The more profitable it is to heat with wood or briquettes. Firewood and coal versus fuel briquettes: identifying the strongest. Coal briquettes

Despite the widespread construction 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 operate on wood, but lately for them began to be produced more modern views fuels are fuel briquettes for heating stoves. 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;
• Main types of briquetted fuel;
• Pros and cons of briquettes for the stove.

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.

Fire wood stoves

Wood burning stoves provide efficient heating residential and non-residential premises. They are represented by many models, differing in their technical characteristics and device. They use the most ordinary firewood as fuel - they can be purchased by the truckload. But this fuel cannot be called modern and efficient. And today it has been replaced by fuel briquettes for heating stoves.

To clarify, let's look at the main disadvantages of traditional wood fuel:

Ordinary firewood must first be chopped and then placed in neat woodpiles. This is a very labor-intensive and time-consuming process.

• It is inconvenient to stack firewood in neat stacks - if they are 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 split - it often comes in the form of round logs that require chopping. Swinging an ax in cold weather is a dubious pleasure (although useful);
• Firewood is often damp - seeking for their own profit, lumberjacks sell the wood in a raw state, without first drying it. Compared to almost dry fuel briquettes for heating stoves, they will not be easy to light;
• Low calorific value – a cubic meter of firewood produces less heat than the same wood briquettes of the same volume;
• They give firewood large number ash - the same wood briquettes practically do not clog the stoves;
• Wood burns with clicking and crackling sounds, burns unevenly, clearly inferior to briquettes in this regard.

Firewood is the most common and cheapest solid fuel for heating stoves and boilers. But fuel briquettes are superior to them due to their convenience and high calorific value.

What are fuel briquettes made from?

Wood fuel briquettes are made from wood waste– roughly speaking, these are pressed sawdust that have undergone 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, since 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 heating stoves, and some types of European firewood are made without adhesive base. The prepared raw materials are sent under the press, forming dense, neat bars, ready for further application. Firing can be used as an additional processing - it all depends on the manufacturer and the technologies he uses.

The resulting wood briquettes for heating stoves are sent to consumers - they are suitable for heating houses and non-residential buildings, and are used to light fireplaces. They can also replace firewood for a picnic, but in this case you will not hear the sound of crackling firewood. But you will get an even flame, without flying embers and sparks.

Advantages and disadvantages of fuel briquettes

Let's see what good fuel briquettes are for heating stoves, and what are their main pros and cons. Let's start with the positive features:

• Ease of storage – thanks to its neat shape, Euro firewood and other briquettes can be stacked in neat, even stacks;
• High calorific value of fuel briquettes - if we compare them with ordinary firewood, they provide one and a half to two times more heat. Due to this, you can save on fuel when firing stoves and boilers;
• Briquettes are fuel long burning for stoves of any type. Pressed sawdust burns one and a half to two times longer, reducing the number of approaches for adding new portions of fuel. If there is a regular stove in the room that burns with 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 produce less ash, reducing labor costs for cleaning;
• Low formation of resins - this reduces chimney clogging;
• The storage duration of fuel briquettes for heating stoves varies from 1 year to 5 years - it all depends on the manufacturing technology;
• High environmental friendliness - no chemicals are used in the production of briquettes;
• Volume consumed per one 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 stoves burn smoothly and softly, releasing a large amount of heat. They do not clog stoves and chimneys and burn almost 99%.

If your home has a long-burning stove or boiler, you will feel additional benefit from the use of briquetted fuel - the combustion duration will increase by another 1.5-2 times, reaching 12-16 hours or more (depending on the model of equipment used).

Unfortunately, it was not without certain disadvantages:

• Fuel briquettes used to fire stoves are not afraid of dampness. At the same time They still 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 purchasing regular firewood - it all depends on the manufacturer;
• In some regions and populated areas purchasing fuel briquettes for heating boilers and stoves is more difficult than buying 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 combustion, you can save a little.

Despite all this, briquetted fuel continues to gain popularity.

Popular types of wood briquettes

We have already talked about the production 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 appearance bricks of white or wood color (the shade varies widely). RUF briquettes are made from dry sawdust by pressing under high pressure. As a result, Euro-firewood is born, which can be used in any type of stove. Their distinctive feature is the inscription RUF, extruded on both sides at once.

Fuel briquettes RUF for heating stoves 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 there is also no need to expose them to direct water. This fuel is supplied by many manufacturers - a typical example is a company called Olezhka. By the way, it also sells many other types of solid fuel.

