How much better are the Super Premium Pellets vs Premium ones ?

[nhdblfan]

Going on my 4th season with the Harman XXV and only had one bad experience with pellets purchase (Maine Wood Pellets-never buy that trash again)
Been using the NEWP and they seem ok(not a big fan of the company after the first season runaround they gave the dealers here in NH)and probably go with them again but wanted some opinions.
Just got my quotes for this season buy and they also carry Okanagan and Barefoot "Super Premium" at $50 more per ton (225 vs 275).
Is it worth another 50 per ton for the Super Premium ?

thanks for the opinions

 

[jtakeman]

Depends what you are looking for. Super premiums are generally about half the ash content of a Premium grade pellet. Most times the BTU content is a bit higher depending on the overall moisture content. Some Premium grade fuels are better than others as is some Super Premiums are just barely super premiums. Kind of got to do some homework to sort them out to your liking.

Hence my reviews so you(the newer burners) can kind of see whats out there! But choosing them is like buying anything else. To each his/her own. But I will say that the MWP latest was a super premium grade pellet at the price of/or below a premium grade price. But there could be some batch inconsistancy involved. I can also say I usually find a happy medium btween high cost and upper grade pellets that saves me a few bucks during the season. Same amount of heat(or more) with the same amount of ash(or less) for a lower price. I save money with cheaper pellets and burn them during the warmer parts of the season(shoulders fall/spring time) and spend the money on the higher BTU pellets for the cold. But this doesn't work for all as some don't want to clean there stove a bit more often. This also takes a bit of home work to sort thru whats available in your area!

You might see a few quotes in the members sig's

Life is too short for cheap beer and crappy pellets

One other note on the NEWP's is they have stepped it up some. They are bagging and watching the QA at all the plants since some complained about a lesser quality product getting out. So it seems anyway.

 

[Don2222]

Hello Jay

Take these pellets for example:

Maine's Choice Premium Wood Pellets and the new Geneva Super Premium Wood Pellets come from the same plant in Maine on 30 Norton Hill Road in Strong, ME 04983

As you can see they are both shown in the pic below on Geneva's Web Site!
(broken link removed)

I bought the Maine's Choice and Lowe's for $209 per Ton and the Geneva Wood Pellets are at Dodge Grain for $226 in early summer and now $233 per ton

However, I Suspect there is not much difference in Quality. Do you know the exact specs so we can compare? They do not say much on their web site!!

I am seeing 0.4% ash and 8,900 BTU on the new Curran Super Premium Softwood Pellets High heat Low Ash!!

The last pic is from the Maine's choice bag showing those specs
Premium Grade
0.5% Ash
Hardwood Blend
Less than 6% Moisture
0.25% Fines

I picked up a bag of Geneva Super Premium Wood Pellets. See last 2 pics.
Super Premium Grade
0.5 % Ash
8200 BTU
4% Moisture

 

[kinsmanstoves]

One of the fastet ways to damage any pellets is moisture. In a perfect world the pellets you pour into your stove will be the exact same quality that left the mill, that is very far off in most cases. Moisture will kill the density of a pellet faster than a bad fork lift driver. If the mill stores the pellets outside followed by the big box store your pellet will be damaged. Insist on indoor storage.

Eric

 

[New Hampshire Jim]

This Is The way I look at It and It is only my opinion.
In the beginning I burner some cheap (Crappy) pellets and I was cleaning my stove almost every day at 1/2 hour a pop
Each week would average 4 clean outs or 2 hours. Or $20.00 my time 10.00X 2 HOURS TO BURN 7 BAGS of cheap.=$140.00 per ton my time
Switch over to burn a good pellet and now I clean once a week or $5.00 my time to burn the 7 bags =$35.00 per Ton my time
I quickly found out I would much rather pay the extra $50.00 a ton and have the extra BEER time over SOOT time

 

[jtakeman]

Forgot to mention the PFI has dropped the Super Premium standard. They opted for a bar graph that will range the ash content of the fuel. Supposed to help the average burner to choose fuel. Not sure when this we be seen on the bags. But thats the direction things are headed. There present testing is not random. Mills send the samples in=To good a chance its in the mills favor. They will be going to random spot checks. Much like my testing. Guess who voted for that?

