Why does Regency allow Biobricks but Quad does not?

[danking49]

At least according to the Biobrick website, Regency allows the use of Biobricks as a wood fuel in it's stoves. When I asked Quadrafire if these bricks were allowable, they said they are not allowed because their stoves have not been tested by the EPA with them. Only "cord wood" fuel is approved.
Can anyone think of a reason why Biobricks (or Envi or any other compressed wood brick) would burn any different than mother natures original cord wood? It seems to me the manufactured bricks burn cleaner and are more consistent than cord wood and should be encouraged as a "cleaner" alternative that also recycles waste material. The ultimate "green" fuel! Yeah, I know they also require more "green" to burn in the way of $$; but putting that issue aside...what do you think?

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

I think quad is being safe. The pressed bricks can really burn hot and they do not want you to over fire there stove. The bio bricks would not burn any differently in the regency then the quad. I would stay away from them unless you plan on keeping a very close eye on the stove.

 

[danking49]

I considered that it's not hard to overfire a stove with them; I believe they can burn a lot hotter mostly because the manufactured bricks are very low moisture content. But it's also possible to overfire a stove with cord wood if it's excessively dry too. Guess I should have stated that I already burn Envi-8 blocks on occasion and keep a pallet of them on hand in the basement as an emergency stash. Generally speaking, I don't load more than three or four of them at a time and do only use good oak splits when loading for a long haul (over night) burn.

 

[danking49]

At least according to the Biobrick website, Regency allows the use of Biobricks as a wood fuel in it's stoves. When I asked Quadrafire if these bricks were allowable, they said they are not allowed because their stoves have not been tested by the EPA with them. Only "cord wood" fuel is approved.
Can anyone think of a reason why Biobricks (or Envi or any other compressed wood brick) would burn any different than mother natures original cord wood? It seems to me the manufactured bricks burn cleaner and are more consistent than cord wood and should be encouraged as a "cleaner" alternative that also recycles waste material. The ultimate "green" fuel! Yeah, I know they also require more "green" to burn in the way of $$; but putting that issue aside...what do you think?

biobrix are drier & will boil off biogas faster than wood @ higher moisture content. accelerated offgassing may not have adequate combustion air resulting in excessive CO [clear] in smoke & possibly creosote especially from non-epa stoves. old saying= U CAN BURN WOOD THAT IS TOO DRY!
make sense?

Yup, makes perfect sense; but Quadra doen't exclude the use of excessively dry wood; but only requires the use of "cord wood". I could burn kiln dried balsa that would probably launch the stove into low earth orbit according to them, but not biobricks. Guess my real question is why not biobricks, which are fine if you use them "as directed", when excessively dry cord wood is not excluded.

 

[TMonter]

Standard cordwood will usually only season down to about 16% while a biobrick can be as low at 5-6%. I think it's mainly the anticipated moisture content.

 

[BrotherBart]

Or you take what they say at face value. The only thing they can advise is cord wood because they don't know what happens with Biowhatevers. Of course if you stuck with what was used for EPA certification testing then you could only burn Douglas Fir 4X4s.

 

[atomichawg]

Just store your biobricks in a barrel of water, and you'll be fine!

 

[bluefrier]

Compressed logs are far from being the ultimate green fuel. Manufacturing, packaging, shipping you name it....

 

[danking49]

Compressed logs are far from being the ultimate green fuel. Manufacturing, packaging, shipping you name it....

Perhaps not the "ultimate" green fuel, but I suspect the net result from re-cycling this waste material (sawdust and chips) into these wood bricks would be a positive (green) one. We're not talking about the manufactured Presto Logs in the grocery store checkout line here.

 

[danking49]

Just store your biobricks in a barrel of water, and you'll be fine!

Yeah, "that's the ticket"! It'll make em bigger too! ;-)

 

[jtp10181]

My guess would be they say that because they do not know if it is safe or not. I doubt they have determined it to be unsafe to burn the bio-bricks. But if you burn your house down using them... they can say that the stove was not designed or tested to burn them

 

[danking49]

So far, all pretty good reasons to buy a Regency stove and not the Quadra if you think you might want to use these bricks as a backup fuel source. Both stoves are good, it's just that Regency seems to be paying attention. Also, the email I got back from Quadra was riddled with spelling and grammatical errors; from an off shore call center I'm sure.

 

[burntime]

No offence to JTP cause he installs quad but when I looked about 3 years ago I thought the regency's were just made better. Of course that could change from year to year but compare 2 stoves, ask the wieght of them, the regency is much heavier. Next look at the hinges, regency won hands down. The secondary burn works great in my hampton/regency as well. Also, only one control is just easier in my book. Not that the quad is a bad stove, I am just more partial to regency/hampton.

 

[Jags]

Not that the quad is a bad stove, I am just more partial to regency/hampton.

No wonder so many of you folks hate ash pans. Any stove that requires me to pull a plug then try to stuff ashes down a little hole would have me scratching my head too. Not trying to get into a pi$$ing contest, but Burntimes post encouraged me to do a little homework.

Where did you find the weights for the Regency. I couldn't find them anywhere.

 

[burntime]

Ask the dealer for shipping weight. I could be wrong but I think it was 120 lb difference for the i2400 vs the similiar quad...

