If you had the coice...Fireside Ultras or Lignetics

[turbotech]

I have been using Lignetics and been happy with them. Just came across Fireside Ultras at a good price. I am going to pick up a few bags and try them.

Which would you choose: 2010 batch of Fireside Ultras for $165/ton, or 2010 batch of Lignetics for $223/ton ?

I read the Fireside Ultras are made by energx in USA, but possibly in Canada this year. With that they would be better quality than last years batch.

 

[wilburg]

I tried both before I bought .... I didn't see a huge difference between them .. So I went with the $165 a ton .. but I mix with cubex and Okies ... The Ultra cold night gets the ultra good pellets .. I will burn my firesides during the daytime or on the shoulders.

 

[imacman]

Personally, I'd prefer the lignetics hardwood blend, but since every stove & install is different, test the 2-3 bags of the F.U.'s and see what you think. Might be a great deal for you if they burn as well as the Lig's.

 

[jtakeman]

Fireside Ultras may now be made in the Energex Canadian plant. I haven't tried them. But anything I have tested so far from the Ca plant has been decent. Still hard to pass on the heat the lignetics put out. I tried 2 bags for giggles and they still have great heat. Ash was still a little high but no outrageous!

I have been looking for the Firesides But HD doesn't have them locally. They have been stocking stove chows.

 

[countk]

I would by Ligs as well. I burned them 2 years ago and at that time were one of the best pellets on the market. Last year however results were more mixed. Most people on this site don't like the Fireside, but you never know, maybe this year is different

So how do you make a decision. Like most everyone here will tell you, try 2 bags of each, then decide

 

[esuitt]

I have never really tried anything except for Lignetics, so I maybe a little biased.
I ran into an emergency Thanksgiving day and crapped up my stove for two days with another brand of pellets.

 

[esuitt]

double post, my wireless dropped out

 

[redbullguy]

I just purchased a ton of Fireside Ultras at Lowes in NH. I have used Okanagan's, NEWP, Green Supreme (Dragon Mtn), Blue Seal and Green team. The blue seal and green team seemed to be on the low end of heat and high end of ash. I wish I could find some Green Supreme (Dragon Mtn), but to be honest, the fireside ultra's are burning very nice.

Our stove is cranking out the heat and room temp has gone from 70 to 73 just from switching from Green team to Fireside Ultra's. Our house is 2700sqft and some what a two level open concept first floor. Our upstairs heat zone kicks on about once a night (set at 69). Right now with the fireside ultra's it reads 71. So a 3 degree difference on the first floor and 2 degrees upstairs.

For $187 a ton on Fireside Ultra's, Green Team and Maine Choice, the Fireside ultra's are giving me the same heat as the $269 a ton Okanagan's. A touch more ash, but $80 in my pocket is worth it

If the price of the firesides gets up to $250 and the Okanagan's stay at $269, I might buy the okanagan's. Hard to say at this point.

I will report back in a few day's once I burn some more Fireside Ultra's.

 

[turbotech]

Fireside Ultras may now be made in the Energex Canadian plant. I haven't tried them. But anything I have tested so far from the Ca plant has been decent. Still hard to pass on the heat the lignetics put out. I tried 2 bags for giggles and they still have great heat. Ash was still a little high but no outrageous!

I have been looking for the Firesides But HD doesn't have them locally. They have been stocking stove chows.

The Fireside Ultra bag says "Product of Canada", and "Bag made in USA". I am guessing the pellets are made in Canada. The price is $187/ton, then using a 10% coupon comes out to $168.30. If you have a credit card that does a 5% deal at home improvements then it is $159.89. Mine only does 1% off so $166.62/ton.

I asked the person on the forklift if they have been selling a lot. They said it has been steady but the sale hasn't had a huge impact. May be there will be some good deals this spring.

 

[richg]

Fireside Ultras are Energex softwood pellets. I used them in my Quad 1200 and found that they produced far less clinkering in that stove than various brands of hardwood pellets.

 

[Gweeper64]

Fireside Ultras are Energex softwood pellets. I used them in my Quad 1200 and found that they produced far less clinkering in that stove than various brands of hardwood pellets.

Hey all... I hope everyone had a good holiday. I've been away from the forums for about a week and a half and am just catching up.

richg - are you sure Fireside Ultras are really Energex softwood (Canadian)?

I'm _still_ playing the field and experimenting with different brands this far into the season.

I recently went through a bunch of bags of Energex (green bag - Canadian). I had read somewhere that they were softwood spruce/fir. I used the "softwood" setting on my AE as like a few others around here, it seemed like the "sunflower" setting some of us have been experimenting with gave good heat, but significantly increased the consumption rate. Anyway, the energex burned pretty well... very little ash in the firebox and the glass stayed relatively clean. However, I got some pretty HUGE clinkers.... the most I have ever gotten from anything I've burned before. In fact, I wouldn't burn more than 4 bags or so before emptying the ash pan. There was that much. But, the heat was good and they did a respectable job of keeping the house warm in the blizzard conditions of the last couple of days.

But... I had read about the "deals" at the big box stores going on and last week when I was at HD, I picked up 2 bags of Fireside Ultra's. I just got around to putting in the first bag tonight. Not knowing the fiber content, I set my stove back to hardwood. Now, I've only been burning them for a few hours but the heat seems decent and the glass is still clean. And they are burning well on the hardwood setting. Are you sure these are really Energex softwoods? If so, $187/ton is a steal considering the "green bag" Energex go for $90/ton more locally. If it is true, I'm going to have to try and get me at least one ton, maybe more. Hope they still have some.

If I ever get any more "real" Energex (green bag), I'll have to try burning them on hardwood setting and see if the clinkers go away.

 

[cchilly]

I'm having good luck with the FU's. I burned 25 bags of the ligs that my inlaws gave me and I would say the FU's are burning hotter than the ligs. They are also leaving less ash by far. I'm on a week and a half without touching the ash pan, which I think is pretty good for the small pan that comes with the accentra insert. After trying a few bags of the FU's I went down to the HD and picked up 3 tons. For the price I think they are a pretty good pellet. I don't see much difference from other pellets I have burned, Cubex and Spruce Pointe, except for the 100/ton savings.

 

[bwep]

Picked up a 6 bags of the fireside ultras to try in my pf100. Inside the bag is little splinters of wood mixed thru out the bag. My best description of these would be like wooden tooth picks broken in half. My question is have any of you experience this, and do you think this could cause a auger jam?

 

[Heaterhunter]

Haven't seen any half toothpicks in my bags of FU. I will say that these pellets are burning great and throw just about as much heat as my Okanagwan's. Something else I notice about the FU's is they last about 1/3 of the time longer on my highest setting of my stove than the Oakies. For $185 a ton I can't miss with FU's. I do get this large clinker after about 4 days of burning the FU's on my stove's highest setting. It's a good clinker though... ;-P I just open the door while the stove is running and flip it out of my burnpot and keep burning. It seems to be gone by the morning(not really sure where the clinker goes?). Then keep burning for another 3 or 4 days. At this point I will then shut it down and clean her up.

 

[turbotech]

I tried the Fireside Ultras. They had a lot more ash than the Lignetics. I am going to try some Greene Team. From what I read, the Greene Team should be a better pellet than the Fireside Ultras.

EDIT: No toothpicks in the FU bags. Not much dust either. They burn well but have more ash.

 

[Heaterhunter]

How about Energex pellets labeled Energex made in Lac Magantic (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) Anyone been burning those?