I got the idea in my mind that I wanted to try burning wood pellets in my wood stove insert. I've got a Drolet Escape 1400i that is 2 years old.
I threw together a quick prototype made from an unused deep fryer basket and some perforated sheet steel for baffles. I've burned 2 times now and I'd say I've used 2/3 of a bag of pellets.
The good: These things can throw some heat and easily get into the 600F stove-top range while there are still flames. I got some secondary action when I dampened the air supply, but not as much as with normal wood. I would say that one "load" will give active flames for around 30-45 minutes, followed by another 45 minutes of hot embers with stove-top temps around 300-400.
Pellet usage was actually less than I had anticipated, and I think I could get away with 1/3 to 1/2 a bag a night in colder weather. I'm a 6-11pm (after work) kind of burner.
Prices of pellets are lower than the "brick" fuel that I've used in the past and much more readily available.
The wife liked the idea of just shoveling some more fuel on the fire.
The bad: Reloading can be a challenge. If the flames die out before you reload, getting ignition on the fresh pellets is difficult. Even with the air all the way open and the door cracked, it can still smoulder for a while. Some newspaper and a lighter usually takes care of this.
I have some concerns about soot buildup. Perhaps I'm not getting complete combustion in my efforts to extend the burn and raise stove-top temperatures. I found that closing the air supply to around 25% open seemed to be a sweet spot. After 2/3 of a bag of pellets over a 2 night period, my stove insides (not the glass) look as if they have been freshly painted with flat black spray paint. The firebrick, baffle board and secondary tubes all are covered with a very thin coating of black soot. I also noticed a similar covering on the underside of my chimney cap (from my ground vantage point), but I haven't been up there yet to inspect.
I have decided not to burn any more pellets, but I am curious what the buildup is from? Obviously the pellets have extremely low moisture content, so the typical "wet wood" creosote culprit is not to blame. Is this just the result of incomplete combustion that people have warned about when it comes to pellet baskets? Should I be concerned about this soot and a chimney fire? I just cleaned my chimney last weekend. Like I said, I won't burn any more pellets, but I will be burning my limited supply of cord wood and probably buy some Envi-8 blocks to help through the winter.
I should say that I have never seen this before in my stove and I've burned probably 1 cords of wood and 1 ton of Envi-8 blocks in the past 2 years.
I can take pictures tonight if it helps. Thanks guys!
Dave
I threw together a quick prototype made from an unused deep fryer basket and some perforated sheet steel for baffles. I've burned 2 times now and I'd say I've used 2/3 of a bag of pellets.
The good: These things can throw some heat and easily get into the 600F stove-top range while there are still flames. I got some secondary action when I dampened the air supply, but not as much as with normal wood. I would say that one "load" will give active flames for around 30-45 minutes, followed by another 45 minutes of hot embers with stove-top temps around 300-400.
Pellet usage was actually less than I had anticipated, and I think I could get away with 1/3 to 1/2 a bag a night in colder weather. I'm a 6-11pm (after work) kind of burner.
Prices of pellets are lower than the "brick" fuel that I've used in the past and much more readily available.
The wife liked the idea of just shoveling some more fuel on the fire.
The bad: Reloading can be a challenge. If the flames die out before you reload, getting ignition on the fresh pellets is difficult. Even with the air all the way open and the door cracked, it can still smoulder for a while. Some newspaper and a lighter usually takes care of this.
I have some concerns about soot buildup. Perhaps I'm not getting complete combustion in my efforts to extend the burn and raise stove-top temperatures. I found that closing the air supply to around 25% open seemed to be a sweet spot. After 2/3 of a bag of pellets over a 2 night period, my stove insides (not the glass) look as if they have been freshly painted with flat black spray paint. The firebrick, baffle board and secondary tubes all are covered with a very thin coating of black soot. I also noticed a similar covering on the underside of my chimney cap (from my ground vantage point), but I haven't been up there yet to inspect.
I have decided not to burn any more pellets, but I am curious what the buildup is from? Obviously the pellets have extremely low moisture content, so the typical "wet wood" creosote culprit is not to blame. Is this just the result of incomplete combustion that people have warned about when it comes to pellet baskets? Should I be concerned about this soot and a chimney fire? I just cleaned my chimney last weekend. Like I said, I won't burn any more pellets, but I will be burning my limited supply of cord wood and probably buy some Envi-8 blocks to help through the winter.
I should say that I have never seen this before in my stove and I've burned probably 1 cords of wood and 1 ton of Envi-8 blocks in the past 2 years.
I can take pictures tonight if it helps. Thanks guys!
Dave
