# Burning compressed sawdust block questions



## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

We were not able to get in a supply of wood over the summer. Cord wood prices are pretty high and a lot of people complain about getting green or wet wood instead of dry, seasoned wood. I am considering buying some of those compressed sawdust blocks but I have not used them as the sole fuel in the wood burner. When I mixed them with real logs and branches the results were not good. Obviously I am doing something wrong. 

Does anyone else use those compressed blocks? What do you think of them? Do you have any advise or tips for someone who needs to use them?

Thanks in advance. It's really frustrating to have plenty of available timber but no manpower to get it from tree to stove.


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## Snowfan (Nov 6, 2011)

Never heard of this. Looks like I'll be following this and doing some research.


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## Wellbuilt (Dec 25, 2020)

I was looking into some blocks this year because I did not think I would have enough wood to last the winter .
It seams that they are double the price online you could get them for at tractor supply . 
I tried 2 packs of bricks . 
I just stacked about 8 bricks in the stove tight and lite it with a propane torch they burned ok
I think they would be ok for a small stove my stove is sized for 3500sf so I could burn a bunch of them at one time .


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## 1032swiss (Nov 24, 2021)

I am using them almost exclusively to heat my house. Make sure you have a pretty tight stove cause if you load to many in at a time and can't draft it hard enough it will go crazy.

We usually put 10-20 bricks in at a time. Works OK Cheaper than heating oil


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## Digitalis (Aug 20, 2021)

They burn great but can be hard to get started. Also the ones we've used tend to grow a bit as they burn so make sure there's some room for them to expand.


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## CKelly78z (Jul 16, 2017)

Ideally you should elevate them on a grate, so air could circulate underneath to get a complete burn. When using fiewood, I never stack them into the stove, I stagger them so air can circulate.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

CKelly78z said:


> Ideally you should elevate them on a grate, so air could circulate underneath to get a complete burn. When using fiewood, I never stack them into the stove, I stagger them so air can circulate.


I was thinking that might be part of my problem. My stove has no grate. The firebox is too small for a grate. Wood burns just fine without a grate.

I might try again layering the blocks over sticks.

Tractor Supply and Rural King have the blocks at a reasonable price.


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## 1032swiss (Nov 24, 2021)

Danaus29 said:


> I was thinking that might be part of my problem. My stove has no grate. The firebox is too small for a grate. Wood burns just fine without a grate.
> 
> I might try again layering the blocks over sticks.
> 
> Tractor Supply and Rural King have the blocks at a reasonable price.


Just be careful doing that , I tried it like that the first time and piled about 20 bricks in there.

I was afraid I'd end up with a chimney fire cause I could't control it.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

20 bricks won't even fit in my stove. I was thinking along the lines of 4 at most.


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## Wellbuilt (Dec 25, 2020)

I think 4/5 would work in a smaller stove , and some bricks are larger then others .
I think I used these but I bought them in a larger pack .
These are 10” long and I used 8 in my stove .


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## backwoodsman7 (Mar 22, 2007)

Just a suggestion for those using these, or considering them. A friend uses them because they're convenient (but in these parts they're round like a small log). One day I figured the cost per BTU and, even using a pretty optimistic number for the efficiency of the stove, they're around 4x the cost of heating with electricity. So, you'll want to find the BTU content of the ones you use, the cost of your electricity, and a rough educated guess at the efficiency of your stove, and figure out if you'd be way better off heating with electricity.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I'm not going to buy any more. They don't burn well without a grate or real logs holding them up. The ones I found weren't very expensive but my electric isn't very expensive either. I don't like having a space heater running in the basement.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

Interesting that these are being manufactured. I came up with the idea of making something similar a few weeks ago. 
I get so much junk mail and so many packages delivered that I have plenty of materials for making burning bricks. 
My idea is to soak the paper and bits of cardboard in water(my schnauzer puppies are happy to help shred the cardboard lol) until it's formable. Add in chipped up wood or sawdust if I have it then put it into a mold with drainage and put pressure on it to really compact it. This can be done casually throughout the year and should amount to quite a few bricks by winter.


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