Smartlog?

[backpack09]

Just called up Eastern Ice in Brockton, they are switching to Smartlogs since biobrick cant keep up with demand again. I know I have seen these at Building 19, does anyone have experience with burning them?

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Anyone who is interested, they are OUT of Biobricks. The smartlogs should be in the end of next week. and will run 250 a "cord" whatever that means.

 

[webbie]

Only buy them by weight.......

250 a ton would be fine, as that is about what biobricks are.

 

[Cath]

Dan,
Compressed logs are generally sold by the pallet. The measurements for BioBrick are 4x4x3 (48 sf), compared to a cord of wood which is 4x4x8 (128 sf). A pallet of BioBricks is often referred to as a ton but they are actually 100 lbs shy of a ton (50 packages @ 38 Lbs = 1,900 Lbs).

The weight of cord wood depends on the species but according to the resource below a cord of wood weighs about 2,400 Lbs on average. Of course that varies wildly depending on the species and how dry it is.

Glossary of Bioenergy Terms
(broken link removed) Cord: A stack of wood consisting of 128 cubic feet (3.62 cubic meters). A cord has standard dimensions of 4 x 4 x 8 feet, including air space and bark. One cord contains about 1.2 U.S. tons (oven-dry), i.e. 2400 pounds or 1089 kg.

How often does Building 19 carry the Smart Logs? Are they significantly cheaper there?

South Shore Wood Pellets is now carrying Envi-Blocks at $255.00 per pallet.
~Cath

 

[backpack09]

Building 19 has 20 lb boxes of smartlogs for 8$. I will buy a pack and try them before I commit to the smartlogs.

Thanks but Holbrook is a lot farther of a drive for me to pick up a ton anything than Brockton. Have you tried the envi-blocks?

 

[Cath]

Dan,
We picked up about 20 loose "Envi-Blocks" and we burned one in my Dad's fireplace. That's not much of a test but it did hold it's shape for quite some time compared to the cordwood it was sitting on top of.

All indicators seem to be that they will burn as well as the BioBricks but we haven't had a chance to try them in our insert yet.

I just spoke with Building 19. The Smart Logs are 3 Lbs each so a 6 pack would weigh 18 Lbs and a 12 pack would weigh 36 Lbs. The packages are $7.99 and $14.00 respectively.

Eastern Ice doesn't have them in yet but when they do they will be $9.00 for a 12 pack. So don't get them at Building 19 unless you want the bottle of bubbly you get if you find a better price elsewhere.

~Cath

 

[fbelec]

i'm interested to see how long 3 logs will burn

 

[backpack09]

Dan,
I just spoke with Building 19. The Smart Logs are 3 Lbs each so a 6 pack would weigh 18 Lbs and a 12 pack would weigh 36 Lbs. The packages are $7.99 and $14.00 respectively.
~Cath

Hmm, Must have changed their price since December. I bought a 20 lb box for a yankee swap back on the first or second of Dec for 7.99. woo hoo free Chateau Cheapo champagne it is

 

[begreen]

I'll have to see if I can get a box shipped out to me. Sounds like a good candidate for this year's compressed log test.

 

[argus66]

id be interested in them as well if they come down by nj, place down here still has biobricks if u feal lie taking a long ride.

 

[paulie]

Can any one tell me how hot they burn? Sounds like a good choice until my wood seasons better

 

[Girl]

I'll be heading to the 19 this weekend, I was thinking about trying an alternative.
I was splitting & some of my oak is a bit smelly
Thanks for the tip.

 

[Cath]

I'll be heading to the 19 this weekend, I was thinking about trying an alternative.
I was splitting & some of my oak is a bit smelly
Thanks for the tip.

Girl,
I don't know if you noticed but they are actually more expensive at Building 19. I would check Eastern Ice in Brockton (I think they are scheduled to come in on the 11th to the 13th).

