It was surprisingly chilly for LA during the Thanksgiving holiday, but we've been putting off turning on the heater. Instead, we picked up a box of Java-Logs while doing some last-minute grocery shopping before the turkey feast began. After all, the idea of having the first fire of the season with family and friends was irresistible. In the past, we've been getting wood from the local firewood yard, so we were cautious about these Java-Logs being able to live up to the real deal...
posted originally from: AT:LA
Java-Logs have been touted as the "green" alternative to fireplace fuel--no weird, funky chemical odors that other suspicious starter logs may have, less carbon monoxide, and uses renewable and natural vegetable wax. It's made out of spent coffee grinds, and reportedly 11x cleaner for your chimney than burning wood.
Performance wise, the Java-Logs did fairly well: extremely easy to light (stacking firewood just so in our fireplace can be a bit of a pain, and then getting it going can also be a bit of a trial) and easy clean up--we swept up the ashes and used it as compost for the flowerbed in the backyard. The drawbacks: According to the instructions, we only burned one log at a time, which lasted about 2-3 hours. With one log, the fire was nice, but it didn't really heat up our living room.
Want to find out more about the Java-Log? Check out the site, java-log.com.
Can't comment on Java-logs, but the fireplace looks very handsome, and I'm glad you kept the small tiles.
view Fontessa's profile
I use Javalogs and yeah, they're cosmetic - lots of high flame but not a lot of warmth. On the other hand, the fireplace is not the most efficient way to warm your house anyway (heat rises - up the chiminy) so what the heck.
We tried burning a Javalog with a real log (against the manufacturer's instructions) and that was actually not too bad. A little warmer, but still easy to light, and mostly easy to clean up.
My big gripe? They don't look very good in my log basket. Maybe I could buy a real firewood cord to stack over them and keep it year after year...
view whytephoenix's profile