Anyone researched wood briquettes?

No4_Winder

Hello All.
First posting on this great site.
I have been burning solid fuel since 1983. First burner was a Parkray Roomheater which did the hotwater and about 8 rads. It was "driven" by smokeless fuel such as; Homefire, Anthracite, Sunbrite or one called Phurnicite. It was great little workhorse but sadly it was time to part company in 2009 after 26 yrs of great service.

I had my Woodburner installed that same year and also a Gas Boiler for the rads.

The Woodburner is 7kg, heats my living room, hotwater cylinder and the bathroom radiator as well.

Up to now I've been burning collected tree logs and mixing it with a bit of coal. The coal giving more heat than the wood alone.

Last January I was given about 4 Heatlogs (LiverpoolWoodpellets) to try and I must say they were very good mixed with the wood. The heat from the fire was the same as mixing coal with the wood.
So, that convinced me that the way forward was Heatlogs and Wood.

I did the usual and went for the cheapest logs, those small ones that fall to pieces as soon as you handle them and then expand into a load of straw when they start burn.
I didn't buy any more!

Next, sent for some Hotties to Woof Fuels he sent me a letter of apology saying he was out of stock but would send some others which were very similar to the Hotties. As a good will gesture he also put some firelighters in for free.
The Heatlogs were from a company called Fuel Express, 12 in a pack makes it up to 10 kgs.

I am burning one of these a night, mixed with the wood of course, and they are very impressive, I put the Heatlog on about 9pm, it takes about 10 mins to flame, which last about half an hour, and then it just sits there giving out loads of heat. The fire is still hot at midnight, my bedtime.
Also this the type of log that doesn't expand like the softer ones.

Well thats all I've tried up now but will try some more in a couple of weeks and let you know the result.

Greenfires

As far as I know, Woof are no longer dealing with Hotties. There was some confusion a while back when he was promoting his stuff as "formerly Hotties" - as they were nothing to do with Hotties at all, even though he was still using the manufacturers images on his website! I have no idea where the stuff from Fuel Express originates - my guess is that it will be imported. They focus a lot on garage forecourt sales - that kind of area. Personally, I prefer to deal with a UK manufacturer with a UK factory. The stuff may be a bit more expensive due to higher labour costs here than in Eastern Europe, where the majority of the imports come from, but you know what you're getting and you can go and see what goes into them. Several customers who have had imported briquettes have mentioned them smelling funny and leaving odd coloured ash. This doesn't apply to all of them, or possibly even to many of them - but the reality is that you don't really have a clue what's gone on in a factory at the far end of Latvia!

No4_Winder

Hello Greenfires.
Thanks for the reply. I don't know where the Fuel Express logs come from, they were being sold in Tesco in the summer, to be used as Chiminia or Barbarque logs.

I have no intention of buying logs this way though as they work out very expensive.

Whem I find the right sort, for me I will be buying in bulk. I know one or two people with woodstoves, so we may as well buy a full pallet and split them between us.

I have yet to try Hotties, UK Heatlogs and Blazers.
So I'll just keep buying small samples until I get it right.
Stay Warm!

Greenfires

Well at least all the last three you mentioned are UK produced! We sold UKheatlogs ourselves about three years back, but only for one season. We've been dealing with Hotties exclusively ever since, and won't be swapping unless we find a better one - as we burn them ourselves as well!