Pellets and dust

[Ctwoodtick]

I’ve always used whatever pellets I can find at TSC or Lowe’s. When loading pellets I get sawdust float into room. Do higher quality pellets have the same amount of dust as the cheaper stuff? I’d consider switching if it meant less dust when loading.

 

[Tonyray]

I’ve always used whatever pellets I can find at TSC or Lowe’s. When loading pellets I get sawdust float into room. Do higher quality pellets have the same amount of dust as the cheaper stuff? I’d consider switching if it meant less dust when loading.

I burn top softwoods and yes dust is also present..

 

[Whitenuckler]

I’ve always used whatever pellets I can find at TSC or Lowe’s. When loading pellets I get sawdust float into room. Do higher quality pellets have the same amount of dust as the cheaper stuff? I’d consider switching if it meant less dust when loading.

The pellets I use don't have too much dust. I am now using two 5 gallon buckets which I fill outside in the garage. That gets rid of most of the dust and makes it easier for me to carry 40 pounds down to the basement. Then it makes it easier to pour into the hopper.

 

[johneh]

All pellet brands have some dust
The amount of dust depends on how the bags are handled
The rougher the handling, the more dust in a bag

 

[Ocelot]

They all have dust a sawdust (fines) I take an extra step on mine to cut down on both the dust in the living room and the fines in the hopper. I keep a big galvanized steel garbage can that's about 50 gallons or so on my enclosed heated porch that holds a good 5 bags of pellets. I fill that and then as I need pellets for the stove, I scoop them into a big bucket with a sifter I made. Since I started doing that, I get much lest dust in the living room and a lot less fines in the hopper.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

They all have dust a sawdust (fines) I take an extra step on mine to cut down on both the dust in the living room and the fines in the hopper. I keep a big galvanized steel garbage can that's about 50 gallons or so on my enclosed heated porch that holds a good 5 bags of pellets. I fill that and then as I need pellets for the stove, I scoop them into a big bucket with a sifter I made. Since I started doing that, I get much lest dust in the living room and a lot less fines in the hopper.

Sounds cool. Thanks for the tip!

 

[mtnbiker727]

I have my shopvac handy and tuck the end of the hose in the hopper when I'm pouring in the pellets. The fine dust goes into the shopvac instead of into my room.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I have my shopvac handy and tuck the end of the hose in the hopper when I'm pouring in the pellets. The fine dust goes into the shopvac instead of into my room.

I’ve actually done the same thing. It seems like a little bit of a pain, but then again the pellet stove is in the basement where we are usually not in at the time, so maybe it’s worth just keeping the vacuum there most of the time for that dust collection. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Ricks]

The more a bag of pellets is handled the more fines you will get. Some places toss the bags onto a cart, then toss them into your car, then the bags get tossed into a stack in the garage/basement etc. all of that leads to more fines. The less a bag is handled the better.

That said a higher quality of pellets will have fewer fines at the start.

 

[Whitenuckler]

The more a bag of pellets is handled the more fines you will get. Some places toss the bags onto a cart, then toss them into your car, then the bags get tossed into a stack in the garage/basement etc. all of that leads to more fines. The less a bag is handled the better.

That said a higher quality of pellets will have fewer fines at the start.

This will be my first year buying by the pallet 70 bags. I will probably have to keep them outside as I don't think I could
put them in my garage. That should be the least dust you can get. Mine are very good even after getting small quantities.
The Home Depot will open up a pallet, and you load from that. You want to buy a pallet(s) delivered or manually load from
a factory pallet.

 

[stovelark]

Softwood pellets tend to have more dust than most hardwoods, which have some too. I used a pellet hopper sifter for years in my garage and brought the cleaner pellets into the living room, and more importantly, kept pounds of sawdust out of the auger housing every year. Wife liked the less dust, I liked the less dust in the hopper. The hopper would hold about 7 bags of pellets at a time. Any sifting you can do, it is always beneficial. Hot this week in SE CT, pray for the flood victims.

 

[bogieb]

This will be my first year buying by the pallet 70 bags. I will probably have to keep them outside as I don't think I could
put them in my garage. That should be the least dust you can get. Mine are very good even after getting small quantities.
The Home Depot will open up a pallet, and you load from that. You want to buy a pallet(s) delivered or manually load from
a factory pallet.

Last year I had a pallet of pellets that came in with a lot of fines in most of the bags. The pallet was unbroken until I used it, so it came from the factory that way. Its fellow pallets weren't like that. Was weird, even had a couple of bags in the middle of the pallet that had developed some hard lumps, like it had gotten wet. But, they were hardwoods in bags without the little holes (as blends and SE come in), so they must have had issues at the factory. Fortunately, my stoves don't care and will feed the fines into the firepot for burning,

My only concern was dumping them in the hopper without getting too much dust in the air. I perfected the technique of upending the bag quickly and holding it there to trap floating fines while the bag emptied. However, I don't have any breathing issues, have birds and cats that produce plenty of dander/feather/fur, and am not OCD about dust, so that won't work for everyone.

 

[Whitenuckler]

Last year I had a pallet of pellets that came in with a lot of fines in most of the bags. The pallet was unbroken until I used it, so it came from the factory that way. Its fellow pallets weren't like that. Was weird, even had a couple of bags in the middle of the pallet that had developed some hard lumps, like it had gotten wet. But, they were hardwoods in bags without the little holes (as blends and SE come in), so they must have had issues at the factory. Fortunately, my stoves don't care and will feed the fines into the firepot for burning,

My only concern was dumping them in the hopper without getting too much dust in the air. I perfected the technique of upending the bag quickly and holding it there to trap floating fines while the bag emptied. However, I don't have any breathing issues, have birds and cats that produce plenty of dander/feather/fur, and am not OCD about dust, so that won't work for everyone.

I guess you could make a 'funnel" for the hopper opening. If you had a pellet container with a neck you could stop some of the dust.
The ultimate would be a refueling setup like F1 racing where you open up a RV sewer gate and the pellets go in. Once all the dust has stabilized you remove the hopper top.

 

[Washed-Up]

If the dust is really an issue…use some window screen and a bucket or build a box with a “sifting screen” at the bottom…I’ve yet to run into some so bad that it jammed up my stove but I don’t have breathing health issues either

 

[Ctwoodtick]

If the dust is really an issue…use some window screen and a bucket or build a box with a “sifting screen” at the bottom…I’ve yet to run into some so bad that it jammed up my stove but I don’t have breathing health issues either

Thanks for the info. No one in my house has breathing issues either, just trying to cut down a bit on the mess. Lot of good ideas and that’s helped me out.