Wood Pellets
Wood pellets manufactured from compacted sawdust. The sawdust is a byproduct from sawmills and other industries that use wood.
The sawdust or ground wood is simply put under pressure and extruded. The pressurization of the wood causes the wood pitch to seperate and act as a binder as the pellets cool. The wood pellets do not have any glue or such. Most pellet fuels have a 5%–10% moisture content.
The wood pellets look like rabbit feed and have a diameter of about 1/4″ measure 3/8 to 1 inch in length.
Pellet Fuel Standards
The Pellet Fuels Institute (PFI) maintains pellet fuel standards that are used by pellet manufacturers. There are two grades of wood pellet fuel, premium and standard. The difference between the two is their percentage of inorganic ash content. Premium fuel contains less than 1% of ash content. Standard fuel can have up to 3% ash content.
Here are some standards that apply to both grades of pellet fuel:
- Bulk density per cubic foot (0.028 cubic meters) shall not be less than 40 pounds (18 kg)
- The diameter shall be 1/4 to 5/16 inch (635-794 mm)
- Maximum length shall be 1 and 1/2 inches (254-127 mm)
- Fines (dust) of not more than 0.5% by weight shall pass through a 1/8 inch (317.5 mm) screen
- Sodium content shall be less than 300 parts per million (ppm).
Wood pellets contain about 16.4 million BTU’s/Ton or 328,000 BTU’s/bag or 8200 BTU’s/lb.
Are are pellets the same ?
The answer is no. Wood pellets can be made from different types of wood. Sometimes it’s hard wood and sometimes it’s soft. Last season I tried 5 different brands of pellets. Although they were all premium there was a difference in the amount of ash they produced, the evenness of the burn and the ease of starting. Some of the brands I tried included Dry Creek Products, Lignetics, Home Depot, Walmart etc.
With a good quality stove you should be able to burn just about any brand of premium pellet.
Storage
I had intended to store my pellets under a tarp outside my door. Instead I stored them im my garage and I was glad I did.
Last season I burnt a lot of pellets bought at Walmart called “Future Fuel”. The price and availability were right. I think they’re made by the Eureka Pellet Mill in Eureka Montana. The pellets seemed to be a little more stubborn when it came to lighting and although I have no scientific proof the heat coming out of the stove seemed to be less than I remember with some other brand of pellets. The ash content was low and the pellets burned well otherwise.
This season I bought three tons of Fireside pellets from Home Depot when they were having a 10% off sale. I really like the pellets. They seem to throw a lot of heat and they ignite automatically nicely. The ash output seems fairly low as well.
Where can I purchase the Future Fuel pellets that you speak of in the article?
We had also tried all types of pellets from Walmart and were all crap. We ended having to clean the ash more often and the heat was not very good. We found some wood pellets called Hot Shots sold at Bi-Mart. They are the best we’ve tried yet out of any other brands.
Try to get your hands on some Okanagan pellets, they are the best out there if you can find them. They have a very low ash count and a score rating of 95.3 out of 100. Give them a try they are awesome!
I wonder what state you are in, I am in Ohio.
We just had a pellet insert installed yesterday
and are trying to decide which is the best
brand. Thanks
I had the best luck with Curran Renewable Energy wood pellets based out of Upstate New York. They have premium 100% Hardwood, 100% Softwood, a Hardwood/Softwood blend, and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Pure wood pellets which is part of the Rainforest Alliance Certification. The common idea is to have 100% hardwood but Ive burned the blend and they burned quite nicely. All of the products have very low ash and burn really clean. The BTU of the blend is surprisingly higher than just hardwood.
http://www.curranpellets.com
Try Bearfoot pellets, they are awesome and I have never had a jam or clog with them, good heat as well, normal ash.
Could you post the place where they show the score rating of pellets please…
Hello Len
did anyone tell you what website to find these ratings? If so please pass it along – much thanks
I don’t know where to buy Future Fuel pellets anymore. They were at Walmart last year. At my local Walmart they are selling a different brand now.
I live in Peyton, Colorado. And I recently purchased a few bags of Future Fuel wood pellets from the Wal-Mart store in Falcon, Colorado. THis same store is selling Pennington Seed Brand pellets. From what I’ve read, they are made from oak. But I haven’t found anyone that has burned these brand of pellets.
I burned a ton of the Pennington Brand pellets and they put out good heat and low ash. Bought some called Kentucky Kernel and they were the dirtiest and lowest heat. Would not buy them ever again at any price.
