Pellet info

[whitetailscout]

I am awaiting the install of my first pellet stove, an Enviro Empress insert. I guess the next thing I need to do is start shopping for pellets. I have been trying to find out what I can by reading this forum, and have some basic questions.

1. What is the difference between hardwood and softwood pellets in terms of burn quality? As a wood burner, I have always gone for good hardwood, like oak, but it seems that some of the best pellet reviews are for softwood pellets.

2. Are the Stove Chow pellets you get at Home Depot a good pellet? My stove dealer sells Energex for $309/ton, is this better than buying the Stove Chow, or Lowes equivalent, for significantly less money?

3. Can I use a shop vac to clean up the ash, or do I need an actual ash vac?

4. I have read that the Harman stoves will burn just about any pellets, but what about Enviro stoves? Are they pickier about pellets?

 

[Tonyray]

I am awaiting the install of my first pellet stove, an Enviro Empress insert. I guess the next thing I need to do is start shopping for pellets. I have been trying to find out what I can by reading this forum, and have some basic questions.

1. What is the difference between hardwood and softwood pellets in terms of burn quality? As a wood burner, I have always gone for good hardwood, like oak, but it seems that some of the best pellet reviews are for softwood pellets.

2. Are the Stove Chow pellets you get at Home Depot a good pellet? My stove dealer sells Energex for $309/ton, is this better than buying the Stove Chow, or Lowes equivalent, for significantly less money?

3. Can I use a shop vac to clean up the ash, or do I need an actual ash vac?

4. I have read that the Harman stoves will burn just about any pellets, but what about Enviro stoves? Are they pickier about pellets?

I burned 2 tons of Stove Chows last winter along with 2 tons Energex Hardwoods....
Both are ashy, both give lots of heat....
At 309.00 ton I would deffinitly go with the cheaper Chows as I am assuming at HD or Lowes they are in the 219-229. range.
...I get Energex Hardwoods for 250.00 ton here but would never 309.00 for them as they are NOT 60.00 ton better.
Chows are bagged and distributed by Energex also.. they look identical except the chows are less concistant in lenght and a different smell in the bag..sweeter..
I have read that the Harman stoves will burn just about any pellets, but what about Enviro stoves? Are they pickier about pellets?
Someone should chime in about Enviro.. I have a Harman which handles different sized pellets with no problems..

 

[johneh]

My envro burns what ever I throw at it .
My go to pellet is cubix just bought 3 skids 4.5 tons
279 ton including free delivery Buy a few bags of what is around you
try them and make up your own mind what you like best and a what price you
want to pay
I use a wet dry shop vac with a drywall bag in it to vac my stove works good

 

[smirnov3]

Softwood burns hotter and faster than hardwood.

in a regular stove, softwoods will tend to burn too hot and then run out, but in a pellet stove, you have the auger feeding the correct amount of pellets, so with softwood, the auger will just feed less to compensate for their hotter burn. That is why softwood pellets usually cost more than hard wood. It can be as much as 10% more heat (at least according to the published info - ymmv)

the other thing to be concerned with in pellets is amount of ash. the more ash, the more you have to clean. with the nice LG pellets 0.39% ash), I was dumping the ash pan once a week and scraping out the heat exchanger once every 2 weeks, while with the junk pellets I use now (.8% ash) I do it twice as often.

the last thing that pellets are rated on is moisture content, but IMHO, that is useless info. If pellets are stored over the summer in a humid environment, they will suck up moisture, and they will all end up being about the same.