How To Store And Use Briquettes

A superior biomass wood fuel choice, briquettes are an eco-friendly alternative to traditional firewood.

Made from dried, highly-compacted wood waste, Briquettes have a low moisture content, allowing them to combust quickly with a smoke-free burn.

However, this does mean that they need to be stored properly, as if not, they can swell and crumble, causing them to lose their efficiency.

What Are Briquettes?

Wood briquettes are made from compressed sawdust and fibres from wood, ideal for wood burning stoves as an efficient and effective fuel source.

The sawdust and fibres would otherwise get thrown away in the timber industry, therefore meaning that the waste is used as a sustainable fuel.

How Are Briquettes Made?

To create briquettes, the wood is compressed at very high pressure to create a briquette shape and bind the fibres together.

This means that the briquettes are made without any additional chemicals or binding agents, therefore, they won’t damage your burner and are very safe to burn.

Once the shape is created, the briquette is dried in a kiln to reduce the moisture contents and make them better for burning.

High-quality briquettes will be made from 100% wood, however other briquettes are formed with charcoal, peat and coffee to make logs.

How Do You Use Wood Briquettes?

Briquettes are used in the same way that you would use typical logs on a log fire. Use small pieces of briquette as kindling to encourage the flame, and then add larger pieces once the fire starts properly.

Are Briquettes Better Than Logs?

High-quality briquettes are better than traditional logs, as they offer a consistent, hotter and longer fire with less ash and smoke.

What Are The Benefits of Briquettes?

High Performance

Briquettes are compacted and low-moisture, meaning that they will burn hotter, cleaner and for longer.

Compliant

Quality wood briquettes will meet Air Quality Regulations and will be legal to burn at home.

Less Pollution

As briquettes are dry, they will produce less ash and smoke. Some places in the UK has ‘Smoke Control Areas’, which means log burners are only allowed to emit 3 grams of smoke per hour, down from the previous 5g. Wood briquettes will lower your property’s smoke pollution.

More Energy

Briquettes are highly compacted and therefore, are more calorific and give you greater return on your burn.

Convenient

Compared to the inconsistent shape of firewood, briquettes are easy and compact to store.

Cleaner

Briquettes both give a cleaner burn and are also physically cleaner, free from dirt unlike firewood.

What Are The Cost Savings Of Briquettes?

As briquettes are a by-product of timber products, briquettes are very cost-effective. When purchased in bulk for the winter months, they can work out as more economical than regular firewood. Not to mention the environmental benefits and storage space efficiency, too.

How To Store Wood Briquettes

To preserve the energy potential of your briquettes and avoid wastage, you’ll want to make sure that they are stored properly.

Choose A Dry Location

Ideally, you’ll want to store your briquettes indoors in a dry, covered space. Avoid any exposure to rain, snow, water or excess humidity. This could be a conservatory, porch or other indoor storage space, or a dry shed, garage or outbuilding.

Keep Them In Their Packaging

When stored in a dry environment, keeping your briquettes in their packaging where possible is a good way to keep them protected.

Elevated and Neatly Stacked

When you store briquettes in a shed, garage or outbuilding, make sure that they are elevated off the ground. This will prevent moisture absorption.

Check your briquettes occasionally whilst they are in storage, keeping an eye out for signs of damage and water leaks, both of which could affect their burn efficiency.

How Long Can Briquettes Be Stored For?

As soon as briquettes are exposed to air, they start to absorb moisture. This can damage the quality and combustion efficiency, so therefore should be used within a few weeks. However, with correct storage, your briquettes should last a good few months.

How To Light Wood Briquettes

Lighting a wood briquette is not dissimilar to other fuel types. Simply;

Open the air intake of your stove or the chimney to its maximum position,
Use wood kindling and a fire starting material to start a fire,
Once the kindling starts to burn well, place one or two briquettes on top carefully,
Add additional briquettes as and when they are needed.

Wanting To Stock Up On Briquettes?

Here at Juke’s Timber Solutions, we supply wood briquettes across the UK, manufactured by us as a by-product of creating our timber products.

Choose a cleaner, hotter, longer-lasting burn with our briquettes. Choose from various bulk sizes and get prepared for the winter months ahead. We offer nationwide UK delivery.

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