Newbie with stove running on Softwood pellets

[Trophy_67]

Hi All!
Well I just installed a Englander "summers heat" 120lb. hopper utility stove in my mudroom attached to the kitchen a week ago & the wife is IN LOVE WITH ME ALL OVER AGAIN ...LOL
Right now I am burning "Potomac" premium yellow pine pellets and they seem to be working very well, can get kitchen up to 80 on burn rate #3 and living room is holding round 72 , very little ash after a bag has burned with no clinkers in the burn pot on the lower setting, glass gets pretty dirty after 12 hrs. but i think that is normal.
My ? is would you folks suggest trying a few other brands of hardwood before buying a ton of the "Potomac" brand soft pellets,
or just get a ton of what I am using and get used to operating this furnace? since right now it is running great it hasnt shut off so far unless I have shut it down to sweep out he ashes & clean the glass.
Just want to say THANKS TO ALL FOR THE GREAT TIPS AND INFORMATION I was able to access here before I made my purchase!
Tim

 

[imacman]

IMO, pellet burners need to be educated consumers. I do think you should try a few bags of other brands before committing to a large purchase. You may find that yes, the Potomac's are the best burning pellets in your particular stove, but then again, maybe not.

Better to know for sure, instead of wondering later on.

 

[Lousyweather]

I dont know anything about Potomac, but support his view. Sometimes that giant "Leap of Faith" lands you securely on the other side of the ravine, but sometimes the leap lands you drowning in a sea of $hit. Arent you better off taking the footbridge first for a sure result? (the footbridge being buying several bags first to try)

Congrats on your stove! Glad you like it!

 

[hossthehermit]

Hi All!
Well I just installed a Englander "summers heat" 120lb. hopper utility stove in my mudroom attached to the kitchen a week ago & the wife is IN LOVE WITH ME ALL OVER AGAIN ...LOL
Right now I am burning "Potomac" premium yellow pine pellets and they seem to be working very well, can get kitchen up to 80 on burn rate #3 and living room is holding round 72 , very little ash after a bag has burned with no clinkers in the burn pot on the lower setting, glass gets pretty dirty after 12 hrs. but i think that is normal.
My ? is would you folks suggest trying a few other brands of hardwood before buying a ton of the "Potomac" brand soft pellets,
or just get a ton of what I am using and get used to operating this furnace? since right now it is running great it hasnt shut off so far unless I have shut it down to sweep out he ashes & clean the glass.
Just want to say THANKS TO ALL FOR THE GREAT TIPS AND INFORMATION I was able to access here before I made my purchase!
Tim

Three ?????'s come to mind.
1. How many other brands do you have to choose from where you are?
2. Do you have the option of picking up a few bags of the Potomac at a time, on your way home from work or something, so you don't have to make a special trip?
3. How much are you gonna save if you buy a ton?
And I guess,
4. What's the weather like there?

It' s January, middle of the heating season. Sounds like you're happy with the performance of what you're burning now. If the answer to #2 is "yes", why mess with a good thing? Unless the answer to #3 is a large number. If it is, I'd grab a ton, maybe two, depending on length of heating season. I'm all in favor of experimenting with different brands, I prefer to do it in the spring or fall. BUT, that's just MY opinion.

 

[swalz]

I purchased 4 tons of them and have burned around 1.3 tons, they burn good with a good flame. The ash is light and no clinkers so far, after burning a ton I had about 40% of a bag worth of ash. I put all the ash I have cleaned out from the stove into a bucket to see how much I would get from a ton. I did pick up different brands to try and decided on these since I was able to get them at $70 less from Lowes on sale and adding my brothers discount. At the time Lowes had the Potomacs or Peningtons not to many places here to get pellets from and most were around $300 or more. I just had the feeder weldment and burn pot replaced so I can't say if that is why I am burning better then it did before with less ash.

 

[Trophy_67]

Thanks for the replies, I took your advise and stopped by Lowes (bought 2 minute drive from work) this morning and picked up 8 more bags to keep me going.
round here there are several places to purchases pellets and many different brands seems most run in the $225 to $300 /ton range.
was talkin with a few other pellet burners at the plant that use the hardwood only that are willing to swap me 2 bags of theres for 2 of mine to experiment with so we can all test some.
AGAIN THANKS
Tim