Pellet Reviews - My observations

Hello -

I just purchased my stove about 3 weeks ago. I was coming here long before the purchase and continue to come here after the purchase. The people on here have been incredibly helpful. Since I don't know much about stoves yet I thought I would give back by giving some reviews of all the pellets I have used and tested. I'm sure for the veterans this wont be much help because you've been through this but perhaps this could help out some new comers who are looking to try out pellets. Here is what I've found.

Clean Fire Hardwood Pellets - $259.00 a ton - Lots of sawdust, Glass was very dirty in about an hour full of ash, not much heat at all, the stove would not run on low I was waking up in the morning to a stove that was off and a burn pot full of Pellets, 1 bag lasted about 24 hours on 2/3 setting, heat exchanger was full of ash and the ash content was average

Clear Choice Hardwood pellets - $299.00 a ton - Least amount of sawdust of all the pellets I tried, A little hotter than above pellets, the stove stayed on on low setting, 2 bags lasted about 48 hours on 3/4 setting, not the lowest ash content but there was a bit of ash in the ash pan and the heat exchanger was full of ash, living room was about 70 degrees (where the stove is)

Curren Hardwood/softwood Blend Pellets - $279.00 a ton - Little sawdust in bag, hotter than the (2) above, not allot of ash high flames, the ash seemed to be clogging the burn pot, the ash was sticky and crusty in the burn pot, not much window ash at all it seemed, the glass stayed very clean, Living room where the stove is was only 68 degrees in the morning but it was the coldest day of the year. It was only about 8 degrees that night and it was 11 degrees in the morning, 2 bags lasted about 30 hours on 3/4 setting

Green Gold Premium Hardwood pellets - $289.00 a ton - Not allot of ash, sawdust was the same as others, hotter than the 3 above but nothing special, 2 bags lasted about 38 hours on 3/4 setting, temp in the living room was about 70 it never went over 70 degrees, Long big pellets in the bag, lots of ash in the heat exchanger,

Lignetics - $294.00 a ton - Lots of dust in bag , Very hot and noticeably hotter than any of the others I had tried to this point, these were hotter than all the ones above on 2/3 setting where the others were on the 3/4 setting, 70 degrees in the living room (where the stove is) all night and in the morning, no ash on glass and what was on the glass wiped right off with a soft cloth (no water necessary), not much ash in the tray or heat exchanger, some big pellets, 2 bags lasted 47 hours, living room got the hottest it has ever gotten it hit 75 degrees but it was 35 degrees outside

Geneva Hardwood - $264.00 a ton - TONS of dust - there was a cloud of dust when I poured these into the hopper, hottest that I tried except Lignetics but as hot as Lignetics, they burned very slow and living room (where the stove is) got up to 72 degrees besides lignetics this was the only pellet to get up to 72 degrees, hard ashes in the burn pot, black ash in the ash tray, NO ash on glass but there was a white sticky haze that needed more than a cloth and water to get off - I needed to use a ceramic stove sponge and water but it came right off with that, no ash in the heat exchanger, room was a constant 70 degrees, no ash on back walls of stove, very good ash content or lack of ash, 2 bags lasted about 30 hours, nice high flames

Spruce softwood - $289 a ton - tons of sawdust and allot of small wood chips bigger than sawdust but not really wood chips ( maybe these are what you call fines?), not overly impressed with the heat and had a lazy flame, the living room temp was at 68 degrees, I had to give the stove more air to get big flames, even with more air the flame still seemed lazy, not much ash on the back wall, tray or heat exchanger, glass stayed clean, when I did get good heat I had to set it to the 4/5 setting which is the highest the stove can go, black ash in tray, 66 degrees in the morning on 3/4 setting, I had to play with the stove way to much to get these to burn properly, 2 bags lasted about 36 hours

Barefoot Super Premium Hardwood - $304.00 a ton - Not much dust, some black pellets and long pellets in the bag, hot as Lignetics and Geneva but not hotter, big flames, living room stayed at 72 degrees with ease, not much ash on heat exchanger or tray, the glass stayed clean but these had a white haze on the glass as did the Geneva's, Auger was making noises - I heard a pop once in awhile and these were the only pellets where I heard that, the room stayed at 72 degrees on 2/3 setting but the outside temps were in the 40's and 50's, cigarette like ashes in the burn pot - big, black and crusty, light brown ash, 2 bags lasted about 32 hours,

That's what I have. I hope this is helpful for someone and I didn't waste everyone else's time with such a long post. I still have Oakies at home to test but that will be the last ones I test. I think I'm going to go with the Geneva's. The price is right and from what I saw the Lignetics and Barefoot aren't worth the extra money. All prices above do not include the $60.00 delivery charge. I'm still looking for shoulder pellets but these aren't them. As you can see all these brands are pretty pricey.

Md,

The Lignetics you burned, what color was the bag label? I just tried blue labeled bag from TSC, not overly impressed.
I can green label for $249 a ton, however to sample a few bags they want $7/bag :bug:

Thanks for the reviews! It would be helpful to know where you are, what kind of stove you have and what the room you're heating is like in terms of space, insulation etc.

