Pellets

Yes....

Yes you are wrong. It is really all about consistency, if the maker can make the high BTU pellets and low ash pellets on a consistent basis then yes they are a good high quality pellet.

Lignetics is a good brand as are dry creek just as some examples.

You can have the "BEST PELLETS IN THE WORLD" but if the mill, the distributor, retail location, and end user do not store the pellets in a dry location the pellets will be bad due to the density being broken down by moisture. It might be 3-5-8 months of bad storage before the pellets get to the end user. The end user will burn the pellets in their stove and not like what happens so they come to Hearth.com and cry how the pellets make clinkers, a lot of ash, or look dusty in the bag. Then other end users read this and give a certain brand of pellets a bad name because that is what they read even though they were the "WORLDS GREATEST PELLETS" to start off with.

Please ask questions when you buy pellets. Find out where they have been and how their storage is. It all determins the end result.

Eric

As a side note... the Pellet Fuel Institute designates standards for certain pellet attributes. As long as a pellet manufacturer is a member of the PFI, they need to meet the standards in place (BTU, Ash content, moisture, size, etc.), so members of the PFI will hopefully not have too much variance in what is supposted to be a premium pellet. All this goes out the window though (as Kinsman states) if they are not stored and handled properly. Members of the PFI will have to undergo regular testing from indipendant labs to make sure they are keeping with the standards. That is not to say that the occasional lot may not experience a bad batch. Sometimes this is due to machinery issues.

Just my 2 phennings ;-)