Stove Chow Got Better

[gutlo]

Just got some from Home Depot. They are much darker in color, have less dust, and burn hotter and cleaner than previous bags.

 

[Tonyray]

Just got some from Home Depot. They are much darker in color, have less dust, and burn hotter and cleaner than previous bags.

That's a surprise. Pellets usually go down in quality due to cost.

 

[gutlo]

I'm in the Hudson Valley NY. Could be different in other areas.

 

[Peterfield]

I had stayed away from trying Stove Chow in the past based on all the negative comments parroted in this forum and elsewhere. I, like you, decided to try them this year as HD had them at a good price. I found the same thing you did, Stove Chow is kicking the ass out of some highly reputed pellets I have also used this season. I would advise folks not to follow what amounts sometimes to ratings when looking for the best or trying to avoid the worst pellets. There’s no such thing as a best or worst pellet, only what works well in your stove. Price is not a determining factor of how a pellet will burn in your stove. Additionally, a particular brand’s performance can vary from year to year so last year’s reviews might have little resemblance to how they perform this year. Part of the fun of burning pellets is experimenting with different brands. Just my two cents worth.

 

[bcb1]

That’s my experience as well, with 15 years of burning pellets. In all the brands I’ve tried....probably 15 different ones over the years....mostly they all burn fine in my Harman stove. Maybe some a bit hotter, some a bit less or a bit more ash, but overall fairly similar. My favorite is softwood because of the light fluffy ash that’s easy to clean, but softwood is rare in my area. The one place that sells them is too expensive when hardwood pellets are $1.25 cheaper.

Ive only found one brand I really dislike because of crazy heavy ash and terrible clinker and carbon buildup - Hallmark Pellets from Keyser, WV. Just terrible. They aren’t Pellet institute certified and that should have been a warning sign, but I tried them anyway. Never again.

Other than that one bad experience, I buy what is at the best price. Tractor Supply brand and the Lowe’s brand have been good this year, as well as Green Supreme and Hamers.

 

[zrock]

39 in the ceiling is code here. 40 in a wall would require a wall stud greater than 2X6.

I had stayed away from trying Stove Chow in the past based on all the negative comments parroted in this forum and elsewhere. I, like you, decided to try them this year as HD had them at a good price. I found the same thing you did, Stove Chow is kicking the ass out of some highly reputed pellets I have also used this season. I would advise folks not to follow what amounts sometimes to ratings when looking for the best or trying to avoid the worst pellets. There’s no such thing as a best or worst pellet, only what works well in your stove. Price is not a determining factor of how a pellet will burn in your stove. Additionally, a particular brand’s performance can vary from year to year so last year’s reviews might have little resemblance to how they perform this year. Part of the fun of burning pellets is experimenting with different brands. Just my two cents worth.

Well i can differ on the worst pellet..lol.. this year the local hardware brought in some other "platinum" pellet.. Total garbage they were so bad everyone complained about them to the point they did not bring anymore in.. The pellets from Walmart were better but not by much

 

[gutlo]

Just cleaned my P43 after burning the StoveChows. There was none of that black tar-like stuff on the walls of the stove, and very little carbon build-up on the burn pot. Last time I cleaned it was after Green Supremes that made a lot of carbon and tar. I remember Green Supremes as being a lot better a few years ago.

 

[Smokinbubba]

Odd, im running green supremes from HD. $4 per bag. Leaves fine gray ash. I think the way each stove burns has more to do with ash quantity and texture than "pellet quality"

 

[gutlo]

Odd, im running green supremes from HD. $4 per bag. Leaves fine gray ash. I think the way each stove burns has more to do with ash quantity and texture than "pellet quality"

Could the "green supremes" in your neck of the woods be different from mine? It's hard to such a huge difference in performance beween 2 different stoves.

 

[Smokinbubba]

Yep, mine are southern hardwoods. You probably get northeastern blend up there.
Still, i have found if the fuel/air mixture is proper on my englander. It will cleanly burn anything. I have tried 6 or 7 diff brands.
Good catch on the different lignetics plants.

 

[bgk]

I'm in the Hudson Valley NY. Could be different in other areas.

I’m Hudson Valley as well. I had purchased 6 bags from kingston home depot and they were not great. I settled in on energex for this year.

 

[gutlo]

Is the air/fuel ratio adjustable on a Harman p43?

 

[Smokinbubba]

Oh, i dont know... i have experience with Englander and St. Croix only. Id think there would be a fuel feed and air feed adjustment

Anyone??