Kindling briquettes are made from waste from the woodworking industry, that is, from sawdust and shavings, as well as from food waste, for example, from husks from rice, buckwheat or sunflower seeds. There are vegetable briquettes, which are made from straw or dry grass, and coal dust briquettes. It is difficult to say which briquettes are better, since each type has its pros and cons.
Briquettes are also called eurofirewood, and among themselves they can differ in shape and maximum compression density of the material. Regardless of these parameters, all briquettes can boast the following advantages:
- High level of heat transfer - due to the high density of the material and its low humidity, one briquette can burn up to 4 hours, while releasing more heat than simple wood firewood of the same size.
- Compact storage - briquettes not only take up relatively little space, but also have the correct geometric shape, which makes stacking them much easier than firewood.
- Waste-free - when burning briquettes, very little smoke is emitted, and after them no more than 10% of ash remains.
- Versatility - suitable for all types of boilers and stoves, and can also be used to make a fire in nature.
The main disadvantage of this option is that the briquettes take a long time to warm up and emit a not always pleasant smell during combustion. In addition, they must be stored in special conditions, since from high humidity or mechanical influences, they can crumble. And if you need a bright and big flame, then this is definitely not about eurofirewood, since they smolder rather than burn.
And straw briquettes emit a lot of soot, so when using them, you will have to think about cleaning the chimney much more often than usual.
Firewood - voluminous classics
Firewood is the oldest material used for space heating. They can be made from different varieties wood, and this depends on some individual characteristics, but all types of firewood have the following advantages:
- They flare up quickly - therefore they are convenient option if you need to warm up the room in the shortest possible time.
- They are inexpensive - the cost of kindling a boiler or stove with wood can generally be minimized if you harvest them yourself.
- Unpretentious in storage - wet firewood can be dried (although this is a rather long process) without losing their performance characteristics, and they are insensitive to mechanical damage.
- If you use firewood from certain types of wood, then when burned, they will emit essential oils that are beneficial to health.
The disadvantages of firewood are obvious - they take up a lot of space during storage, when they are burned, a lot of ash remains, and if the firewood is also wet, then it does not burn well and gives a lot of smoke.
And yet - firewood or briquettes?
What is more profitable? The answer to this question depends on what exactly you are going to use the fuel for. When it comes to furnaces and boilers long burning, then it would be preferable to use briquettes. If you need fuel for an ordinary stove or, moreover, an open fireplace, which will not only give off heat, but also burn beautifully, then well-dried firewood is in the lead.
The nuance also lies in the purchase price and storage conditions. Firewood is sold in cubic meters, and because of their irregular shape you buy not only the fuel itself, but also the air. Also, for drying and storing firewood, you need a properly equipped place where you have to place a woodpile.
Briquettes are sold in packages by weight, which excludes the purchase of air, and it is much easier to store them.
Briquettes are more compact and give more heat, but they are more expensive, and firewood is cheap and gives a beautiful bright flame.
Decide which of these parameters is more important for you and you will easily get an answer to the question of what is more profitable - firewood or briquettes and what is the best way to heat your boiler, fireplace or stove.
To heat the room, you need to install a heater, the technical characteristics of which meet all the requirements. Either wood or briquettes can be used as fuel.
Firewood
As far as wood is concerned, classic version, which is still in demand. A wood-fired stove can heat the whole house, filling the room with a special atmosphere of comfort and warmth. Quite often, even for fireplaces, they take firewood. After all, the natural aroma of wood can serve as a kind of air freshener. Yes and in modern interior a bunch of logs will look harmonious.
The tree is sawn into approximately identical pieces, which in turn are chopped into small logs. You can equip a rack for storing firewood both from wood and from metal. When constructing this structure, the following requirements should be considered:
- the lower shelf should be located at a certain height from the ground;
- firewood should not be stacked very tightly, thereby providing natural air circulation;
- it is better to divide the woodpile into several sections, so that in the future it would be convenient to choose firewood for kindling;
- a canopy is necessarily built to protect the "warehouse" from natural precipitation (rain, snow).