I installed a new stove this year…burnned the first ton of PENNINGTON brand and they were geat!! not alot of ash and put out lots of heat. Even the plastic bag is durrible. They heated my home wounderfuly at a fan speed of 3 and feed set at 2. With the second ton, I switched to a Lowes brand called NATURES OWN and they are terrible! I now have to set the auger feed to 9 and the fan to 6 and it still isnt enough to heat it comfortabley. With that being said, DONT BUY NATURES OWN PELLETS! I feel like I’ve been ripped off. Theres no phone number on the bag and no web address…what a company….
Are you sure they were Natures Own or Natures Heat as I have tried natures own in the past and they were fine but have recently heard that Lowes or Home Depot sells Natures Heat and they were terrible. Just do not want to buy them again if they have changed
Deb,
I’m with you. In the 3 years we’ve been burning pellets, Pennington’s Nature’s Heat are the worst I’ve seen.
The pellets appear to have broken up in shipment, more than the Lignetics we’ve used in the past. There was a great deal of sawdust in some of the bags as well.
The ash content is substantially higher than the Lignetics though I can’t comment on the heat output.
The pellet color seems to change from bag to bag which suggests noticeable quality changes in manufacturing.
The bottom line is that I will NEVER buy pellets from WalMart, again…even if they were $20 a ton less.
We installed a Harmon Pellet Furnace this past fall. Purchased the first 3 pallets of pellets from Home Depot. An orange back which was marked as premium and low ash. They were fantastic. We thought, great. Ordered another 3 pallets and were sent 3 pallets of inefficient, clogging, high ash crap. I do not know the name because the bags said they were packaged for Home Depot and the bag was blule. Although, the bag said premium, it did not say low ash. We are now experiencing difficulties with the ash clumping and clogging up the air vents. We have since returned the unused portion of pellets and purchased from Agway. We are going to require a service individual to come and clean the flue and other air vents because we are continuing to have problems even though there is hardly any ash from the new batch of pellets from Agway. Needless to say we were very disappointed. We believe that the bags had a high moisture content, sa ther were liquied smears on the inside of the bags and then some had a lot of particles sticking to the insides of the bags. I wish we’d not waited to go through 40 bags before returning the rest of them.
I have burned the Pennington pellets . Dont waste your money on them they dont burn very good and i had a lot of dirt in the stove.The fire went out many times in just one bag
We burned Penninbgton last winter. Fine ash seemed to travel . We added the clean out side tee so we just need to twist it off to dump any ash collected outside. In side we had trouble getting the ash out with vacum cleaners it burned out two for the little ash we did have. We cleaned it every day inside, Ended up using little kids beach shovel to shovel what we could out …We brought one bag of inferno hardwood to try …
From what I understand there is two types of Pennington pellets. Walmart contracted to have pellets made for them by Pennington and like so many other products that Walmart carries it is lower quality, lower cost? Pennington also has a pellet that they make that is a better quality but is not sold at Walmart. Turman sells a good pellet with low ash, good heat output and fairly low dust.
I have been using Nature’s Heat pellets purchased at Wal-Mart. Low Ash, high heat, would recommend to anyone.
PS: My wife thinks I am overly attached to our pellet stove since we moved to the mountains last year. Anyone else get this?
I bought 3 tons of Pennington Pellets from Wal-Mart and they burned terribly….lots of kilnkers and dirty. I let the last ton and a 1/2 sit in my garage since last season and started burning them this season and what a difference. I burn a 40 lb bag in 24-28 hours on medium heat setting and only have to clean the ash pan every other day now and NO KLINKERS. seem to me that these need to be seasoned like firewood for proper burning. I will be buying 5 tons of these off season and letting them sit for next season.
storing pellets will have no effect on their quality unless they get wet. The blend or moisture content must have changed. The reason to season firewood is for it to dry out, pellets will only pick up moisture to the level of the equallibrium moisture in which they are stored.
Where did you buy them and what kind of stove are you using? I burn a breckwell and a harman and find no problem burning the pellets but each stove burns different.One will burn with a little more ash than the other.
I have been burning the Penningtons from Wal-Mart. I have been happy with them so far. They do produce more Fly ash then some of the others I have used but I get great heat from them and I get virtually no clinkers or hard creasote buildup in my box. They are Oak and the smell is nice. The price could be better and I can not find a store to buy them in bulk.
Try pelletsales.com
Please provide more information. Why are you glad you stored your pellets in a garage versus under a tarp? Other than your general statement which brands that you mention were you most pleased with?
Thanks.
I’m sure you can store them under a tarp. For me it’s a shorter walk to my garage and I won’t have to worry about brushing snow off of a tarp. I think it’s easier to keep the pellets dryer than in the garage than outside.
This season I bought three tons of Fireside pellets from Home Depot when they were having a 10% off sale. I really like the pellets. They seem to throw a lot of heat and they ignite automatically niceley. The ash output seems fairly low as well.