An interesting feature of these Eurobriquettes is their unusual shape– they resemble square pencils from which someone has taken the lead. That's why they are called "pencils". In order for it to burn with the release of a large amount of heat, a hole is made in it, increasing the draft. The “pencils” themselves look dark, as they were fired. This procedure makes them more durable and removes excess moisture.

The disadvantage of PINI KAY fuel briquettes for heating stoves is that they are more expensive than firewood and even more expensive than any other types of fuel. But they burn well, releasing a large amount of heat. They are also convenient to transport and store. Thanks to their shape, they are ideal for lighting fireplaces. Some people take them with them into the wild to use PINI KAY bars instead of wood for a fire.

Simple cylindrical briquettes

The simplest fuel briquettes for heating stoves are also on sale - in the form of cylinders. They are made from pressed sawdust and small wood waste. All this is pressed under slight pressure using a non-toxic adhesive base, after which the finished bars are sent to consumers. This fuel is cheap, but has one distinct drawback - low strength. It easily disintegrates and crumbles and does not withstand exposure to moisture.

Fuel briquettes from coal and peat

Peat and coal fuel briquettes for heating stoves are made from peat and coal, respectively. Source materials molded into small cylinders. The fuel can be used to light stoves and solid fuel boilers. Coal products give a high combustion temperature, but are characterized by high ash content. As for peat fuel, it is ideally 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 use fuel briquettes PINI KAY or RUF. They are distinguished by their convenience and high calorific value, form a minimum of ash and provide long-lasting combustion.

Video

It's nice to throw a couple of pine or oak logs into the fireplace. But what’s interesting is that fuel briquettes, which are pressed from wood shavings 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 - heat (calorific value) and combustion duration. Let's figure it out how is this possible?

Key fuel indicators calorific value, which depends on the content organic matter and moisture in the fuel. Fuel density also has great value. It turns out that 1 ton of dry (3-4% humidity) briquettes = 5 tons of firewood (20% humidity).

The humidity ratio determines the higher calorific value. And what more humidity for wood, the more combustion energy is spent simply to evaporate the water from the firewood!

Fuel briquettes are produced using high pressure (300 atmospheres). They create a briquette with a very high density, a couple of times higher than that of wood. As a simple manifestation - this is an experience, throw a fuel briquette into the water - and you will see how quickly it sinks to the bottom! That is, its density is higher than the density of not only wood, but also water. The density of a briquette is 2-3 times higher than that of wood. And the density determines the duration of the combustion process.

The briquette can burn for up to 5-8 hours, and as a rule, its burning time is set at 2-3 hours. For a stove or fireplace, longer burning is good. You can put briquettes and not add fuel until the morning, the fire will last all night.
Ordinary wood has pores with oxygen and due to this it burns quickly, but a briquette will burn slowly and produce more heat than wood.

And some briquettes, due to their shape, are very convenient to fold. Such briquettes, I remember how curiously they showed on TV in a report about Japan, that they make excellent fireplace fuel from waste. This happened back in the 90s of the last century.

Knowing these secrets about humidity, you understand why it is very important to have long-term aged firewood on the farm - which natural drying reach low humidity, and in addition, always have a supply of firewood near the fireplace and at the heater in the bathhouse. So that they dry thoroughly. This will seriously reduce the heating time of the bath - to a high temperature in the steam room.

Calorific value:

firewood natural humidity(40-55%) ~1500 kcal/kg

dry firewood (humidity 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 fumes, 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 compared to conventional firewood is the small volume of ash. Ash content - the percentage of ash remaining from the combustion of briquettes 1% by weight of used wood briquettes.

But in conclusion, it is also important to dispel the fear - “We know that 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 under the influence of temperature turns into an environmentally friendly binder.

Fuel briquettes are sold in supermarkets in packages, usually 10 kg, and the price for them is not low - 7 rubles per kilogram. They are convenient because they are “under our feet”, we trip over them when buying sausage and potatoes, and they are also quite clean and do not leave any garbage.

But is it profitable to heat a house with fuel briquettes? Aren't we spending significant extra money carrying these packages to the dacha? After all, buying firewood is also very simple, all you have to do is worry about this issue, find out the phone number and responsive suppliers will bring as much firewood as we can pay for.

We compare the real price of firewood and briquettes

Manufacturers claim that the calorific value of fuel briquettes is 4.7 kW/kg. While this figure for dry firewood is approximately 3.9 kW/kg. If we now substitute the price, we get:
— briquettes – 1.48 rubles/kW;
— dry firewood – 1.02 rubles/kW.

