Stove Chow Disappointment

[BillM2]

I’ve bought Stove Chow pellets to burn in my Englander 25 PVDC for the last three years and have been satisfied. This year I bought 4 tons and aren’t burning as hot as previously. Stove is completely clean, I have a new convection blower, exhaust pipe is also clean. I have to burn on a higher setting, a notch or two, to get the heat I usually get out of them. Anyone experiencing the same? I’m in upstate NY, Hudson Valley region. Pellets purchased from Home Depot in mid November.

 

[JRemington]

I repaired a stove a couple weeks ago that the owner was burning them. The ash was very black and heavy. Is your ash like that?

 

[Tonyray]

Are they longer size this year?

 

[BillM2]

Are they longer size this year?

Not really.

 

[BillM2]

I repaired a stove a couple weeks ago that the owner was burning them. The ash was very black and heavy. Is your ash like that?

Yes, pretty much. They’re just different in both heat and ash.

 

[Tonyray]

Not surprised about the chows. Have had great softwoods in the past and even they got changed to where I didn't want to burn them anymore because they went cheapo with the recipe and product.

 

[KurtGriffith]

We went with Stove Chow last two years, after baliing on a unimpressive batch of Hamers. But a noticeable difference in this year's "vintage". Different smell, does not burn as hot or active, and produces much more ash. My wife complains, it's like pellet fuel has "good years" and you get a trusted brand, and a couple of years later they let you down. it's like they have vintages. "Ahhhh, Hamers 2015, that was a very good year."

 

[Pellet-King]

HD's here only sell Green Supremes now, last year they were awesome, this year they suck, best bang for the buck are TSC pellets, I would never buy any pellets without a 5 bag testing

 

[BillM2]

We went with Stove Chow last two years, after baliing on a unimpressive batch of Hamers. But a noticeable difference in this year's "vintage". Different smell, does not burn as hot or active, and produces much more ash. My wife complains, it's like pellet fuel has "good years" and you get a trusted brand, and a couple of years later they let you down. it's like they have vintages. "Ahhhh, Hamers 2015, that was a very good year."

Yeah, real disappointment. I would recommend any potential buyer to check out a bag or two before committing. I think the heat output is about 25-30% less than last year.

 

[BillM2]

We went with Stove Chow last two years, after baliing on a unimpressive batch of Hamers. But a noticeable difference in this year's "vintage". Different smell, does not burn as hot or active, and produces much more ash. My wife complains, it's like pellet fuel has "good years" and you get a trusted brand, and a couple of years later they let you down. it's like they have vintages. "Ahhhh, Hamers 2015, that was a very good year."

Yep, I still have some in my barn. I pull them out when we get into single digits around here.

 

[Montecarlossfan]

I had picked some up to use in the warmer part of the season, they definitely suck this year. Dark ash, not as hot for sure, almost like a ton of bark in them.

 

[Pellet-King]

Green Supremes ae like that this year too, last year plenty of heat, TSC white bag seem to be the best for the buck

 

[wjogert]

How ironic.
I've been burning Tractor Supply Hardwood (I presume that's TSC) white bag pellets since we got this 25PVCD three weeks ago. Not by choice, my father-in-law bought us a pallet when he bought his.
The irony is that I just bought a couple bags of Stove Chow to try, after seeing them mentioned here so often. I was hoping they'd be hotter and/or cleaner.
I also grabbed a bag of Fireside Ultra pellets. Those are burning as of 15 minutes ago.

 

[bgk]

I’ve bought Stove Chow pellets to burn in my Englander 25 PVDC for the last three years and have been satisfied. This year I bought 4 tons and aren’t burning as hot as previously. Stove is completely clean, I have a new convection blower, exhaust pipe is also clean. I have to burn on a higher setting, a notch or two, to get the heat I usually get out of them. Anyone experiencing the same? I’m in upstate NY, Hudson Valley region. Pellets purchased from Home Depot in mid November.

I also live in the Hudson Valley. Town of Rochester/Accord. I’ve settled in on energex for my stove. Best I’ve found locally. Stove chow was not great.

 

[wjogert]

Follow up:

I burned the Fireside Ultra. I burned the Stove Chow. Before this I had no experience to relate clean/dirty. Wow, I do now!

The TSC pellets had what I worried was a lot of ash. It's light to medium gray. Flame has a nice yellow color and glass soots over in about 6 hours (after the plate mod and leaf blower).

Fireside and Stove Chow both burned very orange and I could see the dark smoke at the tips. Glass sooted over in about 15 minutes. Ash was dark gray and heavy... probably twice as much ash per bag of pellets. Thick ash accumulation behind the mainfold plate. Thick ash accumulation on the exhaust outlet.

However, the dirty pellets burned MUCH hotter than the TSC. Tonight I'm testing a ~30/70% blend of Stove Chow and TSC.

 

[BillM2]

How ironic.
I've been burning Tractor Supply Hardwood (I presume that's TSC) white bag pellets since we got this 25PVCD three weeks ago. Not by choice, my father-in-law bought us a pallet when he bought his.
The irony is that I just bought a couple bags of Stove Chow to try, after seeing them mentioned here so often. I was hoping they'd be hotter and/or cleaner.
I also grabbed a bag of Fireside Ultra pellets. Those are burning as of 15 minutes ago.

How are they working out for you? I’m still really disappointed in their heat output.

 

[wjogert]

How are they working out for you? I’m still really disappointed in their heat output.

The TSC / Stove Chow blend wasn't horrible. The heat output was noticeably higher than TSC, and the ash wasn't overwhelming like the Stove Chow straight.
I'm testing LaCrete soft wood this weekend. Super Spruce is next to test.

 

[Peterfield]

Funny, I tried Stove Chow for the first time last month and was surprised that it burned cleaner than many of the “better” pellets commonly recommended in this forum. All this means is there is no best pellet, only those pellets your stove likes and that will vary based on the stove you have. Try several brands and see what your stove likes. In my case, no way I am spending $400 for Douglas Fir pellets when $250 for Stove Chow does just fine.

 

[Dataman]

I can't see any difference in Pellets with My Harmon XXV. But I am out West where everything is Pine.

I burned North Idaho Energy Logs - $199t - Like these best. Pallet is double wrapped and no wet bags of pellets

Tried

Purcell Pellets - $175t
One other brand I can't remember.

Purcell's had some bags that got wet inside in the pallet. Ended up throwing out 5 bags.

 

[bcb1]

I’ve been burning pellets for 15 years. It’s true, some years are better than others. Hamers seem to be pretty reliable year in and out, but even they have years that their pellets are just “meh”. For years Southen States and Tractor Supply sold rebranded Hamers for a cheaper price but not anymore.

I tend to like softwoods but those aren’t readily available where I live. They put out a bit less heat but are much easier to clean due to the fluffy ash rather than hard clinkers of hardwood pellets.

As others have said, get 5 bags and burn them before you buy a ton. Now that pellets are available everywhere all winter long there’s no more mad rush to get your stock early before they sell out.