well slept in this AM. 5:30 small coals, one small pc of pine and 7 brick , 200*ST. now 350*ST and 700*ex, stove air shut. house temp has fallen to 60* which is our default temp on our thermostats. will run 2 of our 5 heating zones at 68*, defaulting one zone at 6:30. the one zone that is varied is my mom-in-law apt 1800+ sq.ft. that is kept at 65-70* as she is 87 yrs old. before the stove in 2005 , we used an average 0f 13-1400 gal/yr. that with 12 yr old small stove is down to 700-800 gal/yr. this yrs $557.00 buy for 2 pallets compared with my oil today at $ 2.369 easily saves us $500.00. one hour in and 475* ST, 900* EX. since 1 PM yesterday 22 brick used for about 24-26 hours burning. cost for 12/15-16 $6.38 posts over time are a typical cycle I use. on real cold and windy days we all vary burn a little hotter. let's add the soothe factor of a 24 hour fire on people and their dogs(and some cats). have a day
just a quick update. gonna go thru 1/2 pallet in 3 wks. this cold snap is a killer whether wood, pellet, gas prop., or oil. either way the wood heat makes it more comfortable.
Honest I have no connection to these folks, just like their product. they are giving away a pallet, Free Firewood anyone!? It looks like winter is in full swing with crazy cold temps and snow in the forecast. Looks like a great time for another giveaway! All you have to do is 'like' our page and 'share' this post to enter for your chance to win a TON of Fiber Fuel! That's sure to take the chill off your heat bill this winter! Not sure what Fiber Fuel is? Haven't tried it out yet? Well, Fiber Fuel is clean, easy firewood. No bugs, less mess, less work, easy to burn, and virtually no creosote. Feel free to check out our website and contact us if you have any questions. We will make a random draw on January 31 for our winner and you can pick up your prize at the dealer nearest you. Good luck to all! check out their facebook page.
Well , here's my thoughts so far . If I had a woodstove in the house , had to pay for cut and split wood , hated handling dirty and the bugs that came with , hated getting stiffed on a full cord and ended up with wet wood instead of dry or was thinking of a pellet stove ,,, I'd be buying these by the ton . From the couple of bags that I've burn't I can tell that ash content is low and btu is very high , easy to light and the more air you give it the more heat you get . Fiber Fuel Guy was kind enough to hook me up with 4 bags because I have a furnace but it's not setup for efficient way to heat a house like a woodstove so I'm giving 2 bags to a long time woodburner friend with a woodstove so he can give me his thoughts .
Well, I finally broke down and decided to try this new fangled wood. It turns out the local dealer wanted twice as much per bag as singles, so I bought a pallet. I hope I like them! My main interest is to see if these will allow me to pack more BTU’s in for longer/warmer overnight burns on the crazy cold nights. It is above freezing now, but frigid is only a few days away so I will report back with burning impressions fairly soon. All I can say for now is that they are were quicker but more tiring to stack than cord wood. If I end up loving them I am going to need a fork truck that can lift a 2000 lb pallet off my trailer and that is going to put a nasty dent in the price equation that already favors splits.
I have burned through the first two packs (32 bricks) of my test pallet so far. First fire was a 5 brick test when it was warm out just to see how they light and burn. Second test was the other 27 bricks plus two splits. These are my first experiences with a compressed wood brick product. Both fires were lit in a cold stove and it seemed like they took much longer to get the stove up to temp. The second fire was started with three bricks and two splits to try to get it warmed up and into the cat range before loading the other 24 bricks, but it was going slow so I loaded at a cat probe temp of about 400. After loading the other 24 bricks temps continued to rise smoothly and I believe slower than I see with splits. This seems opposite to some of the things I have read about bricks heating up fast and a risk of overfire. That concern also kept me from loading more in for this test as there was plenty of room in the IS, possibly for another entire pack. The cat temp has been between 800 and 1200 for a 12 hour window now and the stove room is holding between 79-81 degrees. Outside temps have been in the 10-14 range during the burn. At 12 hours I opened the door and poked the “coals” and they were surprisingly solid still. At some point soon I think I will have to open the air or add more fuel to maintain temps, but I am pretty happy with the heat output and longevity of a partial load. So far, I don’t see these replacing cord wood for me. Based on weight and BTU’s, I think it will take three pallets to replace two full cords of the hardwoods we have around here. Comparing the current pricing of a pallet dropped on my trailer vs split and half seasoned cord wood dumped in the driveway, the Fiber Fuel is much more expensive. Not quite double, but up there. Much much more expensive than self processed splits obviously. So, to find a long term place in my burn menu it needs to have significant advantages over splits. I see two. First, it takes up MUCH less space. It is ready to burn now, which means no need for a multi year storage plan, and it is much more dense so an entire pallet stacks in less space than a face cord. This is not a big enough factor for my circumstances to get me to stop seasoning splits. Second, the shape and high density lets you stuff more BTU’s into the stove per load. This is where the product has the best shot of winning me over as a ongoing customer. If I can stuff the stove full on the frigid nights and burn both hotter and longer with less or no need to touch the air control for 12+ hours, that might be worth keeping a pallet or two on hand. The performance I saw last night is very promising. Here is the 12 hour pic...
