bought a bag of hotmax eco logs last night for the woodburner just to try and what a revelation; cheap(er) to buy, used less fuel, had way more heat and a lot less ash.
so i've been thinking about seeing if i can find a local supplier who will do a deal on a bulk buy and wondered if anyone had any knowledge about this recycled/pressed stuff. are all equal, are some better than otehrs and is there anything to look out for (for instance a local wood supplier presses their own logs).
After a trial bag of various briquettes I bought half a pallet of the Excel Briquette from these people...
http://www.whitehorseenergy.co.uk/Briquettes
There was a briquette available from a different supplier that was designed to burn overnight, which was rather appealing to me at the time - peat based block IIRC - can't find it in my bookmarks.
I digress. The Excel burnt longer and hotter than the other lumps of compressed sawdust. I threw a 'log' on the fire yesterday accompanied by a bit of wood, the type of which I didn't pay attention to. The briquette was still there after the wood had burnt out. I was quite surprised, in all honesty.
At first I only got them to try but if you have to pay for wood, and I occasionally find myself in this position, then they make a good alternative or supplement. Bit pricey, though...
Briquettes are great!
I managed to find 1000kg for £200 on ebay delivered.
They are easy to handle / very dry (best kept in 20kg plastic bags to stop them absorbing water from the atmosphere)
The thicker ones linked to above are better than some smaller, thinner ones as they burn longer
Real wood is great when you have some, but these are excellent when you run out!
I bought some from home bargains.
4 for £2. I've a 5kw esse 100 and once the fire is up and running I put a half in.
It expands to nearly twice it's size and lasts about an hour.
If I had to buy wood I'd probably use half wood half briquette.