I bought a box of 12 "Smart Logs" (40 lbs), just to try them out. I've never been sure if I've had good burns on my new insert (Regency i2400). I've only had one really good sustained secondary burn (stovetop temp 425). My wood isn't great, bought "seasoned" last June.
So anyway, the SmartLogs are about 10" long, 4" diameter. They break apart very easily if you don't carry them carefully. I put a layer of 4 N/S on the morning bed of coals, and another 2 E/W on top of those (I only carried up 6
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They caught very easily, and after ten minutes I shut down the primary air. They went right into a full secondary burn.. very nice. Stovetop temp took about 30 minutes to climb to 460, which is the highest I've ever had it. The steamer water was boiling.. think that's the first time for that as well. The secondary burn lasted about 45 minutes beyond that point, and then died down into glowing log-shaped coals. They mostly keep they shape as they burn. Right now if I hit them with a rake, I'm sure they'd break apart into ash and small coals.
One of the ones on top rolled down to the front of the stove, against the door.. not really happy about that, since I couldn't have opened the door at that point without risk. However, the hot burn did clean all the soot off the door, except for the burn spot where the rolling log was resting.
So I know we've had a couple of "how hot does a Regency i2400 get" threads in the past few months. I'm comfortable with saying now that a hot fire registers 450 on my thermometer (stovetop, about 6 inches from the left edge) Hopefully next year my wood will be dry enough to get me there all the time.
As for the SmartLogs, they certainly work, though they don't burn for all that long (well, they're not bad.. I'll update when they "go out".. still burning them now). Certainly not worthwhile in small quantities, but I could see buying a pallet of those things (or BioBricks, etc.) to keep in the garage for those days when I really don't want to go outside. There's also a slightly weird smell when they burn.. not the same as burning regular splits. That's a negative.
So anyway, the SmartLogs are about 10" long, 4" diameter. They break apart very easily if you don't carry them carefully. I put a layer of 4 N/S on the morning bed of coals, and another 2 E/W on top of those (I only carried up 6
)They caught very easily, and after ten minutes I shut down the primary air. They went right into a full secondary burn.. very nice. Stovetop temp took about 30 minutes to climb to 460, which is the highest I've ever had it. The steamer water was boiling.. think that's the first time for that as well. The secondary burn lasted about 45 minutes beyond that point, and then died down into glowing log-shaped coals. They mostly keep they shape as they burn. Right now if I hit them with a rake, I'm sure they'd break apart into ash and small coals.
One of the ones on top rolled down to the front of the stove, against the door.. not really happy about that, since I couldn't have opened the door at that point without risk. However, the hot burn did clean all the soot off the door, except for the burn spot where the rolling log was resting.
So I know we've had a couple of "how hot does a Regency i2400 get" threads in the past few months. I'm comfortable with saying now that a hot fire registers 450 on my thermometer (stovetop, about 6 inches from the left edge) Hopefully next year my wood will be dry enough to get me there all the time.
As for the SmartLogs, they certainly work, though they don't burn for all that long (well, they're not bad.. I'll update when they "go out".. still burning them now). Certainly not worthwhile in small quantities, but I could see buying a pallet of those things (or BioBricks, etc.) to keep in the garage for those days when I really don't want to go outside. There's also a slightly weird smell when they burn.. not the same as burning regular splits. That's a negative.
