New Pellet Stove - Help me select pellets

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TomR

New Member
Nov 12, 2011
56
Central CT
I posted earlier this week about my decision to purchase a Pellet Stove - thank you for all the input. Today I purchased a Harman P68, based on this forum's advice, and I'm super excited to have it installed in the next couple of weeks. Between the Pellet Stove and My Wood Stove I will be 95% off oil.

The stove shop sells 3 brands of Pellets and my local Home Depot sells 1 brand. Please tell me which of these choices I should go with and why?

Options
  1. Home Depot - Stove Chow $206 per ton.
  2. Cleanfire (Hardwood) $260 per ton (available locally through my dealer)
  3. Cleanfire (Softwood) $300 per ton (available locally through my dealer)
  4. New England Wood Pellet $260 (available locally through my dealer)

I want to order 4 tons. Home Depot charges a flat rate of $65 to deliver (I believe). The stove shop charges $25 per Pallet.

So Home Depot seems to be the best deal....what do you think?
 
Stove Chow is good ...
 
I've not had good luck with NEWP, but I think they were stored incorrectly (my pellet house was closed and I needed a few more bags to get me through). It's like anything else, the opinions are varied on all of the brands. The only real consensus is that Inferno sucks. Stove chow seems to get pretty good reviews but I've never had the chance to burn it. I know this is not helpful...but it is really a pepsi vs coke issue. YMMV.
 
I have burned Stove Chow and it was a good pellet and for the price you won't go wrong. I have heard NEWP is not that good and don't know of the others. It is true that the Harman will burn anything decently well. I would go with the cheaper Chow's.
 
I couldn't wait to get through the 1 ton of NEWP last year. Its not worth the $$$. IMO
 
You have paid the price of a respectable stove. If were up to me,I would start getting my savings by buying a decent pellet that offers you good heat at at good price. Stove chow seems to be that one from the ones you have listed. Too bad you are not getting a comparable option from an independent dealer. I know their overhead often rules that out. I can in this area, but not always the same in other places. Now the "fun" part. Getting it home and put away. I know it isn't cold yet, but I t would be good for you to burn a bag or two of different brands before you haul home a few tons. Way too many unhappy people on here who committed to a huge volume only to find out they wished they had been more discriminate with their selection. Good rule is to first try a few. Even when you find one you like, get the first ton and inspect it to make sure you aren't getting a product that has been handled improperly. I.e. broken bags, clumping etc.
 
Thanks for all the advice. Maybe it was a mistake but I went to Home Depot and ordered 4 Pallets of Stove Chow which will be delivered next Saturday. Hopefully this isn't a 'live and learn' situation. I'm hopefully that the Pellets will not have been mishandled or that Stove Chow is having a bad year.

Reflecting on my decision to buy a pellet stove I have to say that it almost seems too good to be true. To keep my home really comfortably warm year round I could easily burn 900-1000 gallons of oil a year (2,400 sq ft Colonial in New England with lots of windows). At today's prices that's pushing $4k. The pellets cost me less than $1k and I may not even use the entire delivery this year given that I will also burn the wood stove on weekends and some nights. :)

If anyone lives in Central Connecticut and you have a pellet dealer that you like, is responsive, and has decent pricing and quality product please let me know.
 
Thanks for all the advice. Maybe it was a mistake but I went to Home Depot and ordered 4 Pallets of Stove Chow which will be delivered next Saturday. Hopefully this isn't a 'live and learn' situation. I'm hopefully that the Pellets will not have been mishandled or that Stove Chow is having a bad year.

Reflecting on my decision to buy a pellet stove I have to say that it almost seems too good to be true. To keep my home really comfortably warm year round I could easily burn 900-1000 gallons of oil a year (2,400 sq ft Colonial in New England with lots of windows). At today's prices that's pushing $4k. The pellets cost me less than $1k and I may not even use the entire delivery this year given that I will also burn the wood stove on weekends and some nights. :)

If anyone lives in Central Connecticut and you have a pellet dealer that you like, is responsive, and has decent pricing and quality product please let me know.


I am sure you will be happy with the Stove Chow......if not I will take them of you hands for a small fee :)
I was paying 500 a month to keep my house at 62 degrees in November and December. I use about 4.5 tons to keep my house 68-70. Enjoy the heat!
 
Yes that's where we were also. Our first year in the house was terrible. My wife was constantly turning up the heat, I was turning it down, and to be honest the house was never really warm. We were essentially spending a small fortune to be uncomfortable.
 
Congrats on the Harman.. The NEWP's are a sub par pellet (to most) and the Chow should do well in the Haramn. They tend to burn most any pellet with ease..

