eco-blocks firewood alternative use in owb????

[Mr Good Wood]

Ya know the compressed sawdust blocks they make now. I was just wondering if anyone has tried to use these in their owb? I burned a couple that a rep dropped off in the fireplace in the house and they did not burn for crap. To compressed, no air space?

But since a owb has a forced draft air feed I was thinking they might be alright. I have none left to try, so anyone ever use them in an owb?

Your thoughts.

 

[Streblerm]

I'm surprised you couldn't get them to burn in your fireplace. I tried a couple of them in my woodstove and was quite impressed with how easy they were to light and burn as well as the amount of heat they gave. I would get a solid 3-4 hour burn time just by throwing a couple in and lighting them with a propane torch and some kindling. I quickly got stovetop temps in the 500 degree range. This isn't even how you are supposed to burn them.

I decided not to buy them for financial reasons since I scrounge my wood for free. If I were buying wood I would definitely give these serious consideration.

In my area they are available in two different sizes. The "bricks" are about paver size and "blocks which are about twice as big. For an OWB I would look into the blocks.

If I were buying them in quantity, I would go directly to the source. They run around 220$ per pallet at my local hardware. I have seen them as low as 160$ if you buy them in quantity direct from the mill that makes them.