I am having my pellets swapped out next week for a different brand. We have always burned barefoots with great success. They stoves were heating the house on the lowest settings. So much in fact that we wear t-shirts and shorts in the house most days. These new pellets we have are horrid they are Michigan wood pellet. Both stoves cranked to the max JUST BARELY keeping the house warm. Grrrrr who knew there was such a difference?? Anyone else ever have this issue?
HATE MY PELLETS!!!
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Poor pellets are usually dirtier, but they should all get hot enough. I'm using Barefoots now and I would say they're ok, but not the best I've burned either.
Which Michigan Wood Pellet are you using? There are two in Michigan with similar names...Michigan Wood Pellet Fuel made in Holland, MI (white bag with green lettering) and Michigan Wood Pellets made in Grayling, MI. I'm using the ones made in Holland and notice that they have a lot of ash. I've had to keep my stove turned up to get decent heat from them.
I'm using the green labeled ones myself - they come in a 1.4 ton pallet so it's convenient. But, they are a lot more ashy than Barefoots or Hamers. I'm not sure there's much difference in heat, or at least not that I've really noticed.oldgoalie said:
the ones in grayling seem to burn slightly cooler than maeder bros. also in michigan. The ones in grayling have almost no dust problems compared to others I use. I run all my pellets through my vacuum system before loading into the hopper. I noticed no difference in ash with either one. I have gotten 4 different brands to test from the company that put my system in, that was a nice finishing touch from the fireplace company.
glassman said:
Interesting to hear. My dealer advised me that they weren't very good pellets, but I may try some. I was going to pick up a bag to try this week when I was in Gaylord, but had a truck load of grain so I didn't bother. I used Maeder pellets last year and I'll never use them again. Most of my current supply is ProPellets. I bought a bag of Marth pellets yesterday and am burning that right now...I must say they are very low in ash and put out a lot of heat at a low setting on my Harman, but they aren't cheap ($269 a ton
)Pellets out here in Central Mass were running $340/ton, plus delivery.
Not sure what they are now...will probably check next week. I puchased 1.4 tons, that's all they would sell. Some places wouldn't sell at all unless you bought a stove from them.
Jim
Not sure what they are now...will probably check next week. I puchased 1.4 tons, that's all they would sell. Some places wouldn't sell at all unless you bought a stove from them.
Jim
Lobstah said:
Wow! I was 'lucky' enough to buy 3 tons in September at $189 a ton (though I picked them up myself, so don't know what delivery would be). The pellets I bought are both made here in Michigan though so I imagine that helped with the price as shipping costs are less. The Marth pellets come from Wisconsin so shipping cost probably contributes to the cost. After seeing the results after using one bag of Marth pellets, they'd be my choice over what I have now.
I've been testing all available brands of pellets since we installed our Enviro EF3 in Sept.I couldn,tr believe the difference in Heat output mostly.As for Ash, i don,t really care how much ash if its exceptional heat to make up for it. Pellets tried here have been
Cozy Comfy(Kent Bld Prod)Rated --T for Terrible--2 inces long average,High Ash,Low Heat,Price $5.99/Bag Temp = 168 F @ Output tubes
Eastern Embers(Shaw Brick) High Ash,Low Heat,consistant size-----------------------------Price $5.50/bag Temp = 175 F @ Output tubes
LG granules (Quebec) Low Ash,Very Good heat output,consistant size of 3/4 inch Price $5.00/Bag Temp = 285 F @ output tubes
Lignetics-Hardwood-(Canadian Tire corp) Very High Ash,Great heat output, size 1/2"Pellet--Price $4.99/Bag Temp = 368 F @ output tubes
EnergeX-(Quebec-PA)--By Far My favorite,Lowest Ash,2nd Higest heat,Small Pellets 3/8"----Price $5.99/Bag Temp = 355 F @ output tubes
Hope this helps someone decide what to Order,I suggest buying min 3 Bags/Brand before commiting to winters worth of Pellets
Cozy Comfy(Kent Bld Prod)Rated --T for Terrible--2 inces long average,High Ash,Low Heat,Price $5.99/Bag Temp = 168 F @ Output tubes
Eastern Embers(Shaw Brick) High Ash,Low Heat,consistant size-----------------------------Price $5.50/bag Temp = 175 F @ Output tubes
LG granules (Quebec) Low Ash,Very Good heat output,consistant size of 3/4 inch Price $5.00/Bag Temp = 285 F @ output tubes
