Pellet vs Stove performances, Is it just me or are we all doomed?

Between variabilities in stove design, tuning allowances ranges even with like/identical stoves, variabilities in fuel supplies and variabilities with user/operators and individual installs a range of user experiences should be expected.

Everyone has different preferences. I dont know of anyone who actually measures lbs/hr and btu output. They put there hand next to the blower and say thats hot or my ash sure looks fluffy.

A lot depends on the actual stove and the person running it...
by that I mean that Harman's for example are mostly automatic without any adjusting needed.
pretty much set feed rate and temperature desired.
other type stoves a person has more leeway and can adjust air flow and other things besides the feed rate..[this can lead to correct or incorrect messin with the stove]
and Maintanence of the stove is a big factor....some do barley any while others are OCD with the're stoves..
so.... milage will vary with the same pellets being used in different stoves with different attenders...

To answer your question,
Hardwoods on the whole will leave more ash than softwoods generally...
But do your own testing and find out what works best for you including pellet brands,,,,'
I find that this site is more valuable when problems with your stove arise and many here can help get your stove back on track
than finding out which pellets are best or worst.. Home Depot is consistant with selling ashy brands but most produce good heat so they sell 100's and 100's of tons regardless.
that said, the overwhelming opinions here go with the Douglas Fir Softwoods as best of the best...
Blazers, Okanagan etc..

Some stoves with small 1/2" shaft augers using the old bronze SAE 841 auger bearings have trouble with 100 % hardwood pellets and sometimes break. I have seen auger motors in the bottom of these stoves after the hitch pin sheared off and the hole in the auger shaft ripped open!
In these cases I recommend 100% Softwood pellets like Oakanagan or Doug Firs...etc just to keep it running!

Francois said:

Hi,

Last winter, I used 4 brands of pellets. I had one brand that was superior to all others..

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We get our pellets from Canada... which ones did you like/dislike

Dan

I search for reviews that are fairly recent. Batches change and quality can be erratic. I also wish people would say what stove they own in their reviews.

My Englander loved Hamers, Greenways, and a no-name from TSC. If I ever see Greenways again, Ill buy as much as I can afford and stock-pile the basement....

It was less enthused about Green Supreme and any NEWP, but they heated my house just fine...

LaCretes and Energex were good, but I found plastic shrapnel in the bags by chance. Likely a fluke. I would order a Ton of Energex over LaCretes.

The longer Lignetics would cause minor Auger binding, but you could hear it grind through it. Not something I was cool with. Lignetics also a hard-starter in my stove, Hamers went up like a gas can with a match.

I pre-ordered Curran Blend- 1 ton, and Barefoots 1-ton. I havent even burned one bag of either yet. The price was not to be passed on considering what I was spending per bag experimenting last winter...

Im not a 24/7 burner. I kick it on at ~4pm every day, and the Wife shuts it off ~7am every morning. Then the Propain boiler keeps house at 62 until we come home. Brand new house, 1600 sqft, extra insulation. Just having my LCD TV on heats up living room. Stove runs Continuous all weekend.

Boiler - 62*
Englander 73*

Before I installed Pellet Stove, I kept house at 64. Burning an avg of 250.00 a month in Propain, at $2.19 a gallon. I made 35 bags of pellets last longer than a month with house nearly 10* warmer.

Francois,
I really do not use a lot of pellets, myself.
And I only use them to keep my garage/shop warm. (48°- 50°)
It keeps the cars and bike happy when it's single numbers out!
I crank it up when I have to work out there..
But I have tested a lot of pellets available locally,
as well as the ones we sell.

We sell La Crete, LG Granules, LG Super Premium, Platinums, North Country
Olympus Douglas Fir (new this year to us).
I am happy with any of those, to be honest.
They are all premium pellets.
There is certainly a difference between any of those, and most BBS stuff.
If there wasn't, we wouldn't sell any!
And today, their prices have gone up more than ours, so the spread these
days is much smaller... But many look at the dollar... which is fine. We get it.
But as you have found, the savings is not that great, if you burn more!

