Comfortbilt pellet suggestions

[Melanie Van Tassel]

We purchased a Comfortbilt HP22 N this year, i have researched wood pellets and grow more confused by the day! Has anyone had experience with this stove and brands/types of pellets? I checked the website but the recommended brands are not available in NH. Thank You

 

[johneh]

Buy 5 bags of different pellet brands
Try each one This way you will find the one that works best for you
Some swear by softwood pellets others prefer hardwood pellets
after 20 years my go-to Cubix but that may not be available where you are
or cost too much. It is very much an individual choice .
Good luck and Welcome to the forum

 

[Melanie Van Tassel]

Buy 5 bags of different pellet brands
Try each one This way you will find the one that works best for you
Some swear by softwood pellets others prefer hardwood pellets
after 20 years my go-to Cubix but that may not be available where you are
or cost too much. It is very much an individual choice .
Good luck and Welcome to the forum

Thank You

 

[Flyer304]

Thank You

Good Evening,

First let me apologize up front for any typos that may be found below, lol, I always manage to leave my fair share.

As Johneh mentioned, you would want to sample what pellets are readily available in your area.
While doing that just make simple observations and notes as to how each one did as far as heat output at a given setting,
how much ash is produced, and if any of them are producing clinkers /clogging the burn pot.
I have been running the Comfortbilt HP61 (same heat exchanger as the HP22) for a few seasons and it has done me well.
Bear in mind all stoves require maintenance and some of this should be weekly.
The Comfortbilt has preprogrammed settings for different burn rates for the (5) heat levels you can select in the control panel.
These may work fine for you and for the fuel you chose. However you could also see a reduction in fuel consumption while still maintaining the same or slightly higher heat output by adjusting the exhaust fan speed and/or feed rate for the different fuels.
I run only soft wood pellets in my HP61 which is located in the basement, but keeps the living area of the house comfy during the winter.
Last two seasons I have be running LaCrete softwood pellets, which I get more heat out of than some other softwoods.
Mantra's is another softwood that I have used and they have been similar to the LaCrete for heat in my stove.
Woods & Sons I had used about 2 seasons back , were a good all around pellet, but the pellet length started getting too long which affected feeding through the auger. Seeing some bags at my Dealer this season, it appears that etc Woods and Sons have reduced teh average length of the pellets, which is a good thing.
What I did was I made a log book of the settings I made for the Exhaust fan (Not the room fan - which is the heated air you are pushing out from the stove) and for the feed rate of the first 3 heating levels available with the fuels I use. The last (2) levels (4-5) I left alone as I never used them as it would get too warm in the basement and overheat the house. Before I started adjusting, I noted the factory settings for levels 1 -2 - 3, before I did adjustments based on the fuel. The changes are minor so you shouldn't swing settings a lot in either direction. My log I have listed the Standard Factory settings and then for the (3) brands I try to stay with. I also did use temperature gun to take temp readings when I made changes to see if heat output increased, decreased or remained the same. Our bodies are pretty good to let us know there is less heat, but subtle increases in heat output, the temp gun is better at showing it.
If a brand of fuel is providing you good heat, stove is staying fairly clean and can run for a few days straight, and not at a high consumption rate, then you may not have to adjust anything, just do your daily and weekly cleaning items and enjoy.
With brands I run, the Lacrete's are ashier but I still can run 5 days 24/7, before I shut the stove down to empty the ash pan, wire brush the burn pot and give the stove a quick clean and vacuum at the access points to the heat exchanger, which is a total of 1/2hr of my time for the 5 days of burning. Your stove I believe has the same heat exchanger (HP22 & HP 61 use same unit). Monthly I do vacuum the flex pipe from the back of the stove that goes to my class A stainless chimney.
The softwood brands I mentioned I believe are also marketed in NH.
The Lacretes, Mantra, Woods & Sons, required little trimming to run close to the the same. The Vermont soft woods are very good but run short in supply around here in CT. The LG are a very clean pellet (both in teh bag and burning) when I've tried then. The only thing with the LG is they do not put out the same level of heat, so if I run short they would be used for the shoulder seasons and not during the heavier winter heating months.
You'll find with your stove, it'll like the smaller pellet size better and returns a more consistent feed which keeps your heat output steady.
I was lucky in that they use to have a local dealer in CT who was also the repair tech for Comfortbilt. We had a few phone calls after I seasoned the stove (cure the paint so the house didn't get smoked out or smelly) and while on the phone he guided me as to how to get into the menu system so I could trim the stove for the first 3 heat levels and at the time he was running the same pellets I was, so I used his trim setting as a base line and took it from there.

My apologies for being long winded, but I've been down this road with a gravity fed stove that used no electricity. Then running the Comfortbilt for the last few seasons after being shown how to adjust the stove for the variances in fuel types/quality.
Having a stove you can adjust to burn cleaner and more efficient for a brand of fuel your using reduces having to fiddle with it in the middle of winter.
Try a few brands now (when it cools enough for you) as mentioned by Johneh, keep a log of how each brand burned for heat output and cleanliness, and call Comfortbilt if you have concerns about making adjustments the first time.
Then again for your location and depending on what pellet you settle on, it may run just fine with nothing but hitting the power button.

Welcome to the site and enjoy your stove.

 

[yooooojr]

Hello, we purchased an HP22 this year and tried 5 brands of pellets. The nastiest ones were the Energex pellets which required an archaeologist and power tools to clean out the stove after each bag. One night the flame even went out, likely because so many holes in the burn pot were clogged. By a wide margin, I found Country Boy White Lightning (100% oak, no bark) to be my favorite. I get excellent heat and when I open up the door after a day's use, I look in the burn pot and it's like it never happened. nothing at all in it! I do a 30 second exchanger scrape and quick brush and dump another bag in. If you can find Country Boy up there, I highly recommend it!