Northern Lights Pellets?

[orangecrushcj7]

Anyone hear of these? Thier Website http://www.firefuels.com/pellets.html says they are brand new to the market. They are softwood from Canada. My Englander is only supposed to burn hardwood, but when pellets are as hard to get as they are, i think i may buy a few bags and try them out. Any thoughts?

 

[kinsmanstoves]

I would stick with the owner's manual.

Eric

 

[cac4]

are Englanders actually tuned to burn hardwood? They say that in the manual?

 

[imacman]

are Englanders actually tuned to burn hardwood? They say that in the manual?

I was wondering the same thing...it says that in the manual???

 

[orangecrushcj7]

I thought it said it in the manual. I just looked. I can't find it, it only says to burn premium only. However, on the "tips and trouble shooting" page online, it says "Note : These units are designed to burn hardwood pellets. Use of other fuels is not recommended."

 

[imacman]

IMHO, if you can get good quality premium softwood pellets, I don't think you'd have any problems.

 

[orangecrushcj7]

I did a search for "englander and softwood" and came up with my own 1st post from early in the summer. Mike from Englander gave his blessing to try any premium pellet, and if it burns ok, then burn them. But my point of the post was really to find out if anyone has any experience with this brand. They are being sold across the street from my work, so I ran across the street and bought 3 bags to try them out. They only sell them by the bag, with a 25 bag maximum. $6/bag. Oh, the place is Spaulding Fence on James St in Worcester. They sell NEWP too, but hardly ever have them in.

 

[orangecrushcj7]

I bought 3 bags and am test burning them tonite. Upon opening the bag I noticed they were very small. There were no pellets at all over 1" in length. Most were under 1/2". I have a ttached a pic to show the size. I wonder if maybe they may had been handled a little too rough? I have no experience with softwood pellets. They definitely are not a durable as my hardwood Lignetics. These seem to break more easily. Is this how softwood pellets are by nature? I ran them thru the homemade pellet vac, and removed by comparison to the Lignetics a ton of bits and peices - it was almost excessive.

So far I like the way they burn. They seem to burn well, ignite quickly, and the ashes seem to blow out of the burn pot better than the Lignetics.

Do they look overly small to others who have more experience?

 

[imacman]

I ran them thru the homemade pellet vac, and removed by comparison to the Lignetics a ton of bits and peices - it was almost excessive.

So far I like the way they burn. They seem to burn well, ignite quickly, and the ashes seem to blow out of the burn pot better than the Lignetics.

Do they look overly small to others who have more experience?

They look ok to me, plus you eliminate "bridging" due to pellets that are too long. I would be more concerned with the excessive fines/bits & pieces than the size. Since you have the pellet vac, and you say they light easily, burn well and have light ash, I'd use 'em.

Kinda expensive though, at $6/bag...$300/ton

 

[orangecrushcj7]

After burning them all night, I officially like them. They left virtually no ash in the burn pot, it all went in the ash area on the sides. I also wanted to share Mike Holton's response to my email. It should be noted that these pellets do not have the PFI label, but the specs are within the limits.

Mike Holton:

"hardwood and softwood pellets are just fine , as long as they are premium grade. this means less than 1% ash, less than 0.5% fines, and less than 300ppm sodium. these are the required specs which are recognized by the pellet fuels institute ( www.pelletheat.org ) i am a strong proponent for the PFI and i recommend that customers look for the PFI label when shopping for pellets. i do not receive anything for the endorsement. but i have researched the org and i am quite happy with what i have found. i hope this is helpful to you and if you have future questins please feel free to contact me , or better yet post onn this forum group so that my answers may be helpful to folks in the future.

warmest regards,
mike ESW"

I also wrote the Pellet Manufacturer in regards to their lack of PFI labeling:

"I just came across your pellets at Spaulding Fence In Worcester MA. I noticed you are not listed with the Pellet Fuels Institute. Are there any plans to do so in the future? My stove manufacturer recommends fuels only from companies listed with the PFI. I did however buy 3 bags to try them out, and intend to buy more should they burn well."

Patrick Nolan:

"The specs with regards to BTU and ash content can be found on our website @ www.firefuels.com. All major pellet fuel manufacturers of any significance manufacture to a similar standard. The Pellet Fuels institute is lobby group of manufactures who may or may not represent the industry as a whole.

We tend to sell out completely by early June year after year to repeat customers and dealers across North America. I have no doubt that you will find our product to rank amongst the best on the market.

thank you

Patrick Nolan
Northern Lights Fire Fuels"