Lignetics-Hardwood-(Canadian Tire corp) Very High Ash,Great heat output, size 1/2"Pellet--Price $4.99/Bag Temp = 368 F @ output tubes
EnergeX-(Quebec-PA)--By Far My favorite,Lowest Ash,2nd Higest heat,Small Pellets 3/8"----Price $5.99/Bag Temp = 355 F @ output tubes
Hope this helps someone decide what to Order,I suggest buying min 3 Bags/Brand before commiting to winters worth of Pellets
tmielke, my buddy owns the fireplace suite between kalkaska and mancelona, 231-587-5331, you can call him and see when he is getting more. He can haul 5 tons at a time. He is getting ready to pick some up soon. Oldgoalie, my buddy dropped off 6 bags yesterday, OHP, is one brand, and somerset is the other. My girlfriend keeps adding more pellets to the stove when she gets home from work at night, so its gonna be a while before I can try those brands. I found another guy between kalkaska and williamsburg that has pellets for 240 a ton picked up at his place. I think they were mwp's from holland, I am not all that familiar with all the brands etc. I havent had my pellet stove a week yet. If you guys are in kalkaska stop by and say hi, my glass shop is located on m-72 1/2 mile west of the main intersection in kalkaska. The pellet vacuum system really gets those fines out, I learned about that on this forum also.
Please proceed to your nearest Pellet Pig collection site and we will take care of the pellets.
ProPellets from White Pigeon, MI rock.
Eric
ProPellets from White Pigeon, MI rock.
Eric
If the Marths you are using are low in ash they must be the softwood jobs, correct? The hardwood Marth pellets are very high in ash...oldgoalie said:
[/quote]
If the Marths you are using are low in ash they must be the siftwood jobs, correct? The hardwood Marth pellets are very high in ash...[/quote]
Don't know...I don't think it said anything on the bag...the bag was kind of brown in color. I still have it out in the garage so I can check on it. All I know is that it had the lowest ash output of any pellet I've burned this year.
If the Marths you are using are low in ash they must be the siftwood jobs, correct? The hardwood Marth pellets are very high in ash...[/quote]
Don't know...I don't think it said anything on the bag...the bag was kind of brown in color. I still have it out in the garage so I can check on it. All I know is that it had the lowest ash output of any pellet I've burned this year.
glassman said:
I know where your place is. I used to live on the southwest side of Torch Lake and was through Kalkaska a lot (played in a men's hockey league there one year). I go past your buddy's stove shop pretty frequently...I was going to stop there last Thursday/Friday but it was snowing so hard I figured I'd pass. When the weather is good I may stop in.
I can get ProPellets from my dealer for $225 a ton now, but I'm set til probably March. Bosman's Mercantile in Charlevoix and Gaylord carries the Michigan Wood Pellets from Grayling BTW. Don't know what they get for them but they were in stock at Gaylord (at least on Friday).
We bought 2 ton of the Michigan wood pellets and they are junk. That is about all we can get around here so we were stuck. The dealer assured us that any problems we had last year were solved because the company was bought out by another better company. I have never seen so much ash and low heat output in my life. Stay away from the Holland based Michigan wood pellets.
Have to add maine Wood Pellets to this list. By far the worst pellet i have ever burned. Way too much ash to be considered a premium pellet. So the only thing premium is the bag they come in and of course the price!
Mr Whitfield said:
I just bought 20 bags of these from HD....they burn but I dont like them that well. Finding lots of fines and the quality of heat do not seem to well. But they will do.
glassman said:
I'll stick my head in the door. I just picked up 10 bags of Maeders from ACE in Charlevoix, they seem to burn hotter than the Michigan Wood Products I have stacked up. Also Lowes in Petoskey has American Wood Fibre from Maryland for $294/ton. I picked up 10 bags to check them out.
gutterboy2ca said:
Thanks so much for this info. I am currently using Eastern Embers which I though was suppose to be good. I am ordering another ton and this time I am going with Energex I am really hoping it will warm the house more efficently!
gutterboy2ca said:
I have energex pellets...poughkeepsie ny and the heat is nice but I can't stand the amount of ash I'm getting. Just tried Rocky Mountain Pellet from home depot and they are just as hot and very low ash.
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