STORAGE AND USE GUIDELINES
Please follow the guidelines below to get the most out of your wood briquettes and enjoy them safely:
How to store wood briquettes
Wood briquettes should be stored indoors, in dry conditions, away from leaking or dripping water. If kept in a garage or similar space, they should in any event be kept away from moisture and off the floor.
They are packaged in polythene film, which protects the briquettes from the elements during indoor storage and allows them to last several months indoors under normal conditions. After several months, particularly if moisture has been allowed to enter, the briquettes may become soft or crumbly but should still burn.
Occasionally the film on the outside of the pallet can get torn during handling or delivery. This can reduce the time they will keep but will not normally be a problem for a few weeks at least. If this happens, just use these packs first.
To light the briquettes
- ensure the air vents on your appliance are fully open to supply enough oxygen for starting the fire
- place some firelighters and dry paper at the bottom of the firebox for tinder
- make a small pile of kindling sticks above the tinder
- place two or three briquettes around and on top of the small pile of tinder and kindling, close enough for the flames to touch the briquettes
- light the tinder in several places
- once the tinder is fully aflame, add a few more sticks of kindling
- at this point the briquettes will start catching fire. Keep the air vents fully open. Briquettes need enough time to become sufficiently hot
- aspen briquettes (log boiler fuel) normally require a draught fan to burn fully. They may also burn as an addition to an already hot fire, or in multi-fuel stoves with a grate and air intake below the grate. If not using in an appliance fitted with a draught fan, it is strongly recommended to test a sample of these logs before ordering a full or half pallet. Please contact us to order a sample. Aspen briquettes are not suitable for log burning stoves without a grate or draught fan
- once the briquettes have burned for approximately 15 minutes, gradually add more briquettes to fill up to a maximum of half of the firebox (experiment to work out the best number of briquettes but never overload your appliance (see below)
- adjust the air flow as required
- never use any fluids to light wood briquettes
How much to load your stove or other appliance?
It is important to avoid overloading your appliance to avoid excessive heat and possible damage from expansion of briquettes.
Wood briquettes release far more heat than a comparable volume of firewood. This is because they are at least twice as dense and have only a few % moisture compared to anything from 15% to 35% in firewood logs. Most heat logs (particularly brick shaped - also known as RUF briquettes) also expand when burning.
We recommend loading your appliance up to a maximum of half of its volume.
How long will my briquettes burn?
The briquettes normally generate a low flame but produce a lot of heat through steady burn. The flame will vary depending on the amount of air inflow into your appliance.
Although users report that briquettes are capable of burning for three to four hours, there is no set burning time. Generally speaking, the stronger the air inflow, the shorter is the burning time. Do not attempt to burn one briquette at a time, this will not be enough to sustain fire. Modern wood burning appliances allow the user to adjust air flow to regulate the speed of burning and heat release. Experiment with air flow to regulate the speed of burning and get optimum heat release and burning time.