I’ve used fireside pellets for the last two years, 5 tons approx. The first year they burned hot and had relatively low ash. Last year, lots of fines,
didn’t seem to throw as much heat, and had clinkers at every turn, with a lot more ash. I witnessed something never seen before, different color flames from the firebox….that has me worried.
about the colored flames from your pellets- having burned fire wood for most of 30 years and now have a pellet stove i have noticed that some trees such as wild cherry and madrona will produce multi colored flames, so its a good bet that the pellets that you burned may have been made of these type of trees.
I used a bag of Future Fuel from Walmart, and they say they are “premium” grade, but it seems like the heat output is lower, and the ash (in the tray of our stove) is about 2X or worse than the kind we used to buy at Lumbermen’s in Fife WA. That kind is made by Manke Lumber in Tacoma. I was more impressed with the latter–very clean burning, hotter, and easier to light. The Future Fuel seemed very hard to light comparatively.
I just bought a pellet stove and am extremely happy with the alternative heating source. I have been buring pellets from Canada called Cubex. Since these are the only pellets I have burned so far, I however do not have alot to compare too. I have noticed their does seem to be quite a bit of build up on the burn pot and ash. Any recommendations for pellets to be bought on the East Coast. I appreciate you input and will not buy any pellets from Walmart.
Jason,
The cubex pellets have been the best ones I have used so far. I tried a few local brands, as well as everex and whatever the ones Lowes had, and the cubex burned the best, with the least ash, and fines.
Sean
I had the best luck with Curran Renewable Energy wood pellets. They are located in Upstate New York bordering Quebec and Ontario. They have premium 100% Hardwood, 100% Softwood, a Hardwood/Softwood blend, and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) Pure wood pellets which is part of the Rainforest Alliance Certification. The common idea is to have 100% hardwood but Ive burned the blend and they burned quite nicely. All of the products have very low ash and burn really clean. The BTU of the blend is surprisingly higher than just hardwood.
Has anyone mixed Cherry pits with the wood pellets?
I am using the pellets sold at our local TSC, and loking for some advise
I bought 3 tons of the TSC pellets last year. Worst pellets ever!
We have been using pellets for the last 5 yrs. Usually get 23 hrs per bag, using this brand we got less than 12 hrs and in my opinion a lot less heat. Would never buy them from TSC again!
Used Energex before and had great results. Any other brands out there worth trying?
try maeder brothers quality wood pellets central michigan area good product
NO!!!! Maeder are not the answer. They burn okay, but the ash is crazy out of this world. I’m cleaning EVERY SINGLE BAG! They SUCK!
I burn Maeder brothers pellets and did have a few issues last season, but they have made some changes to their product and now… they burn awesome. They were great with replacing the bad pellets I had gotten. Love Maeder Pellets, wouldnt by any other brand again.
Not all TSC stores carry the same brands of wood pellets. Our store here in Dundee, MI starts the year out with Somerset wood pellets made in Somerset, KY. These are the best. 100% hardwood and low ash. I always reserve mine as soon as they get them in. Then when they run out, they bring in different brands. I ran out and am now trying a few bags of ProPellets. I think they are made in Indiana. They are dark in color, might be good. Time will tell.
I have a question for Dave from Fife. I live near that area (Bonney Lake) but our Lumbermens sells Clean Burn. Almost 15 years of using them and we never had trouble, then our stove guy said we needed to change and sold us a couple tons of Eagle Valley. Nothing but Trouble! Tons of ash and I was getting black dust all over the house so bad I was having breathing problems. We switched back to Clean Burn but we are still getting clinkers and it’s getting worse. It’s gotten so bad this year that I have to clean the clinkers out 2 to 3 times a day and the heat output seem waaaay lower. SO I want to try something different but the only things I can find are the Clean Burn, Eagle Valley and the WalMart cheapies. How and where could I get some of those Manke Pellets to trry out?
Clean burn is Manke, try Atlas call 360-462-2800 for a dealer near you.
Try Bear Mountain pellets.
I ditto Phil with regards to Golden Fire Wood Pellets! We are having trouble finding them here in Stockton, CA although Lowe’s has been carrying them for years they seem to not be stocking them any longer and what they are stocking is bad. If someone knows where to purchase Golden Fire (apparently they also make Bear Mountain and American’s Best pellets~Bear Mountain Forest Products) in the Northern CA area we were sure be interested in knowing!
My Company manufactures wood pellets.
We are located in Kent WA
Seattle Tacoma Box
Pellet name is Burn Master
Good prices
Give them a call
Bear Mountain Forrest Product is here in the Northwest in the columbia Gorge. They are a great wood pellet. They had a huge fire here at the plant 2 yrs ago and are having a little problem getting things out to the customers this year for some reason with all the new demands on wood pellets that have come up. So try to go to there web site and find out where they are being sold now is my suggestion.
