Question for Harman users on Pellets.

[shtrdave]

I have read a few times where Harman Stoves pretty much burn anything.

With that said is it worth buying more expensive pellets? I have been using Hamers, they are harder for me to get this year and thinking of looking at lowes or tractor supply. I used tractor supply one year for a few bags and they left big coal looking clinkers.

I only need about 3 ton I have some hamers from last year.

So help me out with your opinions or experiences please.

 

[DAKSY]

Harmans WILL burn pretty much anything that is out there.
Once you adjust your stove to the pellet quality,
the biggest difference you may notice is the amount of burn pot
scraping, heat exchanger brushing/scraping & ash pan dumping
you will need to do.

 

[bogieb]

Well, Harman's will burn any pellet, the real questions are how much do you want to clean the stove and how much heat do you need those pellets to produce?

I use middling pellets (usually, unless I can find a real deal on CL). I end up cleaning my stoves every 3 weeks or so although I been known to just go on a 2 week schedule just in case I run into weekends that I can't for some reason. However, I have no life, so this isn't a hardship for me

Hamer's ran very hot and clean in my stove versus TSC, FSU's etc. But it isn't worth premium $ for me to heat my place because of specifics of my house. Two main problems exist; loss of heat steadily, even worse if the wind is blowing. This is due to air leaks in the ceilings and the house isn't wrapped under the siding. It is only 2x4 built, so not much room for insulation (which I have replaced). Second is that my bedrooms are on the far side of the house from the stove, and over the unconditioned garage - and there are FHW pipes in those bedrooms (run thru the garage) that need to be kept warm.

Both of these circumstance put together mean that a couple of months a year I need heat to be continuously blown into the bedrooms - which means the P43 need to be constantly running. I don't need massive heat, just constant heat at as low a setting as I can get out of the P43. I'm going to use a certain tonnage anyway just running on a maintenance burn so middling pellets work well for me.

 

[Tonyray]

[QUOTE="DAKSY, post: 2194336, member: 8615"]Harmans WILL burn pretty much anything that is out there.
Once you adjust your stove to the pellet quality,
the biggest difference you may notice is the amount of burn pot
scraping, heat exchanger brushing/scraping & ash pan dumping
you will need to do.
that kinda sums it up if your using a Harman...
might add that free standing Harmans have much bigger ash pans than inserts and can go longer before empting.
I have burned middle of the road Hardwoods from HD and it kept my place warm but accumulated quite a bit of ash all the time.
[Hamers surprised me due to very coarse ash]
that said, i have since switched over to all Softwoods after finding out that my cleaning of the stove is less frequent due to
lower ash remaining.. I'm willing to pay a bit more for good softwoods to do less scraping and vacuuming etc..
if u don't mind the cleaning then I would stick with the hardwoods..
HD usually sells Stove chows here in the Northeast which are ashy but will produce good heat.. never bought from Lowes..
burned a few tons of chows in the past and never had any clinkers..

 

[jackhammer]

I agree with all the above opinions and think of pellet cost like this. If I pay $259/ton for middle of the road hardwood, or $300/ton for “the good stuff”, I’m spending $120 more per year to clean my stove less often based on my average three ton purchase. Since I’m a very busy person with lots of family obligations on the day and a half I don’t work, it’s worth it to me to get the better pellets. I do have a mix of decent pellets and a new brand for me this year, I’ve only had the Harman two seasons so I’m still experimenting. I have never burned anything from a big box store, so I can’t speak to that. Just my two cents! If you go cheap and don’t like the results, you can’t always change next year. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Tonyray]

I agree with all the above opinions and think of pellet cost like this. If I pay $259/ton for middle of the road hardwood, or $300/ton for “the good stuff”, I’m spending $120 more per year to clean my stove less often based on my average three ton purchase. Since I’m a very busy person with lots of family obligations on the day and a half I don’t work, it’s worth it to me to get the better pellets. I do have a mix of decent pellets and a new brand for me this year, I’ve only had the Harman two seasons so I’m still experimenting. I have never burned anything from a big box store, so I can’t speak to that. Just my two cents! If you go cheap and don’t like the results, you can’t always change next year. Good luck with whatever you decide.

looks like you have some good pellets. specially the Turmans.
I also have a ton of Okie Plats leftover.

 

[jackhammer]

looks like you have some good pellets. specially the Turmans.
I also have a ton of Okie Plats leftover.

I hope so. I hate trying new stuff but every time I find something I like, I can’t find them locally or the price goes up and I get something else.

 

[alternativeheat]

With most of the ashy BBS pellets I can dump the ash pan on my P61 every 3 weeks to a month. I might brush down the heat exchanger and sides of the stove now and then during the week with the stove idling but not shut down. And clean the stove every two weeks requiring shut down. The next level up pellet, something like LG Granules take just a little less cleanings. Top of the line would be pure white pine or douglas fir pellets and with those I could go 5 weeks between dumping the ash pan and a full week without brushing down and a month between cleanings. The clinker is around here you can't often find those types of pellets and they are expensive when you do. They might be a little hotter than a pellet like the LG.

All that said, LG, Tractor Supply, FSU from HD and Energex all heat my house fine and always available. I imagine Green Team will too. I'm retired and mostly home, so what does it matter, especially since they are cheaper too.

I will not burn Green Supreme, Pennington, Natures Own in my stove in mid winter. They either don't have the heat and so consume more pellets to make the heat, are super/ultra ashy or both, among those brands. I would burn GS in shoulder season but the others never. But yes the stove will burn anything as far as that goes, I suspect it would burn bedding pellets.. It's burned water damaged pellets that were swollen or even breaking down back to sawdust mixed in with good pellets. Try that with some other brands.

