Please tell me your experiences. Bag for bag, is a premium pellet going to give me more heat for my money?
I assume the burn time would be the same.
I assume the burn time would be the same.
Premium Pellets: Are they worth it?
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As with which is better hardwood or softwood the short answer is yes. Some burn shoulder season cheapo's and save the good stuff for mid-winter others burn nothing but what is available which is most of the time the cheap stuff and others buy nothing but the good stuff because of a cleaner burn, more Btu's and less maintenance cost on the stove. It sometimes depends on the stove you have as well. Which leads nicely into my suggestion that you put your stove type in you signature so you can get better opinions from others. Also put the amount and type of pellets there as well so the "pellet pigs" can do a little recon on your supply. (Keep you eye out for the white van circling your house 
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Wait, I thought all pellets were the same? Well, at least that's what I've been told at Home Depot.....
Well, at least that's what I've been told at Home Depot.....
in my experience, a good pellet is worth about 1.5-2 bags worth of cheap stuff.
do the math.
you'll use more and unless they cost half as much as the good stuff, you're better off just burning the old stuff to maintain temp in dead of winter.
now, in the not so cold months, the cheap stuff is great to just 'idel' on, without getting yoru house 80 degress when its, say, 40 out.
do the math.
you'll use more and unless they cost half as much as the good stuff, you're better off just burning the old stuff to maintain temp in dead of winter.
now, in the not so cold months, the cheap stuff is great to just 'idel' on, without getting yoru house 80 degress when its, say, 40 out.
More heat per bag, Yes. But the big factor can also be Ash. Ive found some cheap brands that had 3 times the ash of a premium pellet. My old stove was chocking on ash every two bags from a cheap brand.
I found long ago never assume anything with pellets, Burn time varies quite a bit from brand to brand due to size/bulk density. Check out some of my pellet tests as I have burn times for each brand and density as well.
I'm sure the gang will fill ya in on all the other details. I think I beat lots of it into them over the years and I don't wanna start another long winded thread/post. Just be sure to try everything available in your area that you find reasonable. Its good experience and sometimes you find a sleeper in the crowd that does everything you need at a reasonable cost. Have fun!
LOL, Wife just heard that today as she picked up the last part of a ton from TSC. Her reply to the fella was "you better not say that to my hubby"!Wait, I thought all pellets were the same?
Most box store staff says "all the same"! Yet I heard from 2 that the GS won't be stocked cause they got to many complaints/returns. Guess they aint all the same then. Go figure?
Jay...that is too funny! Your wifey even knows that too
!! lol Mine thinks I have a "problem" being on this board all the time, but she sure isn't complaining when it's a toasty 74 in the house in the dead of winter!If they all came in a white bag with no labeling and were given to you for free, I think people would be amazed as to where they ranked pellets. You really have to buy and try. Ive generally burned what most consider cheap pellets that have a lot of ash. But ash means little to my stove I could go 4 weeks maybe more without emptying the ash pan.
Be very careful reading too much into the word "Premium" on pellet bags, relating to their so-called quality. Inferno pellets (which are some of the worst junk made), say that they "exceed standards for premium pellets" on the bag.
Best bet is to either pay attention to the posters on this forum, or just buy a few bags of the ones you have available....then make your own determination
Best bet is to either pay attention to the posters on this forum, or just buy a few bags of the ones you have available....then make your own determination
Phil Do's fire.
Minister of Fire
Burning premium softies....Higher temp's + 50 degrees compared to last years Somersets . Almost no fly ash, stove stays cleaner. Don't have to run a brush in burnpot until 3 bags gone. Absolutely, Premium is the way to go!
mepellet
Minister of Fire
It also depends on your stove. One of the many reasons I went with a Harman for my pellet stove is that you can burn most any pellet. As a matter of fact I have saved a bunch of money by burning what some on here consider lower grade pellets. Yea, there may be more ash but this brings me to another reason why I bought the stove I did. I only need to empty the ash pan every 35-40 bags. And yet another reason why I went with a Harman is that it doesn't matter the pellet, the stove will put out the same amount of heat because it uses the ESP probe to control the amount of fuel being delivered to the burnpot. Yes, you may go through a bag more quickly but when you compare the BTUs/$ between the "super premium" and the "premium" pellets, you get more bang for your buck with the "premiums."
well, we have 7 different brands of pellets, and I have to say, selling a goodly amount of all, that its the buyer who determines value, pure and simple. There is a $70 swing between my most expensive pellet and my cheapest pellet.....and we sell as many as the expensive pellets as the cheapest pellets....so, go figure......
