Big box store Pellet comparing! List and mini review!

  • 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.
Here is a little something for the 2 members that are saying my testing isn't worth squat!

Woodpellets.com rates there pellets and Show the actual test results from a lab. Check link!
http://www.woodpellets.com/Quality-Data.aspx

Michigans ash .86% BTU 7928
Rocky Mountains .3% BTU 7951

My results

Michigans ash .80% 232 °F (I can't give you BTU but I can give you temp)
Rocky Mountains .46% 235 °F

Pretty close for a bonehead testing in his flipping basement!

Maybe littlesmokey and sinbad can step in and show us there way of evaluating pellets?

If you two have suggestions bring them here! I will try to adapt what I can. If any member feels he can do better. Bring it and have fun. I am just sharing info, Take it as you see fit. If you really feel you need these test results done in a lab? Then send the samples to them and pay the bill(aint cheap). If you don't like what I am doing? do it yourself. But don't come here saying this is that with out some numbers to back up you mouth. I don't take the back of the hand temp readings! I show real numbers, not the hey this one burns hotter. Prove it with data.

OK rant over. Sorry to the other members. But I had to get this off my back.

Have a good holiday.
 
Whoa easy Jay. Step back and take a deep breath. Now go have a nice glass of wine and a nice turkey dinner. :)
 
Gumby1 said:
Whoa easy Jay. Step back and take a deep breath. Now go have a nice glass of wine and a nice turkey dinner. :)
Click to expand...

Nope no whoa! They should bring there flack here and stop jacking the other thread. But they should bring more than there mouths.

I'm good now gumby1. I'll have some turkey today and a couple of sammy's and I will be fine.
 
The overwhelming majority of us here find what you are doing to be a great service for the rest of us. Of course individual results may and will vary. However overall your results are right in line with what many others have experienced; eg. reports of a crappy brand of pellet by many others are supported by your test results and vice versa on the good brands. I personally thank you for your time, money and effort that you have expended in reporting on all of this. One bit of advice I would offer is to just ignore the naysayers. Again what you have done is very informative for the 99.9% of members here. You shouldn't give a hoot in he** what the other .1% say, think or write. Have a great Thanksgiving.
 
minnow said:
The overwhelming majority of us here find what you are doing to be a great service for the rest of us. Of course individual results may and will vary. However overall your results are right in line with what many others have experienced; eg. reports of a crappy brand of pellet by many others are supported by your test results and vice versa on the good brands. I personally thank you for your time, money and effort that you have expended in reporting on all of this. One bit of advice I would offer is to just ignore the naysayers. Again what you have done is very informative for the 99.9% of members here. You shouldn't give a hoot in he** what the other .1% say, think or write. Have a great Thanksgiving.
Click to expand...

Thanks minnow, I hope you have a great holiday too. :)

Hard to ignore the comments though. I am not here to deceive anyone. It is what it is. Sometimes one feels they need to deffend themselves. Just gets my goat, when they think. I am trying to miss lead others(newbs). If you don't like what I have shown, Just don't use it. But don't squawk about it in another thread.

This really started to just show a more accurate way to evaluate the different brands. That's it. Nothing fancy. But true numbers I use to determine what brands I will buy or "Is there a deal really out there". But what ever you get from this, Always best to try them in your stove before you buy a large amount. I will say that until I am blue in the face.

take care
jay
 
I think you are doing a great job.You will always have people that try to spoil a fun thing! HAPPY THANKSGIVING! GOD BLESS AMERICA!
 
Happy Thanksgiving Jay, keep up the good work and don't let the Trolls get to you.
 
GIPPER said:
I think you are doing a great job.You will always have people that try to spoil a fun thing! HAPPY THANKSGIVING! GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Click to expand...

BJN644 said:
Happy Thanksgiving Jay, keep up the good work and don't let the Trolls get to you.
Click to expand...

Thanks guys! Happy Thanksgiving.