 

[danking49]

This thread is getting off into the weeds here a little bit. My point was that at least Regency took the time to look at the bricks as a possible fuel source and approved them, where Quadra-Fire is sitting on their butts with an off-shore call center reading from an old script. I would suggest that there is as much variation between cord wood and the dimensioned lumber used to certify these stoves as there is between cord wood and the bricks. Both stoves are good products but the companies behind them seem to be very different.

 

[burntime]

Fair enought statement by my RI. Regency is in Canada Heh. They will pick up the phone Heh. :lol: I don't think they stand behind their products enough but thats another story...

 

[Jags]

Well...taking a different approach to this question. Why would I build a wood stove designed to burn cord wood and then bother with certification of a non-cord wood product that is a mere fraction of the market? Not an argument here, just throwing out the possibility that in their world it may be a complete non-issue.

 

[burntime]

Jags, I have never burned a biobrick. I try to feed it a steady diet of hardwood.

 

[Jags]

Jags, I have never burned a biobrick. I try to feed it a steady diet of hardwood.

That was to the OP. Just throwing out the idea that sometimes there are two directions to look at things. Not all vehicles are E85 capable either.

 

[humpin iron]

As a former dealer I can say that Regency is generous with what they SAY they will cover under warranty, After 5 years of hearing "not covered that appears to be user abuse" on EVERY claim, I moved on. Am very happy with how Quad handles warranty, dealers opinion carries alot of weight.

 

[burntime]

Fair enought statement by my RI. Regency is in Canada Heh. They will pick up the phone Heh. :lol: I don't think they stand behind their products enough but thats another story...

Thats my point humpin...but then again, quad is not johnny on the spot either. Basically you buy what you think is good and most warrantees are not worth much. More will depend on the dealers volume and thier willingness to help then a company rep. Everything revolves around the almighty dollar...

 

[danking49]

Well...taking a different approach to this question. Why would I build a wood stove designed to burn cord wood and then bother with certification of a non-cord wood product that is a mere fraction of the market? Not an argument here, just throwing out the possibility that in their world it may be a complete non-issue.

It's a "chicken and egg" situation I guess. If more stoves were approved by the manufacturer to burn the bricks, maybe that market for them would grow and, hopefully, the prices drop. Sort of like trying to sell an all electric car with no public place to recharge it available yet. As someone already mentioned, the EPA "test" uses dimensional lumber which, in my experience, burns hotter and faster than the bricks do in my little Millenium 2100. To me, the bricks burn more like real cord wood than a 2x4.

 

[Jags]

Well...taking a different approach to this question. Why would I build a wood stove designed to burn cord wood and then bother with certification of a non-cord wood product that is a mere fraction of the market? Not an argument here, just throwing out the possibility that in their world it may be a complete non-issue.

It's a "chicken and egg" situation I guess. If more stoves were approved by the manufacturer to burn the bricks, maybe that market for them would grow and, hopefully, the prices drop. Sort of like trying to sell an all electric car with no public place to recharge it available yet. As someone already mentioned, the EPA "test" uses dimensional lumber which, in my experience, burns hotter and faster than the bricks do in my little Millenium 2100. To me, the bricks burn more like real cord wood than a 2x4.

I agree with your logic of certification, but just guessing here, I doubt if bio-stuff for the wood stove is ever gonna be a major source of fuel. Some will embrace it because of ease of use (like pellets), but the cost will be there and volatile (like pellets). Hmmmm....maybe if we made a stove that had a self feeding hopper of the processed fuel.....( %-P just being a smart azz here)

 

[danking49]

Well...taking a different approach to this question. Why would I build a wood stove designed to burn cord wood and then bother with certification of a non-cord wood product that is a mere fraction of the market? Not an argument here, just throwing out the possibility that in their world it may be a complete non-issue.

It's a "chicken and egg" situation I guess. If more stoves were approved by the manufacturer to burn the bricks, maybe that market for them would grow and, hopefully, the prices drop. Sort of like trying to sell an all electric car with no public place to recharge it available yet. As someone already mentioned, the EPA "test" uses dimensional lumber which, in my experience, burns hotter and faster than the bricks do in my little Millenium 2100. To me, the bricks burn more like real cord wood than a 2x4.

I agree with your logic of certification, but just guessing here, I doubt if bio-stuff for the wood stove is ever gonna be a major source of fuel. Some will embrace it because of ease of use (like pellets), but the cost will be there and volatile (like pellets). Hmmmm....maybe if we made a stove that had a self feeding hopper of the processed fuel.....( %-P just being a smart azz here)

I have to admit that the only reason I have that ton of bricks in the basement is lazyness. Definately cheaper to buy cut and split wood in my area. However, in some areas (citys, dessert), it seems to me the bricks might actually be pretty competive to cord wood where it has to be shipped in. Pound for pound, the smaller more compact load of blocks will be cheaper to ship. Unless there is some other better paying buyer for wood waste, it seems to me this is a market that hasn't reached it's potential yet; at least in part because the stove manufacturers won't bless the idea. Hey, I don't own a pellet or block operation; just hate to see all that sawdust and chips going to waste.