which pellet would you choose and why

[esuitt]

Keep in mind it's been a LOT warmer the past few days then it was just a few weeks ago for this area.

I know it is 45 outside right now and what really stinks is I have adjusted the stove down 2x already. It already has a lot smaller flame then I am used to and I am afraid if I turn it down more it looks like it will burn out and it is still 80 in the house, since 3pm.

 

[lordgrinz]

I have a habit of trying different types of pellets just to see if I am missing anything........I am a tried and true Bear Mountain Fan but I am do like the try others. I recently tried Okanagon pellets after hearing good things about them. They burned just fine.....as good as Bear Mountain from my point of view, but i noticed that when i poured the bag of OKIES into the stove hopper, I got a huge cloud of pellet dust that settled all over the stove and floor and like a light dusting of snow and needed to be cleaned up. I didnt get any clinkers....and about the same amount of ash as the BM. So, other than the dust......the OKIES are ok in my book. I am in Seattle area where, if i shop around in the summer, I can get BM for 199/ton and OKIES for 185/ton. Ill go with the BM as the long as the price is close to OKIES. If BM becomes to proud of there pellets and theres a 50/ton difference, Ill buy OKIES and deal with the dust!

I've come to the conclusion that the dust from the Okies is more than I can take, the cleanup from dust afterwards is worse then having to clean the stove normally from a lesser pellet. Not to mention the sticky residue of pellet dust making a mess in my hopper. I am going to give the Allegheny, and turmans a try, I am not sold on the benefits of softwood after this mess. I burned thru a Ton of NEWP's and didn't have anywhere near this big of a mess, in fact everything stayed as clean as could be, might even go back to them.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Here in Northwest Orgon there are only a few brands.

Golden fire
Bear Mountain
Lignetics (sometimes)
Blazer
Hotshots

Every so often we will see a Big box store bring in an eastern brand or one from the mountian states to our east (Mostly pine pellets)

Many years ago, we had some called "Heartland" these were a pine pellet and burned very good.

Just depends on where you are as to what your going to see on the shelf for sale.


Snowy

 

[Heaterhunter]

Is their such thing as a good clinker???
I've had great luck with fireside ultra pellets I got for $200/ton. They do create a large clunker after about 4 days of burning on high but I just open the door and flip the one big clunker out of the burn pot and keep burning for another 2 or 3 days. I'm also throwing a random bag of Okanagwan's in between on those cold nights. After about a week I have to shut it down and clean HX and ash pit. Pretty happy with these pellets, good heat and not much dust.

 

[BadDad320]

Barefoot....... Consistent high quality........

 

[ChrisWNY]

I started off buying 10 bags each of 3 different brands: Pennington Nature's Heat ($4/bag at Sam's Club or Walmart), Freedom Fuel (from my local Tractor Supply at $5.50 per bag), and 10 bags of Stove Chow ($5.10 at Home Depot in December, now $3.70 per bag). Since I've burned 3 brands, I'd rate them as follows:

1. Stove Chow - best
2. Pennington Nature's heat - clean burning but not as much heat as Stove Chow
3. Freedom Fuel - #2 for heat but overall the fines/dust in the bags combined with a dirtier burn puts this pellet in last place from my experience

The Penningtons burn very clean and there is nearly no fines or dust in the bags, so I was happy with those. The Freedom Fuel burned hotter than the Penningtons but were real dirty, lots of ash produced from burning, and quite a bit of fines in the bags. The Stove Chow burned the hottest, only slightly more ash than the Penningtons, but much cleaner than the Freedom Fuel. I went with a ton of the Stove Chows and they have been great, especially at their $185/ton price tag.

 

[pauly2110]

Im a newbie as this is my first season burning but I love Green Team hardwood pellets as my approach is " if it aint broken why fix it', as they have very low ash and very low ash in bag also, hard to find at times i was lucky to pick up the last ton a week ago at lowes but don't see them around as of late. I did try one bag of potomac softwood pellets for 3.87 and i hated them, tons of ash and pine chips in bag and the burn was not as consistant. i will keep burning green teams for 3.74 a bag all day long if i can find them...