Thanks for the reviews! It would be helpful to know where you are, what kind of stove you have and what the room you're heating is like in terms of space, insulation etc.

The bags were green lettering. I think they were from the West Virginia plant. I live in Mass. and luckily I have access to a bunch of different locations that carry all sorts of Pellets. My living room is 16x25 and the fireplace is in the middle. I'll attach a picture, don't know if it will work. Buying the bag gets very expensive..I've probably spent about $80 on sample bags.

I got a few more samples of Geneva. For me it seems like the best bang for the buck. High heat and low ash. The Barefoots I liked allot but I don't like that it's the only pellet where my auger was popping. I have an Enviro Milan insert. The house is well insulated, new windows and it was built in 1987.

So what stove do you have?

I'm looking around at pellets right now, and you're right, per bag it's pricey, plus I don't have access to a lot on a per-bag basis without driving 45 minutes or so. I suppose it's worth it, though? I am tempted to just order a ton of something - Greene Team or Okies or another that seems to have a good reputation and just go with it. But then I'd miss the fun of experimenting...hmmm.

Thanks again!
Mary

I have an Enviro Milan insert.

I find experimenting isn't that fun. I would just like to load the thing up and let it run, instead I have to keep waiting for one kind to run out to start another. I put 2 bags in at a time and let them run out. However, I would hate to buy a ton and have it not work for me. I have found allot of posts about Spruce Pointe and everyone likes them, but they didn't work to well for me. Your better off taking the time and getting what works.

where are you? variety is abundant in litchfield hartford county areas. make a saturday out of it breakfast, pellets lunch pellets and finish with a dinner.

ray

I'm in Bellingham, Mass.

I'm in Litchfield County. Where is there variety? I am envisioning a CT Pellet Trail like the CT Antiques Trail (that runs right through my town) lol.

Thanks for the review. Keep us posted on which pellets you plan on using as shoulder pellets. I'm still trying to figure I t out as well.

The majority of what I burned came from litchfield county. ;-)

Nothing to spill. Most is posted in the reviews.

CTpellet and BTpellet are where the big dogs came from. The rest were Lowes, HD, Agway, True Value, TSC, and Price Choppers even.

OP sorry for the hijack. Thanks for sharing your tests with us. Glad your seeing for yourself how/what your stove likes. ;-)

From what I have seen, Pellets seem to be a regional thing. Big box stores buy what ever is available at the time for the best price. Local dealers seem to buy from local pellet manufacturers. Many of the brands mentioned here may not exist in other areas. Here in my area (central NY) you have some brands available in the fall and are gone during the cold season.

Strangely enough one of the big suppliers I have gotten most of my pellets from tells me he doesn't buy New England pellets because they have poor quality control. That is to say any pellets made in New England he will not buy. I live in New England so I thought that was strange.

Wow you guys on the east coast pay way more per ton than we do here in Oregon
Cleanburn @ 217.00 per ton
Bear mountain and Golden fire @219.00
Pacific pellets @ 225.00
Hot shots and Blazers at home depot or lowes 209.00 but not my favorite pellets like the ones above

We pay more for everything.. it's a living hell

It's the living truth!

ok by litchfield county i meant rt 8, i am geographically challenged. hartford county i mean 84 and rt 6, rt 6 through bristol plainville has a few brands on it!. BP awesome joint. i had my heart broken when my dad told me his installed delivered 2 tons of country boy white lightning pellets for $780.00 it hurt hearing. i may have to toss the old man a skid of greene teams!

ray

I wasn't very impressed with the Lignetics Blue label either. Seemed like a lot of ash and big clinkers. A lot more to scrape off the burnpot during cleaning also.

Has anyone had a problem with Oakies this past winter? I purchased a total of 3 tons over the winter, not all at once, with a code of 11 09 on all of the bags. All 3 tons appeared to have had a really rough trip to the dealer. Lots of fines and broken or crushed pellets, and the good ones were only about 3/8 inch long if that. I am lucky in the regard that my stove (Breckwell P24FS) will handle anything I throw at it, but I have been burning Oakies for 4 years now, and this was the worst I have seen. Just ordered another 3 tons for next winter at a 20% off anniversary sale, but informed the dealer that I would not accept them if they were delivered with the same date code on them. Anyone else with this batch of pellets dated 11 09?

Did you get these from Hamshaw lumber? What did they charge you? They told me $279/ton and that was going to be the best price, no discounts this year on the Okies.

Same here. See my thread here. The dust was more of a problem for me that the short pellet length. They say that with short pellets you actually get more mass into the stove so they produce more BTUs (but you burn more).

They are bagging them locally now (MA) but at the 'spring special' prices they are charging I will not be getting them this year.

Yes they are from Hamshaw, and your price is correct but with the amount of heat they provide I find that it is actually saving over the cheaper brands as I use less.