Fuel briquettes made from sawdust and how to light them and heat them in the stove: tips – Setafi

Understanding how to light briquettes is quite simple. Like firewood, they can be lit from below. But there is another option - put kindling material on top, or even easier - use lighter fluid. A step-by-step description of these methods can be found in the presented article.

Pros and cons of briquettes

Briquettes are pre-dried, crushed and compressed sawdust. To glue them together, a binder is added to the mixture. Thanks to this, it is possible to obtain blocks of the same size. It is quite convenient to both light fuel briquettes and store them. They also have other advantages:

1. More efficient calorific value - 1.5-2 times more compared to firewood.
2. Compact, take up little space - they can be stacked high on top of each other.
3. Easy to use - figuring out how to light fuel briquettes is quite simple.
4. Due to pressing, combustion takes quite a long time - up to 4-5 hours without additional fuel. This is 1.5-2 times more compared to the same amount of ordinary firewood.
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5. The combustion occurs evenly, without noise and “shooting” particles.
6. Less smoke, tar and ash are produced, so the chimney and the firebox itself do not clog as quickly.
7. They contain only natural substances, so they are completely safe to use, just like regular firewood.

But this type of fuel also has disadvantages:

1. The main disadvantage is associated with the high price, which can exceed the cost of firewood several times. Although this disadvantage is partly compensated by longer combustion and high calorific value.
2. The shelf life, as a rule, does not exceed 1-2 years. Although it all depends on the production technology - some briquettes are stored even for up to 4-5 years.
3. If moisture gets on the surface, it will spread deeper, and such a product will take quite a long time to dry.
4. It is more difficult to purchase briquettes because they are not common in all regions and are practically unavailable in remote places.

How to use briquettes

It’s not difficult to figure out how to heat a stove with briquettes. For ignition, kindling material (for example, paper) can be placed on top or bottom. In the first case, they act like this:

1. Several briquettes are placed tightly in the center of the firebox - maybe in 2-3 layers.
2. Move them a little away from the walls of the stove so that air flows freely to the surface. If the draft is weak, the chimney is dirty, it is better to move the pressed sawdust away from each other.
3. Kindling material - wood chips, birch bark, paper, cardboard - is placed on the surface of the top layer and lit.
4. They cover the ash pit and wait for the fire to catch on.
5. There is another way to heat a stove with briquettes. You can take one of them, put kindling material next to it and light it. When it flares up, the flame will spread to neighboring layers.

Pressed sawdust can also be ignited from below. The instructions are:

1. Place the kindling material at the bottom of the firebox.
2. Several layers of briquettes are placed on them at a short distance of 1-2 cm from each other.
3. They set fire and cover the ash pit.
4. Wait until it flares up, adjust the draft force if necessary.

Another option for how to properly heat a stove with sawdust briquettes involves using lighter fluid. But it is better to use it together with ordinary kindling material, for example, newspapers, cardboard.