Phoenix Switch Grass Pellets Surprisingly good

[mascoma]

My local dealer got in some Phoenix switch grass pellets which they say come from Energex so I picked up a few bags to try in the harman.

I was very surprised at the heat they put out, it was exellent, on par with the year old barefoots I have been burning.

They do put out alot of heavy crusty ash. The Harman bottom feed system worked perfectly, pushing the mound of ash out of the burn pot as designed. I do not think these would burn well in a top feed model without some sort of agitator or burn pot cleaning system. Although ash was no worse than the Michigan Wood Pellets I burned previously.

I would not switch to all grass to burn but I am thinking of burning 1-2 tons of grass out of my normal 6ish next year. I like the fact that it only takes a year to grow the fuel feed stock versus growing a tree... call me a hippy.

 

[Turbo-Quad]

The P61 is the stove recommended for burning grass pellets. Other stoves don't fair as well. What was the price on the grass pellets?

 

[mascoma]

$200 per ton for grass
same dealer has Energex softies for $225, Energex canadian $255

 

[Turbo-Quad]

Hmmm...I would have thought they would be much cheaper.

 

[mascoma]

looking for info online about Phoenix pellets I saw BT in CT selling them for $255, same as most of there premium/super premium woodies.

From a cleaning stand point they are less attractive than the cheap box store brands but from a heating point after my experience I think they are a better value than those brands at $197-187. I was prepared for questionable results but I could not believe the heat they put out.

 

[chris288]

I would have thought from a crusty ash stand point it would actually be easier to clean the stove as most of the ash would wind up in the pan rather than all the fly ash all over the stove like my XXV about 60% of the ash winds up in the pan the other 40% all over the bottom and sides of the stove.

 

[Fsappo]

We're getting close with the grass pellets. Once they are a constant 40-50% cheaper that "good" wood pellets, we may be able to develop that market. There are a few stoves out there that can handle em ok. Cornell is using an MT Vernon AE and Europa as test models with good success. I burn them just fine in the Europa and also the Magnum Countryside in our showroom.

 

[jtakeman]

Phoenix switch grass pellets actually have some wood fiber in them. They are not 100% switch grass. I burned 8 to 10 bags a couple of seasons ago and they did fine once I figured out what to adjust for them. I got some good heat from them. But locally they are $255/ton and I still can get Pellets from the Pellet houses around $210 and up. Bigbox has the market cornered with the $187/ton price minus the 10% coupon. Not much of an option right now, But if things change and pellets go over $300/ton. I might just have to do some of them! We also have local grown Timothy grass pellets, They burn OK, But way more ash. Last I knew they were going for $150/ton.

I still have 2 bags of the Phoenix pellets in the basement and may actually burn them in a multifuel head to head to head with Timithy grass, Corn and Cherry pits. Just don't seem to have much free time to do it lately. Someday?