Coldest night so far. What are ya burning??

Well, temps above freezing now, and headed up into the 50's later this week....guess the Somersets go back into hibernation, and the stove gets a rest on On-Off.

Hi/lo for tonight, Should be warmer tomorrow night and I'll also go to auto off. Back to the PTL's and I need more! Lowes gift card should get me another 10 bags of the Timber Heats. I'm liken both, Time to fill up again, But I can't decide which I'm gonna get a ton of?

Back to the blended MWPs, It will only be for a few day because the forecast is for more arctic this weekend. I think I'll hold over any of the softies I don't need and keep them for next year, even if it means buying more blended ones for this year. I doubt I can get them again for what I paid last year. I want to shop around and try a few other brands. I did some of that last year, alway being dissatisfied with that big ash clump forming in the burn pot. The MWPs don 't do that.

Which MWP's don't do it? The softies or both?

Neither kind of MWP make clumping ash. I have had more loose ash in the burn pot with the softies so I cleaned it out on the second day. I've only burned 7 bags of softies so far. I'll need more time to make a good judgment about these, but one thing is for sure, they did bring the temp up during the worst of the cold spell. I can't help but wonder if I had a stove capable of burning more pellets and rated for higher btu output, that then I would be satisfied with the less expensive MWP blend for all my heating needs. When I got my stove, it was about all that was available, and I was not well informed. This forum has done a lot to educate me. My son bought a big Englander used and he is very happy with it.

never had a clinker from either.
i'm running 50/50 mix right now. easier than screwing around with the feed gate again switching back to 100% blend for two days.

i really hope the mwp softies don't go up too much in price this year.

I think Steve is going to be $245-250 plus his new drop fee. Not that I've heard anything, but I think he's at $245 now. Or was, when he had product. So I too am trying to decide if it's worth it. I had my house 75 everynight during the cold spell with a lot of stove left, so I might just go all blend next year.

hope springs eternal for the spring specials. : )
i drop for 'em at $245 though. this 50/50 mix is really working great too.
almost seems like it reduces tha ash from the blend more than 50%.
not enough time spent observing yet thought.

I didn't think the ash from the blend was all that bad.

This sounds crazy, but I've mixed pellets in the past where it seems the mix was much better than the individual pellets going into it. I had a 3 brand mix that tuned out great.

yeah. the flame height and action is splendid with this mix.
i've got a nice big tub like you put a keg and ice in. mixing about a half bag of each at a time in that.

my biggest problem with the mwp blend at really cold temps is my stove doesn't like to run with the gate full open with them.
mixing the two takes care of that.
i think it will be good enough for even the coldest nights.

I'm glad I don't have to worry about gates and trim and such. Fill the hopper and set the temp.

me too Love the Harman

I liked the Timber heats, a LOT!.

Burned 3-4 bags of softies during that cold snap. Top shelf stash down to around 92 bags Affordable softies WICKED hard to come by around these parts.

Been back to MWP blend the last few days. Burning/heating well, as always.

I'm in no way trying to beat a dead horse - it may seem like I am but I just like knowing. So no offense to anyone including Bear who I hope reads this while he is staying warm

After reading the -18F comment a few days ago I figured I'd go to the expert.
Here is what the weatherman said who lives the next town over from Standish.

Charlie Lopresti Wgme wrote: "Hi John, I bet you're referring to Wednesday and Thursday morning of last week. Most towns in southern and central Maine experienced lows -12 to +2 during that period. There is the outside chance Standish could have reached -18 but I think that may be a little bit too cold. I live the next town over from Standish and my coldest temp was -7 during that stretch. Wind chill temps defiantly did reach that value though. I hope this helps."

My thanks to Charlie for responding to my question.

His last price before he ran out was $254. Still on his website. He started out last spring at $235. I also am trying to figure out what I want for next winter. Still haven't used any of my softies. Still have 2 bags from the 2011 run and 50 bags from the 2012 run. I guess I'll try out the two older bags sometime soon. Based on my rough estimate I might end this season with one full ton. If he is somewhere around 245 my order might be the same as the last one. 1 ton soft and 3 ton blend.

-18 wouldn't surprise me a bit. I had 2 different people that day tell me they had -6 or -7 not far from here (one was 10 miles other was 15) and when they got here they had -21 to -23 on their vehicle thermometers. One was a GMC other was a Ford so I'm guessing they use a different brand of thermometer. I don't doubt them either because it sure felt like -20. I'm just glad there was no wind at the time.

Hi scotl. When do you plan on doing the softwood run? Couple of months? Any idea how many tons yet? Lots of people like them! Hope things are going good for you and the company.

Lignetics Orange. Getting the job done! And for $188/ton I am happy. Warmer now but had single digit highs for about two weeks and no complaints.

NICE! I had a ton of Ligs softwood a couple years ago that I stumbled upon at the local TSC. Burned great!

At that price, I'd be buying as many tons as I could afford & store.

I am gonna get 7 ton next month. These are made in my state so somewhat available. My HD has 212 ton available right now. Excited to be a pig!

The stove is officially switched over to On-Off and GT's in the hopper....hopefully that lasts until Friday when the temps are supposed to drop again.