Best pellets for St. Croix York insert

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reddfox

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Feb 4, 2009
6
PA
What do you use and what is best. We had Juniata and were very happy with them. THey're no longer available to us. Looking at Cleanfire. What do other St. Croix York users have? Also, tips on pellet sales in PA?
 
My 5th year with the St Croix

Im using Armstrong 2 years but Im swithcing due to black buildup on glass which seems excessive

Im doing some tests right now.

Today I do Potomac from Lowes
 
reddfox said:
What do you use and what is best. We had Juniata and were very happy with them. THey're no longer available to us. Looking at Cleanfire. What do other St. Croix York users have? Also, tips on pellet sales in PA?

I have a St. Croix insert and I've tried about 6 or 7 different pellets, that are sold in my area. The best , for me, were LG'S and GREENE SUPREME(not greene team from big box). I tried a ton of Armstrong last wnter and they wouldn't keep my house warm when the temperature got below 15 degrees outside. The one thing I noticed was, my stove put out the best heat when the draft control was almost completely closed. I have a thermostat stuck in the grill to check the heat differences of the pellet brands.
 
Most interesting
My gripe with Armstrong was the back tar on the glass.

Just bought a ton 20 minutes ago of Lignetics at 299.00 self delivery.
Hell my Prius holds 20 bags so what the heck.
J
 
I've only sold one ST Croix York out of our shop. They are burning the PA pellets (they dont get great reviews on this forums) But the customers seem to love them and keep coming back for more.
 
I have burned Penningtons, Heat Resource, and this year Tidy Timbers and all seem to burn good, some require more combustion air to keep the glass from turning black as fast.
The Tidy timbers seem to work better in my Traditions stove out in the shop...burned 2 bags and glass is still clean but in the York i have to clean the glass sooner if i want to see the fire.
 
If you have the black/brownish tar buildup on your glass you are running your stove too lean or you have an air leak at a door gasket, your ashpan is isn't tight or your versa-grate isn't seated properly.

Black soot is normal if you run your stove on #1 and, perhaps, #2. Set youur damper so it's open the diameter of a pencil and leave it alone.

Make sure you THROUGHLY clean the ash traps with a leafblower or long bottle brush, coathangar or anything that will clean the stove behind the firebox. Bang on the firebox walls with a small hammer to dislodge built-up soot and ash.

If your stove is clean and the damper is set correctly you'll be able to burn virtually any quality pellet with success in your St. Croix.
 
krooser said:
If you have the black/brownish tar buildup on your glass you are running your stove too lean or you have an air leak at a door gasket, your ashpan is isn't tight or your versa-grate isn't seated properly.

Black soot is normal if you run your stove on #1 and, perhaps, #2. Set youur damper so it's open the diameter of a pencil and leave it alone.

Make sure you THROUGHLY clean the ash traps with a leafblower or long bottle brush, coathangar or anything that will clean the stove behind the firebox. Bang on the firebox walls with a small hammer to dislodge built-up soot and ash.

If your stove is clean and the damper is set correctly you'll be able to burn virtually any quality pellet with success in your St. Croix.
Yeah, last year i had less problem with black glass with a different brand pellet and i figured out that i just need to give it more air with these pellets....i ran it with the vent almost shut on 1 last year alot and it would need cleaned every 3 bags of so. These pellets just burn a tad different and i'll have to play with it some. Definately going to get that leaf blower setup going too!
 
Not a York but I'm pretty sure all the late model St Croix stoves
are sportin the same innards. Here are the pellets I've burned
over the past 5 seasons. These stoves burn whatever you throw
at em. The Appling County left a considerable amount of ash,
and the Bio Plus had a huge amount of fines in each bag.
Other than that, I'd buy any of the others in the list again.

LG Granules
Dry Creek
Energex
Stove Chow
NEWP green letter bag
Cleanfire
Lignetics
Barefoot
Bio Plus
Appling County
Omalleys
 
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