Is it time for the bird yet? :lol: Lets eat!
 
Jay,

What you have done to date and hopefully what you plan on testing in the future is really appreciated by me.

I have been collecting off brand pellets this fall to conduct a self test for myself. I have about 1/2 a dozen brands to try out.

I am waiting for the temps to get cooler so I can do 24 hour burns. If I did it now I would have to open windows and doors. :)

I know you and BTU are getting grief. Don't let it get you down.

FWIW I find BTU's brand to burn as well as he describes and so far, better than anything else I have tried this year. I am saving my pallet of them for later in the year.

When I do my own test I will try to post the info as well. My test won't be as extensive as yours or cover as many brands.

If you are looking for some compensation I would love to make a donation to the Jay's Pellet Test fund. Just PM me an address to mail it to.

Again, Thank You for taking the time to give us a real world view of how the pellets compare.

Happy Thanksgiving,
---Nailer---
 
nailed_nailer said:
Jay,

What you have done to date and hopefully what you plan on testing in the future is really appreciated by me.

I have been collecting off brand pellets this fall to conduct a self test for myself. I have about 1/2 a dozen brands to try out.

I am waiting for the temps to get cooler so I can do 24 hour burns. If I did it now I would have to open windows and doors. :)

I know you and BTU are getting grief. Don't let it get you down.

FWIW I find BTU's brand to burn as well as he describes and so far, better than anything else I have tried this year. I am saving my pallet of them for later in the year.

When I do my own test I will try to post the info as well. My test won't be as extensive as yours or cover as many brands.

If you are looking for some compensation I would love to make a donation to the Jay's Pellet Test fund. Just PM me an address to mail it to.

Again, Thank You for taking the time to give us a real world view of how the pellets compare.

Happy Thanksgiving,
---Nailer---
Click to expand...

Nailer,

Thats sounds awesome. I can't wait to see what you get. Doesn't matter how extensive you get. I think even if you only compare 2 brands would still be cool. Doesn't matter how many brands either. Just glad there is going to be another trying this and maybe we can compare some of the brands. Now I feel much better. Maybe this will get a few more into it to.

I am unable to do a time study. Maybe you could give us a rough lenght of how long each bag is lasting?

No compensation necessary. I do this for fun and would not expect payment for non professional results. If any member really wants to donate? Test some brands I tested so we can compare results. We can be our own Pellet testing group. What could we call ourselves?

You made my day and I hope you have a great holiday.
jay
 
Hi Jay, you know the old saying: "no good deed goes unpunished". There will always be naysayers. It's mostly jealously really. Personally, what you're doing is something I'd NEVER do. I wouldn't have the patience. That being said, I do appreciate your time doing these tests. Also, like anything else, don't we buy many things based on ratings anyway?

So, you're not some guy in a white coat with fancy, shmancy equipment. So what. A lot of tests are done by everyday people. Actually, it's those everyday people with unbiased results, that catches my attention, MUCH more.

Anyway, keep up the good work and looking forward to the reveal of BrandX and Y. : )
 
poconoman said:
Hi Jay, you know the old saying: "no good deed goes unpunished". There will always be naysayers. It's mostly jealously really. Personally, what you're doing is something I'd NEVER do. I wouldn't have the patience. That being said, I do appreciate your time doing these tests. Also, like anything else, don't we buy many things based on ratings anyway?

So, you're not some guy in a white coat with fancy, shmancy equipment. So what. A lot of tests are done by everyday people. Actually, it's those everyday people with unbiased results, that catches my attention, MUCH more.

Anyway, keep up the good work and looking forward to the reveal of BrandX and Y. : )
Click to expand...

poconoman,
Thank you for the kind words, much appreciated!

