Does anyone else believe that pellet companies are liars ?

[squeed]

It seems like every bag of pellets says that they are high BTU, Low Ash and are PREMIUM. I've tried 3 brands so far and they are
clearly all different. I've read that if the pellets smell like wood then they are premium, but if they smell like anything other than
pure wood, that they can't be premium.

Is there any standard or federal specifications that govern the ability to call pellets premium or is it just a marketing scheme and dishonest
companies trying to make a buck?

-S

 

[vgrund]

Yeah, it's kind of like the word "luxury" as it is used in the real estate market.

PFI has standards that are voluntary. PFI member manufacturers label their product as meeting PFI Standard or Premium Grade. You can read about these standards here.

(broken link removed to http://www.pelletheat.org/2/quality.html)

They have a new QA/QC standard for 2009.

Victor

 

[Stevekng]

The problem with the pellets is that there is no way to contol the grade of wood going into the pellet making process. The manufacturers just dump sawdust together with saw dust and if it works well with one batch, it might not with the next batch. Certain types f wood have a better track record than others, but with the raw materials being in short supply, pellet makers are using what ever they can lay thier hands on.
The only thing we, as pellet users can do, is to get stoves that will do a better job of burning the different variations of pellets and weed out the bad pellet makers by not buying what they make.

 

[pkitfox]

The problem with the pellets is that there is no way to contol the grade of wood going into the pellet making process. The manufacturers just dump sawdust together with saw dust and if it works well with one batch, it might not with the next batch. Certain types f wood have a better track record than others, but with the raw materials being in short supply, pellet makers are using what ever they can lay thier hands on.
The only thing we, as pellet users can do, is to get stoves that will do a better job of burning the different variations of pellets and weed out the bad pellet makers by not buying what they make.

We just got our pellet stove a few weeks ago. We have tried five different kinds of pellets. Eureka, Golden Fire, Presto Log, Blazer, and Forest Fuel. Just a 3-5 bags of each. We are just starting on 5 bags of Blazers. I don't know if we are just lucky, but all of them seem to burn fine in our stove. None of them had any fines to speak of, and ash was what I would call low with all of them. I guess if I had to pick the one I thought was the best, it would be the Golden Fires. I was told they were the best where we bought our stove, so maybe I was prejudiced. They also sold Forest Fuel where we got the stove, and we bought some to try. They were on sale for 219 per ton and I wish we had bought several tons at that price. They burned just as good as anything else in our stove. Keeping the heat exchangers clean does seem to improve the heat output. I think to get anywhere near the efficiency that the manufacturers claim, heat exchanger cleaning has to be fairly frequent.

Which leads me to the question. What stoves do you think handle different grades of pellets best? From what I can gather from reading about and from watching our Accentra operate, its control system is a closed loop type. In other words, it burns whatever amount of fuel that is required to produce the required heat output. If the btu output is lower on a certain pellet brand, it would just burn more pellets, the end result would be the same (unless the required fuel exceeded it's MAX feed limit). I think some pellet stoves, from what I can tell, are open loop type control system. Their feed rate is simply a matter of the auger running a certain amount of time at a specified interval. When the quality of pellet varies between different pellet producers, the heat output will vary. I even see people complaining about how some pellets will not burn on low settings. I think Harman has overcome this with the system they use. It is more complicated, which will have disadvantages when it breaks, and it will break. I know this because I wouldn't have a job if control systems ran perfectly.

 

[vgrund]

I think it does help a lot to have a flexible stove. My Mt Vernon AE is reputed to be such a stove, but I've only burned Energex in it so far (with zero problems).

 

[Stevekng]

Some stove makers say not to use softwood pellets because they jam the auger. Enviro,QuadraFire, and Harmon to name a few, all will burn a either a mixture of corn and wood or either one separately. The burn,feed, and venting systems on these will allow for adjustment to accomodate different grades and,in certain cases, different types of fuel. Switch Grass sounds like it will be promising but I don't think there's been enough use to relly see if there's a good stove for it yet.

 

[krooser]

Honestly I think that many pellet stove users have problems after they start fiddling with their stove trying to get the most heat with the fewest pellets.

I've been using my stove since October, 2007. I've used five different brands of pellets. All have burned pretty good. One brand, Firesides, left a few clinkers. Marth hardwood had the most ash... the Eureka fir I'm using now leaves the least ash.

Since I started my stove I had the stove cleaned twice with a leafblower... and I do a quick vacuum job once per week along with dumping the ash pan. I have never adjusted anything except the heat output knob on the side of the stove. I clean the glass when I dump the ash pan every week.

I've never touched the damper or adjusted anything and my stove will melt your face if you stand close enough.

The secret to a good running stove (at least for me) is keep your mitts off the stove!

 

[doghouse]

Honestly I think that many pellet stove users have problems after they start fiddling with their stove trying to get the most heat with the fewest pellets.

