Same Pellets Burning at Different Temperatures

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Jm15

New Member
Feb 22, 2012
55
CT
This is my first full season with the pellet stove (Harman Accentra Insert) and purchased 3 tons of GS. I know there is mixed opinions of these pellets, but I purchased them for a good price with my neighbor who also has a Harman and he tested them out. I know I broke the rule of trying a few bags before you buy a significant amount, but I was wondering if it is common for bags of same pellets from the same ton to burn at different temperatures? I have gone through about 7 bags so far. The first five burned at an ok temp, not as hot (it seemed) as the Logik - E I used for about 2 bags last year. But the last 2 bags of GS have been much, much hotter than the first 5 bags. It increased so much that I was told to turn it off by my wife. The only difference between the first 5 bags and the last two is the stove has more ash because I couldn't clean it this weekend and I slightly adjusted the feed rate from slightly below 4 to slightly above it (minimal change). I have the stove on room temp mode at around 72 degrees so I would assume it would keep the rooms around similar temps, but it seems much warmer. Would this slight adjustment cause this much change in the heat output? If not, what could be the cause. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, just curious. If it keeps it up, I'll feel much better about my purchase of the GS.
 
We had a fairly warm weekend. My money is it's an illusion. Room temp or not, the rest of your house was probably much warmer than normal making you think you had hotter pellets

I suppose they could've adjusted something during production but due to "pellet dilution"(ya, that's an industry term :p) I doubt the quality would change drastically from one bag to the next.

A wet bag, now that's a different story.
 
Sorry but I agree with P38X2. There are too many variables to suddenly say that two bags of pellets off of the same pallet and most probably run concurrently with the rest are 'hotter'. Also, if you had more ash from the same batch of pellets, to me it says you were feeding more pellets, which equals more output. That coupled with a warmer day, perhaps, or more sunshine and voila, you have 'hotter' pellets. All the voodoo with pellet heat is just that, voodoo. Softwood pellets generally have more btu's per pound than hardwood but all of them are about the same output. Some have more ash or impurities, of course, but the biggest difference in apparent 'heat' is the feed rate and size of the pellets (which impacts feed rate). My 2 cents.
 
We had a fairly warm weekend. My money is it's an illusion. Room temp or not, the rest of your house was probably much warmer than normal making you think you had hotter pellets

I suppose the could've adjusted something during production but due to "pellet dilution"(ya, that's an industry term :p) I doubt the quality would change drastically from one bag to the next.

A wet bag, now that's a different story.

You're probably right. It has been warmer this weekend, and the room temp is just generally warmer. But, putting my hand out in front of the blower it seemed like the air was much, much hotter. I might be imagining things, but if it lasts the winter, I don't mind being a little crazy...
 
Sorry but I agree with P38X2. There are too many variables to suddenly say that two bags of pellets off of the same pallet and most probably run concurrently with the rest are 'hotter'. Also, if you had more ash from the same batch of pellets, to me it says you were feeding more pellets, which equals more output. That coupled with a warmer day, perhaps, or more sunshine and voila, you have 'hotter' pellets. All the voodoo with pellet heat is just that, voodoo. Softwood pellets generally have more btu's per pound than hardwood but all of them are about the same output. Some have more ash or impurities, of course, but the biggest difference in apparent 'heat' is the feed rate and size of the pellets (which impacts feed rate). My 2 cents.
As I was just now refilling my hoppers, I remembered one other variable that I learned last year. Different pellet brands have different densities depending on how much the pellets were compressed. With my Greenway's and Rockwood's, I fill three plastic pails almost to the top. With the Carolina Wood Pellets that I had, I filled up almost 4 pails per bag! They were obviously much less dense and when feeding the same bulk of pellets, you're going to get less heat.
 
instead of using you hand to determine the heat out put of the pellets go buy a cheap thermometer and check it. just a thought. you probably just jinxed yourself now and had a super bag
 
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