Here is another photo of the temp probe from another angle. Someone though I was measuring the burn pot heat. I measure the heat exchanger heat. The another photo was a top view so you could see the double alligator clip. Also a photo of the meter measuring the Greenway pellets. They maxed at 237.3 °F. But remember I am using an average temp.

jay
 

Attachments

  • Heat ex 2a.jpg
    Heat ex 2a.jpg
    53.1 KB · Views: 584
  • Meter 2a.jpg
    Meter 2a.jpg
    26.2 KB · Views: 587
Jay, Keep up the fantastic work. All testing has a certain amount of subjectivity built into it, and this test is no exception. What it does do is show
a baseline for all pellets tested. Will it vary from stove to stove? Absolutely, even climate to climate. But what it does do is establish data from brand
to brand. You are using a set of parameters that are the same from one brand to another, so it will show trends based on that specific batch. There is very little independent
data out there, so this test is giving us information otherwise not out there. Thanks a million, and I can't wait to see the results of the complete test including
the revealing of brand X and Y. Jay E.
 
SnowZilla said:
jt, is this what you have? http://www.enviro.com/fireplace-products/pellet/freestanding-fireplace.html#Omega and if so. if u dont mind to PM me the costs.. getting quotes on it.. $4400 is cheapest so far.


EDIT: well 2 models actually.. one that cranks out 70,000 BTU and other one is 60,000 BTU but the 60K BTU looks better overall IMO. but I would still wouldn't mind picking Enviro Maxx thats the one that cranks out 70K BTU.
Click to expand...

PM sent. But I really would suggest you skip the Maxx and Go with the Omega. It's well worth the extra money. Burns just about anything. Were the Maxx is just a pellet stove. There are 2 other members that I know that have the Omega. flamegrabber and hearthtools. I think they will agree.

The Omega is an awesome stove and will burn even the worst pellets with no extra maintainance. No daily burn pot scrapping. Just load the hopper and watch the flames. Heat is awesome too. I have only had to go above medium once. And that was because of a crappy pellet.

jay
 
schmeg said:
Jay, Keep up the fantastic work. All testing has a certain amount of subjectivity built into it, and this test is no exception. What it does do is show
a baseline for all pellets tested. Will it vary from stove to stove? Absolutely, even climate to climate. But what it does do is establish data from brand
to brand. You are using a set of parameters that are the same from one brand to another, so it will show trends based on that specific batch. There is very little independent
data out there, so this test is giving us information otherwise not out there. Thanks a million, and I can't wait to see the results of the complete test including
the revealing of brand X and Y. Jay E.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jay E,

Really the only thing I hope anyone gets from this is how to do there own testing of the different brands. See what your stove likes and dislikes. If I can do it anyone can do it. It is really easy to do.

If anyone wants copies of the Chart I have as an XLS file(requires Micros**t excell) Send me a pm(with email addy). Or if you see anything else you might like. Well except my pellet stash! MINE! :lol:

Jay
 
jtakeman said:
Here is a little something for the 2 members that are saying my testing isn't worth squat!

Woodpellets.com rates there pellets and Show the actual test results from a lab. Check link!
http://www.woodpellets.com/Quality-Data.aspx

Michigans ash .86% BTU 7928
Rocky Mountains .3% BTU 7951

My results

Michigans ash .80% 232 °F (I can't give you BTU but I can give you temp)
Rocky Mountains .46% 235 °F

Pretty close for a bonehead testing in his flipping basement!

Maybe littlesmokey and sinbad can step in and show us there way of evaluating pellets?

If you two have suggestions bring them here! I will try to adapt what I can. If any member feels he can do better. Bring it and have fun. I am just sharing info, Take it as you see fit. If you really feel you need these test results done in a lab? Then send the samples to them and pay the bill(aint cheap). If you don't like what I am doing? do it yourself. But don't come here saying this is that with out some numbers to back up you mouth. I don't take the back of the hand temp readings! I show real numbers, not the hey this one burns hotter. Prove it with data.

OK rant over. Sorry to the other members. But I had to get this off my back.

