Is certain firebricks better then other?
- Thread starter Dmitry
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
VirginiaIron
Minister of Fire
I think there is. The original bricks in our Quadrafire were light weight and seemed very forgiving to impacts and just seemed to wear away. The newer bricks that were available (in our price range (?) or code spec changes (?)) are more rigid and heavy like typical masonry bricks. These new bricks are (almost(?)) identical to the bricks in our present 2016(?) model and they seem to crack easily from impact. However, I do not believe a clean and tight crack is a problem.
Yes, there are 2 main types - pumice light bricks and the heavy masonry types. The pumice types wear fast, and are insulating. So, they also trap heat. The internal dynamics of the heat distribution within the stove is very different depending on if you have one type of brick or the other. Probably best to copy what the original brick was? The stove designer certainly thought about this fact when they designed the stove.
Masonry type bricks allow heat to pass right through them. They can vary in this ability. From what I understand it depends on the amount of sand vs alumina in the brick. Sand slows down the heat passing ability. These masonry types of fire brick come in 3 duty/statuses - light duty, medium duty, and heavy duty. Cost tends to go up as the brick's duty status goes up, and so does the weight of each brick. The box store/online bricks from China and India are probably light duty bricks.
In a wood stove application light duty bricks are fine - but medium duty are probably better. The higher duty bricks are tougher. But really heavy-duty bricks are so concentrated that they may micro fracture in a wood stove application - due to the heating and cooling cycle that wood stoves go through. They use these heavy-duty bricks in things like military kilns (burn down old weapons) that run 24/7.
So, the 2 properties of the brick to remember - 1) its ability to distribute heat, and 2) it's toughness. Maybe on some wood stoves they want the pumice bricks in order to trap the heat/heat things up rapidly. But I think most wood stoves have the masonry types - they slow the heat down but let it through. Less sand in the brick = less chipping. More sand = more easily chipping but the internals of the brick has more voids thus forgiving in the heating/cooling cycle.
Another way to think about fire brick, it is like firewood. Poplar/Pine is like light duty fire brick. Cherry/Elm is like medium duty fire brick. Osage Orange/Locust is like heavy duty fire brick. And Pumice type bricks? Maybe bamboo (not really a typical firewood wood but a grass).
They sell very good medium duty bricks from PA/Illinois, https://www.alsey.com/
Pretty good light-medium duty bricks, https://www.wgpaver.com/
Masonry type bricks allow heat to pass right through them. They can vary in this ability. From what I understand it depends on the amount of sand vs alumina in the brick. Sand slows down the heat passing ability. These masonry types of fire brick come in 3 duty/statuses - light duty, medium duty, and heavy duty. Cost tends to go up as the brick's duty status goes up, and so does the weight of each brick. The box store/online bricks from China and India are probably light duty bricks.
In a wood stove application light duty bricks are fine - but medium duty are probably better. The higher duty bricks are tougher. But really heavy-duty bricks are so concentrated that they may micro fracture in a wood stove application - due to the heating and cooling cycle that wood stoves go through. They use these heavy-duty bricks in things like military kilns (burn down old weapons) that run 24/7.
So, the 2 properties of the brick to remember - 1) its ability to distribute heat, and 2) it's toughness. Maybe on some wood stoves they want the pumice bricks in order to trap the heat/heat things up rapidly. But I think most wood stoves have the masonry types - they slow the heat down but let it through. Less sand in the brick = less chipping. More sand = more easily chipping but the internals of the brick has more voids thus forgiving in the heating/cooling cycle.
Another way to think about fire brick, it is like firewood. Poplar/Pine is like light duty fire brick. Cherry/Elm is like medium duty fire brick. Osage Orange/Locust is like heavy duty fire brick. And Pumice type bricks? Maybe bamboo (not really a typical firewood wood but a grass).
They sell very good medium duty bricks from PA/Illinois, https://www.alsey.com/
Pretty good light-medium duty bricks, https://www.wgpaver.com/
Last edited:
Similar threads