I've been using my stove since October, 2007. I've used five different brands of pellets. All have burned pretty good. One brand, Firesides, left a few clinkers. Marth hardwood had the most ash... the Eureka fir I'm using now leaves the least ash.

Since I started my stove I had the stove cleaned twice with a leafblower... and I do a quick vacuum job once per week along with dumping the ash pan. I have never adjusted anything except the heat output knob on the side of the stove. I clean the glass when I dump the ash pan every week.

I've never touched the damper or adjusted anything and my stove will melt your face if you stand close enough.

The secret to a good running stove (at least for me) is keep your mitts off the stove!

Agree.

 

[TomPajak]

How True..but oh so difficult......

 

[Stevekng]

I've been burning pellets for three years with two different stoves. I haven't "messed" around with any settings other than the thermostat that they were installed with, for a higher inside temperature or lower.I clean my stoves 3 times a week whether they need it or not, including the venting and the motors.
I will say that there is a definite difference between the way softwood burns and hardwood, as well as the quality of the pellets. The length of burn from one type to the next, the amount of ash, the soot on the glass, and the clinkers, are all affected. People that I work with and converse with outside of work, as well as the stove dealers I bought from, all agree that pellets are the the biggest culprit when it comes to burning malfuctions and making a stove dirty prematurely.

 

[Ductape]

Yeah, it's kind of like the word "luxury" as it is used in the real estate market.

PFI has standards that are voluntary. PFI member manufacturers label their product as meeting PFI Standard or Premium Grade. You can read about these standards here.

(broken link removed to http://www.pelletheat.org/2/quality.html)

They have a new QA/QC standard for 2009.

Victor

This, I see as a huge problem. Start reading here on what pellets are good, and which are junk. The fact that its VOLUNTARY is what allows for pellet companies to rip us off. I was fooled into thinking that pellets marked "premium"" by Pennington would be similar in quality to pellets marked "premium" made by NEWP, Country Pine, and Somerset. Now I'm not advocating gummit invlovement in the pellet industry, but imagine if you purchased HHO for your furnace and needed to filter it repeatedly in order to burn it in your furnace. There are obviously no penalties for companies who sell junk pellets at premium prices, but as far as i'm concerned there should be. We, as consumers, shouldn't be paying premium prices for bags of pellets that are up to one third fine, and have rocks mixed in with the pellets....... because its OK for companies to sell all pellets as "Premium"

 

[webbie]

"Liars" is a strong word.

As others mentioned, wood is a fuel which differs greatly.....even when made into pellets.

As I see it, the pellets makes have a responsibility to be within the specs...or close. BUT, another part of the story is the stove makers. It is foolish for them to produce stoves which are very picky about the pellets that are used. A stove which is tolerant of pellets that are too long, too short, of various ash contents, etc. can end up making the end user much happier.

 

[vgrund]

I agree as I stated above. Also, if one buys into the green aspects of pellet fuel it would be wise to buy a stove with maximum flexibility and tolerance for any future pellet fuels that may come along.

 

[jtakeman]

I agree as I stated above. Also, if one buys into the green aspects of pellet fuel it would be wise to buy a stove with maximum flexibility and tolerance for any future pellet fuels that may come along.

I agree with both. Liars is harsh. Deceptive maybe. Hey they gotta make a buck too! Pellets will very from batch to batch. I have seen it will most of the ones I have burned.

I just purchased an Omega to handle the higher ash contents. I'll burn the cheaper fuels in the warmer months. Save the Higher BTU pellets for the really cold days.

jay

 

[rowerwet]

I have bought all premium pellets HA, HA there is a big difference between brands and even between bags, I got some blazers from HD a few weeks ago, some bags were sawdust and some were great. they were all from the same pallet and I thought they would all be good as the open bag and spilled pellets looked great.
My OPB burns pellets based on the heat needed, the only time it burns on a timer is at idle, that is the difference between having a thermostat and not. the quality of pellets doesn't effect the burn unless the auger jams from poor pellets.

 

[liquidsilverr6]

I just posted a thread about being cheated. I really don;t know who's at fault. Someone kept information. I bought pellets that were suppoessed to be Ultra premium and after emailing the company I find out the are #2 pellets. Why didn they place #2 pellets in the Ultra premium bag, Why didn't they mark the bags, or maybe it was all the guy that sold us the pellets. The whole situation seems scandallous

 

[Ductape]

I just posted a thread about being cheated. I really don;t know who's at fault. Someone kept information. I bought pellets that were suppoessed to be Ultra premium and after emailing the company I find out the are #2 pellets. Why didn they place #2 pellets in the Ultra premium bag, Why didn't they mark the bags, or maybe it was all the guy that sold us the pellets. The whole situation seems scandallous

Unfortunately, it will probably take some large, class action lawsuit steelements to change the way pellet manufacturers are allowed to label their pellets in any way they want. Unfortunate................. but obviously they will label their pellets as premium ,even if they aren't ,for as long as they are allowed.