Firewood Follow-Up

[Bob]

Hi;

This is a follow-up to a previous thread I started on compressed saw dust/wood chip logs... Thanks for everyone's input, here's my feedback.

As promised, I tried the compressed wood logs, bought a sample box at my local Rona (Canadian version of Home Depot), and here are my findings.

The Good:

- Burns very evenly, do have to move the logs around or anything like normal wood

- Each log burns much longer (at least 3x) then an equivalently sized log of normal (DRY) wood

- No snap, crackle, pops (actually, almost no noise whatsoever)

- A lot less smoke

- Almost no smell

- Seems to burn hotter then an equal amount of standard wood, I say seems because I don't heat with my fireplace and did not do any scientific tests to back this up, just felt hotter

The Bad:

- Takes frikkin forever to properly light up, by that I mean at least

30 to 40 minutes, this is with kindling and using their firestarter stuff. Didn't try lighter fluid of any sort... may want to consider this.

- No snap, crackle, pops (actually, almost no noise whatsoever)

- Almost no smell

The Verdict:

- If you use wood to heat your house, then this might be worth it, but if you use it for leisure, then the feeling isn't quite the same without the snaps and pops of normal wood, the smell and look isn't the same either, so the whole mystique of the fireplace is gone. Also, I have to stress the startup time... If you want a quick fire just for a few hours, then this product ain't it, it'll take an hour just to really get started, then it burns longer then standard wood. Oftentimes I actually thought the fire died on me and had to check to see the small flame still working away. So their claim of "easily lights" is crap, but everything else they claim seems pretty accurate. It comes in boxes of 8, so I imagine storage would be easier/cleaner too.

For those interested, I suggest you buy a box (goes by the name of Eco Log or something like that) and try it yourself.

That's all for now, tune in next month for my review of snow blowers/flame throwers...

Previous Thread:

[barry]

If you mean to use such fuel (or any solid fuel) to heat a house, you want to drop the idea of burning it in a fireplace- ain't gonna happen. Modern woodstoves are a whole different story, including enormously lower emissions than open fireplaces.

Any resident of Canuckistan should know this stuff. Recent immigrant, eh? :')

J

[louie]

He actually stated that his intent was NOT to heat the home with the fireplace. He just wants to use it for decorative purposes. Sounds like it's a reasonable product for those actually looking to use it as a heat source. I don't currently own a fireplace, but may install one in my garage in the future so this is good info.

Thanks for the feedback, Bob. If you're looking for easily lit, noisy, aromatic wood then well dried pine or cedar would probably be your bet, but you'll have to take extra care to keep your flue clean from all the extra creosote. You also need a good spark screen, since popping wood can eject some nasty embers and sparks. On the plus side, they should burn easily, with plenty of popping sounds and will burn rather quickly. Also, since those are usually considered bad things when using wood for heat, you should find it relatively easy to find some pine since it's not usually in high demand like that.