Question: Eco-Brick (Now Called Enviro-Brick) Vs. Anthracite

Post Reply
 
User avatar
lsayre
Member
Posts: 21781
Joined: Wed. Nov. 23, 2005 9:17 pm
Location: Ohio
Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S130 Coal Gun
Coal Size/Type: Lehigh Anthracite Pea
Other Heating: Resistance Boiler (13.5 KW), ComfortMax 75

Post by lsayre » Sat. May. 09, 2015 5:09 am

If you could get Enviro-Bricks (formerly called Eco-Bricks) at $165/ton plus tax (your pick up) vs. Anthracite at $259/ton plus tax (delivered), would you consider burning Enviro-Bricks?

Enviro-Brick stats:

Rock hard ~3.5 pound rectangular blocks (bricks) of pure kiln dried mixed hardwoods sawdust compressed under 24,000 lbs. of force. No glues or fillers.
8,000 average BTU's/pound
8% average moisture
6 bricks per sealed plastic bag
96 bags per pallet (576 bricks) = 1 ton (42" wide x 48 " long x 42" tall)
16 million BTU's per ton (pallet)

Anthracite stats:

12,250 average BTU's per pound (on an 'AR' [as received] basis which factors in the moisture derived BTU losses)
4% to 6% average moisture
24.5 million BTU's per ton

PS: My guess is that if 8,000 BTU's/lb. are available and you will drive off the 8% moisture content when burning, then the actual potential for available BTU's is probably closer to around 7,400 per pound for the Enviro-Bricks.


 
User avatar
plumb-r
Member
Posts: 617
Joined: Thu. May. 01, 2008 7:12 pm
Location: Nottingham,Pa

Post by plumb-r » Sat. May. 09, 2015 6:34 am

What are you burning them in? You have to wonder how long are the times between have to tend the stove. Can the enviro-bricks be throttled for a slow burn, and what of creosote? How far are you going to get them? Do you really feel like having to handle unloading it? If not stored in a dry place the bricks will suck up moisture and humidity. You can keep the coal outside in the rain and moisture content will not change. Just fuel for thought! :)

 
User avatar
coaledsweat
Site Moderator
Posts: 13763
Joined: Fri. Oct. 27, 2006 2:05 pm
Location: Guilford, Connecticut
Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman Anderson 260M
Coal Size/Type: Pea

Post by coaledsweat » Sat. May. 09, 2015 7:00 am

Pics of Enviro-Brick stoker?

 
User avatar
blrman07
Member
Posts: 2383
Joined: Mon. Sep. 27, 2010 3:39 pm
Location: Tupelo Mississippi

Post by blrman07 » Sat. May. 09, 2015 7:20 am

I buy a case every once in a while. They work OK, sometimes, maybe, possibly, for starter blocks. I will also use a couple in the shoulder months for quick heat. They will smoke up your glass just like wood.....wait they are wood. :D

 
User avatar
Sunny Boy
Member
Posts: 25547
Joined: Mon. Nov. 11, 2013 1:40 pm
Location: Central NY
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Anthracite Industrial, domestic hot water heater
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwood range 208, # 6 base heater, 2 Modern Oak 118.
Coal Size/Type: Nuts !
Other Heating: Oil &electric plenum furnace

Post by Sunny Boy » Sat. May. 09, 2015 7:30 am

More about them here.
http://envirobrick.net/home.

They are claiming about twice as long burn times as cord wood.
http://envirobrick.net/data

Up to an 18 hour burn in a wood stove is impressive. But, for that near doubling of wood burning time, I notice their graph shows an even more extreme heat spike. So, compared to coal's more even heat output over the length of the burn cycle, the bricks are worse than cord wood for getting an even heat output.

And the only thing I find in relation to creosote is near the bottom of this page.
http://envirobrick.net/instructions
"Always maintain some flame in the firebox. You need to burn the smoke (with flame) in order to extract heat from the wood. You should see little or no smoke in the chimney."

Paul

 
User avatar
confedsailor
Member
Posts: 472
Joined: Tue. Mar. 12, 2013 9:46 pm
Location: Moosup Ct
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: 100 KBtu Chappee
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Surdiac 513
Other Heating: Oil Fired 1950"s American Standard Arcoliner 132K BTU

Post by confedsailor » Sat. May. 09, 2015 8:20 am

Having burnt a compressed wood brick product in a Jotul 8 stove last winter. I can share my opinion.

