Shoulder Pellets. Yea or Nay?

[mepellet]

Here is a formula to compare price/btu of two different pellets:

MWP ($219) vs. CUBEX ($295).

Formula: BTU's / cost per unit x 80% efficiency of unit

MWP 8250 BTUs per pound, or 16,500,000 BTUs per ton = 60274 BTUs per $1. spent
CUBEX 9000 BTUs per pound or 18,000,000 BTUs per ton = 48814 BTUs per $1. spent

Other things that come to mind are:

If the stove is running at top heat output and can't successfully warm up the living space then a hotter pellet would be necessary.

If a person disliked having to load the extra number of bags per week required to maintain the same heat of the hotter pellet then the shoulder pellet would be disliked in favor of the more expensive pellet.

So, correct me if I am missing something about shoulder pellets but if the shoulder pellets comes out yielding more BTUs per dollar than the premium pellets, if the stove can heat the house to the required temp during the coldest parts of the winter with the shoulder pellets, and if the user doesn't mind loading into the stove the extra bags per week to make up the lower btu's (per bag) of the shoulder pellets, then there would be no reason to buy the more expensive premium pellets except for convenience' sake. (I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with paying extra for convenience but just trying to get a more precise grasp on the concept of "shoulder pellet").

Exactly why I haven't bought any "premium" pellets. What does premium mean anyway? Anyone can stick a flashy word on their bag. Oh wait, didn't someone do that last year? hmmmmmm

 

[SXIPro]

According to your sig, it looks like you learned the hard way....but just once

Actually 'back in the day' when I bought my stove, like 14 years ago, the NEWPs produced very little ash. I could go forever without emptying my ash pan. I don't know what happened over the years.

 

[ironpony]

Nay, burn good stuff all the time, around here there is not enough price difference to buy bad pellets

 

[movemaine]

My time on weekends is worth $100 an hour MINIMUM. So if a decent pellet saves me a few cleanings a year, sign me up.

Check out my calculations:

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/90877/

you might save $100 by burning cheaper pellets, but you'll be burning more pellets which means more cleanings.

 

[sandpipe]

sandpipe said: ↑

9000 BTUs per pound or 18,000,000 BTUs per ton

You'd have to use some serious additives to produce 9000 BTU/lb with wood pellets - unless that number comes from the "moisture and ash free" results instead of the "as received" results, which is likely the case.

If the above quoted Cubex btu number is the moisture/ash free calc, and the MWP btu number is the "as received" calc then that would be further good reason to go with the MWP.

see this link for MWP mixed hardwood softwood data from 2011:
(broken link removed to http://www.mypelletstore.com/TestReports/Maine_Woods_Test_Results.pdf)