Nations Choice pellet......

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HEMI

Feeling the Heat
Aug 17, 2009
465
connecticut
picked up 5 bags of these this morning while at HD, $4.19/bag, not sure what type of pellet they are as the bag doesnt give much info, just put one in the hopper so results soon to follow............
 
hemi, i saw reviews here and not very positive, let us know how they make they burn for you.
 
Hope your auger likes long pellets, found some 2+ inches long in the bags I tried, burned dirty and not much heat output either. I just put in the last of the 3 bags I got this morning. I plan to do my weekly cleaning of the stove latter today after there gone.
There better than nothing but not much better, I feel there about equal to the Infernos.
 
its only been a few hours but if i was to compare i would compare them to stove chows, no long pellets, very small like firesides....my lignetics are extremely long and go through the auger fine
 
Stove Chows were a lot better than the Nations Choice. Picture of the long pellets found in Nations choice.
 

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holy cow, big pellets.....
 
FordMastertech said:
Stove Chows were a lot better than the Nations Choice. Picture of the long pellets found in Nations choice.
thats how my lignetics look......my nations choice dont look like that at all, they are actually burning very well, lots of variations this season within the same brand
 
Nations Choice are on sale in Lowes for $3.74. I picked up a few bags last week for a try. I like them. They burn just as hot as the 3 ton of Stove Chow I bought in the begining of the season. After the initial burn I want out and bought a ton. Now keep in mind that every stove is different. My multi-fuel beast loves them. As for the long pellets, my auger doesn't care. So I endorse the Nations Choice. Wish I had a location to store a few ton for next year.
 
I am up to 14 different brands this year and am burning my 2nd bag of Nation's choice right now. Pretty clean, not too long, and among the hottest I've burned this year. At $3.99 a bag at Lowes in Dickson City PA (up from 3.74) they are a good buy. Can't comment on ash yet but don't think they're too bad.
 
Wow, I am amazed that some people actually like Nations Choice! We just bought some and started burning them and they had some pellets that were 3-4" long! Our pellet stove shut off because i believe the hopper got jammed trying to feed the pellets. Vacuuming out the hopper tomorrow and going back to okies! I thought maybe we had a thing going when we bought stove chow, but they ran out and we bought crappy pellets....never again! I will spend the extra money to have heat and no problems with my stove.
 
Beings that HomeDepot in our area kept running out of the pellets (Stove Chow) we were forced to use PA Pellets from Stoves and Stuff. Not bad, didnt see much of a differnce from Stove Chow but they were pricer at $4.75 a bag. They also sell Barefoot but I dont see any differnce in them from the cheaper pellets, they want $5.50 a bag for Barefoot. (Super Premium) Wife went to home depot in St Clair and seen they had pellets. I called and ordered 5 tons to have them delivered. I specifically asked if they were Stove Chow, as they have becone our pellet of choice. I was informed that yes, they were stove chow and that is what would be delivered. Truck shows up today there was 1 ton of stove chow and 4 tons of these Nature Choice. I was furious. I should have sent them back, but I kept them. Hoping they burn as well as Stove Chow. Burning them in a Harmon Accentra stove! Price also went up from 3.74 a bag to 3.97 a bag. Still for 5 tons and delivery for $1055, I cant really complain unless they burn like crap!!
 
j-takeman said:
Nation's Choice are in fact Inferno's in a different bag. Take a look here!

http://www.trademarkia.com/nations-choice-85060841.html

Seems International Forest Products can't sell there Inferiors so they just changed the name! Buyer beware!

J-takeman,

So I take it Inferno's are not good, I never burned Inferno's but have 4 bags of these Nations Choice to burn.
 
pelletizer said:
j-takeman said:
Nation's Choice are in fact Inferno's in a different bag. Take a look here!

http://www.trademarkia.com/nations-choice-85060841.html

Seems International Forest Products can't sell there Inferiors so they just changed the name! Buyer beware!

