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

I had plans on going in today. But since you brought up the sale, I will wait until Friday. I just checked the flier online. They have a chain saw I will be buying too.

 

That is a pretty good price; might pick up a couple packs. Was hoping Family Farm and Home would have a sale on the gren bricks, but they are not listed in their Black Friday sale ad; I like these a bit better as they seem to burn better for me. I don't know why I even think about these bricks any more. First bought some a few years ago when I ran out of wood; not a problem for me now, but I still have this odd desire to have a few on hand.

 

I bought 10 packages of these as a trial based on this post. I gave a couple to my father as he is getting older. He and I both seemed to wonder if these work better in some stoves than others. My large furnace ate them alive and his airtight just seemed to smolder. Thoughts?

 

Well I already gave my results back on the first page and have not tried them in any other stove so I have no other first hand knowledge of how they perform other than in my Jotul. However, just like burning a stove and firewood for the first time, there is a learning curve. When to load em, how hot of a coal bed, how tight to pack em, how much air and when to turn down, etc. They do seem harder to light off than cordwood, and can easily get our of control if they aren't packed tight enough and turned down quick enough so both issues you mention could be just from how your burning them. But just a guess.

 

I personally would not use them in a large furnace because I'm sure they would burn fast and/or I would have to put a lot of them in at one time. I have a medium sized wood stove that usually gets around a 4-hour burn time. With these blocks I get an all-night burn. I wait until all the wood is burned and I have a large amount of glowing coals. I place the blocks on the coals and damper down the stove. They smolder at first but then start up and slowly burn. I do not leave the damper wide open with these as I don't want an over fire. These blocks are also known to expand so I can't put too many of them at one time in my stove. Three large blocks is just right with my stove.

What type of air tight stove does your father have?

 

18" Poulan chainsaw for $100. Regular is $129, I believe. I'm all about saving $30.00. LOL. I have one from TSC that I bought several years ago. I want another one. Yes, it's a cheapo, but it gets the job done for me

 

Nope. I'll be using it Friday after I purchase it. I've got 2 trees down just waiting for me. lol