WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT PENNINGTON NATURES HEAT SOLD AT LOWES AND HOME DEPOT

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schnkp said:
johnnywarm said:
cheaply made pellets you will burn more or faster.you will not be as warm as you would with the top brands.last year was the first year i was not happy with the pellets that i got a deal on.but i guess its to each his own.

Have you tested out an natures heat yet?



Not today,its 90 out.
 
schnkp said:
Humm i find it difficult to understand how you can tell that some pellets burn hotter than others?


I put a thermometer by the stove.
 
To give me a base line I used a magnetic thermometer thats used for stove pipe and I put it on the stove where I think it is about the hottest area. Then record temps at a constant setting, setting of 2 in my case. There is variables i.e. outside and inside air temps, that will change the reading, but if the variables are similar temps should be about the same. I know from one of my test last year I had a 80* or more differance between a couple of brands / bags...

Speaking of which just came back from Lowes by me and they have the Presto brand @ 5.97 / bag - something don't seem right there....
 
Bill... said:
To give me a base line I used a magnetic thermometer thats used for stove pipe and I put it on the stove where I think it is about the hottest area. Then record temps at a constant setting, setting of 2 in my case. There is variables i.e. outside and inside air temps, that will change the reading, but if the variables are similar temps should be about the same. I know from one of my test last year I had a 80* or more differance between a couple of brands / bags...

Speaking of which just came back from Lowes by me and they have the Presto brand @ 5.97 / bag - something don't seem right there....


Bill
Is the presto brand pres to logs???theres soooooooo many out there.
 
To me it appeared to be the same company that makes the presto logs, the bag looked similar to the log wrappers, same color scheme.
 
Bill... said:
To me it appeared to be the same company that makes the presto logs, the bag looked similar to the log wrappers, same color scheme.


Just what i thought when i seen them.i will say they feel very dry.i think thats a good thing.
 
I just joined this thread - my first year using a pellet stove, Harman P38. It's an awesome stove; unfortunately I didn't know that I needed to worry about the quality of the Pennington Premium Hardwood Pellets. In August 2008, I purchased 2 tons of Pennington's Nature's Heat from Home Depot, besides one New England ton from my pellet stove dealer. I had used a few of the New England brand very happily, but simply because of their location in our garage, decided I should start using the Pennington up. Well! Immediately I noticed the HUGE amount of sawdust in each bag - as well as the long pellets. Not realizing that this could be a problem for our Harmon, I have used maybe 20 bags (or more) of the 2 tons. Sure enough, 7 days ago the fire started going out on average 4 times a day! I have been having to sleep on the couch at night, so I can be aware that the fire is dying out. (very sleepless nights!) I began watching carefully what was going on inside the stove and saw the auger turning, but no pellets being pushed through. I started to figure out that the problem was the LONG pellets getting stuck - besides HUGE amounts of ash forming inside the burn pot. Every once in awhile, I would hear a popping noise (a long pellet breaking?) and the pellets would start to flow for a short time...or I would dig around in the hopper, trying to 'shake things up' - and trying to move sawdust out of the way of the opening to the auger.
What a nightmare! This pellet stove is my responsibility, because my husband is recuperating from kidney cancer AND open heart surgery. I really don't want to deal with this pellet headache for the rest of the winter.
So, today I tried calling the manager at Home Depot, and he said he had never heard of this problem with Pennington before; I would have to BRING BACK the remaining bags, if I wanted an exchange! Good Lord! Me?? How??
That's when I looked online to see if anyone else had had this problem - and that's how I came upon this thread. I am very disheartened that now, in December 2008, I am experiencing the same issue with this brand that all of you did last year, and I'm extremely frustrated that Pennington is STILL allowing these defective pellets to be sold. [FYI, I had to WAIT 2 weeks back in August for a NEW shipment of pellets to arrive at HD, so they were not old bags that had been sitting around there from last year (although they might have been at a HD warehouse since last season)]
Tomorrow I will try Pennington's customer number and hopefully get some help.
Just wanted to thank all of you for your input from last season -I've learned A LOT a little too late. I also wanted you all to be aware that there is still an issue with the poor quality of this brand this season.
Debra
 
FWIW, I just finish using 20 bags that had been sitting in my damp basement for the last 6 or 7 years... They burned pretty well (other than the mildew smell from the bottom bags). Funny, I didn't see any pellets in these bags that were over an inch and less than a 1/4 cup of fines in each bag. At least they knew how to make decent pellets at some point.


