With the artic blast coming and basic curiosity about the heat content of compressed sawdust, I picked up a couple packages of two different, no-wax, pressed logs available locally. One was High Energy filelogs by Western Oregon Wood Products (WOW Pellets) and the other something called Home Fire Prest Logs. The HE firelogs were selling for $5.49, the Home Fire Prest-Logs (HFPL) sold at the local grocery for $6.59. Each came in a package (or box) of 6 logs @ 5lbs each. - Warning, At least one stove manufacturer is now recommending these logs not be used in their woodstoves. Read on to find out why...
The WOW HE firelogs are round, about 3 1/4" diam. by about 14" long. They burned about as I remembered for a competing product. Good initial burn, then they expand like a big cigar ash and burn up the flakes. Kind of like a giant pellet. Total burn time about 2 hrs. Two logs on a hot coal bed gave a stove top peak temp about 625 with regulation (damper down to maximize secondary burn). Then I got about another hour at around 400 degrees. There was a moderate amount of ash left over.
The HFPL logs are very different. They are about 3 3/4" diam. by 9.5" long and have a flat bottom to prevent rolling. Each package comes with a large fire starter block. They look like a dark pellet and feel solid. The package shows a recommended set up of 4 logs, two on a base with the starter in between and two on top, place at 90 deg. to the bottom logs. I tested in a warm stove with a coal bed and just tried 3 logs, 2 on the bottom and one on top. About 10 minutes later the logs were fully aflame. And I mean burning hot. The stove interior was a ball of flames and the stove top temp was climbing fast. At 650 I shut the air control all the way off, but the secondary action was super. There was a tense moment or two there where I was wondering if I had a runaway. But the stove reached and stayed at 700 on stovetop, 550 in the flue and burned pure hot secondaries for about 30 minutes. I'm really glad I didn't try the recommended 4 logger! ~ This is why Elk is so insistent on a proper installation and why I was glad ours was safe and we have a clean chimney. ~
Anyhow, this is also where it got very interesting. After they shot their initial wad, the logs settled down into a steady burning glow and the stovetop dropped down to a more reasonable 600 degrees. I went back to work, checking on the stove every 30 minutes. Stove held temperature and kept so for about 2 hrs. After that it gradually dropped down to 450 and held that for another 2 hrs. I went in with the poker and found to my surprise that the logs didn't flake at all. Instead they were more like a piece of coal. Very solid and gradually shrinking. I kid you not, the coal continued to glow and burn right up until I went to bed. I tried another 2 logs (much safer with my stove) at about 10 pm the next night on top of a full bed of hot coals. There were still 2 nice sized (about 1.25" diam x 4") hot glowing coals the next morning. Stove temp was about 150 and there was very little ash produced. The manufacturer claims a total 12 hr. burn time and I'd say that is about right. The coals after about 9 hrs are getting small, but still glowing and giving off a lot of heat for their size.
I learned a lot with this experiment. 1) when working with fire, take small steps and proceed with caution 2) I understand Jotul's caveat now. There is an enormous difference in products on the market. Some can put out a daunting amount of heat. 3) Don't always follow package instructions on the first try, be conservative 4) Some products are indeed very different.
Needless to say I'm really impressed with this product. They make these logs with a patented high-heat extrusion process. I was skeptical at first but this is really an exceptional and different little energy bundle. Once they get burning they are more like a characol briquette, though log shaped and with less ash. I've sent an inquiry to the company to find out about their pallet quantity dealers.
http://www.wowpellets.com/p_firelogs.shtml
http://www.homefirelogs.com
The WOW HE firelogs are round, about 3 1/4" diam. by about 14" long. They burned about as I remembered for a competing product. Good initial burn, then they expand like a big cigar ash and burn up the flakes. Kind of like a giant pellet. Total burn time about 2 hrs. Two logs on a hot coal bed gave a stove top peak temp about 625 with regulation (damper down to maximize secondary burn). Then I got about another hour at around 400 degrees. There was a moderate amount of ash left over.
The HFPL logs are very different. They are about 3 3/4" diam. by 9.5" long and have a flat bottom to prevent rolling. Each package comes with a large fire starter block. They look like a dark pellet and feel solid. The package shows a recommended set up of 4 logs, two on a base with the starter in between and two on top, place at 90 deg. to the bottom logs. I tested in a warm stove with a coal bed and just tried 3 logs, 2 on the bottom and one on top. About 10 minutes later the logs were fully aflame. And I mean burning hot. The stove interior was a ball of flames and the stove top temp was climbing fast. At 650 I shut the air control all the way off, but the secondary action was super. There was a tense moment or two there where I was wondering if I had a runaway. But the stove reached and stayed at 700 on stovetop, 550 in the flue and burned pure hot secondaries for about 30 minutes. I'm really glad I didn't try the recommended 4 logger! ~ This is why Elk is so insistent on a proper installation and why I was glad ours was safe and we have a clean chimney. ~
Anyhow, this is also where it got very interesting. After they shot their initial wad, the logs settled down into a steady burning glow and the stovetop dropped down to a more reasonable 600 degrees. I went back to work, checking on the stove every 30 minutes. Stove held temperature and kept so for about 2 hrs. After that it gradually dropped down to 450 and held that for another 2 hrs. I went in with the poker and found to my surprise that the logs didn't flake at all. Instead they were more like a piece of coal. Very solid and gradually shrinking. I kid you not, the coal continued to glow and burn right up until I went to bed. I tried another 2 logs (much safer with my stove) at about 10 pm the next night on top of a full bed of hot coals. There were still 2 nice sized (about 1.25" diam x 4") hot glowing coals the next morning. Stove temp was about 150 and there was very little ash produced. The manufacturer claims a total 12 hr. burn time and I'd say that is about right. The coals after about 9 hrs are getting small, but still glowing and giving off a lot of heat for their size.
I learned a lot with this experiment. 1) when working with fire, take small steps and proceed with caution 2) I understand Jotul's caveat now. There is an enormous difference in products on the market. Some can put out a daunting amount of heat. 3) Don't always follow package instructions on the first try, be conservative 4) Some products are indeed very different.
Needless to say I'm really impressed with this product. They make these logs with a patented high-heat extrusion process. I was skeptical at first but this is really an exceptional and different little energy bundle. Once they get burning they are more like a characol briquette, though log shaped and with less ash. I've sent an inquiry to the company to find out about their pallet quantity dealers.
http://www.wowpellets.com/p_firelogs.shtml
http://www.homefirelogs.com
The stuff actually sinks in water. They are not just compressing sawdust into log shapes... they are compressing the actual cells and fibers of the wood
