Glass fronted stove - use arigna ecobrite or homefuels supertherm?

cathy427

Hi,

Which would give greater heat/last longer (ie best value) in a glass fronted stove arigna ecobrite or homefuels supertherm?

cathy427

Anyone any experience on either of these products?

snor

Have used the ecobrite Cathy and def good heat from it. I get fire started with kindling, then throw in a few logs. When I have a good 'bed' I put some econrite on. Takes a while for it to heat up but then gives a good glow. No flame, more of a glow. I put logs in then to give some flames.

Over the Christmas, I put some ecobrite on last thing before I go to bed. Come down In the am and only have to add a few logs, open the air and the fire takes off again!

macjohn

Used the ecobrite this winter (just one bag)

It was grand - takes getting used to; as snor said no flame - more of a glow. I have an insert and the ecobrite needed different management of the air; seemed to need more air to burn properly/keep going/not be left with a lot of hard lumps the next morning.

Overall - I might go back to it next year but am going to try some other smokeless coals first.


Edit - that is just my experience using it in an insert. A search on here and general net search and most people suggest ecobrite is one of the best.

erin404

I've used ecobrite for the past 5 or 6 years. I only switched to cpl supertherm this year because ecobrite went up in price and my local supplier was selling cpl supertherm on special. Ecobrite burns hotter and longer but no flame just a glow. Supertherm is not bad, it burns with a flame and down to nothing or just ashes. With Ecobrite your left with a few cinders/lumps in the morning. They'll burn the next time the stove is lit.
I have a boiler stove and found that the ecobrite cleans the stove better than the supertherm probably because of the higher temperatures. I found that I can turn down the air wash control lower with the ecobrite and the glass doesn't dirty. Cleaner burn. The only thing that's better is anthracite. Last bag of coal I bought was staffords extra heat stove coal, just because they didn't have any ecobrite left. So far so good. Anyone have any experience with this stuff? One last thing supertherm comes in larger ovoids than ecobrite so it's easier/quicker to fill the stove. Hopes this helps.

cathy427

erin404 wrote: »

I've used ecobrite for the past 5 or 6 years. I only switched to cpl supertherm this year because ecobrite went up in price and my local supplier was selling cpl supertherm on special. Ecobrite burns hotter and longer but no flame just a glow. Supertherm is not bad, it burns with a flame and down to nothing or just ashes. With Ecobrite your left with a few cinders/lumps in the morning. They'll burn the next time the stove is lit.
I have a boiler stove and found that the ecobrite cleans the stove better than the supertherm probably because of the higher temperatures. I found that I can turn down the air wash control lower with the ecobrite and the glass doesn't dirty. Cleaner burn. The only thing that's better is anthracite. Last bag of coal I bought was staffords extra heat stove coal, just because they didn't have any ecobrite left. So far so good. Anyone have any experience with this stuff? One last thing supertherm comes in larger ovoids than ecobrite so it's easier/quicker to fill the stove. Hopes this helps.

Thanks for that. So if they were similarish price you would go with the ecobrite? (Even if it doesn't burn out on first burn like the Supertherm)

If you have the air turned down more on the ecobrite I am thinking that should make it last longer than the Supertherm?

erin404

There's not a huge difference between the two in the burn time. I just think Ecobrite gives more heat. Even though supertherm burns to nothing, when it gets low and is a ball of ashes there's not a huge amount of heat from it. Ecobrite when it gets low it tends to go out a bit like anthracite. It needs to be in a pile to keep burning when it gets low. Best thing to do if you can is to try them both.

My sister has a non boiler stove and prefers country blend to supertherm. Different make and model of stoves burn differently, even two of the same type of stove can burn differently due to diffences in flues/chimneys. I know this because my mother in law has the same stove as mine but her flue exits the back of the stove amd mine exits the top. There's a difference in flue lengths and chimneys which would effect the draw/pull up the chimney. It's all trial and error and what works best for your setup. Sorry for going off in a tangent.

One thing I have found, much like with everything you get what you pay for. For instance union nuggets or brown coal are one of the cheapest coals but all they do is give you a flame, not much heat and a short burn time. At the other end of the spectrum is anthracite one of the most expensive giving high heat (sometimes too high) and a long burn. To answer one of your questions, yes I'd go with ecobrite over supertherm even if it was a bit more expensive. Mainly due to better heat and less ash. Supertherm produces alot more ash a bit like peat briquettes.