Are Spruce Pointe by Vanderwell contractors the same as NAPCO hardwood pellets

[whaler12]

First time poster here, I live in CT, and there has obviously been a shortage of pellets to go around. Anyways I got put on a list at a few places. And just last night became aware of a shipment of pellets that came in so I rushed down there with my truck after work, bought 3 tons and took one home with me. I was told these pellets were Napco which I have been told from others that are good pellets. Anyways when I get home and unwrap the pallet and bring the pellets inside, nowhere on the bag do they say napco, or that these pellets are hardwood, they just say premium pellets which I am assuming means a mix? Am I correct? The brand is Spruce Pointe premium pellets by Vanderwell contractors and they are out of Canada. Can anyone tell me if they have the pellets I picked up what do you think about them. Should I go get the rest of them? Any help would be appreciated. Sorry for the long winded question

Thanks in advance,

Pete

 

[orangecrushcj7]

pellets are pellets at this point. I would burn a bag and see how they do before buying the other 2 tons. If they aren't so great, hopefully this one ton you have will get you thru to a point when you can get better ones. good luck.

 

[imacman]

Whaler,

Spruce Pointe pellets have been mentioned before, and I found that they are listed as "Premium Softwood" out of Canada. I don't know if "premium" in Canada means the same as they do here, but as Orangecrush says, try burning a couple of bags. If they seem to burn well, don't get clinkers or produce a lot of ash, I'd say burn 'em.

In the meantime, I'd try to get some pellets that are made in the US that are graded "premium" by the Pellet Fuels Institute and have their stamp on the bags (hardwood or softwood...I really don't think it matters...I have both).

BTW, what price did you get them for?

 

[whaler12]

325 a ton, I paid for all 3 already to hold them. And I asked yesterday and called back today and they assured me they were hardwood. Even if they burn ok I don't think I need to pay for the hardwood price. I really can't bring the one ton back because its in my basement and its just not worth it. But I can get my money back, for the others. But then what will I burn there are no pellets to be found around here.

Pete

 

[relxn88]

Agway sells Spruce Pointe pellets. They're supposed to be Premium softwood. (broken link removed)
Go to the web site and scroll down to Spruce Pointe pellets.

 

[imacman]

..... And I asked yesterday and called back today and they assured me they were hardwood.....

As Relxn88 and I both have said, they are softwood pellets. They guy you bought them from either doesn't know, or is afraid if he says their softwood that you'll bail on him. For some reason, softwood has gotten a reputation as "not as good" as hardwood. If you burn a couple of bags, and they seem to burn hot, and you like them, I wouldn't worry.

 

[whaler12]

Yea I bought them at agway, if they burn ok then no big deal I just don't like the sheet being pulled over my head, and paying for a ton of "hardwood" pellets when they aren't. Thanks for the info

 

[DiggerJim]

Yea I bought them at agway, if they burn ok then no big deal I just don't like the sheet being pulled over my head, and paying for a ton of "hardwood" pellets when they aren't. Thanks for the info

I believe they are rated for 8400-8600 BTU/lb. That exceeds the rating for the 14 hardwood pellets I've been able to chase BTU ratings down for. One could argue you got better pellets than you paid for. Want to switch? I've a ton & half of Michigan Wood Pellets hardwood pellets (8000 BTU rating). Also have a ton of Barefoot and one of Hamer's.

By and large, unless you know that one brand burns better in your stove than another, it doesn't make much difference what you burn from a heat perspective (which is what it's all about). The average premium grade pellet (hard, soft, mix) runs about 8200 BTU/lb. Factor in the burn efficiency and overall heat transfer efficiencies of the stoves and you're looking at maybe a 20%+ reduction in this "raw" BTU rating. Whether the pellets you get have 5% more or less rated BTUs is not highly material to how much heat you'll get out.

Once you find a "favorite" stick with it until you get a crappy batch of those Pellets are not a precision manufactured commodity. Their quality differs batch to batch and year to year due to manufacturing processes and the quality of the raw materials used as input. Ones that were great for you this year may turn out to be dreck (relatively speaking) next year.

Overall, I think we're all just a little over anal-retentive on this whole issue of pellet quality - any premium grade pellet will generally do for the purpose at hand...producing heat that doesn't require the oil man's help.

 

[Pellet1]

It is my understanding, that, in Canada at least, premium pellets are made from all wood and no bark or other fillers that do get included in some pellets to save money. The pellets that I buy are called Eastern Ember Premium, and are made locally, exclusively from NS spruce--no pine or fir etc. People here swear by them. I am just getting into this pellet thing and have started with 3.5 tons of them. As for hardwood vs softwood----little to no difference, except that softwood may be slightly better in some ways. A lb of wood pellets is a lb of wood pellets, whether softwood or hardwood.

 

[whaler12]

If they are good pellets I'm not all that hung up on if they are hardwoods or softwoods. So much as that the guy at agway told me they were napco hardwoods on two separate occasions. I have burned a few bags last two nights seem alright to me. Just the way the store said they were something and I was pretty sure they were telling me something untrue. Thanks for the insight though guys.

 

[DiggerJim]

If they are good pellets I'm not all that hung up on if they are hardwoods or softwoods.

Looks like NAPCOs are 1% ash & 8000 BTUs and the Spruce Pointe softwoods are 8400+ BTUs. You should be good.

 

[SteveInMA]

This is the first year I bought Pointe Spruce Pellets. They are softwood. I'm not sure if I like them better than what I burned the past 3 years, which was New England Premium Hardwood Pellets. The Point Spruce seem to burn just as hot as the NE hardwood pellets, but I'm still determining if this is true. I have noticed that there seems to be less ash with the Pointe Spruce. However, each bag seems to have more sawdust in it than the bags of NE Hardwood pellets did. We have a Harman fire place insert. The stove can burn just about any kind of pellet. One thing we noticed this year is that the stove seems to run more efficiently if its set to "stove temp" and not "room temp". I don't k now if this has anything to do with the way the pellets burn. Our heating season just started around these parts so I'll be paying close attention to how efficiently things go this year. We burn 3.5 to 4 tons/year so the more efficiently things burn, the less money I have to spend on pellets (though either way, its cheaper than oil.)

If anyone has and experience with either this stove or these pellets, I'd like to hear your take on things.

 

[mascoloj]

I purchased 3 tons of Spruce Pointe pellets at the local hardware store here in CT not knowing anything about the pellets except that they were premium and in stock - I'm pretty green at the whole thing. When I had my stove installed, the tech filled the burn pot with a handful and turned the stove on the prime it. He liked the way the pellets burned slow and said I did a great job at picking them. To be honest - they were the only pellets available out of all the dealers I called and they were the last batch the store would have for a while. I scarfed up 3 tons in a jiffy.

Now that I have been burning them for a month, I have to say I like them a lot. They leave hardly any ashes and I rarely have clinkers left in the burn pot. I might try another brand next season but I would not pass up Spruce Pointe if it was available. Good Luck.

 

[Rattlesnake]

I bought a ton of them when I first installed my furnace and burned about 4 bags. Then bought two ton of NEWP which I stacked on top. Spruce Pointe burned very hot, very clean, with very little ash, when compared with the NEWP. Should have bought more when they were available, and will be glad to get to the bottom of the pile again....well, almost happy.

 

[redbullguy]

Dougs Grain in Salem, NH has them for $349 a ton. Too much for my budget I passed.

 

[Rattlesnake]

I'm on Dodge Grain's list for 5 ton. I will be passing when they call, too pricey for me also.