Or you can try South Shore Wood Pellets in Holbrook and see if they still have the Envi-Blocks. But as I noted in an earlier post, there are no individually shrink wrapped packages. Only the pallet is shrink wrapped and I don't know if he is still selling the individual blocks as samples. I picked up 20 or so just before Christmas.
~Cath

 

[Girl]

I'll be heading to the 19 this weekend, I was thinking about trying an alternative.
I was splitting & some of my oak is a bit smelly
Thanks for the tip.

Girl,
I don't know if you noticed but they are actually more expensive at Building 19. I would check Eastern Ice in Brockton (I think they are scheduled to come in on the 11th to the 13th).

Or you can try South Shore Wood Pellets in Holbrook and see if they still have the Envi-Blocks. But as I noted in an earlier post, there are no individually shrink wrapped packages. Only the pallet is shrink wrapped and I don't know if he is still selling the individual blocks as samples. I picked up 20 or so just before Christmas.
~Cath

Thanks Cath, those locations are out of the way for me, but having the info is very useful.
If I have a chance I will call around. I have been very curious about those logs.

 

[webbie]

Eastern Ice doesn't have them in yet but when they do they will be $9.00 for a 12 pack. So don't get them at Building 19 unless you want the bottle of bubbly you get if you find a better price elsewhere.

~Cath

So $9 for 36 pounds......

about 60 of those packages would equal a ton.
$540 a ton.
Pellets are starting to look very cheap. Why should the same weight in a big log cost double or more that of the small pellets?

(answer: no reason).

Fine for a Boston Condo, but certainly not a fuel that is going to save any money for the user.

 

[Cath]

Craig,

According to Dan they'll be $250.00 per ton.

Just called up Eastern Ice in Brockton, they are switching to Smartlogs since biobrick cant keep up with demand again. ... The smartlogs should be in the end of next week. and will run 250 a "cord" whatever that means.

~Cath

 

[webbie]

Explain, Cath.... I am going by the weights and prices given above.

I am going by the Smart log weights and prices posted above. They can't sell such things as a "cord equiv" or anything like that. It had to be by weight.

So are they going to sell you 2000 lbs (or 1900 as with bio) for $250? If so, that is relatively decent.

Another way of looking at is is - 1900 lbs bios = about .13 a pound.
That would mean 36 lbs of Smarts would be about $5.00.


Is a pallet of Envi-Blocks also 1900 or 2000 lbs? What throws me off is the first post that said "cord"..... as long as you are buying by weight, you will be fine, but by packs, pallets and cords a person could get confused!

 

[backpack09]

The man on the other side of the phone said they would be about "250 a cord" at eastern ice, but to call back once they come in for the actual price. We will see. I cannot imagine anyone selling fake wood by the cord. But if he was that would be about 2.6 pallets worth.

The Building 19 in Weymouth, is selling the 20 lb boxes (6 logs) for 7.99 I picked up a box to test last night. This is my first fake log experience, but they had trouble keeping up with the wind chill last night, they seemed to go from start to coals in about 2 hours. I followed the directions on the box... "never use more than 3 logs at a time" so they were not tightly packed in my Morso. I went through all 6 logs last night and 2 pieces of cordwood (maple it think) to get me to barely any coals this AM.(I was not shooting for an overnight burn and did not refill the firebox as I did not trust the sawdust to not run wild without supervision).

Last night, when I got home I noticed the heat had just kicked on. So I started the fire up. Usually I have the oil burner get the house to 60 from 50 when I get home from work, then let the stove take over. After I saw my 6 month pregnant wife shivering on the couch I checked the thermostat... its only 52 in here. I was out of oil (tank still read 1/8) My wife ordered up 150 gals for delivery today (OUCH!). I ran to the local mobil, grabbed 5 gals from the laughing store clerk. Went home, primed the system, and we had heat again. Got the house up to ~70 before we headed to bed and I dampered the stove down.

 

[ctlovell]

I picked up a few boxes of SmartLogs at National Wholesale Liquidators to test them out. I had tried BioBricks and wasn't all that impressed at first but once I got the hang of how to load and how many they seemed to put out great heat for a long time. The SmartLogs on the other hand are not as good in my opinion. They seem to be made more for occasional open fireplace use rather than stoves. They don't last long at all and they accordian like crazy but they would do in a pinch or when the weather was too nasty to get to the wood pile. Give them a try. I think that like most of the other compressed wood fuels they will not replace good cordwood as a primary stove fuel.

