Burning pellets

[Fins59]

A friend gave me a bag of pellets. I'm going to use them as an ingredient in my fire starter mix, which is sawdust, dryer lint, wood chips, yard debri. I put this "mix" in small containers which are, egg cartons cut in half, halves of paper milk cartons, etc., anything I can make a "tray" out of.

So was just wondering, anybody figure out a way to burn pellets sucessfully in a regular wood stove?

 

[jimmieguns]

hmm great question---hope we get some smart peeps to reply

 

[Lori2013]

A friend gave me a bag of pellets. I'm going to use them as an ingredient in my fire starter mix, which is sawdust, dryer lint, wood chips, yard debri. I put this "mix" in small containers which are, egg cartons cut in half, halves of paper milk cartons, etc., anything I can make a "tray" out of.

So was just wondering, anybody figure out a way to burn pellets sucessfully in a regular wood stove?

I've burned them (in a Valley Comfort big stove), but it takes babysitting. I saw some advertisements for wire baskets, intended for the purpose, but was unable to locate one here in eastern Canada. I found some "barbeque baskets" - 4-sided bowls, sides slanting outwards, flat-bottoms - that are perforated (holes about the size of a paper hole punch) all over. To get some height, I set one on top of an upside down one, filled 3/4 full - about 5 lbs - of pellets, squirted on some fire starter, and lit it.

They burned down all right, but gave way less heat than the slabs I had been burning. They do way better with a fan, though. Feeding the stove is where the babysitting came in. Now, I use them as only kindling - about a cup in half an egg carton, or just placed on a piece of bark, a few squirts of fire starter (I now use methyl hydrate, advertised as a fondue fuel and 1/4 the price of gelled fire starter), pile on the slabs, and light the little pile of pellets.

I am a senior female, and small with it. If you guys have some tools or strength, I would suggest forming a basket with expanded steel mesh - shape doesn't much matter - sized to suit your stove. But you really want a fan to get enough heat, and unless you can rig up an auto-feed system of some kind, be prepared to feed it often.

I am now about to try some pressed wood products.

Lori

 

[BrotherBart]

I bought a Pelleteer basket for burning pellets in a wood stove. Makes a great looking fire and not bad heat but too much of a hassle refilling the thing and getting it going every couple of hours. And soots up the chimney.

 

[jimmieguns]

I bought a Pelleteer basket for burning pellets in a wood stove. Makes a great looking fire and not bad heat but too much of a hassle refilling the thing and getting it going every couple of hours. And soots up the chimney.

How long did u get out of a bag of pellets in the wood stove- hours? 1/2 day?? thanks how often to refill the pelleteer?

 

[BrotherBart]

Had to refill every two or three hours. It holds around 14 pounds I think. Check their website. I don't know how long a bag would last since I would get tired of messing with it after two baskets full and head for the wood stacks. Impossible in my stove to reload the basket on top of the smoldering remains of previous load without stinking up the house. Probably different results in different stoves.

 

[jimmieguns]

Had to refill every two or three hours. It holds around 14 pounds I think. Check their website. I don't know how long a bag would last since I would get tired of messing with it after two baskets full and head for the wood stacks. Impossible in my stove to reload the basket on top of the smoldering remains of previous load without stinking up the house. Probably different results in different stoves.

WOW- cool- thanks for the info---i fought tooth n nail with my old VC 0044 with cordwood this season(first time user here)..installed a small pellet stove and POW! she heats the WHOLE 220 swt foot house pretty well.......so so happy i did--only issue is the long term mechanicals to deal with on the pellet stove--lots of moving parts-augers,electronic firing starting(control board) etc...overall very happy though-- now I am VERY interested in using pellete in my VC wood stove---i had to constantly refill the wood stove anyway so that isn't a prob here-- THANKS again-- more info is appreciated fro ya bro if ya have!

 

[BrotherBart]

I think the things would work better in pre-EPA stoves where the flue gases don't exit at the front of the baffle. And most of the old stoves shoot primary air straight in low from the front of the stove and that would burn the pellets in a basket better.

 

[jimmieguns]

I think the things would work better in pre-EPA stoves where the flue gases don't exit at the front of the baffle. And most of the old stoves shoot primary air straight in low from the front of the stove and that would burn the pellets in a basket better.

Yes- so my old Vermont casting 0044 should do ok I am thinking.... since it was made circa 1983-1988 right?

 

[jparker93]

I have been using my pelleteer basket off and on all season long, I've been burning pellets with it for the past month to get a feel for how best to operate it, I've found that if you put 3 or 4 scoops of pellets in it and light it using firestarters or gel and burn that small load with full air open gets the stove nice and hot and leaves embers behind after the fire has died, once the fire has died down I TAP the top of the basket with my ash shovel to make the embers and ash drop down through the basket which will keep the basket from clogging up on you and causing it to not fire properly. Then I scrape the embers to the front of the basket and reload the basket always trying to load the basket at the back of the basket which allows the pellets fall down too the front of the basket which helps create a slope which helps burn them better wait a few minutes with air fully open these thing catch quick so ya need to keep an eye on it but once the top surface of the pellets start to turn black I shut down the air supply and the fire keeps raging for about 10 minutes and starts to slowly die down but keeps putting out heat. This technique has worked out well for me as it will burn HOT with flames for about and hour then as more hours go by there is no flame just glowing embers which put out a very STEADY heat for up to 4 hours or so , I have even gone up to 8 hours and was able to get another fire going with the embers left though it wasn't put out any heat was enuff to get another fire going. it keeps my 1500 SQ Ft. house at 72 degrees or higher if I use my celing fan it can hit 78 with outside temps running in the single digits as I live in upstate NY, current temps are around 30 and I don't have refuel as often around 4 hours or so seems bout right, The biggest thing I had to get use to was the initial Burn was very intense and slowly dies down to Blue flames then finally embers that maintain the steady heat for a few hours, I dont need to refuel it just cause theres no flames as its still putting out steady heat ya just need to refuel it either when the inside temps drop or the basket is getting low on embers for you to start your next burn. Now if I turn off My oil heat and its around 0 or so outside It will be cool in here at around 50 BUT it only takes a half hour or so to get another hot fire going with these things. I have a small englander epa stove rated at 60,000 btus at 63% eff. I burn around a bag to a bag and half of pellets a day. compared to oil its at least half the cost and I'm a lot warmer as well. The trick is make sure you tap the ashes out of the basket and scrape whats left to the front, If you just load it full of pellets and light them it will work but it takes a long time to get the stove heated up, if you start small and burn them hot get the stove nice and hot then You can fill the basket and get it going with ease for longer burns. if you don't tap the ashes out of the basket between fills it will clog the holes causing it not to burn as well as it should. All I can say is these baskets DO work but need to be refilled more often than a regular wood fire BUT i think maybe a barmetric draft control might help slow down the burn to a more steady burn which might get me an overnight burn and use even less pellets dunno haven't tried that yet but was thinking it might.