What did you learn last year

[tumbles]

Burning pellets was a new experience for me last year. One of the biggest things I underestermated was the quality of the pellets reallly does matter. I burned Athens and Hammer's and boy what a difference (I don't want to bash Athens anymore - we all know they were far from the best last year). I don't know if I'll ever buy a ton of pellets before I burn a couple of bags 1st. Secondly, I underestimated the heat these stoves put out. I have mine in a ranch style home and I can easily get the temp up to 80 degrees. What impressed me was how quickly it warmed the home and how the heat seemed to really hang around (once the house was truly warm). We lost power a few times last year and I could warm the home much quicker than my furnace could dream of doing (using a lot less power from the generator). I like having oil for when I'm not around and to keep the house from getting tooooo cold in the winter time. Lastly, I used the thermostat last year and went through an igniter in four months. Frost and Flame replaced it under warranty, but I think I'll use the manual mode more this year. I really like having the option of playing the price of pellets against the price of oil. I locked in at 1.89 this year, but who knows what tomorrow will bring. Atleast now I have options. What are the biggest lessons you have learned.

 

[Bank]

This is my 2nd year as well burning pellets. I talked to alot of my friends who all recommended a Harman. I did a lot of research and used forums like this. Getting first hand info from other users is a major plus when making decisions.. I used Pelletsales.com on the advice of people who had used them and went with the CleanFires which were pretty good, this year I used them again and got Granules LG. I still have 2.5 tons left from last year. The quality of pellets is probably the biggest issue you'll face as all the stoves seem to have their + and -. Now pellets on the other hand, that's a horse of a different color. Some are clearly incredible and others are plain JUNK!! Not looking to pick a fight here mind you.. But getting feedback on other people's experiences with pellets seems to be pretty consistent here. Seems the crappy pellets are crappy from most everyone and most people seem to agree on what the better brands are. I think forums like this a good place to start. It's always smarter to learn from other people's bad experiences than your own.

 

[jtakeman]

I bought my multifuel Enviro Omega, Because I needed a larger stove and I got a hell of a deal on it. Now that I have it I will never own a pellet only stove again. The ease of use is unbelievable. I could get away with cleaning it once a month. It basically cleans itself. But I still do the cleanings weekly cause I get bored easily.

I had good pellets when I bought it and prefer to burn only good pellets. But if the poop hits the fan and all I can find is crap pellets. Well thats what I will burn. I actually heated my house for a month and a half on cheap $1.00 a bag crap pellets I bought from friends and nabors. They got stuck with 2 very bad brands(I will let you guess which ones they were). There pellet stoves were to much grief to deal with them. So offered to buy them. I didn't set the price they did. Some came over and had to see my stove take care of them. Yeah the glass got dirty and the ash pan filled in a week. But I still was able to do just my weekly cleanings. But I did clean my vent when I was finished!

Like I said, I prefer good pellets. Hard to beat the extra heat you get. But now I can burn any pellet. Or if there isn't pellets then I can burn corn or grains. Or even future fuels if they ever come around. Not having the oil option, And electric just too expensive. I had to find another option to suit. I do still have my wood, But that will only be used for power outages for more than a couple of days.

Having options is really good!
jay