Just wondering early on in the season if folks are happy with thier pellet purchases thus far and if they are burning ok for you. Also anyone burning a pellet that was considered junk last year that's burning better this year?
what's burning good?
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Peterfield
Minister of Fire
bogieb
Minister of Fire
Like the Pre-sto's I got from the BBS this year. Using it in the P43 and produces a lot let ash than the ThermaGlo or Currans blend. I don't know if it is the constant, small pellet size that helps, or Pres-to's are just made from a better wood. Haven't gotten down to the FSU's I had left from last year, so I have to wait to see how they compare (FSU are small and consistant size).
Yes they blazers are great have only burnt a few bags I am saving then for when it's really cold. High heat low ash and the price was right
TimfromMA
Minister of Fire
NYBurner
Burning Hunk
Ive burned Barefoot, AWF White Pine, and Platinum Pellet softwood so far this year.
Barefoot - pellets are darker than last year, but burn good and give good heat. Low fines and ash is comparable to last year, so overall I say these are very good (probably the best I have found available in my area).
AWF & Platinum - Both burn great, good heat and similar ash to barefoot but LOTS of fines in the bags. Would benefit by running these through a pellet cleaner greatly. Otherwise these are good.
Barefoot - pellets are darker than last year, but burn good and give good heat. Low fines and ash is comparable to last year, so overall I say these are very good (probably the best I have found available in my area).
AWF & Platinum - Both burn great, good heat and similar ash to barefoot but LOTS of fines in the bags. Would benefit by running these through a pellet cleaner greatly. Otherwise these are good.
La Crete is burning very nice in my Ecoteck / Ravelli Elena. Much cleaner than last years Stove Chow
mbella1026
Member
People will not like this but here we go. I stocked up with 2 Tons of NEWP and 2 Tons of Hamers from my supplier (Milton Alley Agway Lagrange NY). NEWP burning very well No clinkers. I wonder if they are doing something different. Looking forward to the Hamers.
tiger
Feeling the Heat
If I had been smart, I would not have stacked all the Lignetics I bought this year on top of the leftover bags of Hamers from last year -- I could have done a back-to-back comparison, which I've never done before. The Ligs seem to burn fine to my untrained eye, but subjectively I think I have somewhat more ash in the pan.. not to a problematic degree, however.
mbella1026
Member
I can't be very objective as far as what might be good for most of you folks, but, here in Western Oregon we have Bear Mt and Golden fire as the most prevalent brands.
The East side of the state has some pine brands that I am not familiar with.
The Bears are good as are the GF
Both burn real well, with the GF being a tad cleaner.
We use Hazelnut shells in our Whitfield's, but do keep some of the Bears for the deep winter just in case we need the third stove.
The East side of the state has some pine brands that I am not familiar with.
The Bears are good as are the GF
Both burn real well, with the GF being a tad cleaner.
We use Hazelnut shells in our Whitfield's, but do keep some of the Bears for the deep winter just in case we need the third stove.
Jonkman
Burning Hunk
I'm burning Isabella Pellets (Michigan), first time with a pellet stove and the dealer said they were decent, price was right in the spring...I have bought a few bags of other pellets to test (somersets, kirtlands, pro pellet and stove chow), as it seems the isabella are kind of ashy, but then again I'm a newbie and don't know anything yet.
cecil_archer
Member
Thanks for the info on Barefoot. I will have to remember this when I get to that part of my stash.
I have been burning leftover Hamers from last year.
tiger
Feeling the Heat
Where I live there aren't that many pellet distributors and few of those will deliver (see my sig file) to my zip code. The place where I bought last year, my 1st full year with the stove, did not offer Hamers this time or I would certainly have bought them again. They did have Lignetics and I had read good things about them here.
Marina1327
Member
I was burning Cheat River that I got from Lowes, and I was having terrible ash problems in the burn pot. I just bought a ton of pellets from Home Depot and they gave me Green Supreme....burned two bags of those so far and wow what a difference. So, these seem to be burning well for me in my Serenity.
Intresting last year green supreme were the worst I had burnt out of the 20 or more brands I tried. Tons of ash and soot. Glad to hear they are working for you this year
mbella1026
Member
Green Supreme are New England Wood Pellet which I have used for years. People don't like them on here for some reason but they have worked out great for us.
Yes they say newp product right on the green supreme bag, I don't know what it is but they were terrible in my stove. The sodium content is very high you could even smell it once you opened the bags. Also they use soy oil which may accouny for the thick coating of soot in my stove. Also major clinkers in burnpot and had to clean stove every two days. Every other pellet I have burned other than the ash content didn't give me as much trouble as gs did.
Burning Michigan pellet for my first ton and so far they are burning nice and hot. Tad bit ashy, but these have improved over the years..
I've tried about 10 bags of 4 different brands (New England Wood Pellet, Energex, LaCrete and Nation's Choice) and I have to say LaCrete takes the cake so far. In my brief non-scientific testing from worst to first are Energex, Nation's Choice, NEWP, followed by LaCrete. The Energex hardwood pellets burned hot but filled my entire burn pot with an ash cake that would need to be cleaned every 8 hours of burning, almost every hole was blocked. Nation's Choice was a brand that home depot carried and I figured I would give them a shake because they were on special. They were better as far as clinkers go than the energex but somewhat of a drop off in heat production and also had much more ash. NEWP was kind of a happy medium of heat production and ash... not very many clinkers but weren't the hottest things either. For the money I feel like you can get better quality pellets than NEWP right now. That brings me to the LaCrete. WOW these things are HOT. I am only one bag in so far so it is hard to tell what the ash/clinker situation will be but they seem to be the best yet.
karen_in_nh_2014
Member
I've burned a bit over a ton of Cleanfire hardwood blend so far this year. They're burning great ... I always know where to find my kitties ... right in front of the insert!
I have many tons left over from last year (since I deliberately over-bought) so I am set for this year. Will use some oil too since it is so cheap (cheaper than the pellets, actually, but I will reserve oil for our coldest nights). I am pretty horrified at pellet prices this year -- I would have thought prices would go DOWN since oil is so cheap right now, but prices went UP quite a bit (HD up 20% over last year).
I just cleaned the insert (everything you can do without pulling the whole thing out) after 55 bags burned (just over a ton). It wasn't bad at all -- I am getting better at removing/reinstalling the pieces (although BOY do they fit tightly) -- not as much swearing as I go!!
I have many tons left over from last year (since I deliberately over-bought) so I am set for this year. Will use some oil too since it is so cheap (cheaper than the pellets, actually, but I will reserve oil for our coldest nights). I am pretty horrified at pellet prices this year -- I would have thought prices would go DOWN since oil is so cheap right now, but prices went UP quite a bit (HD up 20% over last year).
I just cleaned the insert (everything you can do without pulling the whole thing out) after 55 bags burned (just over a ton). It wasn't bad at all -- I am getting better at removing/reinstalling the pieces (although BOY do they fit tightly) -- not as much swearing as I go!!
Husky
Feeling the Heat
I'm burring straight barefoot this year. As earlier post they seem darker in color but are burning just as good as last year. No complaints. Anyone burning Dry Creek (Tan bag not the Ultras)? I had 2 ton last year and did not like them very much, compared to barefoot. Created nasty clinkers and the heat output was average at best.
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