What a difference a pellet makes.

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TheUnknownKnows

New Member
Mar 1, 2014
17
Millinocket, Maine
I'm looking for an opinion from you experienced pellet burners. I've been burning the Energex Hard/Soft mix ever since I started my new P43 on 02/13/14. Since then, not having anything else to compare it to, I've gotten used to how the flame looks. Well yesterday I started burning some Crabbe softwood pellets and the flame is quite a bit smaller, but more intense looking with quite a bit more blue around the bottom of the flame. With the Energex when the stove ramps up for heat(I run in room temp manual) on cold days the flame would be licking the heat exchangers. With the Crabbes the flame never gets this high, but seems more intense with less orange, more yellow/white. The burn pot isn't filling up with ash as quick either. Heat seams as good if not a little better with the Crabbes. Are the Crabbes burning better? When I dumped the first bag in I was a little sceptical because they were dustier and had more fines than the Energex. Anybody have any thoughts?
 
When I first got my stove, I bought 5 bags of as many different varieties I could get. I made note of how much ash each one produced, how warm the stove got, price etc etc. For me, I settled on Okanagan Platinums. They seemed to have the best balance of all the attributes. Whenever the opportunity arises, I'll try others as well and will gladly change if I find a better one.
 
i have been through several different kinds as well. in fact crabbe was recommended to me by a coworker and they work great for him. for me i just burned through them too fast and the dust gummed up my auger. last week i was out and forgot to stop at hd for some eastern embers, that i liked the most at the time, before i went home. So i stopped at canadian tire and picked up 2 bags of canwick's. what an unbelievable difference. with these pellets my stove runs like it is supposed too and the heat was noticeably hotter at a lower auger speed?
 
crabbe's are 4.89, eastern ember are 5.60, and canwick are 5.99 here but i burn 2 bags of canwick's for every 3 of the crabbe's for the same heat over the same time period.
 
In my experience, you can't really go by what others use. Different pellets work better in different stoves. You really have to figure out what works best in your stove.
 
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Wow, thanks for the fast response guys. I'm definitely gonna try some more brands. Would you guy's agree that the more intense, more blue/yellow flame is a more desireable, hotter flame than the less intense more orange flame? Pardon my ignorance on this issue, I have no experience burning anything but oil up untill three weeks ago. I am learning though, been going through the old threads. I'm proud to part of this very helpful group of people.
 
i only started a little over a month ago as well. lol nothing but oil as well. i have found that the yellow/white fire at the base seems to be the hottest in my stove. never seen blue.
 
It's really a balancing act. Pellets that burn hotter tend to be more expensive. Lower end pellets don't burn as hot, produce more ash but are less expensive. You have to find the right balance of heat, ash and economy that works for you.

The pellets I use will fill up the ash pan every 10 bags or so. Even on the coldest days, I only use 1 bag per day but they cost $325 per ton.
 
It's really a balancing act. Pellets that burn hotter tend to be more expensive. Lower end pellets don't burn as hot, produce more ash but are less expensive. You have to find the right balance of heat, ash and economy that works for you.

The pellets I use will fill up the ash pan every 10 bags or so. Even on the coldest days, I only use 1 bag per day but they cost $325 per ton.


My local Harman dealer(where I bought my stove) normally stocks Cubex Hardwood $260/ton, Energex Hard/soft mix $240/ ton, and Crabbe Soft $225/ton. The day I picked up the crabs I wanted to try some Cubex too but he was out that day. Next time I go down I gonna pick up a few bags. That seems like a ton of ash by the way, but I can only get a whole day out of a bag if it's aproaching 40.
 
i only started a little over a month ago as well. lol nothing but oil as well. i have found that the yellow/white fire at the base seems to be the hottest in my stove. never seen blue.

Glad I'm not the only new guy on here, undr. lol I can see why you would want to stay away from the Crabbes. I didn't notice a major difference on burntime, but I'm only on my second bag. It's finally starting to warm up also. I'll burn for a few more days and see how they go.
 
Everyone's opinion is going to be different. For me, the Harman is going to put out the heat no matter what pellet you burn. I care about how much ash a pellet produces and how the ash cleans. If the ash is gummy and crusty and I have to scrape the walls of my stove with a putty knife, then I won't buy that brand. If it comes off by just dusting with a paint brush, that's what I look for.
 
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Everyone's opinion is going to be different. For me, the Harman is going to put out the heat no matter what pellet you burn. I care about how much ash a pellet produces and how the ash cleans. If the ash is gummy and crusty and I have to scrape the walls of my stove with a putty knife, then I won't buy that brand. If it comes off by just dusting with a paint brush, that's what I look for.

