Stove Chow versus Fireside Ultras (FSU)

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UpStateNY

Feeling the Heat
May 4, 2008
435
Catskill Mountains
Experience this last few days. its very obvious that the Stove Chow has significantly less ash than the FSUs when burned in my Harman.

I recently picked up two bags of Stove Chow and 3 bags of Fireside Ultras (FSU) in the Poughkeepsie HD near Marist College. I also applied for a HD credit card. With the HD credit card and my Lowes credit card I now get a 5% discount at HD because Lowed credit cards always give 5% discount at Lowes.

Although I did not have any scientific measurement I thought the Stove Chow put off more heat than the FSUs.

Based on this whenever I am in HD I will be picking up some extra Stove Chow when available. In fact given a choice between Lowes purchase and HD I will be going to HD first for my other home improvement purchases so I can check out purchasing a few extra bags of Stove Chow each time. :)

Based on previous years experience, Stove Chows have less ash than Green Supremes. Green supremes and FSU apear to have the same amount of ash. FSU may be slightly better than GS. North American pellets are the absolute worse pellet I have ever burned based on the amount of ash produced.
 
It amazes me how pellets burn in different stoves.I'm burning the Fireside's and they are one of the cleanest burning pellets I've ever burned.I have burned GS and they burn like crap.Stove Chow has been a good pellet for me in the past so I guess I should try to score some.:)
 
I never burned stove chow but I picked up 2 bags of fsu last week and burned them in my p43 and they seemed to burn really clean. Low ash good heat. I went and bought a ton of the fsu today at hd on central in Albany. I still have half a ton of hamers from last year that I am going to save for really cold days.
 
It amazes me how pellets burn in different stoves.I'm burning the Fireside's and they are one of the cleanest burning pellets I've ever burned.I have burned GS and they burn like crap.Stove Chow has been a good pellet for me in the past so I guess I should try to score some.:)

I did say above "FSU may be slightly better than GS" Full disclosure - I have burned over 6 tons of GS in past years but I did not burn any GS last year.
 
I burned ton/half of Stove Chows last winter.....
with 5/half tons of non- HD Pellets in the basement including half ton chows left over from winter
I picked up a couple bags of FSU's from HD just for funsies since they had them..
damn.. they burned much cleaner than the Chows.. lot less ash....
same as the O'Malley's I bought few months ago.
 
It's amazing what you learn when you try something new, isn't it?
 
Anyone what notice that this seasons stove chow has a much darker color to it as well as having more longer pellets than before?
 
Anyone what notice that this seasons stove chow has a much darker color to it as well as having more longer pellets than before?
my half ton is leftover from last year// light in medium light color.
It's amazing what you learn when you try something new, isn't it?

what's Interesting is the post at the top[UPStateNY] here sez Chows much better than the FSU's . less ash..
I have less ash with FSU.. He has less ash with the Chows....Both of us burn Harman Stoves.
I guess there are differences even with Harmans..
 
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Here is an example of some chow from this year.
IMAG1170.jpg IMAG1171.jpg
 
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I have burned both FSU and Chows and the FSU are my favorite big box store cheaper pellet. Minimal ash and good heat. Chow were ok w/ a bit more ash build up. North American were complete crap leaving a nice solid chunk of something that resembled a hard sponge that clogged the holes of the burn pot. The best I've burned are the LaCretes and Okanagons which both come from the same forest in Alberta Canada...but much more $$$ at around 340.00 per ton
 
Burned some yesterday, too warm today. Little bit ashy, but hardly any buildup in the pot, heat seemed good, glass stayed fairly clear considering I ended burning on the lowest setting most of the day
 
what's Interesting is the post at the top[UPStateNY] here sez Chows much better than the FSU's . less ash..
I have less ash with FSU.. He has less ash with the Chows....Both of us burn Harman Stoves.
I guess there are differences even with Harmans..

This is very interesting. The FSUs definitely had more ash then the Chows. I actually like the Chows and was thinking of picking up a few extra bags. I check back to HD and over the weekend and they had zero pellets. :-( oh well.
 
This is very interesting. The FSUs definitely had more ash then the Chows. I actually like the Chows and was thinking of picking up a few extra bags. I check back to HD and over the weekend and they had zero pellets. :-( oh well.
my HD has 22 pallets of Presto Logs and about dozen chows.
 
I burned both this year to test them out. Chows were much dirtier.
I am beginning to think the two bag of FSUs I tried were damaged due to water. The FSUs looked ok when I poured them into the stove. The third bag of FSUs was all sawdust due to probable water damage and I had to return that bag. Maybe my test FSUs was faulty.
 
I dont have this year's FSU to test , but I bought 2 ton's of Chow's and there decent, no clinker's either unlike FSU, but FSU is hotter, you can really see the hotter blue flames burning both compared to the other crap Green no heat Supremes, Lee's EnergyLess, Nation's Chit, North American's....etc!
 
my half ton is leftover from last year// light in medium light color.


what's Interesting is the post at the top[UPStateNY] here sez Chows much better than the FSU's . less ash..
I have less ash with FSU.. He has less ash with the Chows....Both of us burn Harman Stoves.
I guess there are differences even with Harmans..
He's getting a different pellet than you, pellet's vary by the day, not all sawdust is the same as batch's are deleivered to the mill, FSU were very light in color, mostly softwood last year
 
I just scored a half dozen bags of FSU to try. That was the last of an open pallet at HD. Didn't see any more around. Looks like I wont be trying them till later on in the week as the temps look to be climbing the next few days. I will burn my crappy stuff up while I do not need the heat.
 
Experience this last few days. its very obvious that the Stove Chow has significantly less ash than the FSUs when burned in my Harman.

I recently picked up two bags of Stove Chow and 3 bags of Fireside Ultras (FSU) in the Poughkeepsie HD near Marist College. I also applied for a HD credit card. With the HD credit card and my Lowes credit card I now get a 5% discount at HD because Lowed credit cards always give 5% discount at Lowes.

Although I did not have any scientific measurement I thought the Stove Chow put off more heat than the FSUs.

Based on this whenever I am in HD I will be picking up some extra Stove Chow when available. In fact given a choice between Lowes purchase and HD I will be going to HD first for my other home improvement purchases so I can check out purchasing a few extra bags of Stove Chow each time. :)

Based on previous years experience, Stove Chows have less ash than Green Supremes. Green supremes and FSU apear to have the same amount of ash. FSU may be slightly better than GS. North American pellets are the absolute worse pellet I have ever burned based on the amount of ash produced.
I am burning the FSU's as a shoulder pellet and not bad. The Chows are hit and miss. It all depends on which plant produced them. Any luck with the SKU number?
 
Picked up a ton of Chows last week (only because I needed something), damn things are ashy as heck! For $249 a ton, they are a disappointment (to me).
 
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