Also take a look at woodpellets.com They are rating there fuels by ash content. And also list there own tested BTU content and moisture content.

Eric is correct as moisture content rises, The BTU content drops like a rock.

Twinports testing usually lists actual moisture content and BTU content at that moisture level. They also list the BTU content if there was 0 moisture content. Much higher BTU/pound with 0 moisture(we will never see that in the real world though!)

 

[jtakeman]

Hello Jay

Take these pellets for example:

Maine's Choice Premium Wood Pellets and the new Geneva Super Premium Wood Pellets come from the same plant in Maine on 30 Norton Hill Road in Strong, ME 04983

As you can see they are both shown in the pic below on Geneva's Web Site!
(broken link removed)

I bought the Maine's Choice and Lowe's for $209 per Ton and the Geneva Wood Pellets are at Dodge Grain for $226 in early summer and now $233 per ton

However, I Suspect there is not much difference in Quality. Do you know the exact specs so we can compare? They do not say much on their web site!!

I am seeing 0.4% ash and 8,900 BTU on the new Curran Super Premium Softwood Pellets High heat Low Ash!!

The last pic is from the Maine's choice bag showing those specs
Premium Grade
0.5% Ash
Hardwood Blend
Less than 6% Moisture
0.25% Fines

Don,

I have not tested Geneva Super Premium or the latest(since the mill fire) Maine Choice. I can't say whether there is or isn't a difference without doing my own sampling. Although, I do think there would be some difference between them. From what I have been told, The mill is shutdown and cleaned out between product runs. Better fiber for the SP?

 

[nhdblfan]

Thanks all for the reply's.

Those Maine Choice from strong where the crappy pellets I had a couple years ago(actually neighbors and I had to sift our way through 10 ton we did in group buy-never again will I gave them any business).
The NEWP plant in Jaffery is pretty close, in fact last deliver I got from the lumber company that I buy them through was still warm they where so fresh right from the plant to my garage.Leaning towards them again as they seem to only require cleaning my XXV once every 1/2 ton (could go longer I suspect),so its not a big deal.
thanks for all the replys

 

[Don2222]

Thanks all for the reply's.

Those Maine Choice from strong where the crappy pellets I had a couple years ago(actually neighbors and I had to sift our way through 10 ton we did in group buy-never again will I gave them any business).
The NEWP plant in Jaffery is pretty close, in fact last deliver I got from the lumber company that I buy them through was still warm they where so fresh right from the plant to my garage.Leaning towards them again as they seem to only require cleaning my XXV once every 1/2 ton (could go longer I suspect),so its not a big deal.
thanks for all the replys

NEWPs are still a good choice, I got some at Lowe's for $3.97 per bag!

This year all the wood pellets are better! I burned a few Maine's Choice last year and I must say they are top notch now and the price is the best!

I just picked up a bag of Geneva Wood Pellets at Dodge grain. It seems like the ONLY difference is the the moisture content is 4% instead of 6% on the Maine's Choice! The unclear difference is the Geneva Pellets sold at Dodge Grain are delivered in a Covered Truck and Stored Inside under cover! That makes the moisture content spec is good as long as you pick them up or have them delivered on a Non Rainy/Snowy day and store them in a Non Damp/Moist Inside room
From this site http://www.woodpellets4me.com/pellets-maineschoice.html
The tested BTU's on the Maine's choice are 7838 and ash content .49% so a little less heat but the same ash content?
See pics and specs in my 1st post above.
BTW the Geneva Pellets are $4.66 per bag right now, I got the Maine's Choice for $4.18 per bag!!

Summary
So I would say that the Super Premium Wood Pellets:
1. Have less moisture that in turn gives off more heat. That means a lower heat setting and maybe more burn time.
2. Have less ash content so fewer stove cleanings are needed.

So you only need to decide if that is worth paying a little more money.

 

[jtakeman]

Thanks all for the reply's.

Those Maine Choice from strong where the crappy pellets I had a couple years ago(actually neighbors and I had to sift our way through 10 ton we did in group buy-never again will I gave them any business).
The NEWP plant in Jaffery is pretty close, in fact last deliver I got from the lumber company that I buy them through was still warm they where so fresh right from the plant to my garage.Leaning towards them again as they seem to only require cleaning my XXV once every 1/2 ton (could go longer I suspect),so its not a big deal.
thanks for all the replys

NEWPs are still a good choice, I got some at Lowe's for $3.97 per bag!

