So Many Pellet Manufactures...

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

KJKraemer

New Member
Jan 23, 2008
4
SE Connecticut
Hi folks.

I am another of the newby crowd. I am about to have my Quadrafire 1200i hooked up and am searching for the right pellet. I'm considering the Hammer Ultra Premium Pellets (Oak) as they sure sound good and are available from a local dealer with free delivery. But...in researching pellets, there are a million different kinds! How do you know what's the best? I can't believe how many brands that are available.

Any help would be appreciated.

Kirk
 
Hi,
I also have a quadafire cb 1200. I hope you have better luck adjusting your flame height than I do. I've been using Ozark hardwood premium pellets. I have found that this unit has a hard time starting when you have a lot of ash buildup in the burn pot. I have tried other brands. My burn pot is cleaned out everyday. Good luck and let me know what pellets you buy.
 
Keep in mind
there are a lot of brands
but about half as many Manufactures for there is a lot of private labeling or manufactures using different brand names going on.

there are 86 PFI pellet mills online (some of the 86 are the same company with multible mills)
Over 26 NEW mills are due online in the next year or so

There are other mills that are not members of PFI also.

http://www.pelletheat.org/3/residential/fuelAvailability.cfm
 
You probably want to stay away from Home Depot/Sams/Wally World etc. My mentors here in Fredoia have had nothing but bad luck However Tractor Supply had lignetics for $200.00/ton and they love em. I am still learning about the stove and not an expert like my beer drinking pals claim to be
 
ootski said:
You probably want to stay away from Home Depot/Sams/Wally World etc. My mentors here in Fredoia have had nothing but bad luck However Tractor Supply had lignetics for $200.00/ton and they love em. I am still learning about the stove and not an expert like my beer drinking pals claim to be

Hmm....its funny how product can change from territory to territory....I have had very good luck with the brand Home Depot is selling here in Maine(Fireside Ultras). I bought a few bags of Green Team at Lowes yesterday just to try....heard good reports of them.
 
KJKraemer said:
Hi folks.

I am another of the newby crowd. I am about to have my Quadrafire 1200i hooked up and am searching for the right pellet. I'm considering the Hammer Ultra Premium Pellets (Oak) as they sure sound good and are available from a local dealer with free delivery. But...in researching pellets, there are a million different kinds! How do you know what's the best? I can't believe how many brands that are available.

Any help would be appreciated.

Kirk

Consider yourself fortunate, there are many areas that only have one or two choices. If possible, always try out a few bags before committing to a large order. Stick to pfi premium fuels, avoid standard pellets. If you find a large variation of pellet sizes in a bag and particularly very long pellets (greater than 1" long), stay away from them, they may bridge in your unit. Also note how much sawdust is at the bottom of the bag. Ideally you want none. A lot is not a good sign.
 
Having owned a Quad 1200 and having burned Hamer pellets in it, I opine this is a bad combination. The 1200, especially the insert model, is very sensitive to pellet bridging over the hopper intake. Hamer pellets, at least the ones I have burned, were of widely disparate lengths, including some beauties that were over 2.75 inches long. Don't know what your budget is, but as respects trying to save money with free delivery, "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten".
 
Oregon here. We have lots to choose from and are still going through the process of choosing pellets for our new stove (about two weeks old now). I didn't believe that it would be that big of a difference from one brand to the next, but as an example, the Home Depot "Firemaster" brand ($4.19) leave about 8-10x as much ash in the stove as the Hot Shots ($4.49).
 
CygnusX1 said:
staplebox said:
-KJ
Who delivers them for free in this area?

You can try Pelletsdirect, they service MA, RI & CT. I've had very good luck with them and they carry many varieties of pellets.

http://www.pelletsdirect.com/
THey don't deliver for free though. I live 2 towns away and the charge is $30. The further away the higher the cost.
 
Dojistar said:
CygnusX1 said:
staplebox said:
-KJ
Who delivers them for free in this area?

You can try Pelletsdirect, they service MA, RI & CT. I've had very good luck with them and they carry many varieties of pellets.

http://www.pelletsdirect.com/
THey don't deliver for free though. I live 2 towns away and the charge is $30. The further away the higher the cost.

Anyone who delivers for free is going to jack up the cost of their pellets. No one delivers for "free".
 
I just bought a ton of Green Tree (not Green Team) from Lowes yesterday. Put the entire thing inside my 2004 Durango. 500 lbs over the rated loading limit. I know that there's some margin for safety so I took the chance and just drove real slow, no fast starts, no quick braking, and no sudden turns. Took about 5 minutes to load and about 5 minutes to undload.

Price was $220 a ton in Merced, CA.
 
mitakuuluu said:
Oregon here. We have lots to choose from and are still going through the process of choosing pellets for our new stove (about two weeks old now). I didn't believe that it would be that big of a difference from one brand to the next, but as an example, the Home Depot "Firemaster" brand ($4.19) leave about 8-10x as much ash in the stove as the Hot Shots ($4.49).

Hot Shots are made by WOW Pellets, they also make Blazers which are good. Also try to see if you can get Lignetics Premium, Manke CleanBurn, or Bear Mountain GoldenFires. If you have a big truck, there is a Dels Farm Supply up in Philomath, OR. Dels was selling Blazers at $199/ton last fall. Their fall sales are worth tracking and stocking up at. They also sometimes do a spring inventory cleanout sale if they have pellets left over. Worth checking on too.

Del's Farm Supply
2606 Main Street
Philomath, OR 97370-9291

(541) 929-3161
 
We only have the choice between Pennington and Somerset here in Cincinnati. If anyone around here finds another brand, let me know. I'd love to try them out. There's a pellet mill about and hour and a half east of here, and they don't sell to this area. Don't reme,ber the name of the place, though.

FWIW, the Pennington's around here blow, and the Somersets were OK. The Somersets were about $20 more a ton than the Penningtons ($219 at HD)
 
ElPedro said:
We only have the choice between Pennington and Somerset here in Cincinnati. If anyone around here finds another brand, let me know. I'd love to try them out. There's a pellet mill about and hour and a half east of here, and they don't sell to this area. Don't reme,ber the name of the place, though.

FWIW, the Pennington's around here blow, and the Somersets were OK. The Somersets were about $20 more a ton than the Penningtons ($219 at HD)

ElPedro, Engels Hardware on Harrison Ave has Lignetics. Pretty pricey tho @ 249 a ton. They do burn hot and have very low ash content. Where you at in Cincy?

We are in Colerain area.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.