EDIT: I just looked at the bags again last night and realized they were not the same brand. Opps!
 
dvv711 said:
I just joined this thread - my first year using a pellet stove, Harman P38. It's an awesome stove; unfortunately I didn't know that I needed to worry about the quality of the Pennington Premium Hardwood Pellets. In August 2008, I purchased 2 tons of Pennington's Nature's Heat from Home Depot, besides one New England ton from my pellet stove dealer. I had used a few of the New England brand very happily, but simply because of their location in our garage, decided I should start using the Pennington up. Well! Immediately I noticed the HUGE amount of sawdust in each bag - as well as the long pellets. Not realizing that this could be a problem for our Harmon, I have used maybe 20 bags (or more) of the 2 tons. Sure enough, 7 days ago the fire started going out on average 4 times a day! I have been having to sleep on the couch at night, so I can be aware that the fire is dying out. (very sleepless nights!) I began watching carefully what was going on inside the stove and saw the auger turning, but no pellets being pushed through. I started to figure out that the problem was the LONG pellets getting stuck - besides HUGE amounts of ash forming inside the burn pot. Every once in awhile, I would hear a popping noise (a long pellet breaking?) and the pellets would start to flow for a short time...or I would dig around in the hopper, trying to 'shake things up' - and trying to move sawdust out of the way of the opening to the auger.
What a nightmare! This pellet stove is my responsibility, because my husband is recuperating from kidney cancer AND open heart surgery. I really don't want to deal with this pellet headache for the rest of the winter.
So, today I tried calling the manager at Home Depot, and he said he had never heard of this problem with Pennington before; I would have to BRING BACK the remaining bags, if I wanted an exchange! Good Lord! Me?? How??
That's when I looked online to see if anyone else had had this problem - and that's how I came upon this thread. I am very disheartened that now, in December 2008, I am experiencing the same issue with this brand that all of you did last year, and I'm extremely frustrated that Pennington is STILL allowing these defective pellets to be sold. [FYI, I had to WAIT 2 weeks back in August for a NEW shipment of pellets to arrive at HD, so they were not old bags that had been sitting around there from last year (although they might have been at a HD warehouse since last season)]
Tomorrow I will try Pennington's customer number and hopefully get some help.
Just wanted to thank all of you for your input from last season -I've learned A LOT a little too late. I also wanted you all to be aware that there is still an issue with the poor quality of this brand this season.
Debra

Debra,

Please call Pennington Seed Customer Service @ 1-800-658-0410 ext. 187 as soon as possible to discuss the trouble you are encountering with these pellets.

Thank you, Bobbie
 
Debra, Yes I would definitely call Pennington.

You might want to check the date code on the top corner of the bags. This year I picked up a few bags Pennington's from WalMart since the company rep has been active here on the forum and would try out them out. The date code on the few bags I picked up were - "09-19-09 MT" and a big difference from last years, more uniform pellet size and the heat output is good.

Best of luck, sleepless nights are not good....
 
Back again in this never ending thread. I have burned about 1/ ton of my 3 I got from Sams Club in August ( Pennington). Yea they do burn with quite a bit of dust. Enough that I went and put the grinder mechanism back in my Countryside which immediately took care of the problem. The length of the pellets made in Aug 01/08 seem normal and not an awful lot of dust in the bottom of the bags either. They work fine for me although at what seems a reduced heat output.
Bottom line: Fine if you get them for a good price but for a premium price or a fussy stove or one without an ash drawer I would definitely look elsewhere if possible.
 
I bought two tons of these pellets and have found.....
Loaded with fines. im well on my way to filling a large garbage pail with all of them that i have had to sift out..not even through a ton yet.
After a day of burning have to take out the burn pot and remove a good size clinker...
They dont seem to really burn very hot.
Every single bag has had pellets that were in the three inch long range.
I have had some Black pellets in a few bags.

so far am i happy with them...not really.
And there are no date codes on any of the bags either.
 
newguyjoe said:
I bought two tons of these pellets and have found.....
Loaded with fines. im well on my way to filling a large garbage pail with all of them that i have had to sift out..not even through a ton yet.
After a day of burning have to take out the burn pot and remove a good size clinker...
They dont seem to really burn very hot.
Every single bag has had pellets that were in the three inch long range.
I have had some Black pellets in a few bags.

so far am i happy with them...not really.
And there are no date codes on any of the bags either.

newguyjoe,

Please call Pennington Customer Service at the number in my signature to discuss these pellet issues.

All:
We want to help with any issues you may have regarding our pellets. Please contact us so we can help.

Thank you! :)
 
I have been burning Pennington's in my Englander all season long and have not had one problem, they are great pellets from what I have found.
 
I am very satisfied with my Penningtons.
 
I have a ton of Penningtons with a date of 9/9/08 that I have been burning
with great results. No clinkers, some fines and ash, good heat,but since I've only
had the stove installed 1 week I can't compare to any others.
 
I bought 2 ton of pennington premium hardwood pellets, each from different location. One ton burns great, no fines and very little ash. The other ton is terrible---3-4 cups sawdust in each bag, (have to sift them) tons of ash and clinkers and many 2-3 inches long. Well, I contacted pennington, sent empty bags, handfuls of pellets and my receipt to them as they instructed me to do. That was a month ago and so far no other word from them. So, I guess, don't count on them actually doing anything about the bad pellets they are selling! I am very disappointed in them and their product.
 
jen said:
I bought 2 ton of pennington premium hardwood pellets, each from different location. One ton burns great, no fines and very little ash. The other ton is terrible---3-4 cups sawdust in each bag, (have to sift them) tons of ash and clinkers and many 2-3 inches long. Well, I contacted pennington, sent empty bags, handfuls of pellets and my receipt to them as they instructed me to do. That was a month ago and so far no other word from them. So, I guess, don't count on them actually doing anything about the bad pellets they are selling! I am very disappointed in them and their product.