J-takeman,

So I take it Inferno's are not good, I never burned Inferno's but have 4 bags of these Nations Choice to burn.

From what I have been reading. You might get some good ones and the next batch would be crap(high ash and heatless). Some batches were both in one. A member salty has first hand burning experiance with the inferno's for the last 2 seasons. I don't think he's too happy with what he has burned. But you never know, You could love um. Keep us posted on how they burn for oyu!
 
pelletizer said:
j-takeman said:
Nation's Choice are in fact Inferno's in a different bag. Take a look here!

http://www.trademarkia.com/nations-choice-85060841.html

Seems International Forest Products can't sell there Inferiors so they just changed the name! Buyer beware!

J-takeman,

So I take it Inferno's are not good, I never burned Inferno's but have 4 bags of these Nations Choice to burn.

Nations Choice is the only brand one of the lowes around my area had yesterday and i didn't buy due to the not good reviews here.
How do they burn for you?
 
Burning now 1st bag, let me go look in stove as I am in basement just came in from shoveling.

Ok back.. Englander is burning on 1/3 heat output is ok not great and it is 20 degrees out.
Flame is orange not white or blue, (never seen a blue flame in my stove)
Ash is course and dark, it is a bit heavier than I like.(reminds me of Maines Choice or Currans)
I will burn up my 4 bags and most likely will not purchase again due to heavy ash.

To be honest with you this year I did not purchase pellets in bulk so one has to get what is available.
I stopped weekly or by-weekly at Lowes or Walmart on my way home from work to buy pellets ussually 10 bags at a time so one cannot be picky as to what is available.
Walmart had Penningtons all winter long starting at $6.00 per bag now at $5.00 per bag. (Walmart was a pain to go in and deal with lines to purchase pellets)
Lowes alLways had multiple brands ranging from $4.98 to $3.18 per bag. (Lowes contractor entrance was easy to purchase pellets)
My best Lowes brand is Green Team.
If Walmart had Penningtons at Lowes Price I would have bought Penningtons all winter because to be honest with you they burned great and did not have any wierd smells like Maines Choice or Currans and burned hot with less and fine ash.
 
ive been burning nations choice(214/ton 2 weeks ago) for about a week.i was burning somersets(300/ton in may 2010) all year before this. burning a pdvc on a t-stat with a "rutland" brand thermometer mounted on the left(looking at the stove) corner just below the overhang. to compare:the somersets burned above 400 degrees with a fair amount of clinkers, white powdery ash, and white residue on the glass that required a wet paper towel to clean. the nations choice burn about 350 degrees with almost no clinkers, black course ash,and dark residue on the glass that comes right off with a dry paper towel. no stove settings were changed when i switched brands. in my opinion, the nations choice make a very good shoulder season pellet due to easy on-the-fly cleaning of the glass,almost no clinkers and lower heat output. the somersets worked well all winter long---plenty of heat(too much in shoulder season). the only downside to them was frequent clinker removal(3-4 times a day) and the white residue on the glass that required water to remove(had to clean during shut-down cleaning--2x/week. i would buy either again depending on the heat requirements. just posting my results. hope this helps someone.
 
I might have to recant my nations choice endorcement. I blought a ton from Lowes after an initial tray of a few bags. The few loose bags I bought burned great. After I opened the ton, I got very little heat compared to the stove choe and pres to logs. I did a good cleaning and the same thing happened. When lowes got in a new shipment, they got a mix of nations chaoice and stove chow. I asked the Mgr. if I could exchange the remaining 40 bags I had of nations choice for the chow. No problem. Now we're better.
 
Thats funny because the opposite happened to me. I could not find a batch number but I had two different shades of green bags.
The lighter green did not clinker at all. The heat output was still low, however
I think that is more a case of less pellets being fed by the auger. Normally on
Setting 2 I burn 2 bags a day. With these it is only 1.5.
 
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