Wood is wood. I could never keep my wood stove going like I could keep my coal stove rolling.

To it's credit:

Its cleaner than cordwood, Guaranteed amount per dollar (sold by ton vice cord) Lower moisture, Little to no Creosote. Burns to a fine powder ash

The downsides:

Only just slightly easier to light than coal. The high hardwood bricks sometimes seem to be made of asbestos :P . They don't bank well, when the heat hits them the chips delaminate and the brick crumbles. It's completely non-moisture tolerant, a damp day will make them swell and crumble. God help you if you leave them in the rain...

I would burn them over cordwood, but I wouldn't burn them over coal. Rev. Larry's comment about shoulder months does hold up though.

 
User avatar
ONEDOLLAR
Verified Business Rep.
Posts: 1866
Joined: Thu. Dec. 01, 2011 6:09 pm
Location: Sooner Country Oklahoma
Hand Fed Coal Stove: 2014 Chubby Prototype
Coal Size/Type: Nut/Anthracite
Contact:

Post by ONEDOLLAR » Sat. May. 09, 2015 8:22 am

I tried some in my Soapstone woodstove a few years ago. Let me put it this way... They burn OK. That is it. I can't imagine having 2 or 3 pallets of them hanging around needing to be kept dry. Any moisture and they become mulch.

As for their claim of burn times.. Just like woodstoves they tend to drastically over estimate their burn times. 2 to 4 hours and that was pushing it. No Thanks. I will stick with the black rocks which I know for fact will get me at least 12 hours at 450f+


 
User avatar
McGiever
Member
Posts: 10130
Joined: Sun. May. 02, 2010 11:26 pm
Location: Junction of PA-OH-WV
Stoker Coal Boiler: AXEMAN-ANDERSON 130 "1959"
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: BUCKET A DAY water heater
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Warm Morning 414A
Coal Size/Type: PEA,NUT,STOVE /ANTHRACITE
Other Heating: Ground Source Heat Pump and some Solar

Post by McGiever » Sat. May. 09, 2015 8:39 am

No experience with them, but if it is just wood anyway, and it lasts twice as long as cordwood does...would not that also mean 1/2 the heat in a equal given weight in a equal given time comparing to the cordwood?

So really, EB needs twice the weight burning all at once to equal the same btu/hr rating vs burning cordwood.

Ever see/study pellet baskets for in stoves? To me they seem the better option than EB. :)

See the 2 videos at pelletbasket.com...make sure to have the Mrs. watch how nice and easy it is too. ;)

Still burning a wood product and still no electricity requried.

 
User avatar
whistlenut
Member
Posts: 3548
Joined: Sat. Mar. 17, 2007 6:29 pm
Location: Central NH, Concord area
Stoker Coal Boiler: AA130's,260's, AHS130&260's,EFM900,GJ & V-Wert
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: Franks,Itasca 415,Jensen, NYer 130,Van Wert
Hot Air Coal Stoker Furnace: Alaska, EFM, Keystoker, Yellow Flame
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: Alaska, Keystoker-2,Leisure Line
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Alaska, Gibraltar, Keystone,Vc Vigilant 2
Hand Fed Coal Furnace: Ford, Jensen, NYer, Van Wert,
Baseburners & Antiques: Glenwoods
Coal Size/Type: Barley, Buck, Rice ,Nut, Stove
Other Heating: Oil HWBB

Post by whistlenut » Sat. May. 09, 2015 9:42 am

They have been around for quite a while in different versions. Still not very cost effective, IMO. Like anything wood related, the moisture demons are at work all the time. There is no way they last as long as coal, nor do they put out the same 'regulated heat'. A few years ago a friend who does recovery, had a TT load that split the trailer open and the resulting mess had to be removed quickly, so I got a call to show up with a skid steer and all the trucks we could muster. I do have some first hand experience, and I burned them in a hand fed boiler. They were fine, however it took quite a bit of material and they lasted about 4/5 hrs in the boiler before refueling. About like wood of any sort. They burned clean, small amount of creosote, but if you had to pay retail, you would be better off burning oil, IMO. No splinters...so that is a good thing. UNIFORM PACKAGING..EASY TO STORE, BUT HEAVY IF BY THE PALLET.

