Freedom fuel $250/ton

I burned a few bags. They are softwood. If I remember right, they had good heat, a little extra ash but manageable. I think the pellets were real small also (in diameter and in length). I would buy them again in a pinch. I have just had better luck with the hardwoods in my Harman.

You should be able to burn them as long as they are of the "Premium" quality. The Freedom Fuel is a "Premium" pellet. Before spending the money for a ton or more and delivery fees, I would buy 2 to 6 bags and try them first. Make sure you are happy with how they burn in your stove before you make the leap to spend all that money.

get 10 bags to start out, never go blind into a pellet transaction!

j00fek said:

get 10 bags to start out, never go blind into a pellet transaction!

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Excellent advice. I can count the number of times that out of blind or good faith I bought a ton without buying a few bags to burn first. Even on known brands I have bought before, lots that were produced months or years later may not burn as well as ones that were great quality months or years ago. If sellers are not willing to sell a couple of bags for trial burns, it may not be worth it.

I went and bought 10 bags of Freedom Fuel from Home Depot.

My observations after about a bag are:

They burn ok with more ash, black clumpy ash, and black soot on the glass window.

I have come to expect this phenomena with softwood pellets and especially pine. I still prefer hardwood pellets based on my experience but softwood burn ok and really don't present any major issues. My first five bags of Stove Chow(softwood) were excellent. My second batch of 10 bags were ok.

I just got done burning 4 bags of Freedom Fuel, Never again....Big black clinkers....Firebrick turned Black as did the Glass....

Raven20 said:

I just got done burning 4 bags of Freedom Fuel, Never again....Big black clinkers....Firebrick turned Black as did the Glass....

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When I bought my first Thelin Gnome, I bought Freedom Fuel as that was the only item they had and there was a pellet shortage. I also found that after 10-15 minutes the glass would blacken. I tried different settings on the trim pot, but it never improved. Fire did burn hot, but also lots of clinkers.

I tried 3 bags of Freedom Fuel pellets back in December, and they were OK. Only negative I saw was a lot of fines. Pellet diameter was smaller than normal (3/16" instead of 1/4" for most other pellets), but that posed no problems at all.....as a matter of fact, I think the smaller pellets went through the auger better.

If there was nothing else, I wouldn't have a problem burning them.

macman said:

I tried 3 bags of Freedom Fuel pellets back in December, and they were OK. Only negative I saw was a lot of fines. Pellet diameter was smaller than normal (3/16" instead of 1/4" for most other pellets), but that posed no problems at all.....as a matter of fact, I think the smaller pellets went through the auger better.

If there was nothing else, I wouldn't have a problem burning them.

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Interesting. I was about to comment that the really positive thing I have noticed about Freedom fuels in for the first time, with any brand I have used, absolutely no fines per bag.

Freedom was some of the first that we used in our stove. They burn just like anything else but be prepared for piles and piles and piles of ash if you get my point. I personally would not purchase them again if I had any other options.

Mark Fellows said:

macman said:

I tried 3 bags of Freedom Fuel pellets back in December, and they were OK. Only negative I saw was a lot of fines.

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Interesting. I was about to comment that the really positive thing I have noticed about Freedom fuels in for the first time, with any brand I have used, absolutely no fines per bag.

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It all depends on how they have been handled...I bought mine from HD, so who knows.....

The Freedom fuel pellets burned better in my St. Croix EXP than any pellet I have tried. No fines. Minimal ash. Got them at HD. They also had Future Fuel hard wood.
They made mega clinkers over night.

Turning down my feed rate on my Harman Accentra to just below 4 really seemed to help with the black soot.

Mark

I burned two tons of them, lots of fines, but other than causing jammed augers every so often no big problems. I would buy them again if I had to.