Have a good holiday.
Click to expand...
Jay, Like I said I am new to the site I am sorry for getting you upset, but I just wanted to say that every stove will burn brands differently. To answer your questions. I have been burning since early 90's I have 3 stoves burning now, first Austrofm (Intera 95) Breckwell (p24 06), ( p23 06),( p22 no more) and older ( p24 98 no more). I am all so in going to have 3 more stoves burning by mid Dec. I did allot of testing like you did,but now do testing in a different way. I will be testing 2 brands of possible bad batches for the manufactures in 3 stoves. That's why I asked the time the pellets wre bought. I have 10-15 other stoves all other the state that I have people do the same so I can give a more better result and I do not wear a white lab coat. Jay, try testing 2 Hardwood,to 1 Softwood and see if you can get you snap switch to shut your stove down. Thanks for listening to me.
 
Sinbad said:
jtakeman said:
Here is a little something for the 2 members that are saying my testing isn't worth squat!

Woodpellets.com rates there pellets and Show the actual test results from a lab. Check link!
http://www.woodpellets.com/Quality-Data.aspx

Michigans ash .86% BTU 7928
Rocky Mountains .3% BTU 7951

My results

Michigans ash .80% 232 °F (I can't give you BTU but I can give you temp)
Rocky Mountains .46% 235 °F

Pretty close for a bonehead testing in his flipping basement!

Maybe littlesmokey and sinbad can step in and show us there way of evaluating pellets?

If you two have suggestions bring them here! I will try to adapt what I can. If any member feels he can do better. Bring it and have fun. I am just sharing info, Take it as you see fit. If you really feel you need these test results done in a lab? Then send the samples to them and pay the bill(aint cheap). If you don't like what I am doing? do it yourself. But don't come here saying this is that with out some numbers to back up you mouth. I don't take the back of the hand temp readings! I show real numbers, not the hey this one burns hotter. Prove it with data.

OK rant over. Sorry to the other members. But I had to get this off my back.

Have a good holiday.
Click to expand...
Jay, Like I said I am new to the site I am sorry for getting you upset, but I just wanted to say that every stove will burn brands differently. To answer your questions. I have been burning since early 90's I have 3 stoves burning now, first Austrofm (Intera 95) Breckwell (p24 06), ( p23 06),( p22 no more) and older ( p24 98 no more). I am all so in going to have 3 more stoves burning by mid Dec. I did allot of testing like you did,but now do testing in a different way. I will be testing 2 brands of possible bad batches for the manufactures in 3 stoves. That's why I asked the time the pellets wre bought. I have 10-15 other stoves all other the state that I have people do the same so I can give a more better result and I do not wear a white lab coat. Jay, try testing 2 Hardwood,to 1 Softwood and see if you can get you snap switch to shut your stove down. Thanks for listening to me.
Click to expand...

I guess you should have came here and looked at the 1st post. Its the first thing I said.(in blue) You will also read where I said I am doing this for my evauluation and just sharing the results. I also state several times that I don't recommend anyone buying any pellets with out trying them for themselves.

I guess this is an apology? Not sure . But it will take some time to get over someone saying I am deceiving the others. Stick around and give me some pointers. Maybe we can work it out.

Buy the way I really did mean it when I welcomed you to the forums. Glad you could join our little group. We try to learn and share. Have a joke or two. Good place to come hang out. IMO.

Thanks for explaining yourself.
jay
 
Sinbad said:
Jay while we are taking I do have info on big box brands and bags tell me what theard to go to.
Click to expand...

Your here. Look at top left and go to 1st page everthing is in post 1 and 2.
 
Ok here it goes The big box have buyers that go out and buy production from plants. Bags are changed to so they can have the same bag in most stores, but it does not mean that one store in one state is the same with the other, and if it will be the same next month. Some internet guys might do the same.
 
Sinbad said:
Ok here it goes The big box have buyers that go out and buy production from plants. Bags are changed to so they can have the same bag in most stores, but it does not mean that one store in one state is the same with the other, and if it will be the same next month. Some internet guys might do the same.
Click to expand...

