Favorite Pellets...

[LJ4174]

So as I just posted on another thread... It's flippin' cold here where I live...

Anyway, this is my 2nd year burning my Mt. Vernon AE. Last year, I burned 2 tons of Hamer pellets and 2 tons of Greenway. I wouldn't use my oil heat at all, except when I left the stove cool to clean it.

This year. I have 4 tons of Lignetics and 1 ton of O'Malley's... My buddy, who now is the repair technician for the place I bought my stove from, and I were talking the other night and I was telling him that it seems like my stove isn't running like it did last year. I said to him that I think it's the pellets... He kinda didn't beleive me and said it shouldn't matter, however he was on the phone with a customer and she said pretty much the same thing, asking about the Hamer pellets, that the pellets (not sure of brand, but might be Lignetics also) weren't keeping the house as warm as it did last year. After I got off the phone with him, and I was telling my wife (who's always freezing) about our conversation and the pellets... She said, I don't know, but the one's you had last year in the 'red bag' were the best...

So I threw a bag of O'Malley's in last night to see if they burn any hotter... So far though, burning probably a ton of Lignetics, not impressed at all... Lots of clinkers and they just don't seem to burn as hot... The O'Malley's I burned earlier in the year seemed OK, however the temps were milder, however no clinkers or very much ash...

So any thoughts on this? Do certain pellets burn "hotter"? What's your favorite brand?

 

[Glosta]

Drum roll please.......OKANAGAN PELLETS. Zero clinkers. Very little ash. Intense Heat.

 

[HEMI]

So as I just posted on another thread... It's flippin' cold here where I live...

Anyway, this is my 2nd year burning my Mt. Vernon AE. Last year, I burned 2 tons of Hamer pellets and 2 tons of Greenway. I wouldn't use my oil heat at all, except when I left the stove cool to clean it.

This year. I have 4 tons of Lignetics and 1 ton of O'Malley's... My buddy, who now is the repair technician for the place I bought my stove from, and I were talking the other night and I was telling him that it seems like my stove isn't running like it did last year. I said to him that I think it's the pellets... He kinda didn't beleive me and said it shouldn't matter, however he was on the phone with a customer and she said pretty much the same thing, asking about the Hamer pellets, that the pellets (not sure of brand, but might be Lignetics also) weren't keeping the house as warm as it did last year. After I got off the phone with him, and I was telling my wife (who's always freezing) about our conversation and the pellets... She said, I don't know, but the one's you had last year in the 'red bag' were the best...

So I threw a bag of O'Malley's in last night to see if they burn any hotter... So far though, burning probably a ton of Lignetics, not impressed at all... Lots of clinkers and they just don't seem to burn as hot... The O'Malley's I burned earlier in the year seemed OK, however the temps were milder, however no clinkers or very much ash...

So any thoughts on this? Do certain pellets burn "hotter"? What's your favorite brand?

i have 4 ton lignetics also, and i'm not impressed at all, LOTS of ash, i have to clear my burn pot of the ash because the flame will start to get lazy from the ash build up, clear it away and its very active.....lots of carbon build up with the lignetics also. they are heating the house pretty well, but i have tried some softwoods that blow away the lignetics in all categories (to me anyway). i gotta clean the stove again today, and i just did it 3 days ago thats how much ash these have.....i sampled a few bags before buying the tons and they were great....VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THEM

 

[CFFuts23]

I'm having the same problem with my Mt. Vernon AE insert that we purchased last year. Last year we burned 4 tons of Energex Premium and didn't have any problems. This year our dealer recomended that we steer away from Energex b/c the pricing had gone up significantly. We listened to the dealer and bought 4 tons of Maine Woods Pellets.

My first concern was the Maine Pellet bags have holes in them. I have no idea why they have the holes, but it creates a mess when you dump them in the feeder since the dust comes out of the wholes and goes everywhere. On top of that, our ash (in and around the firepot) is 4x greater than the Energex. What's weird is the ash is the ashpan is equivalent to last year. I'm guessing the Maine pellets break apart easier and the dust / ash flies up when more pellets are dropped into the firepot. At any rate, our stove isn't running as well as last year. It definitely needs to be cleaned more often and we aren't getting the heat output we got last year.

I'm not sure what's up, but I'm curious to see if others are having the same problem.

 

[gahzoo]

So far one ton of Cleanfire(pelletsales.com),left over from last year, no complaints other than alot of dust. One ton of New England Wood Pellets- not much dust- not much ash and lots of heat! So happy that I got in on Pro-Tech stoves deal of $199/ton last week- for NEWP- ordered 2 more ton and picked up a half ton! I am glad I have two stoves going- its cold now North of Boston.

