So Shore Wood Pellets has HOT BRICKS on sale for $250.00/ton. I've used'em and aren't bad. only comparison is Canawick which are great, $ 250.00 good price. I have no connect to SSWP.
I don't because the manual recommends not to. I wish stove manufacturers would do lab testing with bricks and give recommendations on how many to use safely. It is a great alternative for folks with unseasoned wood or would like to store it inside.
why spend money to help the consumer. they won't cover an over fired stove with cord wood, will they? what's the dif. is things have changed since the dura flame wax log, these things are really big pellets. I'm sure the mfgs of pellet stoves tell you not to burn dura flame type chunks in your stove. maybe somebody in the stove industry will pipe in on this? jotul says you can't use em but I've had great burns with them . day and overnite, easier fill, longer burns, more comfort. don't expect a mfg to endorse or spend monies to test. "IT'S A WOOD STOVE , BURN WOOD"
That is really interesting- I am having a hard time finding green C/S hardwood for anything less than $200 / cord, and often more. While a ton of those bricks is less than a cord of hardwood, that firstly assumes that we really get a cord of firewoood (all I have had delivered this year range from close to size to 75% of a cord with one exception of a 'fat' cord of about 200 cu. ft. loose piled). Then there is the fact that there is bark, bugs dirt and all sorts of stuff in cord wood. And finally, I believe those bricks are something like 8% water- cordwood will never dry to even close to that in the Northeast US unless pushed through a heated kiln. So in the end, those types of blocks may be a better competitor to cord wood than they first seem to be. Brian
I've burned these things for the last 3 years. best part are the overnites, with a small jotul f100,they consistently hold heating 8 hrs. stove is always at 250-300* with an easy am start. i'll use about 1.25 ton with 1 1/2 cord dry wood per season.
Ive tried a few of them, 2 full packages, maybe 12 bricks I think. It was more for a test than anything. I was looking to see how hot and long burned to compare it to hardwood burn times. One thing I did like was the minimal amount of ash it created. They did burn hot, just as hot as a load of oak at 18% MC. But considering I get my tree length for $95/cord, the bricks would only be for a crisis situation.
in another lifetime for me. at my age now it's splits to length and brick overnite. log length and your own labor is where the real savings are to be had. I do add pallets to the mix as they bring down the average costs in my burning. we still use a lot of oil for my mother in laws apt. replacing the old 20 yr.old burner that has a cracked exchanger. my oil guy tells me it will cut oil consumption some 30-35%. with the prices still down I may actually touch the thermostat once in a while? have a day
New brick in town??? Lewis Fiber Fuel, $269.00 /ton(1920 lbs). first test 5:00pm 350* -5:30 425* - 7:32 400*. 4 brick used. Gotta feeling that I'm gonna miss my 8pm bedtime!!( I get up 3:30-4:00 am).Burning a Jotul F100, air closed first 2 1/2 hrs. Looks like these are pretty good, equal or better to Canawick, which I've burned last two years. New oil boiler going in Wed. 140k btu solaia/ carlin burner. lookin forward to less oil use with the local $1.819 price. have a day
8:10 and still waiting, opened up and down to 375* , will load 8 for the overnite. should be nice and toasty am.
4am stove at 275* plenty left before restart with 6 brick for the daytime. won't be back home today til 2-3pm. good test for the first bag of 16. fairly large house and we dropped to 60-62* which is fine with me. will open up this pm with splits. surprised to read that this brick is made from eastern white pine at a milling operation in Canada. so far these things are a fair product.
got home 2:30pm and still had 225* with enough coals to fire dry splits. house down to 62* now on the rise. overall Lewis Fiber Fuel looks to be a decent product. Surprised to read they are made of eastern white pine. super heat and long burn times.
Me too- new boiler went 'live' 1 July and has used 1/4 of a tank of oil for DHW and a small portion of house heat this fall. Outstanding considering my old boiler would have chugged through a tank long before now and I would have paid for electricity for A/C to get rid of the leaked heat :-( And as of today, 2 Dec 2015, local oil is as low as $1.70 delivered. $300 / cord of firewood...... that ain't gonna' fly at my house. Brian
