New England Pellets = LEGIT

This topic makes me curious - we bought a Harman and four tons of Freedom Fuel four years ago, then a tornado went through the neighborhood which gave us enough firewood for three years. We started using the Harman this year and the four-year old Freedom Fuel hasn't given us any problems. Because I've been reading about different pellets on this forum we sprung for $8+ for a bag of Lignetics from our local hardware store and found that they didn't generate as much heat as the Freedom Fuel. We did try some Maine pellets from Tractor Supply which we liked better than the Lignetics. I'm really curious b/c Freedom Fuel has such a bad reputation on this forum and Lignetics such a good one.

I'd rather eat them then burn'em!

ok i'm done , someone comes on here and says they like a certain brand of pellet and you tar and feather him ? screw you . gone

HD. $197 with a 10% military discount. I also got a half a ton for $167 with a 15% military discount.

4 year old pellet batch likely doesn't burn the same as a current year batch of the same brand, pellet makers that don't have control over their fiber tend to be inconsistent, some of them can't even get batches run the same year at the same plant to burn the same then try things with the same pellet brand made the same year from two different plants.

I don't even want to consider all of the possible combinations out there these days.

We have 2 tons left - would it be better to buy pellets now or wait until May? Would anyone have any recommendations for pellets in the Concord, NH area or Lakes region?

Thanks for all the advice. We've saved so much money from the advice from these forums.

If you have the room and the money, buy anytime you see a good deal. I hear a lot on hear about spring sales, but I've never seen one.

This sure is a hot topic! If I might say(pun intended). But seriously,I'm a total noob with the pellet stove.
First year. I had bought a few bags of stove chow based on a co workers recommendation,seemed to burn well enough.Went back,bought a ton.All was well,I was happy with them.That was about 6 weeks ago.This past w/e,went back and got another ton.This batch is nowhere near as good,a lot of long pellets,less heat.
I am definately getting the impression of just how much variation there is with wood pellets,at least with some brands.
I am still getting enough heat out of the chow to keep the 25pdvc on 1-1,and everyone in the house is comfortable.
Lucky me,I guess.Because I cringe at the thought of paying $260 or more per ton.
Also,I have seen at least 3 diff brands under the NEWP banner,can't remember the third,but the local grocery store had them @250 a ton,no thanks!

Are you serious? There's no tar or feathers in here. Just adults playfully teasing other adults. NEWP's track record has been WELL documented here for a long time. When someone comes in and says something completely opposite said track record, it's sure to get a rise out of people. I'm happy, and surprised, the OP is enjoying their pellets and, IMO, nobody here is going over the line. A lot of the comments have been amusing and none are direct insults to the OP.

Would it be OK if the OP was referring to Inferno's?

Hopefully, your post was tongue and cheek, but if not, you gotta lighten up. This forum is flat out the most BS free forum of any topic I've found in my years 'putin.

i told the OP...

its all in fun i dont think anyone attacked the guy, just the pellet
i had 6 ton

Ahhh B bye now!

Let 'em go...Pretty sure his location and state of mind are alike.

At $8+ a bag, it'd be cheaper to burn your furniture.

You guys should feel grateful you have a choice. I live in a fairly large city and I have 4 brands to choose from. Prices range from $5.00 to $7.00, one store has a sale once a year in January. HD and Walmart don't carry them.

Did you do a thorough cleaning (the whole enchilada) after the first ton? A clean stove burning crappy pellets burns hotter than a dirty stove burning premium stuff, in my experience. My cheapo Fireside Ultras are toasting me out of my room this season as long as I am diligent w/the cleanings.

pft- we all have different results. Gotta understand that alot of the folks here are so incredibly anile about their pellets that the difference between a GREAT one and a SUCKY one could be 1 or two percent......that difference mitigated given the cleanliness of their stove and such....

Grateful....indeed

I have been shutting the stove down weekly,cleaning everything I can.Garden hose(connected to shopvac) in the heat exchanger and all.I'm quite confident that the stove is clean,and burning well.Just seems this batch of stove chow is not as good.The upper auger groans in protest of the long pellets.
I also picked a few bags of green supremes while getting the chow,just to try for myself.
They burn well enough,the ash is notably "fluffier" than the chow,heat not quite as high.I do have ir temp gun I check with.
To each their own,but as of now,I refuse to pay more when I'm getting what I need for $209/ton.

Agree completely. I can heat my home fine for $188 a ton (HD honors Lowes 10% off coupon) so why should I spend $260 or more for other stuff? The Ultras are pretty darn low ash this year too.

Oh man, really? Sorry about that. In Canada that just seems counter intuitive. I kind of figured there were pellets available all over the place in CA since so many seem to be produced there. Is it that they sell so much bulk to Europe? And I whine about having to drive 45 minutes to get good pellets...

I've been burning NEWP this season and they've been fine...BUT...as I've said in other threads, I have nothing to compare them to yet, and I've only had the stove since the end of December. I have 3 bags of Fireside Ultras I'm going to try this weekend so I can see if there's any difference in ash, heat output etc. We keep our first floor around 72ish and bedrooms at 67ish. I think both those temps are too warm, but there's a benefit to not fighting that battle. One thing I do notice - which I'm not sure is a "feature" of NEWP or the stove - is the Harman speed bump I get in the middle of the burnpot. It's easily scraped off, but it does show up after several days.

I think I'm still stuck in wood stove mode anyway. I read about people cleaning after 1 ton of pellets I've been cleaning the stove every Sunday afternoon because, well...that's what I did with the wood stove. I reckon I should let it go longer and see what happens.

That's a pretty good funny right there!

There are two identical freedom fuels, one is 5/16" the other is 1/4"..

The 5/16" was just ok the, 1/4" diameter was fujkin garbage. Both were "corny"

You don't know which size freedom fuel you are getting until the bag is cut, even from the same skid.

Never again

Here's a good one. I remember seeing Freedom fuel at HD about 4 or 5 years ago and why this sticks out in my mind is because I remember seeing them in a broken bag and the diameter was so small. They looked like little broken pieces of spaghetti. Then last year, Freedom Fuel dropped off a bag of pellets here at my office in an effort to try and get me to carry them. When I opened up the bag, I couldn't believe it. Total other end of the spectrum...These things were like corks! Now in all fairness, I did burn them and they were OK. (from what I can tell from onee bag) But there is no way as a dealer that I would be able to sell them because they were "different." When you sell something that is different, people equate this with there being a problem. I told the salesman that the diameter of his pellet goes outside the requirements to meet the PFI's definition of "premium." He then tells me that the PFI "grandfathered" them in because they were making fat pellets prior to the new standards. Oh, what the PFI will do for a "dues-paying" member. All that aside, I can't say that thew are bad pellets.

The "speedbump" is creosote that collects in the burnpot right on top of the igniter. It will happen with any pellet. A flat blade screwdriver will handle it nicely.