Your 2 Cents

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dhungy

Feeling the Heat
Jan 7, 2010
304
Fingerlakes
After getting bum rushed with sub par pellets by the home depot ( who didn't even know what pellets they were selling and neither did I) I have decided to put a list of what's available to me locally. Im hoping for some opinions so I can make a more informed decision next time.

All prices are per ton.

Home Depot $229.00
Pennigton, Stove Chow, freedom fuel

TSC- $229.00
Maine Woods, TSC brand (usa energex supposedly)

Lowes- $229.00
Clean Fuel

Local coal dealer- $280.00
Barefoot

Local Stove Dealer- $270.00
Energex USA

Local Farm Supply- $240.00
Instantheat

Agway
Drycreek $297.00
Instantheat $229.00
Barefoot $289.00
WarmFront $249.00
 

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I can speak for Dry Creek and Barefoot. Both are excellent Hardwood pellets with low ash and above average heat output.

Are you limited to just hardwood pellets? If not, try searching for Okanagan or Dragon Mountain pellets in your area. Both are a excellent softwood pellets which produce outstanding heat with extemely low ash.
 
Considering that their from $50-60/ton cheaper than the Barefoots, which are great pellets by all accounts, I'd be trying some of the $229/ton Lowes Clean Energy pellets. I've burned some in my stove, and they were pretty decent.

You should get a few bags to test burn in the Astoria.
 
I can speak for all of The HD choices. In my stove Freedom Fuel were horrible, low heat and very dirty. Penningtons were good for shoulder seasons, just not a lot of heat. Stove Chow I am burning now, very good heat, not a lot of fines, but very dirty, lots of ash and I must clean burnpot every 2 days which I haven't had to do with any other pellets. I have used better pellets than any of these but not any of the ones on your list.
 
My picks for the top choices in order.

Barefoot
Drycreek
Energex USA
TSC brand (usa energex supposedly)
Clean Fuel
Instant heat
Maine Woods

My 2 cents worth.
jay
 
Last year my Heartlands were exceptionally good. This year I`m getting more fines and dust , notably more ash, and probably less heat to boot. Definitely not consistent and I paid a lot for these damned things. I`ve only got 6 more bags left , then onto the Green Supremes..God only knows what they`ll be like.
 
Gio said:
Last year my Heartlands were exceptionally good. This year I`m getting more fines and dust , notably more ash, and probably less heat to boot. Definitely not consistent and I paid a lot for these damned things. I`ve only got 6 more bags left , then onto the Green Supremes..God only knows what they`ll be like.

Gio, Those Heartlands you burning. Are they Ponderosa pine?

Many years(pellet shortage in 2001 I believe) ago they were the pellet that got me interested in softwood pellets. Agway had them at the time pricey but HOT! They used to something back then. Haven't seen them in a long time.

If you like the Green Supreme's. NEWP doesn't bag them anymore. They were made by Pinnicle. There now Dragon Mountains and Uncle Jeds. From what I gather. I had good luck with the Green Supreme's. Nice hot clean burn. Then I couldn't get them so I started burning Spruce Pointes when I could afford them.

jay
 
What I find funny is that you can buy Maine woods cheaper than I can!

What the F$%^* The trucking company that's shipping them must be doing it for free.

I just spoke to the guy that runs the local Agway and he said that Maine woods get $500 per load to ship and NEWP gets $900 a load. There both about 2 1/2hr drive.
 
BTU said:
jtakeman said:
Gio said:
Last year my Heartlands were exceptionally good. This year I`m getting more fines and dust , notably more ash, and probably less heat to boot. Definitely not consistent and I paid a lot for these damned things. I`ve only got 6 more bags left , then onto the Green Supremes..God only knows what they`ll be like.

Gio, Those Heartlands you burning. Are they Ponderosa pine?

Many years(pellet shortage in 2001 I believe) ago they were the pellet that got me interested in softwood pellets. Agway had them at the time pricey but HOT! They used to something back then. Haven't seen them in a long time.

If you like the Green Supreme's. NEWP doesn't bag them anymore. They were made by Pinnicle. There now Dragon Mountains and Uncle Jeds. From what I gather. I had good luck with the Green Supreme's. Nice hot clean burn. Then I couldn't get them so I started burning Spruce Pointes when I could afford them. The pellet is made in SD and will probably be mostly ponderosa fibre.

jay

I think there are only a couple of dealers in NE that even stock the Heartland pellets this year. I know that LP Adams out of Dalton MA and LaValley Bldg Supply (several stores in NH) carry them. I know that LP Adams are a tad pricey. Not sure if LaValley has them this year or not. Don't know if Agway still has them or not.

No agway went the bigbox route and had there own brand for a bit. I think they we an energex pellet they had bag with there name on it. Now they carry Ligs, Instant Heat and MaineWoods. During the pellet shortage there were shipping in from the west coast. They had Eurekas, Clean Burns and the Heartlands. I was in pellet heaven! All my friends were buying from stove dealers because they wanted hardwoods only. I could not afford that and took the chance and fell on the floor when I overheated my stove with the softwoods. Thats what converted me to softies!
 
jtakeman said:
Gio said:
Last year my Heartlands were exceptionally good. This year I`m getting more fines and dust , notably more ash, and probably less heat to boot. Definitely not consistent and I paid a lot for these damned things. I`ve only got 6 more bags left , then onto the Green Supremes..God only knows what they`ll be like.

Gio, Those Heartlands you burning. Are they Ponderosa pine?

Many years(pellet shortage in 2001 I believe) ago they were the pellet that got me interested in softwood pellets. Agway had them at the time pricey but HOT! They used to something back then. Haven't seen them in a long time.