A woodpile can be either a separate building or an extension to a house or barn. The most suitable shape of the structure is rectangular with side walls. The main thing is to follow the rules fire safety to avoid accidental fire.
There are several ways to store logs:
- stacked;
- cells;
- mop.
Tip: It is better to bring firewood into the house in the amount that is needed for heating for the day. It will not be superfluous to build a small room woodpile near the stove so that the firewood is dried a little before kindling.
Briquettes
Briquettes - relatively the new kind fuel, the raw material of which is sawdust, shavings, peat, agricultural waste, charcoal and much more. The manufacturing process involves pressing components under high pressure on special equipment. At the same time, a certain temperature regime is observed.
Advantages
Despite the fact that briquettes are a product of processing, there are a number of undeniable advantages of this fuel compared to analogues, including firewood:
- relatively low price;
- environmental friendliness;
- high rate of heat transfer;
- convenience of storage;
- lack of condensate;
- long burning time;
- minimum ash content (cleaning the oven can be done much less frequently).
In addition, instead of destroying the forest, briquettes can be used, thereby burning a processed product made from waste in logging enterprises. Earlier we already wrote about and advised to bookmark the article.
Note: There are also fuel pellets and pellets. Differences in these species are only in size and manufacturing methods.
Storage and transportation
Due to the fact that the briquettes are made on special equipment, they have enough compact shape correct sizes. This allows not only to carefully transport, but also to store fuel. In addition, a storage room of small dimensions can be used as storage.
Unfortunately, the production of fuel briquettes is not well established, which slightly complicates the efficiency of order delivery. In addition, during transportation, be extremely careful not to damage the packaging material. After all, briquettes can simply crumble, be damaged and absorb unnecessary moisture.
Video: comparison of firewood and briquettes
It is difficult to give an unequivocal answer to the question of what is better - firewood or fuel briquettes. Everyone chooses the type of fuel that is more suitable for the price and technical characteristics. Many prefer to use coal in tandem, which as a result gives much more heat, and it lasts much longer.
Despite the widespread laying of gas pipelines, there are still many settlements and places in Russia where there is simply no gas. People have to use alternative sources heat, for example solid fuel boilers. These units run on wood, but in Lately for them began to be issued more modern views fuel - these are fuel briquettes for furnaces. Let's look at them in more detail and find out their advantages and disadvantages.
In this review, we will look at:
- Disadvantages of classic firewood;
- fuel composition;
- The main varieties of briquetted fuel;
- Pros and cons of briquettes for the furnace.
After reading the review, you will be able to make a choice in favor of traditional firewood or in favor of more modern briquette fuel.
Furnace firewood
Wood burning stoves provide efficient heating residential and non-residential premises. They are represented by a variety of models that differ in their technical specifications and device. They use the most ordinary firewood as fuel - they can be purchased by whole trucks. But this fuel cannot be called modern and efficient. And today it has been replaced by fuel briquettes for furnaces.
To be clear, consider the main disadvantages of traditional woodfuel:
Ordinary firewood must first be chopped, and then also laid in neat woodpile. This is a very labor intensive and time consuming process.
- It is inconvenient to stack firewood in neat masonry - if they are of the same size and format, then this is not so bad. But if some logs are thin, while others are thick, and even knotty, then the masonry will be crooked and oblique (although a lot depends on the “curvature” of the hands);
- Firewood needs to be chopped - it is often supplied in the form of round logs that require cutting. swing an ax at cold weather- pleasure is doubtful (albeit useful);
- Firewood is often raw - striving for their own benefit, lumberjacks sell wood in a raw state, without prior drying. Compared to almost dry fuel briquettes for furnaces, it will not be easy to light them;
- Low calorific value - a cubic meter of firewood gives less heat than the same wood briquettes of the same volume;
- firewood give a large number of ash - the same wood briquettes practically do not clog the stoves;
- Wood burns with clicks and crackles, burns unevenly, obviously losing to briquettes in this.
Firewood is the most common and cheapest solid fuel for furnaces and boilers. But fuel briquettes win over them due to convenience and high calorific value.
