Wood Brick Fuel: Anyone every heard of this???

[NordicSplitter]

US Recycled Wood Products produces wood brick fuel which is alternative wood fuel to firewood and cordwood. This wood brick fuel is produced from kiln dried wood waste. Wood brick fuel burns hotter, cleaner, and longer than the equivalent amount of firewood without using any additional binders or accelerants. No special burning appliance is required. Wood bricks can be used wherever typical cordwood, firewood is burned. Wood bricks are produced by submitting dry wood waste particles to extreme compression forces, using the natural lignin chemicals of the wood as the binding agent creating a wood product denser than typical wood. It is made from recycled wood waste generated by American Wood Products Manufacturers. Customers can be satisfied in using a, Domestically Manufactured, Recycled Fuel for home heating that is considered carbon neutral.

If so....How is it????

 

[Pallet Pete]

Yes I used some ECO bricks last year and they have there upsides but generally they cost to much for it to be effective except in a wood shortage. They do get hot and have very little moister in them but the ash does not burn down well and builds up a lot. These are the exception to to dry wood personally I dont feel firewood can be to dry however ECO bricks can be. We had our stove way to hot on just a few but put a wet peice of wood in and it burned perfect. I dont think I will buy more because they did not meet my approval rating for that reason. This is not to say all ECO brick/logs are bad many users here use them and love them ! You may want to do a brand search and see which are best.

Pete

 

[suprz]

I have been using Biobricks this year because i have no more seasoned wood. I can split one in half and use some fatwood sticks to start the fire then put a few more bricks on the fire and away we go!!

 

[eclecticcottage]

We tried it, and they sucked. Fell apart as they started to burn, not well compressed. Smelled like pine. Couldn't cut down the air near as much as usual.

Ecobricks were way better.

 

[peakbagger]

I regard those bricks as good way of getting rid of "floor sweepings" at a sawmill. Unlike pellets that are subject to quality control, these don't have any. The physics of getting the sawdust hot enough to get the lignin to get plastic is questionable on such a large surface area. If you have ever seen a pellet extruder, there is a lot of pressure on a small diameter pellet, I dont see where a large cross section like an ecobrick is going to be compressed enough.

On the other hand if the economics make sense or the person has no other way of burning or a pile of wet wood, they are better than nothing.

 

[suprz]

On the other hand if the economics make sense or the person has no other way of burning or a pile of wet wood, they are better than nothing.

The biobricks do expand when they burn, but i do not find that they have any pine smell to them, and they burn completely and i dont find they produce alot of ash either. im a first year burner, about a cord and 3/4 of unseasoned wood, and the wood that was seasoned is now gone, so for the .50 per brick, and the long and hot burn times, and the convenience we use them. Right now we only burn nights and weekends, if we burned 24/7, Then i would have most likely bought some seasoned wood, but would still keep a few packs on hand. Bottom line is that for us they work out well...JMHO

 

[blades]

suprz, unless the seller is guaranteeing that it is kiln dried, 99.9% of advertised seasoned wood is not. Always ask when it was split, not cut, but split. If not a minimum of 2 years split and stacked it is not going to be at a usable moisture content for current stoves. I will modify that by saying some of the lesser btu available species will dry to an acceptable moisture content in less time

 

[weatherguy]

I regard those bricks as good way of getting rid of "floor sweepings" at a sawmill. Unlike pellets that are subject to quality control, these don't have any. The physics of getting the sawdust hot enough to get the lignin to get plastic is questionable on such a large surface area. If you have ever seen a pellet extruder, there is a lot of pressure on a small diameter pellet, I dont see where a large cross section like an ecobrick is going to be compressed enough.

On the other hand if the economics make sense or the person has no other way of burning or a pile of wet wood, they are better than nothing.

Some of the compressed wood products are of very good quality, if you search through threads on here every year a few will do a review of different brands. Some burn very quickly and expand and some will burn a long time and are very well compressed.

 

[ScotO]

I think both sides of this argument have merit. I, personally, have never burnt them. But the bottom line is they are made from waste products from the milling industry. My best assessment of them and the question of whether to buy them or not is to look at who manufactured them and WHAT they were manufactured from. I'd question the manufacturer as to what kind of wood their bricks were made from, and only buy the good, hardwood variety. I know that they are good softwood (pine, etc.) pellets made, but I would think that softwood bricks wouldn't be as good of an item. At any rate it all boils down to need and necessity......if you are out of seasoned wood and you have access to these bricks, and the price is right, then you burn what you gotta burn.

This is the reason alot of us get at LEAST three years ahead on our wood supply. That way you always have wood that has seasoned for three years, and there's no need to buy any supplemental fuel....

 

[cptoneleg]

I purchased an eight pack a couple of yrs ago at TC just to try them, nothing beats plane old good dry Firewood.

 

[ScotO]

I purchased an eight pack a couple of yrs ago at TC just to try them, nothing beats plane old good dry Firewood.

I agree 100%. I guess sometimes people gotta do what they gotta do, though.

 

[Jon1270]

But the bottom line is they are made from waste products from the milling industry.

In my area, cordwood is made from waste products of the tree services.

 

[ScotO]

In my area, cordwood is made from waste products of the tree services.

that's the good stuff. Especially if you get that for free, as alot of tree services in my area will let it lay if they know someone will take it. Bricks are processed. Cordwood isn't.

