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  1. ironpony Minister of Fire

    joined: Jan 22, 2010
    1,390 posts
    mid-ohio
    as posted in another thread, I bought a ton of easy heat pellets, and they are well lets just say disappointing. I have a Harman stove and while burning No Heat pellets the temp in the house steadily dropped.

    At this point I realized that the stove was not feeding enough pellets to satisfy the ESP temp, so I bumped up the feed rate. Result, set at the same stove temp,. I woke up to a cold stove, it burned through a full hopper of pellets in 12 hours approx 60 lbs in one evening. Normally about 30 lbs.
    There were NO unburned pellets in the ash pan which tells me they all fully combusted.

    My Conclusion; there is no way burning cheap pellets during shoulder season makes any sense what so ever.
    #1

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    CT Pellet and Xena like this.
  2. PoolGuyinCT Feeling the Heat

    joined: Jan 17, 2012
    327 posts
    Plymouth CT
    Iron pony, based on your results those junk pellets weren't cheap, they were actually very expensive.

    A well performing inexpensive pellet is always a great thing.
  3. jtakeman Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 30, 2008
    12,723 posts
    Northwestern CT.
    There are many economical(I'm not calling them shoulders anymore) pellets that do very well. Some run with the good brands. In my area Somerset is an economical pellet(when I can find them) and they burn as well as pellets costing $50 to $100 more per ton!

    Choosing the economical pellet is the tricky part.
  4. Xena Minister of Fire

    joined: Nov 30, 2005
    2,436 posts
    South Shore MA
    I won't run cheap stuff anymore. Even if they're hot I don't like the huge ash that they leave behind.
    Maybe some of you out there have access to pellets that run hot AND clean,
    but some of us don't. Pellet house a mile down the road so in the long run
    makes more sense for me to stock top shelf pellets. Gas money for my friends
    truck would eat up any savings if I were to ask him to drive far so no point.

    Oh, and just a clarification, the stove runs perfect no matter what crappy pellets
    I've fed it, it's me that has an issue with ashy stuff cuz I'm lazy to clean the stove more than once every 3 weeks. :p
    CT Pellet likes this.
  5. DexterDay Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 11, 2010
    9,040 posts
    NE Ohio
    I learned my lesson last year burning them.

    Looks like you learned yours...

    Somersets is by far the best pellet in our area (and the cheapest). Unless there is a fantastic sale on another brand, or some Super Premiums come through the area (Barefoot, Spruce Pointe, Etc) that demand a higher price point, I will stick with Sets.
  6. DV Member

    joined: Feb 6, 2012
    212 posts
    Southern MD
    Never tried somersets. Havent seen em in my area. Prestologs have done great. I suppose they are ashier than some but no big deal for my stove.
  7. CT Pellet Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 1, 2012
    645 posts
    Torrington, CT
    Whooo Hooo!........ Hells Yeah! .......That's what I'm talking about right there!.......Bam!

    When its cold outside, burn great pellets, and when its "shoulder season", burn great pellets and turn your damn feed rate down. Bottom line.
    Defiant, Xena, TheGriz and 1 other person like this.
  8. will711 Minister of Fire

    joined: Mar 26, 2011
    939 posts
    Pocono mts.
    Not to get off topic but I 'm getting the Hot Ukraine women ad on this thread with age, pic, Ht. & Wt. in metric and I'm not doing the conversion ;)
  9. Eatonpcat Minister of Fire

    joined: Jul 24, 2011
    2,037 posts
    Eaton Township, Ohio
    Time to put the beer down when the Ukrainian women start looking hot!!;hm
  10. will711 Minister of Fire

    joined: Mar 26, 2011
    939 posts
    Pocono mts.
    Never put the beer down
    Eatonpcat likes this.
  11. DV Member

    joined: Feb 6, 2012
    212 posts
    Southern MD
    Especially if the Ukrainians are looking hot. The last thing you need is for them to not look hot due to the fact that you put your beer down!
    Eatonpcat and will711 like this.
  12. will711 Minister of Fire

    joined: Mar 26, 2011
    939 posts
    Pocono mts.
    No beer goggles needed they were hot;)
  13. slvrblkk Minister of Fire

    joined: Feb 2, 2008
    853 posts
    Northampton, PA
    OK...not fair, I'm not seeing the ads! Do I need to be drinking a beer to see them?
    Defiant and will711 like this.
  14. will711 Minister of Fire

    joined: Mar 26, 2011
    939 posts
    Pocono mts.
    Beer helps ;)
    slvrblkk likes this.
  15. BrotherBart He Who Moderates

    joined: Nov 18, 2005
    21,920 posts
    Northern Virginia
    Hmmm... Goggle Adsense keys off of sites you have visited to present ads that might appeal to you. >>
    slvrblkk, jtakeman and will711 like this.
  16. will711 Minister of Fire

    joined: Mar 26, 2011
    939 posts
    Pocono mts.
    I hear ya :)
    DexterDay likes this.
  17. billb3 Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 14, 2007
    3,061 posts
    SE Mass
    Support Femen !!!!
  18. Jm15 New Member

    joined: Feb 22, 2012
    54 posts
    CT
    I'm starting to think this is the way to go. This is my first full season with the stove and I have gone through almost 2 tons of GS. I guess I can't complain for the price. I paid less than $400 to heat my house since October, but every week I clean the heat exchangers that are covered with ash. And each week for the first day or so the stove seems to give off a lot more heat. As the week goes on, it seems to produce less heat. I am starting to think if the pellets I used had less ash, I would have greater consistency in heat throughout the week and burn less pellets. Obviously, how much less is the question. I think I might be visiting your place for some super premium pellets next summer since I am a town over.
    Xena likes this.

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