Dan

The LG Super premiums, are getting more and more popular for us.
They are made from one specie of wood, and they come in 30# bags...
They are cleaner and a tad hotter than the granules, IMO..
So many customers that are either getting older, or some women that tend the stove
frequently, or those with back problems LOVE the 30# bags.
So for many it's a win/win all around..
The Maximums are not available to us anymore... and we would not get them if they were...
For our money, softwoods are the only thing that people want these days..
We used to sell a couple of loads of hardwoods, but it didn't take long for
most to figure the difference.. I don't think we have got one call so far this season..

So really, Francois, if the Super premiums are not much more than the Granules,
I think you would be happy with them!
Or.. buy your usual Granules, and one ton of the Supers.

We have been pushing for some time now, to those unsure or on the fence
about brands, to mix them up, and burn each a week at a time during the coldest weather..
Very common for people to take a ton or so of La Crete, a ton or so of LG, maybe a ton of Douglas Fir..
We mix them up all the time... that way, they find which works best for their application..
The next season, they get their favorite..

Dan

Francois said:

Thanks for heads up on the Super Premium and Maximum. I'll continue my research for the Super Premium.

As for the mix, that's almost what I've done last season. but with small quantities. Since pellets were hard to find around february,most store limited sell to aroung 10 bags. But that was enough to test them during a week. And that's what I learned from this thread, test pellets on your own and review them yourself. Different setup = different behaviours.

Francois

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best to test yourself when u can and use the pellet reviews here as a guidline sorta.
One man's Goldstrike is anothers man's Mudslide when it comes to pellets...
type of Stove and users Maint or lack of play into it all..

Francois said:

Found it, can't remember the manufacturer, but it says "Satisfaction" on the bag and was bought at HomeDepot (canada).

http://www.homedepot.ca/produit/granule-de-bois-premium-satisfaction-40-lb/965052

It says LG Wood Pellet on HomeDepot's website, but it's not the same LG as Granules LG

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Francois - how did you like the Satisfaction pellets? I am considering buying some for this season.

Tonyray said:

best to test yourself when u can and use the pellet reviews here as a guidline sorta.
One man's Goldstrike is anothers man's Mudslide when it comes to pellets...
type of Stove and users Maint or lack of play into it all..

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I remember last year stumbling across American Wood Fiber Ultras. My stove loved them but other posters said they had bad luck with them. Another brand that did well in my stove last year was Barefoot's yet others posted them as being very ashy. There is no pellet shortage right now so buy three or four bags of different brands and find the one(s) your stove likes.

Peterfield said:

I remember last year stumbling across American Wood Fiber Ultras. My stove loved them but other posters said they had bad luck with them. Another brand that did well in my stove last year was Barefoot's yet others posted them as being very ashy. There is no pellet shortage right now so buy three or four bags of different brands and find the one(s) your stove likes.

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I'm with you. I also stumbled across the American Wood Fiber Ultras last year and loved them and my goto pellet is barefoot.. This is all I'm burning this year.

Husky said:

I'm with you. I also stumbled across the American Wood Fiber Ultras last year and loved them and my goto pellet is barefoot.. This is all I'm burning this year.

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With a Harman stove able to burn pretty much anything out there with no problem, usually the amounts of ash left over is the deciding factor in buying pellets for me.. going with all Softwood firs next season].
[ One different example is O'malley's hardwoods.. Hands down the longest pellets in the Universe.. they gave good heat but left Flat Carbon deposits in the burnpot that we're so hard to break up that I couldn't wait till the ton was finally gone. Talk about scrapeing..jeez.... no exageration here.

I took the plunge, bought 2 pallets of Satisfaction. Hope they aren't crap at $6/bag. I still need another pallet, not sure if I'll get more Satisfaction or try something else. I've burned Comfy Cosy the last 2 years with no issues, and most people think they're crap, so these couldn't be any worse.

Francois said:

Ok, now it's funny. Satisfaction IS in fact the same as Granules LG Premium. I just got off the phone and they provide Satisfaction to HomeDepot.

I talked to the rep about the fact that it seems to burn faster, but it might just be variation in the batch, might have been colder outside and more wind, ...
It is branded as Satisfaction for HomeDepot.
And I also found out that Granules LG' Super Premium is only available at Canac. in Quebec

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Digging up an old post cause I was looking for the best pellets for th $$$
Found your add and there the cheapest around! $5 CDN a bag!

Can you say 3 pallets coming home! Stove will be here on Saturday!

It's only money........lol