 

[glockshooter]

I'll probably be burning Cheat River again this year. They're easy to find at my Lowes, and they burn pretty well. I'll sacrifice a bit of heat for the stove staying cleaner longer. I usually grab 15-20 bags of the best I can find for those ungodly cold days, but my house layout doesn't really benefit from it too much. Sure keeps the downstairs (and the cat) very warm and comfortable.

 

[shtrdave]

the local feed store has these for 235/ton plus 25 a ton to deliver.
http://www.appalachianwoodpellets.com/our-products/

I have used them before maybe bought half a ton of them they seem to work well, I may just go with them. I am not sure what the box stores have, I have not went and checked yet.

thanks for the feedback so far.

 

[Paul Raz]

the local feed store has these for 235/ton plus 25 a ton to deliver.
http://www.appalachianwoodpellets.com/our-products/

I have used them before maybe bought half a ton of them they seem to work well, I may just go with them. I am not sure what the box stores have, I have not went and checked yet.

thanks for the feedback so far.

Ive burned Hamers for years and love them! By far the most heat out of a pellet that Ive found. With that said, prior to finding Hamers I used somersets, Stove Chow and Presto Logs as well. Stove Chow, while ashy was still pretty good heat, Somersets eh they were ok at best. A lot of people like them but I don’t. And finally Presto Logs. Not sure how everyone feels about them, but I loved them. The batch I had would give the Hamers a run as far as heat goes. Don’t really remember the ash output. Haven’t been able to find them lately but if you can give them a try.

 

[Oday450]

Ive burned Hamers for years and love them! By far the most heat out of a pellet that Ive found. With that said, prior to finding Hamers I used somersets, Stove Chow and Presto Logs as well. Stove Chow, while ashy was still pretty good heat, Somersets eh they were ok at best. A lot of people like them but I don’t. And finally Presto Logs. Not sure how everyone feels about them, but I loved them. The batch I had would give the Hamers a run as far as heat goes. Don’t really remember the ash output. Haven’t been able to find them lately but if you can give them a try.

I burned Presto Logs from Home Depot last year and loved them. They were labeled as being produced by Lignetics.

 

[nayslayer]

I used to worry about pellets, I don't anymore. They all burn, and true, some burn quicker and make more work for me. I bought stove to save money, and can't see shelling out a lot of money for high end stuff. I already spent my wad on the stove so I don't have to worry.

 

[P51mustang]

I've noticed recently that here in The North Country of upstate, NY a number of businesses have Cubex pellets available. While I'm very familiar with the brand name, I've never burned them or know anyone who has. For those that have, what are you opinions of their quality and what is a reasonable price for a ton?

I'm considering buying a ton for shoulder season as well as general back-up should we have a typical North Country winter this year (that's is, long, bitter cold, and lots of snow). Thanks for any opinions....

 

[johneh]

Cubix Very hot , normal ash for hard wood
Made from saw dust of a flooring plant in Canada (Quebec)
Cost per ton in Eastern Ontario a Ferguson Energy is 289
pulse Tax delivered included
This is the cleanest hottest pellet around here and the
only one I use

 

[P51mustang]

Cubix Very hot , normal ash for hard wood
Made from saw dust of a flooring plant in Canada (Quebec)
Cost per ton in Eastern Ontario a Ferguson Energy is 289
pulse Tax delivered included
This is the cleanest hottest pellet around here and the
only one I use

Thanks for the feedback, Johneh.....I normally burn Empire hardwood brand made in Jefferson County, NY (very near me) and have my normal 5 ton stowed away already but thought I'd buy another ton for the hell of it. Sounds like Cubex are pretty good and so I may buy a ton and see for myself.

 

[bogieb]

I've noticed recently that here in The North Country of upstate, NY a number of businesses have Cubex pellets available. While I'm very familiar with the brand name, I've never burned them or know anyone who has. For those that have, what are you opinions of their quality and what is a reasonable price for a ton?

I'm considering buying a ton for shoulder season as well as general back-up should we have a typical North Country winter this year (that's is, long, bitter cold, and lots of snow). Thanks for any opinions....

My stoves love Cubix. Great heat and not too bad on ash. Unfortunately around here they are pretty expensive so I only got to burn about 15 bags that I picked up off of CL a couple of years ago.

 

[glockshooter]

I used to worry about pellets, I don't anymore. They all burn, and true, some burn quicker and make more work for me. I bought stove to save money, and can't see shelling out a lot of money for high end stuff. I already spent my wad on the stove so I don't have to worry.

It's not the mid to high end stuff that worries me, it's the low end. That was definitely Green Supremes from lowes for me. Terrible. Couldn't get the heat out of the stove and filthy as all get out .

 

[Tonyray]

after 4 years of burning with a Harman which will burn anything,
I still stay away from Box store pellets.. Walmart sells the worst.. penningtons I think.
anyways, I pay a bit more for good Softwoods.. much less ash and clean up..
couple hundred a year more for the good stuff is less than buying morning coffee 5 days a week for a year [which I have stopped doing]. so
I'm ahead somewhat..

 

[shtrdave]

Stopped at the feed store to order pellets today, they were down to 205 plus 25 a ton for delivery, they are bringing them next week, 230/ton was a decent deal I thought, and I know they burn fairly well.

thanks for the input

 

[scajjr2]

I'm partial to Vermonts. Great heat, low ash, only have to do a cleaning about every 4 weeks running them. A bit pricier (I paid $290/ton back in May) but worth it to me for the heat and longer cleaning intervals.

Sam