Heat Logs £2.99 for 8 @ Aldi

alleycat`

Wasn't the same stuff as this thread was talking about based on what i saw at the w/e.

It's more expensive than the last "offer" and you can buy "similar" cheaper elsewhere.

Verdo at Home Bargains & Blazer at B&M are two such examples.

Visual inspection suggested they were very similar to the Verdo briquettes but are £1.20 more per pack.

Might be worth a punt still but they don't seem to be the very keen price they were last time around.

I should add i've not tried the Verdo or the Blazer as I've still got a 1/4 pallet of Hotties from last year left over.

suelees1

I've found the Verdo to be blimmin hard work. In a single door burner they need to be at least halved and certainly can't be broken by hand as it suggests. I'm having to hack away at them with an axe to break them up. They're fine once the fire is really going well but to start the fire with a firelighter and these is almost impossible.

Smiley_Dan

The broken ends light easily. Two options.

You can start a top down fire with whatever-you-want at the bottom then the verdo logs split and with the broken ends facing upwards, kindling on top of that, paper on top of that. Disadvantage of this is that as the fire has to go down the logs it takes a bit longer to get an efficient temp in the fire box.

Other option if you have more lateral space is to build a kinda U shape but with a tall bottom where the arms of the U are the broken verdo logs facing inwards. Then, kinding and paper in the middle.

alleycat`

When it comes to "splitting" briquettes i've found holding them near one end and hitting them with the back of a hatchet gives the best / quickest / cleanest "break".

Hitting them with the blade just hacks chunks out.

I've tried the "top down" method a couple of times and find the stove doesn't have enough space for it to work properly.

It works well outdoor and it's something i think is a good way to light a fire but when you are space limited it's a bit of a pain to do properly.

Well my 2 cents anyway

Smiley_Dan

Yeah, we've got a big ol' stove so my advice might not be transferable.

Robwiz

The Verdos can be broken – they are soft and brittle and can be snapped in two over your knee.

They need plenty of heat and flame to get them to catch. Get a generous pile of paper, card and kindling in full flame and then add a briquette. If the fire dies down and the briquette is only smouldering, add more paper and kindling to get flames going again.

silverwhistle

The few Verdo briquettes I've used have been fine: broken by hand, although not always exactly even halves. They do need a good bed of embers and a bit of flame so I just chuck on a small handful of kindling if I need to. Still at the experimental stage with my stove so I'll probably tweak my technique. All my wood has been free but with the briquettes it's good to have a known quantity neatly tucked away in my lounge for when venturing out to the wood store seems an expedition.:) The fact that they're available locally means there a good standby if you don't need a pallet load.

That reminds me: I need to visit the local metal fabricators to pick up a few HT pallets..

DistortedVision

I'm looking for alternative to the Weber Firelogs for a Weber Fireplace which I've just bought. I was wondering if the Fuel Express Heat Logs that are available from Tesco Direct for £5 can be used:


http://www.tesco.com/direct/fuel-express-long-burning-heat-logs-pack-of-12/203-4633.prd?skuId=203-4633&pageLevel=sku&_requestid=795293

Greenfires

The Fuel Express briquettes will be fine on there. Just bear in mind that they're a smaller version of Hotties (from the same factory) and they're smaller - so shorter lived, and the packs are produced to a lighter weight as well - so don't assume you're getting more for your money because they come in 12s instead of 10s!. You can buy proper Hotties for a fair bit less than five quid a pack if you buy in bulk - 50 packs will work out at £4.70 a pack and that includes delivery - 100 packs on a pallet works out to £3.95 per pack.

DistortedVision

Thanks Greenfires.


Just wondering do I need to use kindling or firelighter cubes with Hotties Firelogs?