stumpy heat logs

deano72_2

i got 2 bags today,there compressed sawdust & are ment to give decent heat that is all i know.i take it there new,so has anyone used these.

captaintrousers

Hi... I bought some of these recently on ebay and I think they're great. I think they're actually called Stumpeys heat logs and I will certainly be using them this winter.

A._Badger

"captain trousers" may have a can of Spam in his pocket.

Greenfires

From a green perspective I think all these briquettes are a good thing as they're using material that would have gone to landfill once upon a time - and in fact we still bury tens of thousands of tonnes of this stuff in the UK every year. But if green is your thing, then be aware that quite a few of those on sale in the UK are imported from Eastern Europe or even further afield - so do try and find out where they're from.

However, the huge increases in the number of woodburning stoves being fitted in recent years has kind of muddied the water when it comes to woodfuels, and an awful lot of people have jumped in with their eyes on a quick profit, rather than supplying a top quality fuel.

Once upon a time there were only a handful of briquette manufacturers, and now there must be dozens of them. However, because many of these outfits are only small - and looking to make a bit of money from their waste rather than pay to get shut of it - many of them are using relatively low pressure machines adapted from other industries. One example would be shredded paper compactors, where the idea is to reduce the volume of the material to cut down transport costs. If you're paying x amount for a wagon to make a journey, you can get a small weight of shredded paper on it, or a much larger weight if the paper is squashed into briquettes. Whilst these machines will make wood briquettes of a sort - they are nowhere near as dense as those coming out of a proper wood briquetter (which will cost around £100k) and once in the fire, they burn too quickly to make a viable constant use fuel to my mind. We've trialled briquettes in the past which were so soft that we could go through 15 kilos of them in the course of an evening. The ones we have now will add up to about a third of that amount in the same stove in the same period of time.

One thing I meant to mention yesterday - if you're using the solid cylindrical briquettes in an open fire - please be aware that they will expand quite a lot as they burn - quite a few people have had "escapes" from open grates! Also, try to resist the urge to poke the fire as they will just collapse if you start disturbing them. The longer lasting ones I mentioned above don't do either of these things and form proper embers exactly the same shape as the briquette, which will continue to give out high levels of heat for a considerable time after the flames have died down.

Cheers,

Andy

suki1964

As mentioned I have a whole pile of the home made paper briquettes. We made hundreds of then during the winter, they then took months to dry outside in the car port and are now stashed in the greenhouse to keep them dry

They do burn ok - if you don't hoke and poke at them - just leave them be. I would only use them late at night if its a real cold night and I need a wee boost to the dying fire as they make a huge mess for cleaning out in the morning. TBH we wont be in a rush to make any more. They were an experiment, one we have proved works - but so messy

Briquettes here are made of just about anything and everything with people compressing the paper together with sawdust and even peat. There are some doing the rounds up here made from the sweepings off the cigarette factory - as an ex smoker I passed on them

jond32

Has anyone tried Firecat Heat Logs, they are fairly new and are available on e-bay or direct (google Firecat Heat Logs). They are made from oilseed rape meal, are eco-friendly and burn for a long time with loads of heat. They also don't expand like some sawdust logs.

Opaque_Balloon

A._Badger wrote: »

"captain trousers" may have a can of Spam in his pocket.

I think that jond32 may have some, too

Greenfires

Customers I've spoken to who've used rapemeal briquettes have said they're often accompanied by a funny smell - and if it's anything like the smell of a field of rape in flower then I wouldn't fancy it in the house personally - and several have mentioned oily deposits in the stove body itself. Don't think I've ever swept a chimney where they're being used so couldn't comment on that. It's usually the price that puts people off, as they're quite a lot more than competing wood based briquettes.

The ones mentioned by the new member above are exactly the same shape as Green Dragon briquettes, and also available in two sizes, so I'm guessing these may well be manufactured by them. Green Dragon were probably the first outfit to start offering rapemeal briquettes in the UK - they've been at it a few years now.

Andy

[Deleted User]

Do these also go under the name of Hotmax fuel logs [£7 for 20kg]?

Tried these last year and seemed very good but I get wood cheaper so not bought again.

Greenfires

No - Hotmax are wood based, and quite small too, so not as long lasting as some others. Generally speaking, all the solid cylindrical briquettes will tend to expand when burning, which decreases the burn time, and also to collapse/disintegrate if disturbed, or when fresh fuel is added to the fire. Screw extruded briquettes don't do this - they form proper embers which continue to give out high levels of heat for much longer once the flames have died down.

When comparing prices - you really need to compare like with like. For instance, 10 kilos of ANY briquettes will give out more heat than 10 kilos of logs, as they contain much less moisture. A net of logs from the garage forecourt or DIY store will probably contain 8 - 10 logs, and around 3.5 litres of water - and all that water needs energy to evaporate it off - that energy has to come from the logs themselves, so you'll get less heat released from them. 10 kilos of briquettes will give the same heat energy as around four of those nets - so if the nets are a fiver each for instance - then you'd use £20's worth to get the same heat as £4's worth of briquettes!

I'd be the first to say that briquettes "never look like much for the money" but when you compare the heat you'll get from them, they usually work out a lot cheaper in real terms than any logs bought from a commercial operator.

Cheers,

Andy