Heat logs/briquettes vs wood for wood burner

[HeyMacWey]

We get excellent seasoned wood from our local log man, but I've been looking at the briquettes as it seems might be more economical.

Has anyone made the change to briquettes?

We use the woodburner daily throughout the winter from about 2pm onwards.
Probably get through about 2m3 of wood a winter as we also use coal.

What do you think? Are they cheaper than logs? How many do you use a day?

How are they cheaper than logs. Aren't they about £4/5 per fake log?

Logs are expensive though.

I read they that have a higher calorific value so you get more heat for your £'s.

They're supposed to burn more efficiently so v little waste and you're supposed to use fewer briquettes than you would in logs.

Watching as ive been looking at this recently.

Has anyone also looked in to burning peat?

They are rubbish. Avoid, leave hideous amounts of ash, are grubby to handle, look horrible, cost more and heat less.

NOTHING beats logs. Our burners are on all day every day and I wont use coal either.

We accidentally picked up a bag of heat logs. They are shit.
They burn quickly so you put more on and it needs more attention, and I think they produce slightly more ash. I've literally just brought my bag in to refill the basket, they've completely dissolved into just dust. so now my living room is covered in the dust and i have had to put the bag in the basket.
They didn't get wet, but where they were is outside so would be atmospheric damp IYKWIM

Clearly some people get on with them or they wouldn't sell them.

burning peat is surely an environmental nightmare??

I think Heat logs are way more economical and reliable than logs but only if you use good ones like 'Hotties'. Plus easier to store, less messy.

Given the price difference you would need to be getting significantly more heat out of them than kiln dried wood for them to be more economical.

We have a multi fuel and have gone over to mostly burning coal, for several reasons. It gives a steady heat for longer, so I am not up and down all the time feeding the stove, it stays lovely and warm overnight, and it is easy to get coal delivered regularly. Alright, you haven't got the cosy flames, but a bag of coal lasts a week (usually lit after lunch), and I put the last lot on about 6pm. Heat logs don't last 5 minutes in my experience, and you do need perfectly dry storage for them.

I second all the comments saying they're shit. Is the problem that your stove isn't pumping out enough heat? Have you thought about getting a stove fan?

Also, just in case, how are you using it? I find I need to burn stuff at a good, yellow lick for a time, and only then can I turn down to a smaller flame and red-hot glow.

we use both briquettes and kiln dried logs
top tip- home bargains seel them half price
I find them ve good, but will not stay in over night

Hmm not the majority giving them the best reviews then

No the stove is super efficient and chucks out a tonne of heat - it's a 4kw one and normal only have to feed it a couple of smaller logs every 90 mins or so, but I was just looking to see if I could save some money somewhere along the line.

Yes I've seen the verso ones in home bargains - I might experiment and see how I get on. Perhaps putting one on instead of coal.

Has anyone tried coffee logs? (I don't have a wood burner, but was thinking of getting these as a present for a friend who does.)

www.bio-bean.com/coffee-logs/

OMG, you can make logs out of coffee? I throw away buckets of grounds onto the garden. Wonder if I could turn them into logs?

I like them, use alongside logs and coal at diff times. They do vary in terms of heat output though but I think the Verso ones are good. IME they give far less ash than coal or logs and the good ones burn hotter than logs. I also find them easier to store as well.

@Octoberoctober - how do you store yours?

I read about atmospheric damp so don't think I could store them in the shed. Or could I if they're in a sealed bag?

We store the sealed bags in the garage and bring in a few bags to use each week. If sealed they should hopefully be ok in shed. I like that you can get delivered by the pallet and just bring a bag inside when needed.

I was just coming on to.say coffee logs are great. They give of loads of heat and really get the dire going so use less kindling.

We tend.to use 2 coffee logs and then a couple of logs.

The coffee logs were £6 a bag in morrisons last week.

We use one layer of coal, one heat log on top then top up with logs throughout the day/night. This seems to give a good base which burns steadily without being super expensive. Recently switched to the coffee one and can't notice much difference except my utility room smells like Costa!

Smokeless fuel/anthracite is amazing, have you tried it?

We use a stove as our main heat source. No gas here. We use coal, wood and smokeless fuel (kind of egg shaped). Logs and coal give high amounts of heat, smokeless anthracite keeps the fire going for hours/over night, then just occasionally chuck a log on to add heat. Sometimes we use coal instead of wood, some types pump out more heat and can burn very hot.

We live in rural Scotland and this method keeps us warm and the use of smokeless fuel is economical, it's relatively cheap and can really keep the fire going for very log periods

Just a bed of smokeless coal with your logs on top makes a massive difference to heat output, speed of logs used and retained heat. You only need approx 12 coal nuggets all night, makes a huge difference. Also makes the heat burn higher so your glass stays cleaner. This fire now is 12 coals started at 5pm and I’m just putting a second pair of logs on. No heating on. It’s 23c in our big open plan room.

In addition to what I just said please just check 2 things...

1. That you have a multifuel and not a Wood only burner and

1. Real proper coal (not smokeless) should be used with caution if you are not used to it. I avoid it altogether!! That stuff is incredibly intense burning compared to smokeless and if you were to use the same amount without due caution you could be in trouble. Our neighbour set their chimney slight doing just this!!

Yes there needs to be a distinction between smokeless fuel/anthracite and house coal. House coal looks very broken, misshapen and burns very hot!

I'm going to buy some of verso blocks tomorrow and experiment at the weekend.

Yes - we use the smokeless coal nuggets and you can really tell the difference in terms of intensity of the heat.

Can anyone offer me some advice. I recently purchased a Stovax Midi T log burner and I’m struggling with it. I’m using seasoned logs and kiln dried logs as well as heat logs. Heat logs seem to be the most successful so far as they burn well and give off a lot of heat with little smoke. Despite carefully reading the instructions I can’t seem to stop the glass from blackening. I’ve tried burning the fuel as per the instructions with the normal setting reached after the burn is good but it still leaves the glass black when the cycle finishes. Any advice gratefully received!