I like what you said about cleaning. With the Energex i've been able to clean the heat exchanger and fire box with a paint brush. I really like that. I'm curious to see how the Crabbe ash will clean.
 
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I'm looking for an opinion from you experienced pellet burners. I've been burning the Energex Hard/Soft mix ever since I started my new P43 on 02/13/14. Since then, not having anything else to compare it to, I've gotten used to how the flame looks. Well yesterday I started burning some Crabbe softwood pellets and the flame is quite a bit smaller, but more intense looking with quite a bit more blue around the bottom of the flame. With the Energex when the stove ramps up for heat(I run in room temp manual) on cold days the flame would be licking the heat exchangers. With the Crabbes the flame never gets this high, but seems more intense with less orange, more yellow/white. The burn pot isn't filling up with ash as quick either. Heat seams as good if not a little better with the Crabbes. Are the Crabbes burning better? When I dumped the first bag in I was a little sceptical because they were dustier and had more fines than the Energex. Anybody have any thoughts?
As others have noted, every stove will perform differently. However, in my experience, the better dialed in your stove is, the better it will burn everything.

I have burned 2 tons of Crabbés, and 1 ton of LG, and a bunch of other stuff lately from HD, like FSUs, Blazers, etc. My stove likes softwood pellets, like Crabbé and LG, but everything burns fine, though I have to adjust the airflow with the FSUs.

Crabbé are very similar to LGs, and though I've been told they are double-vacuumed before bagged, I find them slightly dustier than the LGs. The LGs are practically dust-free.

Your stove sounds like it likes the Crabbé, and a yellow-white flame is hotter than a yellow-orangish one. Bluish, I'm not so sure any pellet can get a blue-hot flame. It's possible that you can see green tinting, which is copper sulfate which leaches into the wood. Perhaps, the blue is green.

Down here in Central Maine, I can't get Crabbé for less than $269 a ton. Further south, in Sanford, they sell them for $225, I think. If I could find them for $225, they'd be my go-to pellet.

[edit]

I just wanted to add, that if the heat difference is more than 10%, then something is likely wrong with your settings. Whenever pellets are tested, they rarely vary more than 10% in BTU content. With a few bags it's not worth the time trying to figure out the best settings ,but if you get a ton or more, then it pays to tweak your settings to get the best burn.

Although I like the Crabbé and love the LGs, next season, I'm going to get 6 tons of whatever my local HD is selling at $209 a ton. The price difference, 20% cheaper, is enough that it's worth it to burn FSUs or Blazers, which are both fine pellets. They don't burn any less hot in my stove.
 
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I haven't seen any Crabbe pellets around here. Do you know which place in Sanford has them?

Lg, LaCrete, Logic, and Northerns run really well in my stove. I burned some Energex during the vortex and my stove ate them like candy. Only got 10.5 hours out of a bag. I was getting 14+ out of the Lg and LaCrete. The Energex would be a good shoulder pellet. If I fill the stove at 7 p.m., I want to be sure it lasts all night. I wouldn't get that out of Energex.
 
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As others have noted, every stove will perform differently. However, in my experience, the better dialed in your stove is, the better it will burn everything.

I have burned 2 tons of Crabbés, and 1 ton of LG, and a bunch of other stuff lately from HD, like FSUs, Blazers, etc. My stove likes softwood pellets, like Crabbé and LG, but everything burns fine, though I have to adjust the airflow with the FSUs.

Crabbé are very similar to LGs, and though I've been told they are double-vacuumed before bagged, I find them slightly dustier than the LGs. The LGs are practically dust-free.

Your stove sounds like it likes the Crabbé, and a yellow-white flame is hotter than a yellow-orangish one. Bluish, I'm not so sure any pellet can get a blue-hot flame. It's possible that you can see green tinting, which is copper sulfate which leaches into the wood. Perhaps, the blue is green.

Down here in Central Maine, I can't get Crabbé for less than $269 a ton. Further south, in Sanford, they sell them for $225, I think. If I could find them for $225, they'd be my go-to pellet.

[edit]

I just wanted to add, that if the heat difference is more than 10%, then something is likely wrong with your settings. Whenever pellets are tested, they rarely vary more than 10% in BTU content. With a few bags it's not worth the time trying to figure out the best settings ,but if you get a ton or more, then it pays to tweak your settings to get the best burn.

