Pellet question from a wood burner

[Maul4life]

Hello,
We have a local pellet manufacturer that is now making "pellet logs". I burn wood. I happened to 'win' a cord of the logs and am Curious as to what makes a good pellet...hoping to gain some insight as to what I can expect from the log?
Thanks

 

[Bioburner]

Good heat, low ash, decent burn leaving a nice tan ash without glass getting black, reasonable pellet length that feeds without bridging and not a lot of fines in the bag.

 

[Dmz]

A good pellet? There are a lot of variables, but the biggest one is the type of wood used to make the pellet. IMO Douglas Fir makes a good pellet. Low ash/high heat, smells good.

 

[bags]

You can expect some hot heat! Experiment and see what they do and let us know. You could always mix some in with cord wood. I'd be happy to score a "free" cord of pellets on 'roids. I burn wood also. Keep them dry unless you want a large pile of useless mushy saw dust.

 

[TimfromMA]

The main factors that make a good pellet are low ash low moisture and high BTU's. Douglas fir is probably the best and most expensive pellet around, at least here in New England.

 

[kmapsrule]

My parents use 'pellet logs' during the fall and spring to stretch their wood supply, they've been very happy with them also my Dad doesn't have to split kindling as he can use a pellet log to get the fires started which helps his aging back.
I second the comment about making sure you keep them dry.
Its mostly about the quality of the wood they are made of ,either good hardwood or good softwood or combination. Also density, some of the cheaper logs they have tried don't seem to have been compressed as much as the
better brands like Barefoot's 'Envi Blocks' are and the looser density ones don't burn as long.

 

[batchman]

I was pretty impressed with the "giant pellets" last year, found them at my stove store and gave 'em a try - Orford Compressed Logs. At 2x2" rounded square and 10" long they nestled well into a wood fire and helped keep a burn going at bedtime and also helpful when burning less than fully seasoned wood. They cautioned me to not use more than 3 at once in my insert, and I agree.

This year I could not get these for love nor money, so I'm trying Logik-E's Energy Logs. These are 3" diameter round so I expect them to be harder to light but burn longer. I expect to try the first one tonight in fact. Hint from this vendor was to reduce the draft when burning them, we'll see. As they're really really round I expect it would be some trouble keeping them spaced apart (or even in place) if burned without natures' "before" along with.

So far I seem to be reaching for hardwood for the giant pellets and softwood for the 40lb bags. Somehow I don't fully trust softwood in the insert, especially since my cordwood is not the greatest.

Good luck and keep us posted!
- Jeff

 

[Lake Girl]

Haven't tried them but here is another brand with their sales pitch ... (broken link removed to http://www.lignetics.com/fire-logs) Less mess and not having to worry about seasoning would be appealing to me as I remember the wood stove we had years ago. From their page...
CAUTION: Do not overfill the firebox. Each Pres-to-log® contains up to 42,500 BTU. Check with your appliance manufacturer on maximum fuel loading BEFORE LOADING APPLIANCE.Failure to follow manufacturer’s guidelines could result in damage to your home and/or personal injury.

Any one have info on cost comparison to cordwood?

 

[Hdhogger]

I've been mixing Envi 8's with cord wood in my Jotul. They're made by Barefoot. Lake Girl is right don't overload your stove with them they burn really hot. Best to do a half and half mix with wood. Envi's are $299. a pallet which is equal to a cord of wood.

(broken link removed to http://www.barefootpellet.com/enviblocks/)

 

[briansol]

envrio blocks are good stuff. nice score

 

[Hdhogger]

envrio blocks are good stuff. nice score

Thanks, I'm loven'm.

 

[batchman]

FWIW in my area I have found limited supply of giant pellets, kind of goes with the rest of the shortages found in regular pellets and dry cord wood.

Did find good supply of the Logik-Es and several brick styles but can't picture using the bricks without using them in pairs or 3s end/end. Maybe that's the intent, as in reading the fine print on the Logik-Es they say to break the logs in 3 pieces... I liked the Orfords for fitting in with wood, a similarly sized product from Canawick looked promising but dried up before I could try. Found similar sized Qualifire logs at Lowes but are half length. I grabbed a box of Envi-somethings that are wrapped in paper, I believe from reviews they may be pressed cardboard.

FYI I found the Logik-Es in plentiful supply at a lumber store in Barre MA around $300/pallet, but they're far enough away from me that I bought 50 boxes from a stove store in Merrimack NH, $6/box. Haven't counted my cord of wood but suspect the $0.60/log compares well for the weight/BTUs.

Cheers,
- Jeff

 

[yrock87]

Hello,
We have a local pellet manufacturer that is now making "pellet logs". I burn wood. I happened to 'win' a cord of the logs and am Curious as to what makes a good pellet...hoping to gain some insight as to what I can expect from the log?
Thanks

my next door neighbor was in line to buy a pallet of those when they debute a few years back. he still has half his supply. they burn, but they burn QUICK compared to whole logs. he will throw one or two in in the afternoon to suplement a few logs sometimes, but he says they burn up within an hour or so, so he does not rely on them unless he is around to babysit.

 

[Maul4life]

yrock87, thanks for the input. I burned some of those initial ones, but wasn't happy. I heard they have changed them, whatever that means. Stay tuned....the borough included a free pallet of those, with my new stove, in the changeout program.

 

[batchman]

I tried some of the Logik-Es last night, burned hot & clean but a lot faster than I expected. The Orfords would go a couple/three hours, at 2x2 and 2.5lbs. These, at 3" dia and 3 lbs, seemed to burn in half the time. Guess that goes along with the gal's recommendation for turning the draft down. Looks like 500 of 'em won't be enough.

Cheers,
- Jeff