It turns out that we overpay for ease of use, but on the other hand, I grabbed a clean package from the counter and carried it... Next, we will consider the ease of use as an experiment, and then we will draw subjective conclusions.
But first, some background information.

For comparison, the calorific value of the best anthracite from Donbass is 11.0 kW/kg, natural gas— 11.5 kg/kg. The price of such fuel is low.

The density of fuel briquettes is 950 kg/m2, the density of firewood is 550 kg/m3, and the bulk density of firewood is 250 kg/m2. There is one nuance associated with this density.

Firewood dealers often demand a standard fee from uninformed buyers for a bulk cubic meter of chopped firewood (250 kg per cubic meter) - which is simply poured out in the yard and then measured. They actually sell firewood at double the price. At the same time, for the same money you can buy a cubic meter, but based on the price based on the density of wood - 500 kg per cubic meter.

Is it convenient to burn with briquettes?

But what about the practice of use, what are the high final consumer qualities? The advertisement says that briquettes burn 4 times longer than firewood; it states that firewood will burn in 30 minutes, while briquettes of the same mass take 120 minutes.

All that remains is to conduct a comparative experiment on burning fuel briquettes and firewood with a humidity of 20%.

Wood briquettes have a moisture content of 8%, they consist of sawdust and wood chips very tightly compressed and bonded with a natural polymer - lignin. Such low humidity and high structure density make it possible to achieve an energy output of 4.7 kW/kg.

For example, as the humidity of firewood increases, its heat output drops sharply. At a humidity of 50% (freshly cut wood), the calorific value of wood is already about 2.2 kW/kg. To reduce the humidity to 15 - 25%, the logs must lie for a year in a woodpile under a canopy.

Experiment

So, putting 4 large logs in the fireplace on paper and birch bark total mass 2 kg 20% ​​humidity, watch them burn. They burn beautifully, give a strong feeling of warmth, you can’t stand 1 meter away from them, the flame is high and bright. They actually burn out very quickly, completely, although not in half an hour, but in 60 minutes. During this time, according to statistics, firewood supplied about 7.8 kW. And we spent 8 rubles for 2 kilograms.


Now we light the fuel briquettes. They also light up, but burn sluggishly, without flames, the feeling of heat is weak. But they clearly burn longer, and burn out, as stated, in 2 hours. Probably, 9.4 kW was released, although stretching in time does not allow us to “catch” such energy. Spent - 14 rubles.

How else can you heat a solid fuel boiler, stove, fireplace?

Now, for the sake of experiment, we conduct a firebox solid fuel boiler after firewood and briquettes, this is the highest quality anthracite. Breaking a piece of this coal with a hammer is a problem. The planes and edges are shiny, the corners are sharp, you can even cut yourself... The density in a piece is about 1.5 tons per cubic meter, and the bulk density is about 1.0 t/m3.

We burn a couple of kilograms of wood in the boiler - subjectively, the heat is “so-so”, then we pour only two kilograms of coal on top.

It takes a long time to flare up - about an hour, while the wood burns out. The flame is very low but very bright. A poker, lowered into the heat, in a minute becomes not even red, but burning. The intensity of combustion directly depends on the supply of oxygen - it can burn out in an hour, or it can smolder for ten hours.

We give the air to the maximum, the coal burns out in about 2 hours. There is incomparably more heat - probably 22 kW (9500 kcal per kilogram) was actually produced, and the price for pleasure is approximately 18 rubles.

What remains is crumbly white ash, but it is twice as much as from firewood, and it is not suitable for the garden - it is also necessary to organize removal.

In general, intervention in the comparative experiment of coal (anthracite), according to subjective assessments, puts it in first place in terms of ease of use and price, if, of course, you need to intensively heat a country house.

But if you want to heat quickly, light a fireplace, admire the flames, organize a barbecue - then you undoubtedly need environmentally friendly and inexpensive firewood.

Why then do we need fuel briquettes? - perhaps when you suddenly need to heat it a little, but you really don’t have time, so much so that you forgot to stock up on coal and firewood.

Nevertheless, fuel briquettes confidently occupy their niche in the fuel market, and are in constant demand for heating dachas and country houses. Will it be convenient and profitable to use them in specific conditions, can only be determined by testing...