Here are a few of the Company’s that you could contact directly. And good luck with your search.
West Company Location Phone Contact
Bear Mountain Forest Products Inc. Cascade Locks, OR
(541)374-8844 Stan Elliot
Confluence Energy Kremmling, CO
(970)724-9839 Mark Mathis
Environmental Energy Partners, LLC Longmont, CO
(970)819-9116 Rosalie Bianco
Eureka Pellet Mills Inc. Missoula, MT
(406)543-0812 Tony Neumayer
Forest Energy Corp. Show Low, AZ
(928)537-1647 Mike Lundy
Lignetics, Inc. Sandpoint, ID
(208)263-0564 Kenneth Tucker
Nature’s Fuel Prineville, OR
(541)337-0659 Brian Michaels
North Idaho Energy Logs, Inc. Bonners Ferry, ID
(877)564-4897 Clark Fairchild
Rocky Mountain Pellet Company, Inc. Walden, CO
(888)501-3766 John Frink
Southwest Forest Products, Inc. Phoenix, AZ
(602)278-1009 Jessica Van Der Toorn
Spur Mountain Timber, LLC Bountiful, UT
(888)870-2250 Kendric Wait
Swissman, LLC Durango, CO
(970)764-7161 Simon Gnehm
West Oregon Wood Products Columbia City, OR
(503)397-6707 Christopher Sharron
I agree Bear Mountain is great. Yes they did have a fire in their plant and was impossible to get them for awhile.
We have a small plant near Raton, New Mexico. We are producing a fantastic quality pellet from pine and we are receiving rave reviews!
Western Pellet Products
Roy Pillmore
575-447-6879
This year we purchased Pennington Oak, and thought they were very good. No jams, good heat, low ash, and good price. We went thru 2 tons, and now are on a test bag of Pennington Premium Hardwood, which was found at Home Depot. Will wait and see what these are like.
That was what we burned last year from Home depo. There pricer then others tho and trying other options. Does anyone else have another way of heating hot water then oil? We seemed to go thru both pellets and oil last winter as the boiler is inside furnace so needed to turn it on for hot water., We now have sparce heat and not sure what to try next. The frozen split pipes made us think the pellet stove was one of the hugest costlist mistakes we have made ….
Regarding heating water: there are many alternatives today from Solar to heat recovery from the AC, to black pipes out side the house to attic waste heat recovery systems.
Depending on where you live, you can probably find utility or Gov. incentives to help pay for the system.
I have designed a pellet stove system that takes care of forced hot air/domestic hot water/and forced hot water heat . This is a revolutionary system that is patent pending.
This system takes the place of up to 75% of oil or gas heating systems. It uses a custom heat plenum w/ in line force on a pellett stove to distribute heat throughout your home. Thermostat controlled w/cleaning and maintenence offered.Two year average price recovery.(home size and insulation will affect specs.)
Website coming soon.(GREEN HEAT). I look forward to your questions and feedback.
All questions answered.
Jeffreyneal2@gmail.com-jeffreyneal2004@cvomcast.net
all comments are very helpful
We heard that cherry pits are good to use but do not know where to find them. We are located in Miami County Ohio. Anyone have a suggestion?
I too am interested in cherry pit suppliers or if anyone one has had experience in burning pits.
J Hurrell – I just bought a ton of the Pennigton Premium from Lowe’s over the past weekend in Maine and am seeing exactly the same thing. I had pellets that burned allot better than this batch…
—–My calls and Email to Randy has been not returned also.
.I supplied the number on the bags…….It’s been over 10 days
Joe
John I had customer service contact you on 1-3-2008.
Thanks
now i am very concerned because just tuesday i bought 3000# and am ready to burn them. don’t know if i should just pack them back up or give it a wirl.
Try one bag if you get desired results then keep them if not return them. Thats why we only bought one bag to try of the inferno.
Interesting point Joe. This season I bought three tons of Fireside pellets from Home Depot. There were a few bags that had small tears and the pallets were not stored under a roof. Those bags had a lot of fines in them and many of the pellets in the bag were “puffy”. I’m not sure if water got directly in or if moisture was just absorbed.
Joe– Great detective work! I just noticed similar holes on my bags and the holes might indeed be part of the problem. While the shipping pallets are well-covered with thick poly sheeting, the perforated bags may well have allowed the pellets to have absorbed some moisture.
I’ve been sifting them with some hardware cloth and, while it’s a major pain, it seems to help them burn a little better.
