Picked up some of these to try out.
![[Hearth.com] New Northern Warmth pellets](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_3365-webp.184900/ "[Hearth.com] New Northern Warmth pellets")
replacing the Okanagan Spruce/Pine/ Douglas Firs..
replacing the Okanagan Spruce/Pine/ Douglas Firs..
Last edited:
New Northern Warmth pellets
- Thread starter Tonyray
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Northern Woods formerly Okanagan....I tried Okanagan Gold last year and they were absolutely the worst pellet I've ever burned. Stick with the higher grade Northern Woods pellets for sure.
[Northern Warmth] you mean..
I Burned the Okie Golds and had no problem with heat or ash...
My Harman never met a pellet it didn't like...including Home Depot Crap..
Some that made a mountain of Ash but that's about my biggest complaint..
I used Okie Platinums and DF's last winter and was extremely pleased with the results. This spring when my supplier offered earlybird deals, just for curiosity's sake, I bought a ton of the Okis Golds. I tried them last night for the season's first fire and they burned nicely. The heat was good and there was very little ash. I plan on using the Golds for the beginning and end of the winter while saving the Platinums and DF's for when it gets colder.
I'm surprised by Scagger's comment that the Golds were the worst pellet he had ever used. I know for my stove, a Wiseway gravity feed stove, these softwood pellets have enabled the stove to perform exactly as the designer intended.
I know the Okie label is gone for good what with the parent company's bankruptcy. I hope the new product, Northern Warmth, are just Okie's in a different plastic bag.
I'm surprised by Scagger's comment that the Golds were the worst pellet he had ever used. I know for my stove, a Wiseway gravity feed stove, these softwood pellets have enabled the stove to perform exactly as the designer intended.
I know the Okie label is gone for good what with the parent company's bankruptcy. I hope the new product, Northern Warmth, are just Okie's in a different plastic bag.
It's not Always the Pellets that make for crappy burns...
lot's times it's the particular stove just doesn't burn a Particular brand well or is not setup right. maybe not maintained well etc..
Phoenix Hatchling
Minister of Fire
Just took delivery of some of the Super Spruce. They look clean, minimal dust, almost identical to Lacretes in appearance. They do have quite a few scald marks on some pellets from the die extrusion. Curious to see if they as well as the Lacretes. All got some Turmans to try out this winter.
Last year I bought a sampler from bcp. The okie golds and plats burned very well as did the DF night we dipped to 2 out there... I ended up with a few skids of the vh plats based on cost/performance but they are no longer available either. There was; however, an issue with the LaCretes. Very hard to get started, low slow flame, poor heat, etc... Even worse than a no name hardwood I tried. Joe was pretty surprised and didn't hesitate to swap them out... He swore there was no nitromethane involved, but the difference was incredible. There was no sign of damage on the bags, the pellets looked ok.., no odd odor... so when scagger and others bash a pellet like that (when so many have great things to say) it's hard to understand. Was it something during man process, or did they sponge just enough moisture to slow them down but not clump or expand them??? Everyone seems to first fault the stove or user settings... Granted stove to stove, or more like install to install create differences in performance, it's just the way it is, but there are some bad bags out there...
A customer heating with Northern Warmth "Purely Pine" pellets is having major clinker build-up. These are made somewhere in the east, and the bag claims they are "Super Premium". Here's a picture after burning less than 100 lbs. You can judge for yourself if these should claim to be "Super Premium", or even "Premium".
![[Hearth.com] New Northern Warmth pellets](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/northern-warmth-purely-pine-12-2016-webp.190218/ "[Hearth.com] New Northern Warmth pellets")
WOW.. that looks like some of HD or Walmarts crap...Infernos, Easy Heats, Penningtons come to mind..
I burned Okie DF and Platinums in my Breckwell P200I for the last 3 years. I was a little worried this year when I found out the Okie DF was replaced with Northern Warmth DF . I got 5 bags to try and was surprised when I got this clinker buildup in my burn pot after 3 bags. I noticed the Northern Warmth DF are not as brown in color as the Okie DF. I had my stove cleaned this year like I do every year but was wondering if the amount of air that is allowed into the burn pot could cause this. I went back to some Platinums that I have from last year and so far no clinker buildup. I've only been burning pellets for about 3 years so I'm still learning and would appreciate any suggestions. Regards John
![[Hearth.com] New Northern Warmth pellets](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_6934-1-webp.190256/ "[Hearth.com] New Northern Warmth pellets")
![[Hearth.com] New Northern Warmth pellets](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_6936-1-webp.190257/ "[Hearth.com] New Northern Warmth pellets")
![[Hearth.com] New Northern Warmth pellets](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_6935-1-webp.190259/ "[Hearth.com] New Northern Warmth pellets")
Phoenix Hatchling
Minister of Fire
Have not tried the Purely Pine. Am currently burning the Super Spruce, and I must say they are awesome! Liking them better than the Vermonts, Lacretes and and Northern (different co.). If you are the dealer, perhaps you need to assess them yourself. Have you seen/inspected your customer's stove? If the stove is not clean or maintained, the very best pellets will burn horribly and dirty. Soot/clinker buildup will appear sooner and heat transfer declines. I would recommend you have your customer give the stove a thorough cleaning. I've had pellets such as the Super Spruce burn dirty after running a half ton through the stove without cleaning.
those pictures are something else...
not sure if even the worst pellets around would entirely cause that mess...
