3 Seasons So Far - Observations

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1895Gus

New Member
Oct 18, 2010
1
Middlesex County, CT
Hi Everyone,

Long time lurker here.

Bought a new Lopi Yankee stove fall of 2008. That season we bought 4 tons of Hamer Hot Ones which burned really well but left a ton of ash. I had to clean the stove every two days. Lots of fines in that batch as well. Was still happy with the purchase and was prepared to by Hamers the next season. Never let the stove ruin overnight due to paranoia :)

Fall of 2009 decided to order 4 tons LG Granules from pelletsales.com based on forum reviews and because Hamers were unavailable in my area. Excellent pellet. Low ash. Only had to clean the stove once a week. Minimal fines. Not as hot as the Hamers but they did a nice job for us. They also seemed to burn much slower. I ended up with about 5 bags left at the end of the season. Discovered the leaf blower trick at this forum and doing this twice a season takes about 15 minutes and keeps the stove burning like new. Let the stove run overnight and wow...nice warm house all the time. No issues. No overflowing chamber pot.

Fall of 2010 - Really wanted to order the LG's from pelletsales again but they didn't have them in stock and I wasn't interested in their other pellets. I ended up getting 2 tons of Okanagans and 2 tons of Cubex from Burn Time in Bristol. Have used the stove for a few days this year and am very happy with the Okanagans (best pellet I've burned to date). Much smaller in size than the other types I've burned. They're also very hot and have minimal fines. Very low ash too. Looking forward to trying the Cubex. Ahhh one thing...when we first started burning this year we got a strong smoke smell in the house...nothing visible though. Could NOT find a leak anywhere...very frustrating. Finally found a 1/4 " hole in the black sealer used to connect the stove exhaust to the chimney pipe that goes through the wall to the outside. Plugged the hole with stove cement and no odor anymore!


Regards,

Gus
 
Welcome gus,

Hunting for pellets has been like a 2nd job for me over the past 11 seasons. I always love hearing pellets stories. I pretty much have tried them all at one point or another. I used to really like the Green Supremes that NEWP rebagged. Okies, Dragon Mountains and Spruce Pointes burn very similar. I also liked the LG's but I am unable to get them locally. Cubex is IMO one of the best hardwood pellets around. They should do well for you. Lots of heat and very clean for a hardwood pellet.

I purchase some of my pellets at BT ent. in Bristol. And I use CTPellet in Torrington. Both places treat me well and have ecellent selections to choose from. I buy from both hoping they both stick around. Very nice having 2 pellet house's so close to me.

Again welcome, Thanks for joining the group and sharing your pellet stories with us.

Stay warm
jay
 
j-takeman said:
Welcome gus,

Hunting for pellets has been like a 2nd job for me over the past 11 seasons. I always love hearing pellets stories. I pretty much have tried them all at one point or another. I used to really like the Green Supremes that NEWP rebagged. Okies, Dragon Mountains and Spruce Pointes burn very similar. I also liked the LG's but I am unable to get them locally. Cubex is IMO one of the best hardwood pellets around. They should do well for you. Lots of heat and very clean for a hardwood pellet.

I purchase some of my pellets at BT ent. in Bristol. And I use CTPellet in Torrington. Both places treat me well and have ecellent selections to choose from. I buy from both hoping they both stick around. Very nice having 2 pellet house's so close to me.

Again welcome, Thanks for joining the group and sharing your pellet stories with us.

Stay warm
jay
Click to expand...

I've been burning Inferno this month and it is low ash but burns quick. I tried Maine Wood but left too much ash and had to clean 2x weekly. I like new england wood pellets and I want to try barefoot and trumans this season.
 
Can someone explain to a newbie what "fines" are and the significance of them and also what the leafblower method is?
 
fines are the pellet dust particles in the bag. some brands have a lot and others have what appears to be none.
I don't know the leafblower method so I'm waiting to find out what that is alos.
 
With the stove off and cold.

You remove the vent cap off the outside of your vent.

Attach the suction end of a leaf blower over the vent.

Seal it to the vent.

Plug in and turn on the leaf blower.

It will suck the lose ash out of the stove.

This is best done after scraping and brushing the insides of the stove.

Do a youtube search on leafblower pellet stove cleaning.
 
SmokeyTheBear said:
With the stove off and cold.

You remove the vent cap off the outside of your vent.

Attach the suction end of a leaf blower over the vent.

Seal it to the vent.

Plug in and turn on the leaf blower.

It will suck the lose ash out of the stove.

This is best done after scraping and brushing the insides of the stove.

Do a youtube search on leafblower pellet stove cleaning.
Click to expand...

Just make sure the neighbor windows are not open :ahhh:
 
Welcome gus,

this yr I am burring summersets, these are by far the best pellet my stove likes. Great heat and low ash. Istill give her a fast brush to get the ash in the pan everyday but the build up is nothing like in the past yrs. Injoy the heat and once again welcome aboard.
 
magsf11 said:
SmokeyTheBear said:
With the stove off and cold.

You remove the vent cap off the outside of your vent.

Attach the suction end of a leaf blower over the vent.

Seal it to the vent.

Plug in and turn on the leaf blower.

It will suck the lose ash out of the stove.

This is best done after scraping and brushing the insides of the stove.

Do a youtube search on leafblower pellet stove cleaning.
Click to expand...

Just make sure the neighbor windows are not open :ahhh:
Click to expand...

Spoilsport ;-).
 
SmokeyTheBear said:
[quote .
Click to expand...

