Briquetts killing log sales

[I-buy-logs]

ive noticed allot of customers wanting to buy these new briquetts joinery shops are making out of saw dust so i got on the band waggon and bought a few ton and disapointingly sales are far higher than logs im kind of selling the briquetts and selling the logs rather than them selling there selfs.

 

Itook a bag home and got them on the log burner and light instantly and burn twise as hot as a log allot like coal its a shame as ive got 1000 ton of logs but i think over the next few seasons this could cause us a problem.

 

Any one else finding this problem only thing i will say is these new briquettes are messy dusty and burn very fast a log is less heat for longer ive been putting a few briquetts under the log makes for a nice fire.

[Woodworks]

Can't say I have noticed any interest in briquets around here. I looked at getting some in as we sold out on logs for this season but don't think I could move them and mark was poor so not worth the hassle.

[A Pettersen-Firewood&Chip]

What you can do is sell a briquette for customers to use to start the log fire instead of playing around with kindling

 

For example one load of logs you sell a pack of 10 briquettes to get them started.

 

Has had no impact on me yet my firewood is going faster than I can keep up

[I-buy-logs]

no were still selling allot of logs but were getting customers asking for them may be an option to buy one of these briquette machines .

 

I own white skips so of course it will be the same number

[doobin]

Your a retailer of logs and briquettes, you buy both in right? Simple answer is to push whatever gives you the best markup.

[dogman]

Nottingham prison were making them at one time, also making the newspaper ones, they had some sort of new boiler fitted that ran on them.

 

Rob

[County4x4]

Briquettes have a lot of plus points over logs - or good ones do anyway. Customers appreciate that they know exactly what they're going to get in terms of quantity, quality and moisture content - there's no guessing or hoping. Unfortunately it's a fact that there's an awful lot of poor quality firewood about - I hear about it week in week out from my chimney customers. And a lot of them don't want to be trying to work out if the bloke is using tonne bags, dumpy bags, cubic metres, "a load" or whatever. They order a pallet of briquettes and they get exactly 1000 briquettes and every one will be under 5% mc - simple. And for most average customers - those 1000 briquettes will last them the whole season or longer.

 

No offence, but I wouldn't touch the ones in the picture with a barge pole - they're what I call garden centre specials - basically small and soft briquettes - you can see the amount of material that's come off them already in the bags. Doesn't matter what type of wood they're made from - small and soft will equal short lived - whereas ours aren't even in sealed bags (beacuse they're so hard they don't need to be), and will often last all night in the stove. They may well be a lot cheaper than the ones we sell - but we sold a cheaper variety one year and while everyone who took some to try said they were okay - nobody bought them twice - they all said the "expensive" ones lasted so much longer they actually worked out cheaper to use. Good briquettes are expensive because the machinery to make them is expensive - but the difference between a good one and a poor one is like the difference between pop and beech.

 

Having said all that, I don't think I'm threatening anyone elses business round here. A lot of people just insist on logs anyway in spite of all the possible disadvantages. And of course they look a lot nicer next to the fire!

Edited February 10, 2014 by County4x4

[predator]

wellies are a good market to be in too i think

 

you need a good cold snap to get the logs going out rapid its been very very mild here i have a 5ftx4ft covered trailer near my back door and hav,nt used 2 trailer full of logs this winter and use it for heating and cooking boiling water on etc. The fire is in slumber mode as its just gets too warm i bet i dont use a wheel barrow full every 2 days at the moment

[woodyguy]

I know it may not be a popular thing to say here but I suspect he has a point. Talking to people using briquettes, most of them got started when they'd been ripped off on a small load of damp firewood for the last time.

 

Now I know that nobody on here would do that but in reality its a jungle out there for your average stove owner starting out to find firewood. Once you've got a reliable supplier, year after year, then you're going to stay with logs. But many, after a couple of bad experiences, start buying briquettes and before you know it they're hooked!

 

Pity there can't be a proper standard or trade association of log suppliers that actually means something!!

[ArthurBottlesworth]

You buy petrol/diesel/paraffin by litre

You buy electricity by kw/hour

 

You buy logs by ?

 

Needs nationally agreed standard .......

i'd say you need agreed mousture content and volume

 

I think trick is to worth WITH a trading standards office and get this bottomed 100%

THEN roll it out across the country

So you can buy logs with confidence and if there is a problem there is standard to work to .....and where your logs can be checked

 

Eliminates back street log sellers .........