Pellet Fuel Institute (Athens Pellets)

if you are able to, always try to get pellets with the PFI stamp on them.

There are a few threads going on about Athens Pellets you might be
interested in. Here is one of em.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/24941/

I was operating under the same assumption and also bought three ton of these pellets. My stove wont even stay running there is so much ash in it after just a few hours of burning. I have tried other types and have no trouble, but I cant get them in bulk. Important and expensive lesson learned for me. I hope you have better luck. I am VERY unhappy.

If I remember right, the standards were only proposed standards until recently (I believe in July) when they approved the proposed standards. It will take some time for the manufactures to get up to speed to meet all the requirements. I think the PFI is looking for the standards to be fully implemented in 2010.

I have use four bags, haven't had to clean the ash as it has less then a cup in the tray, Inside the housing no more then another pellets I've used. I'm pleasantly pleased as I pre-ordered three tons at $219.00 and would be stuck with them.

After just 2 bags my ash try is 3/4 full (about 8 cups). This is a real pain cleaning it every 24 hours.

I have been using the Athens pellets in my Harmon Stove for about 2 months now. They burn very well and I have not had to clean the glass yet. This is a record for my glass staying clean in the 15 years that I have owned pellet stoves. The ash is slightly more than some and this weekend will be the first time I empty my ash pan. However I don't have any soot on the inside of the stove . I have burned approx 25-30 bags so far. The pellets are shorter than most but I don't have a lot of dust in the bags. In the 15 tears that I have burned pellets i have burned a lot of different pellets in 3 different stoves that I have owned. I have found that every time i changed brands of pellets i needed to change my stove settings to get the maximum efficiency from my stove. I have found the Athens pellets burn best in my stove at a feed setting of 1.5. I set the room temperature to what I need and adjust the circulating fan to a level that does the job. I would prefer to have the stove run longer to maintain temperature than constantly turn off and on.
I know several other people who have different model stoves with dampers who have increased the air and reduced the feed rate to the minimum setting to start and then made small adjustments in air, feed and circulating fan speed to get the heat they need and are having good luck with the pellets. As with anything this probably won't work for everyone but may be a start.
Hope this helps.

Please tell me, can the damper setting control amount of ash? I could understand it affecting soot or glass build up but these pellets are leaving sand and grit in my burn pot.

Tried one bag of penningtons and they had 1/10 the ash but were sooty.
Like a few bags of Spruce Pointe I tried, little ash but clinkers. I guess you pick your poison.

My Glowboy runs much more efficiently with the damper more open than it was set at. More complete combustion I guess. I've set things so on the lowest feed setting, the fire stays lit, on higher settings, there is no popcorning, and the flame is quite enegetic.

Maine Woods is listed on the PFI web site as being a "Member", though no PFI stamp on the bags. I emailed PFI about this concern and about the crappy *Premium* pellets they are putting out.

PFI never responded, of course...

I've burned four bags, no more ash in the pan then other pellets, finer sut like ash in the burning area. I'm pleasantly pleased to find out I haven't had the same experience other people have had with these pellets. They are smaller in the length with no uniform length. I have three tons of these, hope I keep having a positive experience.

Deed said:

I've burned four bags, no more ash in the pan then other pellets, finer sut like ash in the burning area. I'm pleasantly pleased to find out I haven't had the same experience other people have had with these pellets. They are smaller in the length with no uniform length. I have three tons of these, hope I keep having a positive experience.

Click to expand...

I have to question when 2 "different" posters use the same term "pleasantly pleased" when describing a product that so many others have had the same identical expewrience that I have with these pellets.
Could it be the people that don't answer their phones in Athens posting?

not sure why they don't answer the phone, but I'm glade I'm not out of $657.00, as I have already paid for the pellets. So yes I'm pleasant pleased. Another reason to be glade about these pellets "I don't have to listen to my wife." Who is a Monday morning quarterback.

I have spoken to the Athens plant on several occasions but have had the best luck in the middle of the day getting thru. I know they are running 24/7 but I believe only have 2 people in the office working during the day. They seemed helpful and were able to answer my questions. I called the number on the bag.

Can you share any of the nature of you calls to Athens. If you are so pleased with the product can't imagine why so many calls?

I haven't had any issues if that is what you mean. I did discuss my stove settings with them when I started burning. I was simply saying that if anyone has a problem they should call and discuss it with them. I only started monitoring this forum because a friend of mine said that maybe I could offer some suggestions since i have used pellets for so long. I have found out over the years that the only way to fix a problem of any kind is to discuss it with people who can have an impact on the solution.
Right now I would suggest adjusted stove settings or calling the manufacturer of the stove and pellets and explaining your problems to them. They will be the ones that can really help you.
I see that you asked about damper adjustments affecting ash. Generally speaking you may have incombusted material in with your ash. A proper fuel air mixture could allow you to get more heat with less fuel etc.
I only offer this as a suggestion to be helpful not to be argumentative.

Pelletuser is right about your sandy ash left behind being uncombusted material. Your pellets probably have a considerable amount of minerals and silca in them. These particals would have been absorbed during the life of the trees. This is normal but is more prevelant in some pellets than others depending on where the wood resources originally came from to make your pellets. If your burning on low, than these minerals which are non-combustionable will be left behind giving a sandy textured ash. The pellet fiber burns but not these minerals. If you increase the intenisty of your fire, you will probably see more sparks. At higher burn rates these minerals and silica will start to melt. This might eliminate the sandy texture but once they start melting, you will start seeing clinker formations.

pelletuser said:

I haven't had any issues if that is what you mean. I did discuss my stove settings with them when I started burning. I was simply saying that if anyone has a problem they should call and discuss it with them. I only started monitoring this forum because a friend of mine said that maybe I could offer some suggestions since i have used pellets for so long. I have found out over the years that the only way to fix a problem of any kind is to discuss it with people who can have an impact on the solution.
Right now I would suggest adjusted stove settings or calling the manufacturer of the stove and pellets and explaining your problems to them. They will be the ones that can really help you.
I see that you asked about damper adjustments affecting ash. Generally speaking you may have incombusted material in with your ash. A proper fuel air mixture could allow you to get more heat with less fuel etc.
I only offer this as a suggestion to be helpful not to be argumentative.

Click to expand...

Seems strange you would call the pellet manufacture instead of the stove manufacture for stove settings. I would assume you would call the pellet manufacture to complain about there lousy pellets.

pelletuser said:

I haven't had any issues if that is what you mean. I did discuss my stove settings with them when I started burning. I was simply saying that if anyone has a problem they should call and discuss it with them. I only started monitoring this forum because a friend of mine said that maybe I could offer some suggestions since i have used pellets for so long. I have found out over the years that the only way to fix a problem of any kind is to discuss it with people who can have an impact on the solution.
Right now I would suggest adjusted stove settings or calling the manufacturer of the stove and pellets and explaining your problems to them. They will be the ones that can really help you.
I see that you asked about damper adjustments affecting ash. Generally speaking you may have incombusted material in with your ash. A proper fuel air mixture could allow you to get more heat with less fuel etc.
I only offer this as a suggestion to be helpful not to be argumentative.

Click to expand...

All I can say is that I have now tried 4 different kinds of pellets. Some burn dirtier than others but all of them burn hotter and with a much brighter and higher flame than the athens on ANY setting. Don't have any choice but to burn them but they do have a lot of junk in them and I think the company was dishonest advertising them as premium.