1. Raw materials for briquettes
2. Types of briquettes
3. Fuel briquettes or firewood - which is better and more economical?
4. Combustion period
5. Selection rules

Most people only know about fuel briquettes that they can compete with traditional firewood or coal. What is modern solid fuel material? What is really better: fuel briquettes or firewood?

Solid fuel, known as Eurowood, is produced industrially, so everyone separate element has same size and the correct form. Briquettes can be burned in solid fuel fireboxes of all types, including stoves, fireplaces and heating boilers.

In the production of heating briquettes, waste is used that is generated at woodworking industry enterprises. They are formed from the husks of cereal plants, straw or peat. To get required material, small particles are pressed under high pressure and drying them at high temperatures. This method allows you to completely eliminate adhesives and other binding components. The densely formed mass does not emit toxic substances when burned, so the fuel is absolutely safe for people and animals.

The main advantages of the material and its disadvantages

The main advantage of pressed briquettes is high level heat transfer during combustion is almost twice as high as that of firewood. At a standard level of 20%, firewood provides 2500–2700 kcal/kg of heat, sawdust briquettes – 4500–4900 kcal/kg. The explanation is simple: heat transfer directly depends on the amount of moisture, and for Euro-firewood that has undergone thermal drying, it does not exceed 8%.

Briquettes have greater density. For example, oak burns much longer than birch, since oak firewood contains more combustible substance per cubic centimeter (0.81 g/cm3) than birch firewood, which is why the burning time is increased. The density of a briquette is even higher and equals 0.95–1 g/cm3.

Among other advantages, it should be noted:

• compact size for easy storage;
• uniform combustion and high calorific value;
• low soot emission due to low moisture content;
• ecological purity of raw materials.

Wood fuel briquettes have disadvantages that are very conventional. Compressed firewood is more expensive than regular lumber, but you need to take into account the cost per unit of heat, which is clearly not in favor of regular firewood. Briquettes are afraid of moisture, which destroys their structure, but wood should not be stored in a humid environment.. A significant drawback is that it is impossible to determine the quality and composition of fuel briquettes by eye.

Types of briquettes

There are several varieties of Euro firewood. This depends on the form and composition of the product. Manufacturers distinguish three main forms of products:

1. Pini-kay. Such Euro firewood has a maximum density (1.08–1.40 g/cm3). They are made in square or hexagonal briquettes with holes inside for air circulation and better combustion.
2. Nestro. Have cylindrical shape and have an average density (1–1.15 g/cm3).
3. Ruf (ruf). Such sawdust briquettes are produced in bricks of low density (0.75–0.8 g/cm3) and compact sizes.

Table 1: Prices for Euro firewood RUF and Pini Kay

In addition to differences in shape and density, Euro firewood differs in its constituent components, which directly affect the ash content, the amount of soot produced, calorific value and degree of combustion. For example, peat products cannot be used to heat home fires due to high content ash and harmful fractions in their composition. This material is intended exclusively for industrial needs. The table shows the types of fuel briquettes with comparative characteristics products from various raw materials. These tables are compiled on the basis of test reports obtained empirically.

Explanation of the table for each material

1. Seeds. Due to its low ash content and vegetable oil high energy value, compressed material of this type shows the best calorific value (5151 kcal/kg), however, such samples emit more soot, which will lead to contamination of the chimney.
2. Wood. With a humidity of 4%, pressed sawdust takes an honorable second place in calorie content with an indicator of 5043 kcal/kg, only slightly inferior to the previous sample from seed husks. If the humidity of wood briquettes for heating increases to 10%, the calorific value drops to 4340 kcal/kg.
3. Straw. Straw briquettes are third in efficiency after seeds and wood, but have excellent heat transfer rates (4740 kcal/kg). The ash content is high.
4. Tyrsa (grass). Production based on use perennial plants. With a fairly low ash content, the heat transfer of the briquette is 4400 kcal/kg, which is very good.
5. Rice. High rate ash content and low heat transfer (3458 kcal/kg).

Two samples made from the same raw material may have different ash and moisture levels, as is the case with straw briquettes. Ash consists of minerals with low energy value, and if there are too many of them in the fuel, then you should not expect long-term combustion and high heat transfer from it.

Different ash contents in briquettes with identical composition indicate different production processes and the original quality of the raw materials. If the manufacturer did not clean the straw from dust and dirt or deliberately added leaves to increase the volume finished products, then such fuel material at the output will be of low quality. And it doesn’t matter whether it contains wood, seed husks or tyrsa. The same applies to the humidity of the product, on which the heat transfer of Euro-firewood depends: the higher it is, the worse the room will be heated.

