece of your not fully seasoned wood on one side & a brick or two alongside. You should be able to get the price down considerably if you could buy a pallet (ton) of them.

BearBricks here are $2.99 for 6 bricks = 19lbs. A pallet = 1900 lbs+ = 100 pkgs. of 6 = $210 = $2.10/ pkg ($1.90 / pkg with military/vet/Sr. discount) This is not a bad deal, considering the local green firewood prices.

You do have to learn how to burn these compressed wood products. They "off-gas" heavily due to their very low moisture content. Our EPA stoves (cat and air-inducted) are designed to burn wood in the 15-20% moisture range. Too much air & smoke will get past the cat or after-burner & make an overly hot/dangerous stove & flue. Too little air & they smolder. However, lb. per lb., the btu's are there!

 

[weatherguy]

I find the bio bricks and envi- blocks better than the tsc product. I bought 10 six packs of bio bricks xl, they're much better than the tsc.

 

[kennyp2339]

I use (3) at a time in my stove, what I noticed is you have to not look at the flames for judgment, you have to look at temps to decide if it needs more air or less air, look at your flue temp and / or stove top temp.
I run a BK but I dial it down to very low flames coming off the blocks and get about 6 hrs of good heat out of them per (3)

 

[begreen]

The density of compressed fuel varies from strong sawdust compaction to lignite fused fuel. Loosely compacted products didn't impress me, but the densely compacted products produced good heat over a long period of time. The most densely packed products maintained form right until the end. The loosest packed products fell apart quickly with heat. Some of them expanded rapidly as they fell apart.

 

[seabert]

Try closing the air down more. You don't need anywhere near as much air as wet wood. Also try packing them in there kind of tight. With less airspace they will burn longer.

Try a better quality brick such as Envi. I have been using Envi 's and mix in some cordwood. Getting great BTU output and clean Long burns.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Find some pallets. They're free, dry, and burn quickly. I'd mix them in with the stuff under your pile of global warming. Remember to close the door when you go outside, or all that global warming will come in the house.

 

[wizards8507]

Find some pallets. They're free, dry, and burn quickly. I'd mix them in with the stuff under your pile of global warming. Remember to close the door when you go outside, or all that global warming will come in the house.

Sadly, hauling pallets in my Ford Fusion isn't a viable option. My vehicle situation makes a lot of these things difficult, as I have to rely on delivery for wood and other fuel. I was hoping the Tractor Supply blocks would be viable as the store is very close to my house and I could fill the trunk every week or so.

Oh well, it's my first season. Lessons learned and all that. As of November 1 I had no wood and no stove. If I have to ride out the last couple weeks of February burning oil, I'll still call November through January a modest success.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Break the pallets at their source. Battery powered sawzall will cut the slats in seconds. It'll fit in the trunk.


Get creative... a tarp on the back seat will give you more room.

 

[wizards8507]

I'm having a bit more luck today. I put the blocks in East-West instead of North-South and stacked two on top of each other. The fire still looks pitiful but the heat is decent.