Customers Moaning

[County4x4]

 

I'd much rather have firewood logs but i often get "eco-logs" as at least they are a standardised product and prices like-for-like can be compared across suppliers.

 

If only it were that simple! There's as much difference between different types and makes of briquettes as between poplar and beech! The public could be forgiven for thinking "a briquette is a briquette" but the differences are huge, and in use, it often works out that a cheap briquette on paper works out to be more expensive than a pricier one, as you use more. We were asked to trial some a while back - made from oak, cherry, walnut etc from a flooring firm. Made in a cheap press though - so very soft in comparison to a good briquette - shovelfuls of sawdust in the bottom of the bag give the game away every time. Our stove would go through 15kg easily over an evening. By comparison, the ones we sell and use now - we'll use probably 5kg tops in the same stove and there'll still be embers the next morning. That means you'd have to multiply the cost of the cheap ones by three to get a realistic comparison - and if you did that, the briquettes that looked like a great bargain to start with would actually cost you considerably more than our "expensive ones"

 

Same with size and shape - one of our customers was trying some nugget type briquettes made from "100% Oak!" Doesn't matter what they're made of - if they're small and soft they won't last five minutes - which is exactly what he told us when he'd tried them, along with saying he wouldn't be buying any more.

[face cord]

I never tried eco logs, they look too much like mdf or chipboard so how can you be sure if theres no nasty stuff there putting in them.

 

Also there more expensive.

 

Is there a quality standards branding scheme with them so you can trust what you are getting coz unlike normal firewood you can'y tell just by looking at it?

[County4x4]

They look expensive mate. However, if you look at the energy they contain, they often work out cheaper than logs. They're also a lot more reliable - you know exactly what you're going to get because they're always exactly the same from load to load and year to year. Obviously wood prices vary a lot around the country and it's a given that many people on this forum will be burning their own logs - but if you're buying in at normal retail price, briquettes are often a lot cheaper. Most of our average customers, and we ourselves will go through the whole winter on a single pallet - and we'd need a fair few cubes of logs to do the same. Kiln dried logs locally are selling at about £135/m3 at the moment, and that's a special offer! We'd spend a lot more using them, and take up a hell of a lot more room storing them too.

 

As far as "ingredients" go - the thing you mentioned is one of the reasons, and there are a few, why I don't deal in imported briquettes. Buying British means I can turn up at the factory and have a walk round. I've heard of a couple of imported briquettes that "had a chemical smell" and left some very odd colured ash! If they're coming from Estonia or Latvia, I'd agree completely that there could be anything in them!

[Bowlander]

I agree with County4X4's comments about briquettes, yes they do vary with different manufacturers. Last year i used some excellent ones which i managed to get for £3.50 - £4.00 per 10KG pack. They were very dense and burned for ages. Six logs in a pack and on my 5kw effecient stove they expanded when burned. I burned them in halves and only got through 2 logs a night! I'd happily have bought a pallet load but have nowhere to store it

 

This year prices have risen so i thought i'd trial another make. 15kg of briquettes in a sack but disappointed with them as they seem to be made from compressed cardboard! Lightweight and good flame but very little heat! False economy entirely.