la Crete or bridgewell softwoods

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JRA

Feeling the Heat
Nov 24, 2014
343
north shore ma
On my way to grab 10 bags which should I get. I have heard of la crete but not bridgewell thanks
 
Don't Know Bridgewells. Using LaCretes for the first time right now. Burning clean and Hot.
Getting quite a bit of ash. Very light and fluffy though but a lot more than my Vermonts.
As in your sig, I would never use Green Supreme again either. And there at $5.58 a BAG in Lowes.
 
I experienced the same results. I thought LaCretes were great until I switched over to Vermont's . Great heat from both but a little more ash from the LaCrete.
 
Here's the ash build-up after 3 days of 24 / 7 Quad Castile operation, burning LaCrete pellets. I partially obstruct my air wash, which likely increases my ash production, but that also gives me an average of about 20 degree higher air temps coming out of each exchanger tube, and a 3 - 5 degree temp increase in the stove room, vs leaving the air wash unobstructed at the same medium heat setting.

I typically sweep the firebox clean every day with a paint brush, and vacuum it every 3rd day, but I've been sick as a dog all this week so routine maintenance got deferred for a few days. Note the absence of any ash in the burn pot, which all blows out into the firebox given the increased forced draft through the burn pot.

The ash is very light and fluffy, white to light tan in color with pretty much complete combustion. So it cleans up easily, even the door glass brushes clean with just a paint brush swipe until maybe day 3 and 4 1/2 to 5 bags have been burned, then just a damp paper towel wipe cleans the glass.

My shop vac pulls out most all the fly ash from above the heat exchanger baffle and from behind the rear cast plate ash traps without having to remove them, as I found when I did my deep 1 ton cleaning last weekend.

LaCrete's burn as hot as any pellet I've tried, short of DF's, which I'll likely buy for next year. There's just more ash than there should be it seems, IMO, for the premium price you pay for them.

7122.jpg
 
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My ash is the same color here. But an awful lot for a premium pellet. My ash pan was full and pilingbon the door after 4 days of burning. (24 hrs). Good heat but just too much ash.
 
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