What are fuel briquettes made of?
Wood fuel briquettes are made from wood waste - roughly speaking, these are pressed sawdust that has undergone a certain preparation. The preparation process includes grinding and drying. As a result, raw materials are born, ready to go under the press. Some sawdust does not need drying at all, as it is almost dry.
Most often, this type of fuel is produced from ordinary sawdust.
Safe organic compounds act as binders in fuel briquettes for furnaces, and some types of eurofirewood are made without an adhesive base. The harvested raw material is sent under the press, forming dense neat bars, ready for further use. Roasting can be used as an additional processing - it all depends on the manufacturer and the technologies used by him.
The resulting wood briquettes for furnaces are sent to consumers - they are suitable for heating houses and non-residential buildings, and are used to kindle fireplaces. They can also replace firewood at a picnic, but in this case you will not hear the sound of crackling firewood. But get an even flame, without flying coals and sparks.
Advantages and disadvantages of fuel briquettes
Let's see what good fuel briquettes are for furnaces, and what are their main pros and cons. Let's start with the positives:
- Ease of storage - thanks to its neat shape, eurofirewood and other briquettes can be folded into neat, even masonry;
- High calorific value of fuel briquettes - when compared with ordinary firewood, they give one and a half to two times more heat. Due to this, it is possible to save on fuel when firing furnaces and boilers;
- Briquettes are a long burning fuel for stoves of any type. Pressed sawdust burns one and a half to two times longer, reducing the number of approaches for laying new portions of fuel. If there is an ordinary stove in the room that burns on wood for 2-3 hours, then with fuel briquettes this time will increase to 4-5 hours;
- Uniform burning, without unnecessary noise and embers shooting in all directions. In addition, fuel briquettes used to fire stoves emit less smoke and generate less ash, reducing cleaning labor;
- Low formation of resins - due to this, clogging of the chimney is reduced;
- The duration of storage of fuel briquettes for furnaces varies from 1 to 5 years - it all depends on the manufacturing technology;
- High environmental friendliness - no chemical reagents are used in the production of briquettes;
- The amount consumed per heating season briquetted fuel is 1.5-2 times less than the volume of firewood used over the same time period.
Fuel briquettes intended for heating furnaces burn smoothly and softly, with the release of a large amount of heat. They do not clog stoves and chimneys, burn almost 99%.
If a long-burning stove or boiler is installed in your house, then you will experience an additional benefit from using briquetted fuel - the burning time will increase by another 1.5-2 times, reaching 12-16 hours or more (depending on the model of equipment used).
Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks too:
- Fuel briquettes used for heating furnaces are not afraid of dampness. Wherein They don't like direct contact with water.;
- Some types of briquetted fuel do not tolerate long-term storage - their shelf life is limited to one year from the date of manufacture;
- The cost of purchasing fuel may be higher than the purchase of conventional firewood - it all depends on the manufacturer;
- In some regions and localities, it is more difficult to purchase fuel briquettes for heating boilers and stoves than to buy a truckload of ordinary firewood;
- The cost is slightly higher than the cost of ordinary firewood. But due to the high calorific value and long burning, you can save a little.
Despite all this, briquetted fuel continues to gain its popularity.
Popular types of wood briquettes
We have already talked about the manufacture of fuel briquettes for heating boilers and furnaces, as well as their key advantages and disadvantages. It remains to figure out what types of briquettes are presented on the domestic market.
This fuel resembles in its own way appearance bricks of white or wood color (the shade varies widely). RUF briquettes are made from dry sawdust by pressing under great pressure. As a result, eurofirewood is born, which can be used in any type of stoves. Their distinguishing feature is the inscription RUF, squeezed out from two sides at once.
RUF fuel briquettes for furnaces are characterized by the release of a large amount of heat - they are almost one and a half times more profitable than firewood. They are easy to load combustion chambers and store them in stacks. Pressed bars are not afraid of moisture, but it is also not necessary to expose them to direct contact with water. This fuel is supplied by many manufacturers - a typical example of this is a company called Olezhka. By the way, it also sells many other types of solid fuels.