Here is the 14 hour update. I opened the air to the half mark after I posted my last post (pictures and I for from 12 hours in, post time was at 13 hours). Now at 14 hours the coals are shrinking but still surprisingly solid after I poked them around. Cat temp has dropped below 700, stove top still at 400 and room is still 81. I am going to toss on some splits soon and let it get nice and warm while I go out and clear the driveway of the foot plus of white crap that fell last night. The people inside might sweat a bit, but I will appreciate it nice and toasty when I get back in. They are welcome to file their complaints with management.
I forgot to add the splits, so 16 hours... Stove top down to 360, room temp holding 82! Oh, and for the weather outside: (what is up with a flood warning at these temps? There is no liquid water around!)
Hey Matt! Thanks for trying out Fiber Fuel! Looks like you’re getting some decent results, just wanted to give a couple of tips. For folks who have burnt splits all their lives, the bricks definitely take a bit of experimentation to get the most out of them. Controlling airflow is one of the most important aspects of using bricks. When starting from a cold appliance, we suggest a good amount of airflow for a short bit until a solid fire is underway. Funny that you found that the bricks took longer to provide good heat compared to your wood. As you mentioned, your experience does seem to be the opposite of what anyone else has seen in their results. We don’t recommend poking and breaking apart the bricks, especially if you are looking for longer burn times. In most cases, the less surface area burning, the better. Due to the higher BTU rating and moisture content, they should provide you ample heat output without breaking them apart. Looking forward to hearing more about your experience as you get a bit deeper into your pallet. I’m confident you’ll have excellent results as you become accustomed to the new Fuel. Thanks again for your purchase.
Fiber Fuel Guy, I am happy to give them a solid try (full pallet) and report what I learn, especially since they seem like a great product. I didn’t break them apart, just poking at them with the rake to see what they were like, to knock some of the ash off, and to get a picture. Breaking them apart seems like it would take some work. At 17 hours, there isn’t much of the blocks left and the stove temp is really starting to drop although the room is still warm at 82. I decided to end this first test, raked the ashes and added a few splits to keep it going until this evening when I will try a larger load of Fiber Fuel bricks into an already hot stove. The fact that a partial load has kept the house this warm for so long is quite impressive, especially at a high of 13* f outside. I am now wondering if I pack it right and control the air to avoid a big spike if I can get a solid 24 hour burn at these temps. That would be a big plus compared to splits and would definitely earn your product a spot in the barn. What’s left of 27 bricks (54 lbs) of fiber fuel at 17 hours of running hard enough to heat my house:
Test 2 is underway as of 8:00 PM. This time I increased the load to 2.5 bags, or 40 bricks. There is still a lot of room left in the firebox, but I want to take things in increments out of caution. This load went on top of a thin layer of hot coals. The stove top was at 350 and cat at 400 at time of loading. I let the flames burn briefly until the cat probe crossed 500 and then I clamped the air down. The goal is a long steady burn without a huge spike at the beginning. I will let you know how it goes.
3 1/2 hours in and she is humming along a bit hotter than ideal, but under control. I have had the air on the third small notch with small calm secondaries burning in the box and the cat running hard at 1300 after peaking at 1350. The max STT is 620 so no overfire concerns, but the room temp is a bit toasty at 86.
19 hours in to my 40 brick burn. It is 16 outside and 83 inside (in the stove room). It has been running a touch hotter than I’d like for the “warm” weather right now, but it would have been perfect a couple weeks back.
24 hours and 38 minutes since loading, about 24 hours since I touched the air control or did anything except take a picture. Stove is humming along at 400 STT and the room is 80, upstairs is 71... And it isn’t ready to be reloaded yet! So far I am super pleased with how this stuff burns in the Ideal Steel.
I can’t give a clean answer to that since staying warm was a higher priority than science. It was still putting out solid heat a couple hours later, but I reloaded before bed anyway because it certainly wasn’t going to last another night. So, I got about 27 hours but it could have lasted a little more. Since then, I have been experimenting with smaller loads and mixed brick and split loads targeting more of a 12 hour burn window. For my next attempt at 24 hours, I will cut back on the number of bricks and either try to keep the heat output a bit lower, or wait for a colder day. 40 bricks was too hot for too long which wastes BTU’s and makes the wife complain.
When I initially looked at this thread, I thought it would have been long dead. As a new IS user, and as someone still working on a 3 year plan, I will keep an eye out for new developments. Chaz
