First year with a pellet stove. Enviro m55 cast iron

[Sanborn281]

My dealer is recommending stove softwood pine pellets and states that they are low ash and burn hotter.
I would think hardwood would be better just my opinion. I can get tractor supply pellets but looking on here people recommend using the scanner to see where the bags come from.

 

[bags]

Many swear by the softwood pellets but I have burned nothing but hardwood. I have yet to see softwoods here and have had excellent results burning good hardwood pellets. Somersets, Greenways, and Pro pellets have all been good.

 

[doghouse]

My dealer is recommending stove softwood pine pellets and states that they are low ash and burn hotter.
I would think hardwood would be better just my opinion. I can get tractor supply pellets but looking on here people recommend using the scanner to see where the bags come from.

Look up some of the threads on here discussing the hard V soft issue. Then try a couple of bags of soft wood and see what you think. Your stove and venting could be an issue on which burn best for you.

 

[bostonfan49]

Hey Sanford, I have a M55 and I burn softwoods almost exclusively....but then again I have an insert and my ash "Tray" can only hold about 3 days worth. As doghouse said, try a few bags of softwood and compare! What I would do is to run two bags of each using an empty ash drawer and then compare the amount of ash. I think you will have less ash with the softwoods. Most folks who have ash "bins or drawers" aren't as concerned about the amount of ash as us insert folks are so here I would defer to the amount of BTU's put out. I believe softwood have a higher heat output. (In my opinion"
Bill

 

[NYBurner]

Boston - Holy cow, you are filling your ash pan in 3 days??? I can easily do a week or more with mine, even in the cold months (Jan/Feb) where I will burn 4+ bags/day.

 

[bostonfan49]

Boston - Holy cow, you are filling your ash pan in 3 days??? I can easily do a week or more with mine, even in the cold months (Jan/Feb) where I will burn 4+ bags/day.

Hey NY, I can go a week plus, but then it could get messy cleaning...After 3 days, I walk my ash tray through the house into the garage and into a metal bucket. If it was really loaded I would risk spillage. I make sure it's stone cold but now I think I should just vacuum it up. That would be a lot easier.
Bill