An interesting feature of these eurobriquettes is their unusual shape- they resemble square pencils, from which someone took out the stylus. That is why they are called "pencils". In order for it to burn with the release of a large amount of heat, a hole was made in it, which increases traction. The "pencils" themselves look dark as they have been fired. This procedure makes them more durable and removes excess moisture.
The disadvantage of PINI KAY fuel briquettes for furnaces is that they cost more than firewood and even more than any other types of fuel. But they burn well, releasing a large amount of heat. They are also easy to transport and store. Due to their shape, they are ideal for kindling fireplaces. Some people take them with them to nature to use PINI KAY bars instead of firewood.
Simple cylindrical briquettes
On sale there are also the simplest fuel briquettes for furnaces - in the form of cylinders. They are made from pressed sawdust and small wood waste. All this is pressed under low pressure using a non-toxic adhesive base, after which the finished bars are sent to consumers. This fuel is cheap, but has one pronounced drawback - low strength. It easily disintegrates and crumbles, does not withstand moisture.
Fuel briquettes from coal and peat
Peat and coal fuel briquettes for the stove are made, respectively, from peat and coal. The raw materials are molded into small cylinders. The fuel can be used to kindle stoves and solid fuel boilers. Coal products give a high combustion temperature, but are characterized by a high ash content. As for peat fuel, it is very well suited for long-burning stoves, but it also produces a lot of ash.
If you have a stove at your disposal that needs to be heated with something, we recommend that you stop at PINI KAY or RUF fuel briquettes. They are convenient and have high calorific value, form a minimum of ash and provide long burning.
Video
It's nice to throw a couple of pine or oak logs into the fireplace. But here's what's interesting, fuel briquettes, which are pressed from wood chips or bark, turn out to be superior to wood. Not in terms of the aesthetics of the combustion process, but still in terms of very important parameters - in terms of heat (calorific value) and the duration of burning. Let's figure it out how is that possible?
The key fuel indicators are the calorific value, which depends on the content of organic matter and moisture content in the fuel. The density of the fuel is also of great importance. It turns out that 1 ton of dry (3-4% moisture) briquettes = 5 tons of firewood (20% moisture).
The humidity ratio determines the higher calorific value. And the more moisture the wood has, the more combustion energy is spent simply on evaporating water from the firewood!
Fuel briquettes are produced at the expense of high pressure(300 atmospheres). They create a briquette with a very high density, a couple of times higher than that of a tree. As a simple manifestation - it is an experience to throw a fuel briquette into the water - and you will see how famously it goes to the bottom! That is, its density is higher than the density of not only wood, but also water. A briquette has a density 2-3 times higher than that of wood. And the density determines the duration of the combustion process.
A briquette can burn up to 5-8 hours, and as a norm, it has a burning time of 2-3 hours. For a stove or fireplace, longer burning is good. You can put briquettes and do not throw up fuel until the morning, the fire will last all night.
In ordinary wood there are pores with oxygen and due to this it burns quickly, and the briquette will burn slowly and give more heat than wood.
And some briquettes due to the shape - it is very convenient to fold. Such briquettes, I remember how a curiosity was shown on TV in a report about Japan, that they make excellent fireplace fuel from waste. It was back in the 90s of the last century.
Knowing these secrets about humidity, you understand why it is very important to have firewood that has been aged for many years in the household - which, when naturally dried, reaches low humidity, and in addition, always have a supply of firewood near the fireplace itself and at the heater in the bathhouse. So that they dry well. This will seriously reduce the time for kindling a bath - up to high temperature in the wig.
Calorific value:
firewood natural humidity(40-55%) ~1500 kcal/kg
dry firewood (moisture content 25%) 2160 kcal/kg (pine), 2600 kcal/kg (birch)
brown coal 3910 kcal/kg
briquettes from wood waste 4400-4500 kcal/kg
black coal 4900 kcal/kg
When burning, briquettes do not emit burning, fumes or soot. When burning, they do not spark or smoke. When burned, it produces a high-temperature flame, so it can be used in a workshop where you need to maintain long time temperature.