I've had very good luck with their customer service. I bought some of there pellets from a few different places. Some were date stamped and other were not. The marked bags are really nice pellets. The unmarked bags were full of fines and had some long pellets. Contacted them, followed their instructions and they resolved the issue. It might have taken 3-4 weeks, but did not think that was an unreasonable duration. Would definitely buy their pellets again, but would make sure they were date stamped bags.
 
jen said:
I bought 2 ton of pennington premium hardwood pellets, each from different location. One ton burns great, no fines and very little ash. The other ton is terrible---3-4 cups sawdust in each bag, (have to sift them) tons of ash and clinkers and many 2-3 inches long. Well, I contacted pennington, sent empty bags, handfuls of pellets and my receipt to them as they instructed me to do. That was a month ago and so far no other word from them. So, I guess, don't count on them actually doing anything about the bad pellets they are selling! I am very disappointed in them and their product.


seeing what they have done in the past i find this suprising, i'd suggest maybe contacting them again and ensure that they recieved your corospondance, a service rep from the pennington company just a couple days ago posted in this thread asking a person who had made a post concerning their pellets to contact them , their number is in this thread somewhere, look em up and give em a call.
 
Purchased 3 tons in June $224.00/ton and have no issues I guess I am a Pennington Pellet Head.
$6.00 a bag at Walmart is kind of high though,
 
Burned 1.5 ton of Pennington last year and ten or so bags this year. This year I found the ash content to be very high, so high that I had to dump the ash after every bag and clean every other bag.

Picked up some Blazer pellets at Home Depot for $0.23 more/bag and am back to low ash and no problems.

I'm not sure if the issue is with the pellet quality or with the storage conditions but the Walmart I buy the Penningtons the pellets are stored inside but the Blazers are stored outside at HomeDepot.

Aaron
 
Update on my post last night...I called Pennington today and was told to send empty bags, handfuls of pellets and my receipt to them. They will reimburse for the bags USED (30 of them) - for the bags unused, I must contact Home Depot for an exchange or a refund. I'm not sure how this will work; I'm hoping they will pick up and deliver. Will be calling Home Depot tomorrow as well.
I appreciate everyone's input - it helps to know that I'm not imagining this problem. If I had a top feeder, it wouldn't be as much of a problem. But my Harman P38 is a bottom feeder, so it's causing REAL problems.
 
dvv711 said:
Update on my post last night...I called Pennington today and was told to send empty bags, handfuls of pellets and my receipt to them. They will reimburse for the bags USED (30 of them) - for the bags unused, I must contact Home Depot for an exchange or a refund. I'm not sure how this will work; I'm hoping they will pick up and deliver. Will be calling Home Depot tomorrow as well.
I appreciate everyone's input - it helps to know that I'm not imagining this problem. If I had a top feeder, it wouldn't be as much of a problem. But my Harman P38 is a bottom feeder, so it's causing REAL problems.

i'd say , follow their instructions , did you get a name at the pennington service dept? i have watched this threads develop over the last 2 seasons , this year being a good bit less active , im happy to see that pennington is still monitoring the thread. as far as i have had dealing with them , they have been a stand up company.and very nice people to work with as well. we did a video shoot with them last fall and i must say their folks were wonderful in all respects to me and my folks who came down to support their video. i would be suprised if they were any less than excellent in their handling of your case, i advised earlier to another poster to check back with them. i work for a large comapnt which does buisness similar to how pennington does, and i could see how somthing could get misplaced or whatever. hopefully they will resolve your issue as well as the other poster, i'd advise to do as they ask and you should be taken care of.

as an aside, i did burn 5 bags of their "natures own" pellets in my unit recently as there were some in our local oowes, they did just fine. i usually get the bulk of what i burn through our company but i like to pick up a few bags of whatever i see locally just to "keep up with whats out there".
 
jen said:
I bought 2 ton of pennington premium hardwood pellets, each from different location. One ton burns great, no fines and very little ash. The other ton is terrible---3-4 cups sawdust in each bag, (have to sift them) tons of ash and clinkers and many 2-3 inches long. Well, I contacted pennington, sent empty bags, handfuls of pellets and my receipt to them as they instructed me to do. That was a month ago and so far no other word from them. So, I guess, don't count on them actually doing anything about the bad pellets they are selling! I am very disappointed in them and their product.

Call us and use ext. 187 to ask about the status of your claim. There are many steps involved in the process and some may take longer than others. Thank you for your patience. You have not been ignored.
 
I bought five bags last week to try out to see if things had changed from last year. I was impressed. Last year I tried a few bags and had 2 cups of fines per bag! This year...I literally found no fines in the bags and they burn better! :) So I may buy 30 bags or so. :)
 
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