 
User avatar
lsayre
Member
Posts: 21781
Joined: Wed. Nov. 23, 2005 9:17 pm
Location: Ohio
Stoker Coal Boiler: AHS S130 Coal Gun
Coal Size/Type: Lehigh Anthracite Pea
Other Heating: Resistance Boiler (13.5 KW), ComfortMax 75

Post by lsayre » Sat. May. 09, 2015 12:49 pm

I just put in my order for 5 tons of delivered bulk Blaschak pea and 2 tons of Enviro-Bricks. Also signed on for a DS Machine ComfortMax wood/coal 75 stove. We used to burn wood exclusively years back to heat our former home, and my wife (recently retired) likes the idea of burning wood in the living room better than burning coal there. I'm pretty sure that is why she has been wanting the ComfortMax over a hopper stove. But if it gets cold and the boiler ever goes down for a power outage or a breakdown of any sort we can always switch to burning coal in the ComfortMax.

As to Enviro-Bricks vs. Anthracite, if you look at them from a BTU's per dollar perspective (at the prices I listed at the top of this thread, which are the prices I just paid) there is no real measurable difference between them.

Other places around me are going as high as $260 per ton for the Enviro-Bricks, but in Amish country (near where they are made) I got them for $165 per ton. An Amish gentleman told me he only pays $150 for them (though he didn't reveal where) but then there is the Amish vs. English pricing thing to consider also.

 
User avatar
ONEDOLLAR
Verified Business Rep.
Posts: 1866
Joined: Thu. Dec. 01, 2011 6:09 pm
Location: Sooner Country Oklahoma
Hand Fed Coal Stove: 2014 Chubby Prototype
Coal Size/Type: Nut/Anthracite
Contact:

Post by ONEDOLLAR » Sat. May. 09, 2015 1:38 pm

Larry

I don't care what the enviro package says for BTU's and burn times, my experience and others have shown those numbers to be, well a joke. Even the "clean" factor with them. Lots of shavings tend to fall off of them and they are a pain in the butt to get lit. If you want a "wood" fire that is one thing but don't expect even the same heat as you would with good cord wood.

 
User avatar
coaledsweat
Site Moderator
Posts: 13763
Joined: Fri. Oct. 27, 2006 2:05 pm
Location: Guilford, Connecticut
Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman Anderson 260M
Coal Size/Type: Pea

Post by coaledsweat » Sat. May. 09, 2015 2:05 pm

It is just wood with an expensive green marketing gimmick. You give up the bugs, bark and rot for packaging and processing. A slightly better product that comes at a price. When they can turn wood into anthracite, I'll be impressed.

 
User avatar
confedsailor
Member
Posts: 472
Joined: Tue. Mar. 12, 2013 9:46 pm
Location: Moosup Ct
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: 100 KBtu Chappee
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Surdiac 513
Other Heating: Oil Fired 1950"s American Standard Arcoliner 132K BTU

Post by confedsailor » Sat. May. 09, 2015 2:20 pm

I only went that route because I couldn't get seasoned wood for the 14-15 heating season and the schmuck I bought the house from had crudded the flue up with green wood in the years past. While it was swept as part of the sale. I wasn't going to make the same mistake.

On the whole the bricks aren't as bad as a kick in the jimmies, but not by a whole bunch.

compared to coal...well there is no comparison.

 
User avatar
mozz
Member
Posts: 1351
Joined: Mon. Sep. 17, 2007 5:27 pm
Location: Wayne county PA.
Stoker Coal Boiler: Axeman Anderson 1982 AA-130 Steam

Post by mozz » Sat. May. 09, 2015 6:43 pm

Some of these wood bricks are claiming 14,000 BTU per lb. I have a bridge,..................you can heat your house with it...............................for sale.

 
User avatar
warminmn
Member
Posts: 8108
Joined: Tue. Feb. 08, 2011 5:59 pm
Location: Land of 11,842 lakes
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Junior, Efel Nestor Martin, Riteway 37
Coal Size/Type: nut and stove anthracite, lignite
Other Heating: Wood and wear a wool shirt

Post by warminmn » Sat. May. 09, 2015 7:50 pm

My Dad likes having a bag around for emergencies, keeping it in the house, as there is no dust, dirt, or smell. He keeps a rack of wood outside for serious burning. He likes them, but not for overnight burns as they don't last. For what little Ive used them, maybe a bag, I would compare them equally (heat wise) to pellets, which I have used a lot of.

They will save you some dusting and sweeping compared to firewood, maybe its biggest advantage.

Congrats on your new stove!


Post Reply

Return to “Wood, Pellets, Gas, Oil, Geothermal & Other Heating Types”