I just found that out with a brand from HD called Tomorrows Energy. Which is actually Piney Woods pellets. Not any good reviews

Some of the brands have date codes on the bags. I can add them some where in thread. Not all have the date code or batch date. Pres to logs was one of them. That's the brand that seems to have caused the issue's. Another forum member is trying them and he seems to like them.

Unfortunately the batch I got was ashey and had low temps compared to some of the others I am trying. But there again on post #5 I did talk about that. Its hit and miss with some of these brands. Not saying I wouldn't burn them. I will pretty much burn anything in my multifuel stove! But of the brands that Lowes had available not sure I would pick them 1st.
 
jtakeman said:
schmeg said:
Jay, Keep up the fantastic work. All testing has a certain amount of subjectivity built into it, and this test is no exception. What it does do is show
a baseline for all pellets tested. Will it vary from stove to stove? Absolutely, even climate to climate. But what it does do is establish data from brand
to brand. You are using a set of parameters that are the same from one brand to another, so it will show trends based on that specific batch. There is very little independent
data out there, so this test is giving us information otherwise not out there. Thanks a million, and I can't wait to see the results of the complete test including
the revealing of brand X and Y. Jay E.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jay E,

Really the only thing I hope anyone gets from this is how to do there own testing of the different brands. See what your stove likes and dislikes. If I can do it anyone can do it. It is really easy to do.

If anyone wants copies of the Chart I have as an XLS file(requires Micros**t excell) Send me a pm(with email addy). Or if you see anything else you might like. Well except my pellet stash! MINE! :lol:

Jay
Click to expand...

It is possible that the xls file will be directly read in open office. I've always had good luck it.
 
SmokeyTheBear said:
jtakeman said:
schmeg said:
Jay, Keep up the fantastic work. All testing has a certain amount of subjectivity built into it, and this test is no exception. What it does do is show
a baseline for all pellets tested. Will it vary from stove to stove? Absolutely, even climate to climate. But what it does do is establish data from brand
to brand. You are using a set of parameters that are the same from one brand to another, so it will show trends based on that specific batch. There is very little independent
data out there, so this test is giving us information otherwise not out there. Thanks a million, and I can't wait to see the results of the complete test including
the revealing of brand X and Y. Jay E.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jay E,

Really the only thing I hope anyone gets from this is how to do there own testing of the different brands. See what your stove likes and dislikes. If I can do it anyone can do it. It is really easy to do.

If anyone wants copies of the Chart I have as an XLS file(requires Micros**t excell) Send me a pm(with email addy). Or if you see anything else you might like. Well except my pellet stash! MINE! :lol:

Jay
Click to expand...

It is possible that the xls file will be directly read in open office. I've always had good luck it.
Click to expand...

Not sure SmokeyTheBear,

I never tried it. I can send you a copy if you want to give it a go. You have to PM your email address. I can only attach photo's here.

By the way I like your avatar!

jay
 
I think you had a hand in the avatar Jay for which I thank you, I just had an idea, yeah I like it myself. It is both bearish and pellet pigish.

I'll send you my email and you can send me the xls file, I'll give it a try and let you know.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Ranckie
Harmon Insert Not Burning Correctly
Replies
2
Views
555
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
Ranckie
Ranckie
J
Xtrordinair 44 Elite experience
Replies
0
Views
2K
Travis Industries: Lopi, Avalon, FPX
jnewman67
J
notch
2022-2023 Northeast, Vermont and Green Supreme
Replies
2
Views
4K
2023-2024 Pellet FUEL reviews-opinions-questions
lowb35
L
K
Few Questions ? Pellet brand 21=22? Controlling heat? Negative air pressure
Replies
7
Views
2K
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
tlc1976
tlc1976
C
  • Locked
6039 Corn/Pellet stove fixes
Replies
7
Views
2K
The Pellet Mill - Pellet and Multifuel Stoves
Cornfusion
C
Top Bottom
Back