Just make sure the neighbor windows are not open :ahhh:[/quote]

Spoilsport ;-).[/quote]


HAHAAHAHA I did it for the first time this season and whoa!!!! I prayed nobody would see the cloud and think my house was on fire and call the fire dept.
 
We're starting our 3rd season as well. First winter we burned Barefoot Premium Hardwood and were very pleased but of course had no other experience with pellets. Last winter I tried the Granules LG and they also burned very well but left at least 3x the ash that we experienced with the Barefoots. This season we're back with the Barefoots and much less ash and very pleased once again - wouldn't use the LG's again.

There are a lot of variables when it come to pellets and what works for one just might not work as well for others.
 
watched the video on the leafblower method .. pretty cool!
 
When doing the leaf blower thing should you keep the door to the stove open or closed ??
 
NorthernQuad said:
When doing the leaf blower thing should you keep the door to the stove open or closed ??
Click to expand...
lotsa different opinions on that one.
I usually start with mine open and close and reopen it while the leaf blower is running.
 
NorthernQuad said:
When doing the leaf blower thing should you keep the door to the stove open or closed ??
Click to expand...

Lennox T300P-2

I open the exhaust damper completely, remove the burn pot and leave the door open.
Once the output looks clean, close the door run again until clear.

If you stick your hand in front of the air flow once it goes clear, you can still feel the particles being drawn out - I find that two minutes run time is plenty to get a good clean out.

I wish my stove had a 'cleaning' mode where the combustion blower would run on high to clear the ash while scraping the burn pot and heat exchanger. Currently the room air blower comes on anytime the stove is on so I can't take advantage of the combustion blower drawing the ash out of the house during normal cleanings. Maybe I should design a universal controller to do it as the current controller is not very complex or user friendly.

Aaron
 
j-takeman said:
Welcome gus,

Hunting for pellets has been like a 2nd job for me over the past 11 seasons. I always love hearing pellets stories. I pretty much have tried them all at one point or another. I used to really like the Green Supremes that NEWP rebagged. Okies, Dragon Mountains and Spruce Pointes burn very similar. I also liked the LG's but I am unable to get them locally. Cubex is IMO one of the best hardwood pellets around. They should do well for you. Lots of heat and very clean for a hardwood pellet.

I purchase some of my pellets at BT ent. in Bristol. And I use CTPellet in Torrington. Both places treat me well and have ecellent selections to choose from. I buy from both hoping they both stick around. Very nice having 2 pellet house's so close to me.

Again welcome, Thanks for joining the group and sharing your pellet stories with us.

Stay warm
jay
Click to expand...

I am burning Freedom Fuel from Home Depot. Its only the second type of fuel I have ever used. Last season was my first and I burned Green Team. The Freedom Fuel is better. The pellets are large and I do get a large amount of ash and fines but they seem to bun pretty hot. Definately hotter than the Lowes Green Team. A buddy of mine told me I should try Barefoot. Unfortunately, I live in Milford, CT and there are no local pellet suppliers that I know of so that I could try some different brands out. For now I am just using Freedom Fuel because Home Depot has them in stock and they are 2 miles from my house.
 
Another handy addition to cleaning with the leaf blower is to get one of those plugs with the remote control switch. Usually about $15. I first used the remote when I wanted to make a video of the cleaning and needed to be away from it when I turned the camera on so I could capture the first burst of ash. Found it so handy, I continue to use it. I set every thing up, stand away, let it run for two minutes, then go inside with the stove and run it with the door open and closed. Easy to switch it on and off when opening the door when you have the remote control in hand. Best part for me is never being close to the exhausting ash, and I think it saves a little time. Even more convenient when access to the chimney is limited by deep snow. My goal now is to use the leaf blower after every ton burned.
(I found it nice to have a video of the leaf blower trick so I could support what I was saying when I bragged it up to other pellet stove owners. Of course I give crdit to Krooser for his introduction to leaf blower cleaning, https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/29847/)
 
Shortstuff said:
We're starting our 3rd season as well. First winter we burned Barefoot Premium Hardwood and were very pleased but of course had no other experience with pellets. Last winter I tried the Granules LG and they also burned very well but left at least 3x the ash that we experienced with the Barefoots. This season we're back with the Barefoots and much less ash and very pleased once again - wouldn't use the LG's again.

There are a lot of variables when it come to pellets and what works for one just might not work as well for others.
Click to expand...

Shortstuff,

I burned Granules LG last year and mine were fine, in fact I'm starting out this season with them.

I did my first cleaning of the season just a couple of hours ago (23 bags through the stove) and if the stove had more area around the fire pot receiver I could have gone at least a ton before the ash pan would be full. The darn stuff was piling up on the left hand side and was getting too high to continue burning.

The funny thing about ash is some of it is fluffy, very light, and piles up fast, and another pellets ash is not fluffy, heavy, and doesn't pile up fast.

Volume and weight are two entirely different matters.

I'll stick with what easily exits the burn pot.
 
Is anyone burning Inferno? They seem to burn fast.
 
SmokeyTheBear said:
With the stove off and cold.

You remove the vent cap off the outside of your vent.

Attach the suction end of a leaf blower over the vent.

Seal it to the vent.

Plug in and turn on the leaf blower.

It will suck the lose ash out of the stove.

This is best done after scraping and brushing the insides of the stove.

Do a youtube search on leafblower pellet stove cleaning.
Click to expand...

Who was the nut that came up with that leaf blower trick anyway.... musta been a real a**hat...
 
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