1 ton of fuel blocks (compressed sawdust) staked in the catch-all room

I used these last year when I ran out of seasoned wood. They work great. So this year I bought 1 ton of them. I may get more. But I do have a decent wood pile this year. And we are enjoying a warm November, though, here in Ohio So the wood pile has yet to be touched.

 

I have bought a few of those myself this year, and so far like them pretty good. The couple of colder nights we have had, I have added a couple of the blocks with a few splits and the fire kept really good for several hours.

 

I bought them at Tractor Supply. I found out that my local Farmers Exchange sells a different brand by the ton cheaper. I may get some from them as well. But I do like these ones from Tractor Supply.

 

My TSC has both 6 pack and 3 pack. I prefer the 3 pack because the blocks are bigger and burn longer. I pre-ordered mine through a layaway program and specifically made them order the ones I wanted. LOL.

 

They tried to tell me I would get whatever the warehouse shipped to my local store. I said, no, I want what I am ordering. Sometimes customer service just isn't as good as it should be. LOL.

 

Oh, you got the big ones! I would like to try those, but they never stock them at my local TSC. I've got a few packs of the small gren bricks (Family Farm and Home). I like to use some of the bricks plus some pallet wood from time to time mixed with my splits; mostly just for variety I guess. Would like to try some of those Idaho Energy Logs, but can't find a source here in MI.

 

We got the big ones in a 3 pack here but I like the neils better so I got a pallet, cost $355

 

Very nice.. alot cleaner than a stack of wood sitting in the house.. we've had 5 fires so far. Supposed to get around 25 overnight this weekend. Got beer n smokes, Looking fwd.

 

I bought 3 tons of them last year, the first ton at Tractor Supply... then I find out they charge about $100 more per ton than feed store so the other two tons were from the feed store. I've only ever seen the 6 packs though. Got to see if there is a closer place to buy them to Mt Vernon, the place I got em last year was over in Plain City for about $210. I have some friends in Marysville so got em on a trip there, but I don't go that way very often.

They really helped extend the burn of my stove, though the heat output the last half of the burn seemed less than cordwood. Overall I was very happy with both the performance and price. Much cleaner and easier to deal with that cordwood. I think I got a whole ton in the living room and it didn't look terrible. About half of it in a stack in the corner, then the other half behind the couch a couple rows deep and about half way up. The couch hid all that well.

 

My local Farmers Exchange has them cheaper too. They don't have the big blocks, like I like, though. But I am going to get a ton from them anyway. I'll just have to put more blocks in at one time if I need to.

 

FYI - Looks like the RedStone 6 packs are on sale at TSC for $2.99 for those who might want to try them; still cheaper by the ton; not sure how long the sale lasts.

 

I got a ton of Northern Idaho Energy Logs (NIELS) and a ton of the Redstone blocks from Tractor supply. Was too busy building our house last year to process wood, so this seemed like a decent alternative even though it's a lot more $$ than cordwood. I've used the NIELS before and they are very hard and give a great overnight burn but here in Maine they were $415 (ouch!). The Redstones were "only" $285 so I figured they were worth a shot. They seem to be softer (less compressed) than the NEILS so I'm not expecting the same burn time performance.

 

I easily got overnight burns with Redstone 6ers... more like 12hrs. I couldn't get that length of wood with most cordwood. And as long as I can get em for a little over two bills then I'll never buy cordwood again. Sure, I could get cordwood a little cheaper, like ~$150 seems to be common, but every time I am very disappointed. Usually its more like 2/3 of a cord, full of sticks instead of splits, cut to length +/- a foot or so, and often partly rotted, infested with ants, and entirely unseasoned. I'd say the value actually tips towards Ecobricks even not considering how easier they are to deal with. I'll still cut my own and scrounge, but whatever I can't cut myself I'll buy the Redstones. Wish NIELS were available around here to try, I've never seen em.

 

Good to know about the Redstones - looking forward to giving them a go. I get 100% red and white oak tree-length, 10-20" diameter delivered for $125/cord. If it weren't for that and a decent supply off of my property, I'd be right there with you burning the sawdust logs primarily. If my experience with them mirrors yours, I'll probably keep buying a ton a year of the Redstones (or equivalent) as long as the price is below $300. The NIELs are great but are just too expensive out here.

 

I don't know, at that price for Oak I'd probably be buying Oak even if I had to cut and split it! Of course it's one of the harder ones to season.

They may burn differently in different stoves too. They helped me in my Jotul since it is really hard to tame that beast. If wood is seasoned, and the firebox full, it's always ran with the air control fully closed and still usually goes to 700+ or more if we are talking good wood. I was worried these dry bricks would overfire but carefully experimented right all the way to full stove of nothing but a dozen or more bricks. I think because they pack nice and tightly that it helps control the burn a little better. But the heat output the last half of the burn wasn't spectacular but good enough.
11:15PM

9:23AM


YMMV

 

Last night at 11:00 I put three blocks in my stove. I got out of bed at 6:00 a.m. this morning (amazed that I slept that long!) and the house was still warm and the stove was still cranking out heat. The blocks were glowing red. I will be buying more of these for sure!

 

Just noticed TSC's Black Friday flier has Redstone 6pk on sale for $2.49... if I remember correctly there were 96 per pallet so that would be $239 plus they usually give 5% discount for whole pallets. I might just pick up a ton at that price, since I might be there for other things.