Although I like the Crabbé and love the LGs, next season, I'm going to get 6 tons of whatever my local HD is selling at $209 a ton. The price difference, 20% cheaper, is enough that it's worth it to burn FSUs or Blazers, which are both fine pellets. They don't burn any less hot in my stove.


"Quite a bit of blue flame" was a poor choice of words on my part. If you look at the very bottom of the flame you can see hints of blue/purple right on top of the pellets underneath the yellow. I don't actually have a blue flame. I wouldn't say there is a big heat difference(haven't checked with a thermometer), a better way to put it would be "I'm getting the same amount of heat from a smaller, more intense looking flame". I don't think I'm having a problem or anything. It's just that being as inexperienced as I am, I was surprised at how different the two brands burned from each other. The burn pot seems to stay clearer(so far) with the Crabbe as well.

You guy's are awesome! I love hearing everybody's 2cents.
 
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"Quite a bit of blue flame" was a poor choice of words on my part. If you look at the very bottom of the flame you can see hints of blue/purple right on top of the pellets underneath the yellow. I don't actually have a blue flame. I wouldn't say there is a big heat difference(haven't checked with a thermometer), a better way to put it would be "I'm getting the same amount of heat from a smaller, more intense looking flame". I don't think I'm having a problem or anything. It's just that being as inexperienced as I am, I was surprised at how different the two brands burned from each other. The burn pot seems to stay clearer(so far) with the Crabbe as well.

You guy's are awesome! I love hearing everybody's 2cents.

If the pellets consist of 100% wood then a pound of pellets will produce about 8300 Btus of heat energy if the stove converts all of the wood to CO2, H2O and ash (with some other compounds). If that process takes place at 1000 degrees or 1500 degrees or 2000 degrees it does not really affect then energy released. Temperature may matter in how the combustion products affect the stove and its owner, but the heat will be about the same for every pound.
 
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I haven't seen any Crabbe pellets around here. Do you know which place in Sanford has them?

Lg, LaCrete, Logic, and Northerns run really well in my stove. I burned some Energex during the vortex and my stove ate them like candy. Only got 10.5 hours out of a bag. I was getting 14+ out of the Lg and LaCrete. The Energex would be a good shoulder pellet. If I fill the stove at 7 p.m., I want to be sure it lasts all night. I wouldn't get that out of Energex.
I screwed that up. I got my Crabbés mixed up with my LGs. Of course, I was thinking of LGs that are pretty reasonable at Berniers in Sanford.
 
"Quite a bit of blue flame" was a poor choice of words on my part. If you look at the very bottom of the flame you can see hints of blue/purple right on top of the pellets underneath the yellow. I don't actually have a blue flame. I wouldn't say there is a big heat difference(haven't checked with a thermometer), a better way to put it would be "I'm getting the same amount of heat from a smaller, more intense looking flame". I don't think I'm having a problem or anything. It's just that being as inexperienced as I am, I was surprised at how different the two brands burned from each other. The burn pot seems to stay clearer(so far) with the Crabbe as well.

You guy's are awesome! I love hearing everybody's 2cents.
Yeah, I didn't mean to give the impression that you had a propane torch going. Pellets are made with different types of wood, and some have additives, and some are naturally occurring salts and metals, though I know Crabbés are not supposed to. Some pellets do seem to burn "just right" with a nice tight flame and lots of heat. Others, seem to need some adjusting. As I mentioned, I also burn FSUs, a lot lately since HD seems to get a lot of those lately. Anyhow, the FSUs are the one pellet that does burn differently in my stove. Plenty hot, very hot, but the flame is much, much taller. I have to turn my feed setting down one level, but I burn the same amount of pellets as my others on one feed setting higher. Maybe, the pellet lengths are shorter, meaning that more pellets drop in each augur cycle.

Anyhow, it sounds like you've hit on a good pellet for your stove. Sometimes, I think I see a hint of blue in the lower part of the flame, but I always assume it's copper sulfate and not actually a super hot flame. I could be wrong.
 
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I screwed that up. I got my Crabbés mixed up with my LGs. Of course, I was thinking of LGs that are pretty reasonable at Berniers in Sanford.

I picked up a ton of Lg for $254. Can't beat that price. I've seen them for $275 and $285
 
My Harman P61A seems to burn pellets the same way regardless of brand...
just that some are ashier than others.....I'd go goofy analysing the flame all the time...
it's white/yellow flame, strong and tall/ with a bit of blue at the bottom.. almost like a gas stove. has been since day 1.keeps us warm..
burning Energex hardwoods and HD Stove Chows.... that's about it.
 
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