Need some pellet help

mik_kane said:

I just called around for pellets and here are my choices so far. I have looked up each pellet here with all mixed results and old posts from 3 years ago, so I am looking for some new reviews cause pellets change from year to year. So out of the pellets listed what would you recommend ( I do not have time to buy a couple of bags and try them out, nor do I want to start burning in the middle of summer)
Thanks

Timber heat
North American
Freedom Fuel
Stove Chow
American Wood Fiber

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1st 3 i eould pass on. I had good luck with the chow the past couple seasons but they didnt cut it thru the real cold snaps. Awf pine pellets were awsome and i would def load up on thise if i could find them

I had trouble with the AWP ultra premium pine pellets. They were great heat wise and hardly any ash at all but for some reason they wouldn't slide down the hopper. The stove would turn itself off as if out of fuel and there would still be 3/4 of a hopper full. I didn't want to baby sit the stove so I burned the few bags that I had and was done with them. Judging by everyone elses opinion of them it seems like it might just be a very unique experience on my part though.

NEPA.... why the heck are you not using coal??

Dan

I agree with corkman. Skip the first 3 and go with the Chows and AWFs. Maybe consider a couple tons of each? Chows are consistently some of the hottest pellets I've burned, but they are also some of the highest ash pellets as well, so just be aware there is more frequent burnpot scraping required to keep a good flame. I burned some of the AWF hardwoods last season and they were really good. Great heat and very little ash, I would buy them again without hesitation. I also burned the AWF softwoods (Ultra Premium White Pine) and my experience was similar to that mr47930 described above. On the good side, they had low ash. On the bad side, they also had low heat output (for me). Also had hopper slide issues with them (they are tacky and don't want to slide) and they would jump out of the burnpot well before they were completely burned. The fly ash was like nothing I've seen before, it was like watching a fireworks show inside the stove. Would not buy those again, but also understand that I'm probably in the minority on that one because it seems most really liked them last season.

Anyway, hope this helps a little?

In doing my own research, Pellet "batches" change from year to year. I can get Barefoots pretty local for way less than Hamers, did some research and %97 of users loved em, then theres "those guys" who dog a pellet because they had a bum bag. I bought 4-5 bags of every manufacturer I saw, I noticed some were hot, and some were not as hot. ALL made ash. ALL heated my house for waaaay cheaper than propain. If you know what your stove likes, stock-up...

mik_kane said:

I would rather deal with pellet dust than coal dust

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I know... the coal is more dusty/dirty.. but it's so much cheaper/hotter...
I keep thinking about switching primary to pellet from coal, then say... maybe next time

Dan

mik_kane said:

I just called around for pellets and here are my choices so far. I have looked up each pellet here with all mixed results and old posts from 3 years ago, so I am looking for some new reviews cause pellets change from year to year. So out of the pellets listed what would you recommend? ( I do not have time to buy a couple of bags and try them out, nor do I want to start burning in the middle of summer)
Thanks

Timber heat
North American
Freedom Fuel
Stove Chow
American Wood Fiber (not white pine)

Click to expand...

General rule about buying pellets and others can confirm; if it has the words freedom, American, Nation or Pride in the name, stay away from it. It's usually crap that is coying to patriotism and is so lousy of a wood pellet that my cats won't even pee on it.

Agree about the Chows of which I burned 3 tons over the past 2 seasons..
good heat but Ashy as heck....

smwilliamson said:

General rule about buying pellets and others can confirm; if it has the words freedom, American, Nation or Pride in the name, stay away from it. It's usually crap that is coying to patriotism and is so lousy of a wood pellet that my cats won't even pee on it.

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I just about spit coffee all over my keyboard. Damn.

smwilliamson said:

General rule about buying pellets and others can confirm; if it has the words freedom, American, Nation or Pride in the name, stay away from it. It's usually crap that is coying to patriotism and is so lousy of a wood pellet that my cats won't even pee on it.

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Brilliant. True.