Mud and I are working on a book. This is the part about firebrick+wool risers. We strong encourage everybody to share their experiences. We hope that this
thread will grow to ten pages of information about firebrick+wool risers.
Simple and quick. Quite good. Probably the most common riser.
On the downside, when you start a fire, you might need to prime the riser twice - the bricks start off cold and can be a little slow to warm up. On the upside, if you accidentally let the fire go out, the riser is still very warm for hours - so no need to prime the riser.
Stack the firebrick to define the interior of the riser and then wrap with high temp wool (two inches thick is better than one inch thick) and then wrap that with a bit of wire. Since the wire is entirely outside of the riser, the temps it will be exposed to is in the 400 to 700 degree range - well within the tolerances for the wire.
The stack of firebrick can be dry, but some people choose to coat each brick with a thin, clay slip as they are stacking the bricks.
Total cost is about $80 to $120.
Mud says
Cutting a notch in the end of each brick will allow them to hold each other in place without mortar or slip.
See the riser near the end of the
video
This video is an excerpt from the full 4 movie set "Better
Wood Heat." But it does give you a taste of this type of riser