The advantage over conventional firewood is the low ash content. Ash content - the percentage of ash remaining from the combustion of briquettes 1% of the mass of used wood briquettes.
But in conclusion, it is also important to dispel the fear - "We know - glue is used there, all these sawdust are glued into briquettes." Bonding into a single object is achieved due to the fact that part of the Lignin wood turns into an environmentally friendly binder under the influence of temperature.
Firewood and fuel briquettes - in principle different types fuel. The use of firewood is the most ancient and proven way of heating a house.
Whereas briquettes appeared relatively recently, but have become worthy alternative firewood, for which they received the second name "Eurowood". What material is the best and more profitable? We will try to give a detailed answer to this question in our article.
eurofirewood
Briquettes are made from waste products from the food and woodworking industries: sawdust, seeds, buckwheat and rice husks, straw, peat and herbal plants.
The composition of the briquette is subjected to strong pressing and drying. Burning fuel briquettes does not harm human health, as they do not contain chemicals in their composition. There are three main forms of fuel briquettes: , pini-kay and nestro.
They differ among themselves only in the maximum density, which directly depends on the shape, but there are no fundamental differences in the composition and calorific value of the material. Advantages of fuel briquettes:
- Low humidity and high density of the material, which provides high heat transfer and long burning time (up to 4 hours).
- Compared to firewood, they are more compact in storage due to their regular geometric shape.
- Do not spark or shoot when burned, releasing minimal amount smoke.
Flaws:
- Briquettes warm up for a long time due to the high density of the material and leave a fairly large amount of ash.
- In the room where the stove is heated with briquettes, there is a pungent specific smell of burning.
- Fuel briquettes have a very low moisture resistance, crumble under improper storage conditions.
- Very unstable to mechanical damage, which leads to the impossibility of their further operation.
- The absence of an aesthetic component when lighting a fireplace. Fuel briquettes are able to burn with a barely smoldering flame.
Heating with wood
Firewood has an undeniable advantage over other types of fuel - it is the most environmentally friendly material that does not have any smell. From time immemorial, our ancestors used them to heat stoves.
- firewood quickly flares up and gives off heat, which makes the process of heating the room quite fast;
- low cost, especially in the case when the preparation of firewood for the winter is carried out independently;
- not subject to mechanical damage;
- well-dried firewood has a very high heat transfer;
- when burning firewood, beautiful flames appear, which is very important when the fireplace is working;
- in the process of burning wood different breeds trees emit essential oils that have a beneficial effect on nervous system and human respiratory tract.
It is important to know: The best combustion product is two-year-old firewood that has been stored in the right conditions.
- firewood, as well as fuel briquettes, need special storage conditions. They should be protected from the slightest ingress of moisture and ensure good ventilation of the room.
To understand what is needed for the manufacture of fuel braces from sawdust, this material will help:
What is more profitable
Compare price for cubic meter briquette and firewood.
So, a cubic meter of fuel briquettes costs about 6 thousand rubles, while the price for the same volume of wood is about 3000 rubles. The price of firewood is approximate and directly depends on the number of wood species in each particular region.
Take note: in the total mass of firewood 20 - 30% - firewood well dried for several years, up to 50% raw firewood, 20-30% - stale firewood. While in fuel briquettes the mass of water is no more than 9%.
The difference in price between firewood and briquettes can vary between 2-4 thousand rubles. Thus, the cost of briquettes is about 2-3 times more expensive than firewood.
In the course of numerous experiments and comparisons, the following facts were established:
- Fuel briquettes burn for 2 hours, while firewood - 1 hour.
- The heat transfer of firewood is much higher than fuel briquettes, which is especially noticeable when approaching the stove (fireplace).
- Ash after briquettes is ¼ less than after firewood.
Thus, fuel briquettes are more suitable for long burning stoves. For fireplaces, time-tested firewood is still the ideal fuel. Comparing the price and taking into account the moisture content of firewood, we can say that there is no fundamental difference between firewood and a briquette.