WOW, it looks as if I have stumbled on this web site a day to late. I just purchased 10 Bags from Lowes and noticed, both the wholes and the great deal of fines. I would venture to say twice the amount of the pellets I burned in the past week. I mix 50/50 with corn. If this becomes an issue I’ll pack them back up and let Lowes know the issues. I can say that they were about $1.25 cheaper than the ones from TSC. I also noticed there are no labels on the bag giving conent. That is why I looked them up on the Net.
Thanks for the postings, glad I didn’t get a ton.
Ok Folks,
I just bought a stove. I have researched many pellet sales sites as well as individual manufactures’ sites. I have visited stores of all types selling pellets in my area. In your collected opinion, who sells or who is the manufacturer of pellets that affords the best value for the buck. Starting and feed runability as well as low ash is prefered. This request should consider time for stove clean-outs as part of the equation. I live in southeastern New Hampshire. Thanks so much for your help to the “new one”.
Best,
Steve
I bought a multi fuel stove made by breckwell,a ton of american wood fiber pellets,all came from rko(rural king)not one problem yet!LOVE BOTH!
What type of a stove did you buy? We bought a Breckwell Big E stove. Have had it three months and have only been able to use it for four days. What a lemon!!! Am going to call the place where we bought it tomorrow and tell them we don’t want it.
Steve –
In my three seasons I’m real happy with the Fireside pellets I bought from Home Depot. This was the first time I had burned them.
Historically some brands that had good reputations were Dry Creek wood pellets, New England Wood Pellets, Eagle Valley and Lignetics.
Shipping is a big part of the cost of pellets. I think pellets are sold regionally to a certain extent.
A few seasons ago there was a huge shortage of pellets so I was burning whatever I could buy. My local supplier was out of his usual brands and had to buy pellets from Canada.
Luckily I have a good stove (Harman) that isn’t too fussy about what it burns. I’ve had major problems with one brand of pellets that shall go unnamed. The pellets were kind of long and a blockade would sometimes form in the hopper. Out of 50 bags I had the stove go out 5 times because of the blockage.
Thank-you so much ! I appreciate your candor. I too have a Harman. I checked out Fireside at my local Home Depot yesterday. The sales person who happened to wait on me bought a stove last year. He said the first batch of Fireside was good, the second had many “longs” which jambed his unit. He suggested tring 10 bags of anything before ordering a ton or more. Upon researching the Fireside brand, seems they are really Pinnacle pellets. That said, I see that Canadian Premium is also Pinnacle pellets shipped to New England Pellets for packaging. From what I have discovered, it seems that brand quality changes like the weather. And like fuel oil, no one REALLY knows where it comes from.
Thanks again,
Steve
I live in the northwest portland or. I’ve had a pellet stove for the last 10 years (harmon) the best pellets i have found are bear mt. golden fire. they have less ash and more heat than anything i have used.
Jerry
I agree with you that golden fire and bear mt are great brands with golden fire being my first choice because of a little more btu and a little less ash but I use both. The golden fire is made with douglas fir and the bear mt is made with cedar so it smells nicer. They are made in Oregon.
I heard this morning that the “assets” of Harman have been sold. Does anyone know anything about this ?
Best,
Steve
We bought some Eureka Premium pellets on the advice of a friend.
I am cleaning the stove every other day (minimum). If I burn straight through 3 days the ash is up to the door. Plus I can’t stop and restart the stove without completely vacuuming it out. Does anyone have the name of decent pellets that are sold in Northern Colorado?
I appreciate your help.
Gwen
I bought 12 bags Eureka Premium, from Home Depot. 1 just brought 6 bags back and intend to bring back 5 more. Excessive ash and low heat is no exaggeration. I bought a ton of Fireside Ultra previously, and it is like night and day. There was high heat and very little ash with Fireside. The Eureka had so much ash it stopped proper combustion air flow in my Harmon bottom feed Accentra. Heat output with Eureka was dismal at best.
Marth are as bad a pennington. Longs and jams.
This a what pellets look like that may have gotten a little too much moisture. They get a little damp and formed bricks in the bag. The other pellets in the bag were dry but a little puffy in areas. There were also more fines than usual.
These are Fireside pellets I bought at Home Depot. Overall they have been great pellets. There were a few bags that had bricks in them though. I blame Home depot for crappy handling and storage. When I bought the pallets some of the bags had holes in them and they weren’t stored under a roof.
Joe K nice to talk to you today. As soon as I get the information I requested from you I will work to handle your problem.
Thanks
has anyone used presto o log pellets what do you think
we have a local pellet plant that mixes presto log material with fresh fir wood chips and i tried them because i like to support local business- but these pellets were very dusty and crumbled very easy so pellets were rather small and burned up faster then most others that i have burned and i had to clean my quadra fire stove twice as often.