If you like the Green Supreme's. NEWP doesn't bag them anymore. They were made by Pinnicle. There now Dragon Mountains and Uncle Jeds. From what I gather. I had good luck with the Green Supreme's. Nice hot clean burn. Then I couldn't get them so I started burning Spruce Pointes when I could afford them.

jay
Nothing to give me a clue on the bag what they are. Only says Premium grade , 100% wood, no additives.. They are made in Spearfish SD . The 2 ton of Green Supremes I got were left from last spring. They are marked New England Pellets
 
BTU said:
jtakeman said:
Gio said:
Last year my Heartlands were exceptionally good. This year I`m getting more fines and dust , notably more ash, and probably less heat to boot. Definitely not consistent and I paid a lot for these damned things. I`ve only got 6 more bags left , then onto the Green Supremes..God only knows what they`ll be like.

Gio, Those Heartlands you burning. Are they Ponderosa pine?

Many years(pellet shortage in 2001 I believe) ago they were the pellet that got me interested in softwood pellets. Agway had them at the time pricey but HOT! They used to something back then. Haven't seen them in a long time.

If you like the Green Supreme's. NEWP doesn't bag them anymore. They were made by Pinnicle. There now Dragon Mountains and Uncle Jeds. From what I gather. I had good luck with the Green Supreme's. Nice hot clean burn. Then I couldn't get them so I started burning Spruce Pointes when I could afford them. The pellet is made in SD and will probably be mostly ponderosa fibre.

jay

I think there are only a couple of dealers in NE that even stock the Heartland pellets this year. I know that LP Adams out of Dalton MA and LaValley Bldg Supply (several stores in NH) carry them. I know that LP Adams are a tad pricey. Not sure if LaValley has them this year or not. Don't know if Agway still has them or not.

I bought mine at LP Adams $315 a ton delivered. You got the pricey part right too. I loved the Dry Creeks from Agway but Agway left town.
 
How much does your coal dealer charge for coal? In the Reading/Tamaqua area it's $150/ton for low ash. Hard to beat. I'd get a coal burner tomorrow if I still lived there!!!
 
ebengel said:
I can speak for all of The HD choices. In my stove Freedom Fuel were horrible, low heat and very dirty. Penningtons were good for shoulder seasons, just not a lot of heat. Stove Chow I am burning now, very good heat, not a lot of fines, but very dirty, lots of ash and I must clean burnpot every 2 days which I haven't had to do with any other pellets. I have used better pellets than any of these but not any of the ones on your list.

I have had the same experience with the freedom fuel pellets. Its good to hear that stove chow has good heat. Im pretty impressed with Clean Fuel the two bags im finishing off tonight really opened my eyes to the differences in a good pellet and a bad pellet. Freedom Fuel is by far the worst of all the brands I have tested.
 
Gio said:
BTU said:
jtakeman said:
Gio said:
Last year my Heartlands were exceptionally good. This year I`m getting more fines and dust , notably more ash, and probably less heat to boot. Definitely not consistent and I paid a lot for these damned things. I`ve only got 6 more bags left , then onto the Green Supremes..God only knows what they`ll be like.

Gio, Those Heartlands you burning. Are they Ponderosa pine?

Many years(pellet shortage in 2001 I believe) ago they were the pellet that got me interested in softwood pellets. Agway had them at the time pricey but HOT! They used to something back then. Haven't seen them in a long time.

If you like the Green Supreme's. NEWP doesn't bag them anymore. They were made by Pinnicle. There now Dragon Mountains and Uncle Jeds. From what I gather. I had good luck with the Green Supreme's. Nice hot clean burn. Then I couldn't get them so I started burning Spruce Pointes when I could afford them. The pellet is made in SD and will probably be mostly ponderosa fibre.

jay

I think there are only a couple of dealers in NE that even stock the Heartland pellets this year. I know that LP Adams out of Dalton MA and LaValley Bldg Supply (several stores in NH) carry them. I know that LP Adams are a tad pricey. Not sure if LaValley has them this year or not. Don't know if Agway still has them or not.

I bought mine at LP Adams $315 a ton delivered. You got the pricey part right too. I loved the Dry Creeks from Agway but Agway left town.

I tried the Dry Creek in my testing thread. I haven't burned them in 4 years or so. Didn't do to bad at all. The ash was far lower than I expected. Kind of forgot about them when I lost my local lumber yard I was getting them from. If I could get them for the right price, I would burn them too!
 
man i'd burn any of these at those prices.just picked up 20 bags of maine choice at the local TSC.cost me $5.99 a bag which comes out to $299.50 a ton.i got Ligs back in Dec. for that price delivered.



dhungy said:
After getting bum rushed with sub par pellets by the home depot ( who didn't even know what pellets they were selling and neither did I) I have decided to put a list of what's available to me locally. Im hoping for some opinions so I can make a more informed decision next time.

All prices are per ton.

Home Depot $229.00
Pennigton, Stove Chow, freedom fuel

TSC- $229.00
Maine Woods, TSC brand (usa energex supposedly)

Lowes- $229.00
Clean Fuel

Local coal dealer- $280.00
Barefoot

Local Stove Dealer- $270.00
Energex USA

Local Farm Supply- $240.00
Instantheat

Agway
Drycreek $297.00
Instantheat $229.00
Barefoot $289.00
WarmFront $249.00
 
Local stove dealer dropped his prices one barefoot down to $250.00
 
l burned lowes clean energy, pretty good, especially at $229.00

i burned both pennington and maine woods, not too good, would not waste the
money and aggravation. in that case, go to barefoot, a much bettter bang for the buck.
 
dhungy said:
Local stove dealer dropped his prices one barefoot down to $250.00

If you can swing the $$, it's a no brainer...get the Barefoots.
 
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