MikeNH
Burning Hunk
You mentioned this in another thread as a reply to my post as well, and I've had the same experience. I tried several different brands last year, 2-3 days of each, and they all burned the same. I remember Fireside Ultras had more ash than the rest, but that was about it. Maybe I'll run the same test with the PS35 in the basement just to see.
mepellet
Minister of Fire
That great! At least the message got through to someone! I have said it MANY times but usually people doubt it. Hence the reason why I put the VERY helpful link in my signature.
Phil Do's fire.
Minister of Fire
My Palazzetti is very efficient and also incorporates the same exhaust probe technology as the Harman. The super preium pellt puts out sonsiderable more heat with less feed rate. what is the point of using a premium pellet if the stove adjusts the feedrate higher to compensate for the lack of BTU?. To me that is a waste of money and besides the super premium pellets burn much cleaner.
mepellet
Minister of Fire
subsailor
Minister of Fire
subsailor
Minister of Fire
As Imacman pointed out, the key here is the word "Premium". Is the OP referring to "Premium"at it appears on pretty much every bag of all pellets? Or is he in fact referring to the high end "Super Premium" pellets? Big difference.
I have only seen one brand that was standard grade. Every other has been at least premium grade. The new PFI spec's say no more Super Premiums. Just Premiums going forward on PFI labeled brands. Non PFI can still call them as they wish.
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I should have mentioned my stove, my bad there. I did add it to my sig, thanks. I dont seem to pay attention to what the bag says, only the price and how it seems to work. I read the reviews too, but they are often very mixed. I really meant pellets not usually available in stores, ones that I read about on here, like hammers hot ones. Even you guys are saying to try a few bags and see, not that thats bad advice. Other than lower ash content, should I expect more heat from the same stove setting, more BTU's from better pellets? Less clinkers? I guess I will try whatever I can, thanks all!
Garbage in , garbage out! I had enough of that. Given the choice and availability I`ll go for the hotter, cleaner, less dusty pellet "IF" reasonably priced . No more cheap pellets for me if I can help it.
That all said I need them delivered and unloaded with a boom truck and the lumberyards accommodate that just fine so I am limited to what they get.
In the spring I got 4 tons of LogicE pellets from Canada at a good price .Hopefully I can get them again next year.
Of course price is always a big factor and we all see things from a different perspective and need so whatever works for each of us for whatever reason can be the right choice.
That all said I need them delivered and unloaded with a boom truck and the lumberyards accommodate that just fine so I am limited to what they get.
In the spring I got 4 tons of LogicE pellets from Canada at a good price .Hopefully I can get them again next year.
Of course price is always a big factor and we all see things from a different perspective and need so whatever works for each of us for whatever reason can be the right choice.
Rika
Member
Quality premium pellets do make a difference. Less ash and better heat. You get what you pay for!
mepellet
Minister of Fire
Paul Raz
Feeling the Heat
As with which is better hardwood or softwood the short answer is yes. Some burn shoulder season cheapo's and save the good stuff for mid-winter others burn nothing but what is available which is most of the time the cheap stuff and others buy nothing but the good stuff because of a cleaner burn, more Btu's and less maintenance cost on the stove. It sometimes depends on the stove you have as well. Which leads nicely into my suggestion that you put your stove type in you signature so you can get better opinions from others. Also put the amount and type of pellets there as well so the "pellet pigs" can do a little recon on your supply. (Keep you eye out for the white van circling your house
That suggestion doesn't work anymore as we are now limited to 3 lines only in the signature. I already tried
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