I have submitted a reply twice and have not seen it. Do I need to set up an account?
well james, we have burned alot of pellets, 20 yrs.worth, and never have bought any pellets that caused us to clean our stove at least every night,or had so much dust.this “bad batch” isn’t a couple of bags either and the pellets are dusty in the bags and are mostly black, what is that ? i am not saying that all your pellets are bad but the ones we have are . sorry if we made u upset but the truth is the truth . We just want to know hat we are suppose to do with them,we payed good money for them.
I too have sent an empty bag back to Randy. Hopefully the issues with the pellets, the debris that jammed up my stove and the repair bill to fix the stove will be resolved soon.
I AM NEW TO PELLET STOVES,I LIVE IN SOUTH EAST PA.HAVE BEEN BURNING PENNWOOD PREMIUM PELLETS.BURNS GREAT,NO PROBLEMS AT ALL AL WINTER.
For information about BTU/lb, etc. on Nature’s Heat Wood Pellets you can go to http://www.naturesheatpellets.com .
“My mother said to me, “If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.” Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso.”
Pablo Picasso.
Just bought a stove this year and the first ton i have burned was from lowes, bag just marked Clean Energy. Does anyone know who makes these? The fines seem to be a little on the heavy side and some clinkers but don’t really have anything to compare it too. Just bought a ton of the Lignetics so we shall see who wins here!
I am still looking for a cherry pit supplier or a previous burner of this fuel. Any suggestions or comments would be appreciated. T.G.
Cherry pits burn great! but they burn up really fast, we went thru a ton of cherry pits in 1/2 the time we go thru a ton of pellets or corn. Corn is the best heat I think, but more work as far as cleaning. We live in Traverse City, MI and there are a few cherry pit suppliers in our area. One is Chris Storms
(231) 263-7516
1401 W Center Rd
Kingsley, MI 49649
Cherry pits work good but I had trouble with my Quadrafire going out before it got hot enough to drop more pits. Ended up having to hit the reset button to get it to start properly. Feed rate was set on MAX so it was getting plenty of fuel, suspect that the pits may have burned too fast to get the stove up to temp. My solution was to start mixing in pellets at about 3 to1. TSC or Tractor Supply Co. has pits but buyer beware. They were carrying Fire Pit Pellet brand in 40lb bags until recently, now they have another brand that is in 30lb bags and they REFUSE to lower the price. At $5.49 per bag for 40 lbs the price was reasonable, 30lbs at that price is just not worth it.
By law the minimum packaging weight has to be 40lbs per bag. So in skirting the Govt. guidelines the pellet manufacturer and TSC are blatantly ripping you off.
I saw some cherry pits at Tractor Supply a few years ago in New Philadelphia Ohio. I haven’t been back lately so I”m not sure if they still carry them. I’m in Georgia and looking for some pellets right now locally in Perry georgia.
lowes is selling presto log pellets 193.00 a ton
Sonny, Lignetics is the manufacturer of presto logs.These are to be burned in a fireplace or woodburner. I’m not aware of presto pellets, are you sure we are on the same page?? Lignetics generally markets hardwood pellets with their own name on bag.I,m looking for bagged cherry pits to burn in a St. Croix corn/pellet furnace. Thanks, Timothy Graham
yes tim they pellets using the same name
I purchased a Quadra-fire this Jan (classic bay 1200-i insert) happy with the unit. purchased one bag from Home depot and one from Lowes same brand as mention above same problems clinkers saw dust low heat. purchased 10 bags of surpreme green better heat and burn time, less ash and no clinkers. I just purschased one bag of lignetics at ACE hardware a lot more heat no clinkers and (274 a ton) more expensive than the others. (But ACE is more $$ anyways). I going to pick up a feew other brands and try them out. So far I think Lignetics is a better brand so far.
I just purchased a ton of PA Pellets ( http://www.papellets.com ) from a local Hearth store in Upstate, NY and they burn perfect. Hardly no fines, no clinkers low ash and great heat. They also keep the glass a lot cleaner than others I have used. By far the best that I have burned in my stove. (Breckwell Big E).
Just purchased five bags of Comfort at a local store as part of evaluation of brands bad clinkers and, dust (Not PFI rated). Not happy. Ken T. Mass
Pick up five bags of hamers WV hot ones. Runs great clean and hot, no clinkers (PFI rated). In my opinion if product is not PFI rated do not buy. So far hamer hot ones, linetics, surpreme green run the best in my quadra- fire insert.