 

[newf lover]

I think part of the problem of finding the "perfect pellet" for your stove is that one year for instance the Energex, or whatever favorite pellet, will burn great in your stove, and the next year they may not be as good. I have 3 tons of NEWPs, and I've noticed a difference in 2 of the pallets as far as how much ash is generated. I've tried 2 ultra premium brands, Okies and Hamer's and my stove didn't like either. Both burned too rich in the stove. Is there something wrong with their pellets? No, I'm sure there's something with my stove that doesn't allow those 2 brands to work well. I've tried Turman and those have worked very well, in fact I picked up 2 tons recently. Because they get their raw materials from residuals of their hardwood flooring business, I'm hoping the pellets are more consistent. I guess I'll soon find out!

 

[dsnedegar3]

Burning my last ton of Hamers from last year, and then I have two tons of Barefoots waiting. I tried 5 bags of Barefoots before I bought them. Seemed to put out nice heat, and also seemed to burn cleaner than the Hamers. The Hamers put out great heat too, but my glass door gets dirty quickly (nothing that a little Windex can't address every few days!)

Im on my second season with a Mount Vernon AE insert

 

[Major91]

Alot has to do with what burns the best in your own stove. My stove is a Earthstove and burns Hammer Hot ones with no ash and no clinkers. Also burns very hot keeps my 2000 sq feet nice and comfy plus

 

[countk]

So as I just posted on another thread... It's flippin' cold here where I live...

Anyway, this is my 2nd year burning my Mt. Vernon AE. Last year, I burned 2 tons of Hamer pellets and 2 tons of Greenway. I wouldn't use my oil heat at all, except when I left the stove cool to clean it.

This year. I have 4 tons of Lignetics and 1 ton of O'Malley's... My buddy, who now is the repair technician for the place I bought my stove from, and I were talking the other night and I was telling him that it seems like my stove isn't running like it did last year. I said to him that I think it's the pellets... He kinda didn't beleive me and said it shouldn't matter, however he was on the phone with a customer and she said pretty much the same thing, asking about the Hamer pellets, that the pellets (not sure of brand, but might be Lignetics also) weren't keeping the house as warm as it did last year. After I got off the phone with him, and I was telling my wife (who's always freezing) about our conversation and the pellets... She said, I don't know, but the one's you had last year in the 'red bag' were the best...

So I threw a bag of O'Malley's in last night to see if they burn any hotter... So far though, burning probably a ton of Lignetics, not impressed at all... Lots of clinkers and they just don't seem to burn as hot... The O'Malley's I burned earlier in the year seemed OK, however the temps were milder, however no clinkers or very much ash...

So any thoughts on this? Do certain pellets burn "hotter"? What's your favorite brand?

i have 4 ton lignetics also, and i'm not impressed at all, LOTS of ash, i have to clear my burn pot of the ash because the flame will start to get lazy from the ash build up, clear it away and its very active.....lots of carbon build up with the lignetics also. they are heating the house pretty well, but i have tried some softwoods that blow away the lignetics in all categories (to me anyway). i gotta clean the stove again today, and i just did it 3 days ago thats how much ash these have.....i sampled a few bags before buying the tons and they were great....VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THEM

I have 3 tons of lignetics and have been very happy. They usually have a very consistent reputation and am wondering from these and some other posts, if there could have been some bad runs this year. A couple of days ago when it was warmer, I burned some leftover NEWP and they don't compare to my Ligs. Just my 2 cents.

 

[investor7952]

Burning cleanfire premium hardwood from pellets sales 250 degree output. Lignetics 270 degrees output. Most very clean burning same amount of ash same amount of dust (very little).

 

[bobswworld]

I have an englander 25 and last year burned Hamers and there was alot of ash but no clinkers, this year I am trying Turmans which seem to burn great with less ash but tend to clink up to the point in which I have to remove the chunk so it can burn right. Is this normal? Since this I have been playing with the feed and air speed to see if I can adjust it out. Also with the turmans there seems to be more fines in the bottom of hopper compared to Hamers. Tend to burn on setting 3 or less as the stove is in my living room and puts out a great deal of heat (great!!) I am thinking that it need to burn hotter to fully burn the pellets to stop clinkers. Does this sound right?

 

[Mr Whitfield]

BLAZER WOW Western Oregon WOOD, Burn hot and Clean.

 

[sparkydog00]

Almosat done with my 2 tons of Rocky Mountain.....no complaints...but am sick of the convienent handles on the bags.

 

[Flammam]

Almosat done with my 2 tons of Rocky Mountain.....no complaints...but am sick of the convienent handles on the bags.

About halfway through my first ton of rocky mountains already sick of the handles. Great heat and low ash.