Welcome to the Pellet burning side :) Now update your Sig and with a 4 ton purchase, you may be able to submit to the Pellet Pig Club ;)

I would still buy 2-4 bags of Every Brand of pellet you came across. Some burn cleaner, hotter, less ash. Find what you and your stove likes and you'll both be Happy :)
 
Congrats on the Harman.. The NEWP's are a sub par pellet (to most) and the Chow should do well in the Haramn. They tend to burn most any pellet with ease..

Welcome to the Pellet burning side :) Now update your Sig and with a 4 ton purchase, you may be able to submit to the Pellet Pig Club ;)

I would still buy 2-4 bags of Every Brand of pellet you came across. Some burn cleaner, hotter, less ash. Find what you and your stove likes and you'll both be Happy :)

I'll second the pig status! But you need to becareful of your Harman spelling! ::-)
 
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I posted earlier this week about my decision to purchase a Pellet Stove - thank you for all the input. Today I purchased a Harman P68, based on this forum's advice, and I'm super excited to have it installed in the next couple of weeks. Between the Pellet Stove and My Wood Stove I will be 95% off oil.

The stove shop sells 3 brands of Pellets and my local Home Depot sells 1 brand. Please tell me which of these choices I should go with and why?

Options
  1. Home Depot - Stove Chow $206 per ton.
  2. Cleanfire (Hardwood) $260 per ton (available locally through my dealer)
  3. Cleanfire (Softwood) $300 per ton (available locally through my dealer)
  4. New England Wood Pellet $260 (available locally through my dealer)

I want to order 4 tons. Home Depot charges a flat rate of $65 to deliver (I believe). The stove shop charges $25 per Pallet.

So Home Depot seems to be the best deal....what do you think?

If it makes you feel any better I purchased a used 68 this will be my first year also and went with the stove chow. HD delivered 4 tons about 4 weeks ago there was not even one ripped bag. Everything looked great really wrapped well from the factory to avoid any moisture from reaching the bags. We are using the same amount of oil as you with the thermostat set pretty low and we are also in CT with similiar sq ft and style of house lots of windows. Hope to cut the oil bill in half only time will tell. Sitting on 4 tons of stove chow and 3/4 ton of American Wood Fibers. The previous owner told me he bought whatever pellet was available and never had an issue nor could he really tell that there was a heat output difference. That could be all talk but we will see.
 
If it makes you feel any better I purchased a used 68 this will be my first year also and went with the stove chow. HD delivered 4 tons about 4 weeks ago there was not even one ripped bag. Everything looked great really wrapped well from the factory to avoid any moisture from reaching the bags. We are using the same amount of oil as you with the thermostat set pretty low and we are also in CT with similiar sq ft and style of house lots of windows. Hope to cut the oil bill in half only time will tell. Sitting on 4 tons of stove chow and 3/4 ton of American Wood Fibers. The previous owner told me he bought whatever pellet was available and never had an issue nor could he really tell that there was a heat output difference. That could be all talk but we will see.


Harmans burn to a set temperature and are always adjusting their feed rates so you should never see any difference in terms of temperature from one pellet to another just a difference in the weight of pellets consumed under identical heating requirements.

Most other stove's operated on a fixed reed rate will not be able to keep up with the heating requirements if they are operating flat out on poorer pellets when a better pellet may allow them to keep up..

Pellets are not a fixed BTU per pound product, nor do they all produce the same amount of ash.

Pellets also do not feed by the pound, and pellets do not all have the same density, those facts coupled with the fact pellets feed by volume means all of those tables in the manual are only approximations.
 
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2200 sq feet, 5 tons (average) pellets, and 100 gallons of oil. That is for heat and hot water. Not bad in my book. Yes, some have done better, but I think what I have is OK so far. I know there are a few other cost such as the electricity used to run, the stove, hot air furnace, or oil fired hot water heater. And there is the cost of having the furnace and hot water heater serviced. Keeping them all clean gives me my best shot at using less fuel and getting the most heat from the pellets and oil. The company I was going to buy my oil from was going to charge me $3.45 a gallon. I found out they do price match. I printed out a listing of current oil prices and took it in to them. I got my oil for $3.18. Every little bit counts. Better in your pocket!
 
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Harmans burn to a set temperature and are always adjusting their feed rates so you should never see any difference in terms of temperature from one pellet to another just a difference in the weight of pellets consumed under identical heating requirements.

Most other stove's operated on a fixed reed rate will not be able to keep up with the heating requirements if they are operating flat out on poorer pellets when a better pellet may allow them to keep up..

Pellets are not a fixed BTU per pound product, nor do they all produce the same amount of ash.