I think you can only buy products thru distributors. If you need a second source try Hamer hot ones they work ok in my unit. Kent mass
Do any of the pellet plants sell pellets directly to consumers? It would make sense that we could better control how our pellets are handled and stored until we need them. I realize that transporting tons of pellets is not simple, but it is an easier challenge than tons of bad pellets in my garage on the verge of winter.
reply to direct purchase from pellet plants- i called around oregon washington and idaho and found some will not- some will only if you set up as a distibutor and others will but must buy semi truck load. I found that if i bought a truck load, that by the time we rented a forklift and aranged for a place to unload 20+ pallets there was no savings over waiting for your favorite brand to go on sale locally. but if you can,t get a good brand locally then its not a bad way to go if you can get a few others to buy in with you. my advice is call around but be prepared to buy a semi load.
I live in central Wisconsin and am looking for info regarding the brands of pellets that people have access to in this area. Which brands have had you the best success with and where they were purchased. Also, what might the price be. Thanks for any help.
We are having one heck of a time with pellets this year. We have tried several brands and have to constantly clean the ash. It gets so bad that the hopper shoot backs up. Our Menards store has Penny Wise which seem to work the best this year. But they don’t always have them. They now have a brand out of Lady Smith, WI. Penny Wise is manufactured by Marth which is also out of Wisconsin. Last year we had no issues with dust, soot or ash with some of the same brands we used this year. Using Pennington now and it is horrible! Must be a bad batch period!
I have been using northern pellets made by cubex out of canada. for four years now and thay are the best pellet I have used I have tried at least five different brands and none compare. with other brands I have to set the heat setting on my stove on five and blower speed at seven or eight. with cubex heat setting is one and blower is five. love these pellets will buy as long as I can get them . have not had a problem with avalability in four years, always plenty. try them if you can get them you will love them.
I just got my pellet stove insert up & running last week,went to get some pellets and the saleman sold me TURMAN HARWOOD PELLETS i have run about 6 bags so far and these pellets are really good burning very little clinkers & ash.There going for about $219.00 a pallet but so far i’m really impressed with these pellets.
I have used Future Fuel from Walmart for @ 10 yrs. with good results but this year the product is definitely inferior. Mostly notice more ash which impacts maintenance. Future Fuel in Washinton State comes from a Missoula, Montana mill and I would guess they are using a different wood. Next year I will just try some other brands and find the one that performs the best at the best price.
Well I am here to add that Walmart located Future Fuel is wonderful…this is made by Eureka Pellet Mills in Missoula, MT. They also make the Eureka Premium Wood Pellets…they cost more and ouch they don’t put out heat, they cause cleaning of clinkers out of the pellet stove DAILY.
What I am wondering is if Eureka is not properly drying their pellets….Eureka would you please buy these back from us?
We bought 3 tons of Future Fuel this year from Walmart they were great but now out of stock……The Eureka Premium Wood Pellets…what a disappointment.
Rick
I am now burning Canadian Premium which are really Pinnicle pellets. This winter I tried five different brands, both hard and softwood. I have recently ordered and received my entire needs for next winter. These Canadian Premium ended up beating the rest hands down. They burn very hot, very-very low ash and no klinkers at all. I highly recomend them !
I will be getting a pellet stove in a couple of weeks. I do not have a garage to store the pellets in. I have ordered 2 tons of pellets and have been assured they will be okay under a tarp outside. Should I purchase an outdoor shed to put the pellets in or in your opinions will they be okay outside?
yes get a shed.
I am in the same position as Linda and will also be installing a stove in two weeks and am concerned about outside storage. Are tarps over the pallets enough to keep the moisture level low? Can anyone offer any advice? Was hoping to buy 4 or 5 tons and cover them with plastic tarps and bring in a weeks supply at a time.
I’ve always stored my pellets inside. If your pellets would happen to get wet, they are unusable.
I try to be a penny-pincher whenever it’s prudent. Being relatively new to pellet heat, each year (4) I’ve tried to keep the cost of fuel as low as possible. Fortunately, I’ve not made the mistake of buying pellets at WalMart, though I do shop there for other things. I will never buy the Pennington brand so many of you have been toubled by and appreciate the ‘heads up’. Of the brands I have tried, my favorite is TURMAN. They burn cleanly with low ash, consistent heat, and don’t muck up the auger. They’re also a few cents less per bag than Lignetics and American, and function just as well if not better.
I realize that if pellets get wet or too much humidity they will swell and be unusable. I was just hoping they could be kept under a tarp to buy in bulk. Maybe its just not a good idea.
I would make every effort to store them indoors short of storing them in the living room. I’m sure many people store them outdoors with success. I’ve seen one distributor store them outdoors under heavy duty tents. Keep them off the ground with a pallet and buy a good quality tarp.
With storing your pellets outside, remember you also have to deal with rodents. Squirrels love to wreck havoc on your pellet bags! If you can, build a shed off the ground that is well ventilated.
