new stove being ruined by soft pellets?

  • 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.

mloupagu

New Member
Oct 1, 2008
12
Lakes Region, NH
Just bought and installed an Englander 25-PDVC pellet stove and bought a lot of soft pellets! A friend of mine just told me that soft pellets will ruin my stove. Bumming me out because I have 7.5 tons sitting in my garage! I know this subject has been talked about but why is there such confusion and misinformation about soft vs hard pellets? If soft pellets are so bad, why do they sell them?

Thanks!
 
What's meant by soft pellets? Are the mushy or are these softwood pellets? If they are premium softwood pellets, they'll be fine. They may actually burn cleaner than some hardwood pellets.
 
You must mean softwood?

I think your friend is blowin it out his chute. ;-)
 
It's been said here many times, softwood vs hardwood, they both make up a 40lb bag. Personally, I like softwood pellets. No they don't burn better or worse than hardwood, I just like the way they smell! It really comes down to what burns well in your stove, don't spend too much time on this debate. If the pellets are falling apart (soft?), it has nothing to do with what they are made of wood wise, it has everything to do with how they were made.
 
Don't fall victim to the rumor that premium softwood pellets are any different than premium hardwood pellets. Ash content, moisture content and almost everything else is so close to the same between hardwood and softwood that I wouldn't concern myself with it in the least. Actually I burn both varieties in our pellets and notice little difference.
 
I have almost always just gone with the cheapest (premium) option available to me, and have really never been disappointed. Over 3+ years of burning and I would say that i've had somewhat better results with softwood. Hardwood burns just fine though too.

Hopefully we're on the right track here and you don't literally have 7.5 tons of soft "mushy" pellets.
BTW 7.5 tons...wow!
 
Thanks...yes...I meant Premium Softwood!!! I was hoping my friend would take them off my hands..I ordered way too much because of minimum delivery...not that they would go to waste as long as I keep them dry! With delivery I ended up paying $6.30 a bag which isn't bad around here I think???
 
mloupagu said:
Thanks...yes...I meant Premium Softwood!!! I was hoping my friend would take them off my hands..I ordered way too much because of minimum delivery...not that they would go to waste as long as I keep them dry! With delivery I ended up paying $6.30 a bag which isn't bad around here I think???

Do you play linebacker at USC? (Just looking at your username)
 
mloupagu said:
Thanks...yes...I meant Premium Softwood!!! I was hoping my friend would take them off my hands..I ordered way too much because of minimum delivery...not that they would go to waste as long as I keep them dry! With delivery I ended up paying $6.30 a bag which isn't bad around here I think???

$315/ton is one of the highest I've heard about on this forum....a lot more than I would have paid. I hope that included free delivery at least.
 
mloupagu said:
Just bought and installed an Englander 25-PDVC pellet stove and bought a lot of soft pellets! A friend of mine just told me that soft pellets will ruin my stove. Bumming me out because I have 7.5 tons sitting in my garage! I know this subject has been talked about but why is there such confusion and misinformation about soft vs hard pellets? If soft pellets are so bad, why do they sell them?

Thanks!



If this is a modern pellet stove, do not.........i repeat, do not burn those softwood pellets in your stove. The creosote buildup will cause many problems. Fortunately for you there is help available. I will come over and take all those harmful pellets away, leaving plenty of storage space for the hardwood pellets you will need to replace them with. I will provide this service FREE of charge !!!
 
Your friend, :roll: either dosen't know what he's talking about or he's feeding you a line or BS. Burn those pellets to death. :)
 
Corie said:
Don't fall victim to the rumor that premium softwood pellets are any different than premium hardwood pellets. Ash content, moisture content and almost everything else is so close to the same between hardwood and softwood that I wouldn't concern myself with it in the least. Actually I burn both varieties in our pellets and notice little difference.

My experience exactly. Agree 100%.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.