gotta be something not right with the stoves air mix or,
bad pellet batch...amazing..
not sure if even the worst pellets around would entirely cause that mess...
gotta be something not right with the stoves air mix or,
bad pellet batch...amazing..
fmsm
Minister of Fire
Since Okies are gone and N Warmths have replaced them,
I Really would like to think so....
that is actually the worst looking clinkers i have seen,
I too am trying out a 9 bag Northern Warmth sampler from Bucks. I had been burning La Crete and Okie Platinums so far this year with no troubles. I just finished trying 3 bags of the Purely Pine and they produced the largest cake I ever had, almost 2" thick... I couldn't believe the size. I am now trying the Super Spruce bags. I will be monitoring the firepot more closely this time to see if they produce rocks as well... Also, the Super Spruce seems to have a funky smell to it, I'm not liking it already...
Next year Bucks won't be carrying La Crete and will only have Northern Warmth as their softwood offering. I was hoping that NW would be a good replacement but its not looking good so far.
Next year Bucks won't be carrying La Crete and will only have Northern Warmth as their softwood offering. I was hoping that NW would be a good replacement but its not looking good so far.
I just finished burning 2 bags of the NW Spruce...Blue Bag......
no bad smell.... not a lot of ash...I had started burning from a ton of LaCretes I bought last year so wanted to compare so threw in the NW after the hopper was empty...
seemed to burn as good as the La Cretes.....
my dealer gave me couple bags of Easy Blaze Super Premiums and they we're AWSOME..
Burned like Douglas Firs as they only left a coating of Pellet dust on the front of my burnpot...
deff will get some of those next spring..
new to the forum...and unfortunately Im on here to report on these Northern Warmth Douglas Fir pellets....I, too, purchased from Bucks, and I just recently had to contact Heather bc of how crappy these pellets are...I wanted to wait until I was half way through a pallet to confirm my thoughts on them.
Couple of things...Im comparing these to the Le Crete that I burned last year and at the beginning of this year in my Quadrafire Mt. Vernon stove.
-They do not burn nearly as hot and my stove, which is a year old, is struggling to reach 69 degrees in a 700 square foot tightly sealed basement...
-they are producing a ton of ash...and the ash clearly has moisture signs in it...
-my stove is showing signs of rust in the pot and all around it...How often is this an issue with moisture??? This is a huge concern for me.
-They SMELL HORRIBLE...people have asked me if we have a sewage issue...the ash smells like dirty feet or worse...
-Im burning these pellets twice as fast as the Le Crete
Has any one else experienced similar issues? Any recommendations on what I should do?
Thanks!
I've had similar problems with Northern Warmth pellets in my sampler bags. Huge ash cake with purely pines. For me the Super Spruce are what stank, very bad smell. The Douglas firs didn't smell bad, they were just not good burning. I have a Quadra Fire SantaFe 1200 and haven't had trouble with pellets before. The douglas firs didn't burn very well, they even produced some small marble sized rocks in my firepot. For the price charged for these premium pellets I would expect much better performance.. I will definitely not be purchasing any of these next year.
I sent my feedback in to Bucks pellets to report my experiences. They wrote back to say that other people reported problems with ash cakes on the Purely Pines, but that overall the Douglas firs were good. I hope they reconsider carrying this brand next year. I like getting my pellets from them, but it will only be if they have some other softwood brand.
I wish I could offer you recommendations on what to do. Perhaps if you some other brand of pellets available you could mix them with the NWs, it might dilute the smell a bit. Good luck
I sent my feedback in to Bucks pellets to report my experiences. They wrote back to say that other people reported problems with ash cakes on the Purely Pines, but that overall the Douglas firs were good. I hope they reconsider carrying this brand next year. I like getting my pellets from them, but it will only be if they have some other softwood brand.
I wish I could offer you recommendations on what to do. Perhaps if you some other brand of pellets available you could mix them with the NWs, it might dilute the smell a bit. Good luck
I apologize for the confusion...I have super spruce....and they smell terrible. I honestly want a refund or Bucks to get the manufacturer to take care of this. It's horrible. They aren't heating, they smell, and the clean up in my stove is a mess...Not happy at all.
By this time now,
I have burned 3 bags of the NW Spruce..[Blue bag]
have had No odor or bad smell of any kind and the Pellets burned fine with minimal ash.
Harman P61A...
Have no idea what is going on with your Stove or pellets..
I have burned 3 bags of the NW Spruce..[Blue bag]
have had No odor or bad smell of any kind and the Pellets burned fine with minimal ash.
Harman P61A...
Have no idea what is going on with your Stove or pellets..
I've burned about 25 bags or more st this point. It's not every bag, as I explained to Bucks, but it is the vast majority of them. The ash build up is incredible compared to the La Cretes I burned last year. It also seems like it is burning through a bag twice as fast as last year, despite last year being colder. Very weird, unexpected, and disappointing when you think you've purchased "super premium" pellets. Not Bucks fault at all, but there is clearly something wrong w these pellets. They shouldn't smell like a dead animal
wow.. very strange..
burning thru my ton of LaCretes I got from bucks last spring..
they are fine... no problems there...
what stove do you have?
I loved the La Crete. Tried to reorder them this season. Minimal ash and they burned very hot. I have a quadrafire mt. Vernon. For a 700 square foot area. I'll try to send pictures of what one bag of the northern warmth looks like. There is ash everywhere.