This year all the wood pellets are better! I burned a few Maine's Choice last year and I must say they are top notch now and the price is the best!

I just picked up a bag of Geneva Wood Pellets at Dodge grain. It seems like the ONLY difference is the the moisture content is 4% instead of 6% on the Maine's Choice! The unclear difference is the Geneva Pellets sold at Dodge Grain are delivered in a Covered Truck and Stored Inside under cover! That makes the moisture content spec is good as long as you pick them up or have them delivered on a Non Rainy/Snowy day and store them in a Non Damp/Moist Inside room
From this site http://www.woodpellets4me.com/pellets-maineschoice.html
The tested BTU's on the Maine's choice are 7838 and ash content .49% so a little less heat but the same ash content?
See pics and specs in my 1st post above.
BTW the Geneva Pellets are $4.66 per bag right now, I got the Maine's Choice for $4.18 per bag!!

Summary
So I would say that the Super Premium Wood Pellets:
1. Have less moisture that in turn gives off more heat. That means a lower heat setting and maybe more burn time.
2. Have less ash content so fewer stove cleanings are needed.

So you only need to decide if that is worth paying a little more money.

Don2222,

If you look at the bags you have posted the MC are a blend and the GWP is 100% hardwood. 2% moisture reducion is somewhere around 200 to 300 BTU's/LBS FYI.

 

[Don2222]

Thanks all for the reply's.

Those Maine Choice from strong where the crappy pellets I had a couple years ago(actually neighbors and I had to sift our way through 10 ton we did in group buy-never again will I gave them any business).
The NEWP plant in Jaffery is pretty close, in fact last deliver I got from the lumber company that I buy them through was still warm they where so fresh right from the plant to my garage.Leaning towards them again as they seem to only require cleaning my XXV once every 1/2 ton (could go longer I suspect),so its not a big deal.
thanks for all the replys

NEWPs are still a good choice, I got some at Lowe's for $3.97 per bag!

This year all the wood pellets are better! I burned a few Maine's Choice last year and I must say they are top notch now and the price is the best!

I just picked up a bag of Geneva Wood Pellets at Dodge grain. It seems like the ONLY difference is the the moisture content is 4% instead of 6% on the Maine's Choice! The unclear difference is the Geneva Pellets sold at Dodge Grain are delivered in a Covered Truck and Stored Inside under cover! That makes the moisture content spec is good as long as you pick them up or have them delivered on a Non Rainy/Snowy day and store them in a Non Damp/Moist Inside room
From this site http://www.woodpellets4me.com/pellets-maineschoice.html
The tested BTU's on the Maine's choice are 7838 and ash content .49% so a little less heat but the same ash content?
See pics and specs in my 1st post above.
BTW the Geneva Pellets are $4.66 per bag right now, I got the Maine's Choice for $4.18 per bag!!

Summary
So I would say that the Super Premium Wood Pellets:
1. Have less moisture that in turn gives off more heat. That means a lower heat setting and maybe more burn time.
2. Have less ash content so fewer stove cleanings are needed.

So you only need to decide if that is worth paying a little more money.

Don2222,

If you look at the bags you have posted the MC are a blend and the GWP is 100% hardwood. 2% moisture reducion is somewhere around 200 to 300 BTU's/LBS FYI.

You are correct Jay. That is the difference!!

 

[jtakeman]

This Is The way I look at It and It is only my opinion.
In the beginning I burner some cheap (Crappy) pellets and I was cleaning my stove almost every day at 1/2 hour a pop
Each week would average 4 clean outs or 2 hours. Or $20.00 my time 10.00X 2 HOURS TO BURN 7 BAGS of cheap.=$140.00 per ton my time
Switch over to burn a good pellet and now I clean once a week or $5.00 my time to burn the 7 bags =$35.00 per Ton my time
I quickly found out I would much rather pay the extra $50.00 a ton and have the extra BEER time over SOOT time

I like your math Jim! Beer time, Hmmm!

What if your stove did its own cleaning???