What pellets do you like this year?

LuvMyHarmanAccentra said:

This is only the second year with my stove, Harman Accentra, and I love it. Learned the hard way this year to get out of the gate early when buying pellets. So I had to buy a ton of Tractor Supply Company brand. Burned OK, and gave out some good heat, but didn't burn very clean and there was a lot of dust in the bag. Then bought some O'Malley Premium hardwood pellets which I had good luck with last year. Let me tell ya, I think I got a bad batch. Had a lot of dust, long pellets, and they looked darker than normal. Like they had gotten wet and then dried out. Didn't burn very hot and went through half a ton in no time. So I decided to try the Green Supreme and so far have been happy. Burns hot, very little dust in the bag, uniformed pellets, and low ash.

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Agree on TSC brand ((Indeks). Having good luck with Lignetics. Green Supremes I've used in past years were very ashy.

FSU's in the St. Croix. Just burned a bag of Heat'rs in the Harman and those are much better heat wise and ash wise than the Currans, and better than the Maine's Choice.

We have burned Curran, Heatr's, PA, LaCrete, Platinum Fire, Turbio (?), Pennington, and another I do not remember. With the exception of another I do not remember I found that each required a bit of stove tweaking to get the best burn. With that tweaking I find very little difference from one to the other and I believe the majority of that difference resulted mope from supplier handling / storage than material quality.

I settled on Heater's as my main pellet this year although we bought sufficient Platinum fpr those very cold nights because I did notice a slight difference in blower temp at the outlet.

Caveat: This is year one with a pellet stove as primary heat. Heated primarily with wood for about 35 years. Made the switch to take pressure off my back, shoulders, and arms.

I discovered Henry County pellets this year. Best pellet I ever used with Somersets a close second.

Bought 4 tons of Ambiance in April. Little ash, good heat, but lots of fines in bag. Also very much like heating oil #2 with the current price and continued decline in price.

I picked up a few bags of O'Malleys (same manufacturer as Power Pellets). I'm cleaning the stove today and will see how these do.

I'm burning Okanagan platinum and am really happy with the amount of ash. Not sure if they are as hot as the Vermonts I've usually had but have been doing a nice job with the cold we've had recently.

How would the okanagan douglas fir compare with the platinum?

Finishing up last years TSC's brown bag which burn OK & some Green Supreme which are so so. Then 2 ton of Pure Fire Pellets which I prefer

woodmakesheat said:

No other years experience here, but they seem to be fine pellets so far.

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Burning LG Granules and Okanagan Platinum. Like both. Burns HOT

This is my first year burning wood pellets. Tried 8 different brands, but pure fire are the hottest I've burned so far

Greene Gold and Green Supremes are the best I have burned. I guess that says a lot about what is available near me.

m159267 said:

I discovered Henry County pellets this year. Best pellet I ever used with Somersets a close second.

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I've been burning them for three years.They will give Somersets a run for their money.Best part is if you go to Hwy 54 Lawn and Garden in Paris Tn.You can get the for $140.00 ton during their early bird special.If you have a way to haul 6 tons,you can get them for $130.00 ton.These were 2014 prices...

Cubix must have reworked the plant very little fines
unbelievable heat no or very little ash
The old cubix is back

American Wood Fibers Ultra Prem White Pine Pellet fuel. Hot, clean, very little ash. They are a bit small in size. They do burn pretty quick but have kept my house warm even when -8 F. No clickers, firepot stays real clean just a light fluffy ash. TSC purchase at 4.99 a bag. The bad news is they are all gone.

Jackfire said:

Vermont Wood Pellets should be called Vermont July wood Pellets

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My first year with pellets so I thought I would create a baseline for future consideration.

I burned 5 bags of each of the following Currans Blend, Heatr's, Stove Chow, Pennington with Light Orange Bag, Pennington with darker orange bag, PA, Somerset, Platinum, and LaCrete.

The stove was deep cleaned including the venting at the beginning of each sample burn. The heat comment is subjective not measured.

Results:

Curran Mix - Medium Heat -- 200 Lbs Burned -- .85% measured -- Brown to dark gray residue. 245 per ton

Heatr"s -- Moderately Hot Heat -- 200 Lbs burned -- .76% Ash -- Whitish residue. 239 per ton

Stove Chow -- Moderate heat -- 200 Lbs burned -- .97% Ash -- Brown to grey residue 239 per ton

Pennington Lt Orange -- Moderate Heat -- 200 Lbs burned -- ,93% Ashe -- Brownish residue 260 per ton

Pennington Dk Orange -- Moderate Hot Heat -- 200 Lbs burned -- .80% Ash -- Brownish Residue 260 per ton

Somerset -- Hot -- 200 Pounds Burned -- .68% Ash -- White residue 270 per ton

Platinum -- Very Hot -- 200 Pounds Burned -- 86% Ash -- White Residue 340 per ton

LaCrete -- Very Hot -- 200 Pounds Burned -- .94% Ash -- White to Grey Ash 340 per ton

Heatr's was my choice for the season based on value received for cost.

I'm about 2 weeks away from finishing my 2 tons of afi pellets. They work great. But it's also tHe first pellets I've used. Picked up a ton of somersets this morning. Can't wait to try them after things I've heard on here.

I like the new batch (white bags) of Timber Heat (Biomaxx bought Dry Creek Pittsford NY). They certainly burn cleaner than this years Stove Chows.

Packsaddle Pellets. If there's a better pellet out there, I'd love to burn it, but I doubt it exists.

Ambiance is best in my local area

I tested about a dozen brands and so far this season and I would rank my top three in terms of good heat and low ash as Turman's, Country Boy White Lightening and AWF Ultras. Just loaded some Maine's Choice (Geneva) and so far those are burning well and are the most economical of the brands I have purchased.

We see mostly Bear Mt and Goldenfire around here.

The B Mt are the cheapest and seem OK

We use a few bags of pellets every year now in the Quad as a backup and or a little help if it gets really cold.

The other use is to keep a can of them at each of the Whits to lite off with.

There is also

Hot shots
Strawberry Mt.
Blue Mt
Olympus
Natures fuel Juniper
Blazer

I have seen and used Blazers but the others don't seem to end up in stores here in this part of the state

I love the pine pellets, but with the exception of the bedding pellets we don't see them much here.

Trucking cost are so high that it does not make sense to haul them in when the other brands are so close.

AWFWPs sap on glass. PTLs bridge the burn pot. LaCretes ash. Pellets are a compromise. I consider these brands interchangeable . All gave good heat with little problems. I would buy any of them again.

Nearing the end of my 2 tons a TraeHeat pellets. I have absolutely nothing positive to say about them. Inconsistent pellet size(some 2+" long), huge piles of gray ash, very poor heat output, and 8 bags inches second ton were water logged. I had better luck with the Stove Chow, FSU, and Green Supremes I burned before these 2 tons of worthless sawdust arrived into our lives.

I just picked up 6 bags of the American Wood Fibers White Pine. I hope they are good, our local TSC has them for $239/ton.

whitetailscout said:

I just picked up 6 bags of the American Wood Fibers White Pine. I hope they are good, our local TSC has them for $239/ton.

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I've heard nothing but good reports from other customers I've talked to at the hardware store. All have been happy with the heat output and especially the low amount of ash. I've not tried them yet this year. I still have 14 bags of Lignetics I'm going thru. Plus some Somersets stashed away as well.

Still haven't tried the 3 bags of Forests pride yet. Probably give them a run after the next cleanout.