Briquettes or firewood: which is better and more economical?

In fuel, weight and price are not as important as the cost of a unit of heat - you can’t do without calculations. One cubic meter of firewood weighs on average about 550 kg. With the same volume, briquettes for heating stoves weigh a ton and cost more than three times more. It would seem that it is very profitable to heat a stove or fireplace with ordinary wood, because it costs much less, but this is not entirely true. A cubic meter of wood is almost half inferior to briquettes in the amount of real fuel. If you estimate the watt of heat received from each of these samples, the difference will be pennies, which means that their efficiency is almost the same.

We must not forget about quality. If wood is too wet, it weighs more, but is less efficient. And storing large firewood requires a lot of space, not to mention the cost of delivery.

Combustion period

Most people living in villages know how to light a stove correctly. The burning time of any material, be it firewood, regular coal or a briquette, depends on the same factors: traction force and ignition method. If there is an excessive supply of air to the firebox due to untimely closing of the draft damper, the fuel will burn out very quickly. If you properly melt European firewood, stacking it correctly in the stove and supplying a minimum of oxygen, then due to the low moisture content and high density they will burn longer.

Selection rules

It is better to give preference to firewood in briquettes consisting of sawdust. They give off heat well, and this material burns for quite a long time.

Briquettes for stoves made from cereal husks have a good calorific value, but due to the oil content they quickly pollute the chimney with soot, which may require frequent cleaning. The same applies to resinous coniferous species wood, from which it is better not to buy fuel briquettes for a bathhouse, stove or fireplace.

When purchasing, it is advisable to look at the seller’s documents for the goods. They contain information about the test report data with detailed description product. Choose good wood material with maximum density.

If you plan to heat with briquettes and need a large batch of goods, take them for testing in small quantities. At home, you can check how hard the briquette is and whether it crumbles from excess moisture. Assess the heat so that you don’t have to regret a bad purchase in the future.

Fuel briquettes or firewood, which is better? Briquettes or firewood, which is more profitable? Many owners of private houses are interested in these questions. Advertising of fuel briquettes made from birch shavings and pine needles says that they supposedly have twice the heat transfer, they burn four times longer than ordinary birch firewood, they leave less soot, and they take up less space. Is this really true? Then, perhaps, it is worth conducting an experiment and finally verifying the veracity or bias of these promises?

In general, it is worth saying that ideal solid fuel doesn't happen. The use of wood, coal and various compressed wastes has its advantages and disadvantages, including financial ones. The task of every homeowner is to choose the most profitable option. What is better to heat: wood or briquettes?

Firewood is an old proven fuel. Wood is the oldest, environmentally friendly type of fuel. Of course, there are many types of logs, but birch firewood is the most popular.

Advantages of heating a room with birch wood

1. Their most famous and indisputable quality is that such firewood ignites very quickly and burns for a long time, they have high heat transfer.
2. They also do not “shoot” when burning, like, for example, coniferous wood.
3. These logs have a very pleasant aroma due to the presence of essential resins in the tree. They are characterized by a positive effect on the human upper respiratory tract, as they are distinguished by bactericidal and disinfecting properties. When these essential oils together with inhaled oxygen enter the human body, then it turns out beneficial influence on the nervous, circulatory and cardiovascular systems. Therefore, if you are close to a fireplace in which birch logs are burning, you will feel relaxation, calmness, harmony and comfort.
4. Firewood is compact and relatively light in weight.
5. The cost of birch firewood from the North-West Firewood Company is low.

Cons of firewood

Perhaps the only disadvantage is the formation of soot by such firewood, because during combustion a resinous substance is released - tar, which pollutes the chimney and reduces draft. But if you clean it in time, this problem can be eliminated.

Advantages of heating briquettes

It is also worth mentioning this type of fuel as briquettes.

• They are sold in compact packages.
• They have a relatively light weight (about ten kilograms per package).
• The price of briquettes is not high at all.

Disadvantages of this type of fuel

• Compared to firewood, briquettes have little heat transfer. Quite low maximum heating temperature.
• A ten-kilogram package is only enough to heat a small room for four hours.

Of course, it’s up to you to decide, but from a comparison of firewood and briquettes, it is obvious that birch firewood has more advantages than fuel briquettes. You have probably already decided for yourself what is better to heat the stove: with wood or briquettes. So make the right choice!