For a combination of reasons, mostly to do with the h3ll of house renovation while you live in it, I am on my second season with the Wood Brick Fuel--they are what I can find close by the pallet.
Even at $300+ with tax, they are still cheaper than our natural gas--and the living room is wonderful in the evenings with the stove fired up. And buying firewood around here is expensive ($225/cord and up) and I have not found anyone I would do business more than once.
I do the 'teepee' arrangement with four bricks to start, & use a 1/4 of a super cedar under each side & I can get the stove up to temp pretty quickly. While I have trouble getting a super hot fire, a stack of six or nine added when up to temps and once started can be damped down and will give a nice slow fire. Quality is pretty decent, but it sounds like I may have to try the bio bricks--the Wood Bricks are softwood (and?) and do crumble/expand--although this is not a problem if you don't over fill, and you are a light-it, leave it kind of burner.
I have probably 2 cords of oak that is seasoning, and a couple of cords of mixed hardwoods in the same state, plus I have a couple of ash trees that have the borer that will be coming down soon, so I should be back on the wood program next year. But I will probably lay in a pallet of the bricks for supplemental and/or wife's occasional fire tending.
Edit to add: One thing I noticed this year is that renting a splitter has become really expensive & for those of us who have not acquired on, you need to add that into the cost structure too. Hopefully by next year I will have found a decent splitter that I can afford.
Even at $300+ with tax, they are still cheaper than our natural gas--and the living room is wonderful in the evenings with the stove fired up. And buying firewood around here is expensive ($225/cord and up) and I have not found anyone I would do business more than once.
I do the 'teepee' arrangement with four bricks to start, & use a 1/4 of a super cedar under each side & I can get the stove up to temp pretty quickly. While I have trouble getting a super hot fire, a stack of six or nine added when up to temps and once started can be damped down and will give a nice slow fire. Quality is pretty decent, but it sounds like I may have to try the bio bricks--the Wood Bricks are softwood (and?) and do crumble/expand--although this is not a problem if you don't over fill, and you are a light-it, leave it kind of burner.
I have probably 2 cords of oak that is seasoning, and a couple of cords of mixed hardwoods in the same state, plus I have a couple of ash trees that have the borer that will be coming down soon, so I should be back on the wood program next year. But I will probably lay in a pallet of the bricks for supplemental and/or wife's occasional fire tending.
Edit to add: One thing I noticed this year is that renting a splitter has become really expensive & for those of us who have not acquired on, you need to add that into the cost structure too. Hopefully by next year I will have found a decent splitter that I can afford.
