I've still been sampling different brands, totally unscientifically; just "seat of the pants impressions".
Latest burns:
Vermont Wood Pellet: Wow! Very nice. Every bit the equal of Okanagan as Jay found in his tests. Comparable heat and very low ash. And, at least for me, the amount of dust I'm finding in the room was not anything unusual. Granted, I only burned 3 bags so far so. But, that was the only "gripe" we had with the Okanagan's last year as the dust gave my wife's asthma some problems. Also, for you AE owners, just as I found with the Okanagan's last year, I found that I got a stronger, hotter burn by using the Sunflower setting with the Vermonts. The difference is amazing. The flame is lazy otherwise, and the glass will be black after only one bag (just like my experience with Oakies last year). Using "sunflower" setting, as cold as it is right now outside (19F right now), the room temperature still rises fairly quickly even on "low" heat setting. Maybe I will try posting some comparision videos so you can see the difference some time.
Blazers: Double Wow! These are absolutely pellets with the least amount of ash I have ever burned so far. Not only was there just a tiny amount of ash in the pan after two bags, but the amount of fly ash in the firebox was the lowest of anything I have ever tried. I bet I could go a week in the middle of the coldest part of the season without having to clean (I normally do twice a week). I burned the Blazers on the normal softwood setting and they burned well (better than Oakies or Vermont for that setting), but I still had to set the flame height adjustment on the lowest possible setting. I probably should have tried these on sunflower setting too just to see the difference, but I didn't. If I ever get some again, I will experiment. But at $7.00/bag I won't be buying them often.
Latest burns:
Vermont Wood Pellet: Wow! Very nice. Every bit the equal of Okanagan as Jay found in his tests. Comparable heat and very low ash. And, at least for me, the amount of dust I'm finding in the room was not anything unusual. Granted, I only burned 3 bags so far so. But, that was the only "gripe" we had with the Okanagan's last year as the dust gave my wife's asthma some problems. Also, for you AE owners, just as I found with the Okanagan's last year, I found that I got a stronger, hotter burn by using the Sunflower setting with the Vermonts. The difference is amazing. The flame is lazy otherwise, and the glass will be black after only one bag (just like my experience with Oakies last year). Using "sunflower" setting, as cold as it is right now outside (19F right now), the room temperature still rises fairly quickly even on "low" heat setting. Maybe I will try posting some comparision videos so you can see the difference some time.
Blazers: Double Wow! These are absolutely pellets with the least amount of ash I have ever burned so far. Not only was there just a tiny amount of ash in the pan after two bags, but the amount of fly ash in the firebox was the lowest of anything I have ever tried. I bet I could go a week in the middle of the coldest part of the season without having to clean (I normally do twice a week). I burned the Blazers on the normal softwood setting and they burned well (better than Oakies or Vermont for that setting), but I still had to set the flame height adjustment on the lowest possible setting. I probably should have tried these on sunflower setting too just to see the difference, but I didn't. If I ever get some again, I will experiment. But at $7.00/bag I won't be buying them often.