Oh, BTW I think I paid $6.97/box around Thanksgiving. (6 - 3lb logs/box)

 

[ctlovell]

[quote author="ctlovell" date="1199394941"]I picked up a few boxes of SmartLogs at National Wholesale Liquidators to test them out. I had tried BioBricks and wasn't all that impressed at first but once I got the hang of how to load and how many they seemed to put out great heat for a long time. The SmartLogs on the other hand are not as good in my opinion. They seem to be made more for occasional open fireplace use rather than stoves. They don't last long at all and they accordian like crazy but they would do in a pinch or when the weather was too nasty to get to the wood pile. Give them a try. I think that like most of the other compressed wood fuels they will not replace good cordwood as a primary stove fuel.

Oh, BTW I think I paid $6.97/box around Thanksgiving. (6 logs/ 20lb box)

 

[swestall]

I just love the smell of fresh split OAK.................

My wife keeps telling me to go to Pellets. It is hard to think of changing from wood to Pellets after 40+ years of burning the good stuff.......

Worse yet, at Christmas time, the entire female contingent of the family jumped on her bandwagon and gave me the "big lecture".

Still holding my own, for now.....

 

[backpack09]

I am only researching this out of necessity. I was able to purchase 1 cord of seasoned hardwood at the beginning of the season. I am down to about 1/3 of a cord, so I will need something to supplement my heat through the rest of the cold season. This is my first year with the stove, and did not have the foresight last winter to start my scrounging.

 

[Cath]

... I had tried BioBricks and wasn't all that impressed at first but once I got the hang of how to load and how many they seemed to put out great heat for a long time. The SmartLogs on the other hand are not as good in my opinion. ... They don't last long at all and they accordian like crazy but they would do in a pinch or when the weather was too nasty to get to the wood pile. ...

ctlovell,
Thanks for the info. Based on the performance you describe I don't think I'd bother trying them at all except as a last resort.

Craig,
I was simply quoting Dan. My best guess is that the guy at Eastern Ice misspoke. He probably meant to say pallet. This probably stems from the perception, reinforced through marketing, that a pallet is roughly the equivalent of a cord.
~Cath

 

[Cath]

My wife keeps telling me to go to Pellets. It is hard to think of changing from wood to Pellets after 40+ years of burning the good stuff.......

Worse yet, at Christmas time, the entire female contingent of the family jumped on her bandwagon and gave me the "big lecture".

Still holding my own, for now.....

swestall,
Hang in there. I would simply tell her that it is virtually impossible to scrounge pellets. And you don't want to be at the mercy of pellet pricing, much less pellet availability.
~Cath

 

[webbie]

I am coming around to agreeing that a one ton Pallet may equal a cord.....because of lower moisture content, the usual "short" cords and the mixed woods. In fact, I think a pallet of these produces more heat than a cord of softwood (which is rarely sold in the east).

As long as folks keep that 10 to 14 cents a lb figure in mind (price of pellets and bios), then they will be OK. But the smart log prices quoted above are all double to triple that price.....not that there is anything wrong with burning them at that price, just that folks who are trying to save $$ should know.

 

[Cath]

I am only researching this out of necessity. I was able to purchase 1 cord of seasoned hardwood at the beginning of the season. I am down to about 1/3 of a cord, so I will need something to supplement my heat through the rest of the cold season. This is my first year with the stove, and did not have the foresight last winter to start my scrounging.

backpack09,
Congrats on the baby on the way!!

Based on the performance info on SmartLogs provided by Ctlovell, I would seriously consider checking with South Shore Wood Pellets in Holbrook. They may have sold out their 3 truckloads by now but I think it's worth a phone call.

If you do call ask for Ken and see if he has actually burned any himself yet and whether he can comment on how they perform compared to BioBricks.

I realize Brockton is closer to you but if the SmartLogs burn that poorly then any savings on delivery is an illusion.

~Cath