At the end of the day, whatever works for ya. I've been getting PAID to heat my house for last 5 years (I'm a part-time tree service guy, myself!)

 

[rkofler]

Funny to see this post this morning. I just purchased a few packages of wood brick fuel this week to mix in with cord wood because I don't think I will have enough seasoned wood this winter. Boy am I glad I tried them before purchasing a ton. I think they are horrible I tried Bio bricks last winter, much, much better. With the wood brick I have to leave air open way too much and they still don't burn down very well. I have been left with a black mess in my stove. I would never buy these again. Thinking about trying envi next, seems like people on here like those. just my 2 cents...

 

[Jon1270]

alot of tree services in my area will let it lay if they know someone will take it.

This is my first season woodburning so I am still low on the learning curve. I live in an old, inner-ring suburb with lots of mature trees which homeowners often give away as firewood because it saves them money; as in your area, the tree services will drop them carefully into yards, avoiding houses and power lines, and leave the pieces where they lie.

I don't have the space to store huge volumes of wood, so my current theory is that scavenging will allow me to me to choose only the higher-BTU species, so I can store what I need in a smaller footprint. I'm also realizing that I need to avoid species that take a long time to dry. If it dries in one year, I only need to make room for about 2 cords. If it takes 2 years, I need room for 4 cords... which ain't gonna happen on my lot. Which is sad, because my neighbor across the street is taking down a big white oak in the spring.

 

[MasterMech]

I agree 100%. I guess sometimes people gotta do what they gotta do, though.

I hate to admit it but I'm going to run out of fuel (wood) sometime around the end of Jan. Price you pay for working 2 jobs and running a small engine shop in your garage.

Makes it worse that I just processed 5 cords (give or take) of primo fuel that I can't even think about using until 2014.

 

[ScotO]

I hate to admit it but I'm going to run out of fuel (wood) sometime around the end of Jan. Price you pay for working 2 jobs and running a small engine shop in your garage.

Makes it worse that I just processed 5 cords (give or take) of primo fuel that I can't even think about using until 2014.

my first two years were a struggle, kind of. I was close to running out both years (was still working on my current horde), luckily for me, my neighbor with the 385 acre farm allows me to cut wood on the property, and I have the snowmobile and homemade sleigh, so I cut several VERY OLD standing dead white oaks and used them to get me by those first two winters. Yeah, it wasn't as seasoned as I would have liked it to be, but it got me through the toughest part of two VERY HARD winters here in our area, and being I checked and cleaned the chimney every month or so regardless if it needed it or not, I was OK using the less-than-perfectly-seasoned wood. Now that I'm three years (almost four years) ahead, I think I'm in good shape.....

Keep collecting and processing wood like you have in those pics the other day, in a year or two you'll be sitting high on the hog there, MM!

 

[suprz]

suprz, unless the seller is guaranteeing that it is kiln dried, 99.9% of advertised seasoned wood is not. Always ask when it was split, not cut, but split. If not a minimum of 2 years split and stacked it is not going to be at a usable moisture content for current stoves. I will modify that by saying some of the lesser btu available species will dry to an acceptable moisture content in less time

No worries, i dont have the cash to buy wood. All my wood so far has been scrounged and the most is has cost me was gas money. I have a recycling center not even a mile from my house and every saturday i go and see what is there for firewood. Many times i cant get all they have because it is too large! If i was to buy wood however, i would get a MM and use it before they even off loaded the truck

 

[Dune]

This is my first season woodburning so I am still low on the learning curve. I live in an old, inner-ring suburb with lots of mature trees which homeowners often give away as firewood because it saves them money; as in your area, the tree services will drop them carefully into yards, avoiding houses and power lines, and leave the pieces where they lie.

I don't have the space to store huge volumes of wood, so my current theory is that scavenging will allow me to me to choose only the higher-BTU species, so I can store what I need in a smaller footprint. I'm also realizing that I need to avoid species that take a long time to dry. If it dries in one year, I only need to make room for about 2 cords. If it takes 2 years, I need room for 4 cords... which ain't gonna happen on my lot. Which is sad, because my neighbor across the street is taking down a big white oak in the spring.

Take the oak. You have the room. When was the last time you used the picnic table anyway?

I stack along my fence line.

 

[ScotO]

Take the oak. You have the room. When was the last time you used the picnic table anyway?

I stack along my fence line.

I've seen some really nice fences on this site MADE from oak. I agree with Dune!!

 

[Jon1270]

Heh. My neighbors are already amused at the amount of wood I've got on hand. Nevertheless, the oak is tempting. I took a few large branches that they trimmed off of it this fall, and it was delightfully easy to split.

The tree in question is just across the road from my garage. The garage is set into a hillside, such that the back wall only extends about 2 feet above dirt, and there's a hatch directly into the space above the rafters. The roof is vented, and gets awfully warm in the summertime. I wonder how fast the oak would dry in there...

 

[Dune]

Heh. My neighbors are already amused at the amount of wood I've got on hand. Nevertheless, the oak is tempting. I took a few large branches that they trimmed off of it this fall, and it was delightfully easy to split.

The tree in question is just across the road from my garage. The garage is set into a hillside, such that the back wall only extends about 2 feet above dirt, and there's a hatch directly into the space above the rafters. The roof is vented, and gets awfully warm in the summertime. I wonder how fast the oak would dry in there...

One way to find out.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Make a beautiful split and stacked white oak wall around the whole perimeter of your property.
It will only be there three years.