Pellets also do not feed by the pound, and pellets do not all have the same density, those facts coupled with the fact pellets feed by volume means all of those tables in the manual are only approximations.
Good info. So in with a lower quality pellet your burning more weight than a higher quality pellet. From all I've read here it seems there is no real calculations to tell which is more economical. Taking into consideration how your stove runs on the specific pellet and how more often cleaning is required. For me it's all an experiment this first year.
 
2200 sq feet, 5 tons (average) pellets, and 100 gallons of oil. That is for heat and hot water. Not bad in my book. Yes, some have done better, but I think what I have is OK so far. I know there are a few other cost such as the electricity used to run, the stove, hot air furnace, or oil fired hot water heater. And there is the cost of having the furnace and hot water heater serviced. Keeping them all clean gives me my best shot at using less fuel and getting the most heat from the pellets and oil. The company I was going to buy my oil from was going to charge me $3.45 a gallon. I found out they do price match. I printed out a listing of current oil prices and took it in to them. I got my oil for $3.18. Every little bit counts. Better in your pocket!
That is great! I think I would need more oil just for hot water I was thinking 200 gal for hot water plus another 200+/- to off set the really cold days. $3.18 was a great price on the oil the wholesale as of friday was $3.18 on the market. It's higher than the wholesale price of gasoline these days.
 
That is great! I think I would need more oil just for hot water I was thinking 200 gal for hot water plus another 200+/- to off set the really cold days. $3.18 was a great price on the oil the wholesale as of friday was $3.18 on the market. It's higher than the wholesale price of gasoline these days.


Pretty good assesment. Since I started using a P68 from the basement up. I average about 200-300 gal of oil for hot water and cold snap offset on the 2nd floor. For the most part, a tank gets me thru the winter. Alot less than what is use to use, and the house is much warmer!

Enjoy the new toy and the heat ! !
 
Pretty good assesment. Since I started using a P68 from the basement up. I average about 200-300 gal of oil for hot water and cold snap offset on the 2nd floor. For the most part, a tank gets me thru the winter. Alot less than what is use to use, and the house is much warmer!

Enjoy the new toy and the heat ! !

Thanks! The oil savings is what we are after but I do dig the new toy.
 
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2200 sq feet, 5 tons (average) pellets, and 100 gallons of oil. That is for heat and hot water. Not bad in my book. Yes, some have done better, but I think what I have is OK so far. I know there are a few other cost such as the electricity used to run, the stove, hot air furnace, or oil fired hot water heater. And there is the cost of having the furnace and hot water heater serviced. Keeping them all clean gives me my best shot at using less fuel and getting the most heat from the pellets and oil. The company I was going to buy my oil from was going to charge me $3.45 a gallon. I found out they do price match. I printed out a listing of current oil prices and took it in to them. I got my oil for $3.18. Every little bit counts. Better in your pocket!
I should add that there are only the two of us, both retired so that has a significant impact on the amount of hot water needed as well as the numbers of times the doors are opened to the outside. On the other hand I will also add that my wife insist on keeping the main part of the house at 76 f. My stove is downstairs in the family room.
 
More eastern than central but CJ's Pellets has done me right. Not going to get the knockoff brands, mostly just the good stuff, btu his prices are pretty good and they're great about loading. If they rip a bag, they just give it to you for free and throw in an extra. Pellets are all indoors/climate controlled. Delivery available but he's 10 minutes down the road from me. I just get my good stuff from him and burn the HDepot stuff like it's going out of style in the shoulder season when I don't mind emptying my tiny ashpan (M55 insert). During the real cold spells or when I'm out of town the wife burns Turmans and she goes a week before I get home with no emptying and hella heat. When I'm around we get 3-4 days out of the cheapos before it starts affecting the burn. Just my two cents. Burned just short of 3 tons last year with half the time overheating the place before I got my thermostat hooked up. 2200 sqf ranch with crap insulation. (I know, I know...I'll fix the insulation next year...along with the windows, the siding, the gutters the....)
 
More eastern than central but CJ's Pellets has done me right. Not going to get the knockoff brands, mostly just the good stuff, btu his prices are pretty good and they're great about loading. If they rip a bag, they just give it to you for free and throw in an extra. Pellets are all indoors/climate controlled. Delivery available but he's 10 minutes down the road from me. I just get my good stuff from him and burn the HDepot stuff like it's going out of style in the shoulder season when I don't mind emptying my tiny ashpan (M55 insert). During the real cold spells or when I'm out of town the wife burns Turmans and she goes a week before I get home with no emptying and hella heat. When I'm around we get 3-4 days out of the cheapos before it starts affecting the burn. Just my two cents. Burned just short of 3 tons last year with half the time overheating the place before I got my thermostat hooked up. 2200 sqf ranch with crap insulation. (I know, I know...I'll fix the insulation next year...along with the windows, the siding, the gutters the....)


Always something to do.
 
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