Hi. I have about 12 40-pound bags of wood pellets that got wet this winter…Each bag is probably about 60% sawdust now, but I was trying to think of other ways I could use the pellets & sawdust around my yard instead of just throwing them away…Are they chemically treated? Can the sawdust be used any other way? Mulch? Any ideas? Will composters take the unused pellets if I don’t find a use for them?
Hi ~ I didn’t read all of the comments on this board. Someone had ask about presto pellets and they are made by the same co. who makes the Presto Logs and I used them last year and I think they are the best of the best. Low ash and a lots of heat. I have tried some from Lowes and didn’t get much heat. Since Home Depot left us with no pellets when we still had 7 ” of snow on the ground because they are seasonal I went to another supplier this past year. I have been using Pro Pellets out of Indiana. Plenty of heat and I would say just a little more ash than the Presto Pellets. Both will keep you warm and by the way Home Depot stores the pellets outside. But I don’t like that Idea so I keep them in a pole barn and try to stock up in the summer while prices are still low. I will try to buy the presto Pellets and if not, I will buy Pro Pellets
Looking to purchase a truck load 20-24 tons of premium pellets. I live in Southern New Hampshire.
Hey everyone. It sounds like there have been alot of issues with some of the major pellet makers. I am the plant manager for Pike Pellets in west central Illinois. We are a first year start up business and are trying to expand our customer base. We have gained several new customers in the last six months due to the high quality of our product. Many of the folks we deal with have heard from thier customers that we have a great product compared to what they have been purchasing. I would encourage you or your local retailer to contact our company for a sample bag. Thank you
Corey Sheurman
Pike Pellets LLC
217-833-2460
corey@pikepellets.com
I have been burning pellets since fall 2005 and live outside Hartford, CT. Each year I purchase 4 tons and store outside from June thru the end of the following heating season. I have burned New England Pellet 1 yr and 2 years on Cubex. I like the Cubex – less ash. In my Harman P-68, I clean once a month – but could go longer.
As far as storage is concerned, CUBEX is delivered palletized with a single plastic cover that reaches to the ground. Since I store behind my house, I have to transfer and re-palletize. I remove the cover and save for re-use. It is wise to cover the slats of the pallets with wood or thick cardboard prior to re-stacking – eliminates an access point for critters and stack as tightly as possible. I also duct tape any tears in the bags and also tape around the bottom circumference of the pallet. I have never had critters get into the bags, but they do find a way in and build nests. I might try mothballs as an irritant. They (critters) can make a mess with bedding and waste.
Our season can range from freezing rain, rain, snow and flippin cold. The most I have lost is 1 – 3 bags out of 200 due to moisture. Been please so far. Stove saves me 700 gallons of oil.
thanks. Looking to buy a couple of tons this year. Do you still recommend Cubex. We live in Trumbull
I just stumbled across this site and am glad I did. We are purchasing a Harmon XXV and will have it delivered and setup in July. I am finding this site very useful in looking at my future purchase of pellets.
Can someone tell me how many tons on average will I burn for a Northern Vermont home that is 1,300 square feet? Any information would be helpful.
Thank you,
Mark
Mark, i live in central Vt, and burn approx. 6 ton. I have a 55,000 btu stove and use it as my main source of heat. I have oil backup but turn my thermastat down. I have noticed different pellets produce different heat, so far Green Team pellets burn the best, you pay alittle extra for them, and if your in a bind Home Depot, theyre alittle more ashy but still give off great heat for the price. hope this helps
We have been using Heartland pellets out of Spearfish SD. Assume that we must have a bad load ..have had 2 flu fires one so bad we had to replace the stack pipes. Lots of resin build up … anyone else ever had this sort of problem??? Thanks Pam
Just found a place in Lancaster, PA
80 Route 41 – P.O. Box 427 Gap, PA 17527 sales@StoltzfusFeed.com
Toll Free: 800-233-0331 Phone: 717-442-8280 Fax: 717-442-4964
they’re selling 1 ton of pellets for $179.00 through June.
We have a new Harmon P68 for a 1,500 sq. foot second home in the poconos. We used every bit of 2 tons this year.
Mark in Northern Vermont — i’d budget for 4 tons if that’s you’re only heat source (it’s cold up there!!).
Thanks for the input everyone. We just purchased the Harmon XXV, and it will be installed Wednesday of this week.
This site has proved to be the most useful for me!!
Thank you,
Mark
Has anyone had any experience using the Maine Woods Pellets yet?
Are they hardwood or softwood?
Premium?
BTU output?
Ash content?
Etc., Etc., anything else you can tell me would be appreciated.
Thanks ~ Jeff
Also,
Anyone care to comment on their use of the CleanFire pellets?
Thanks again ~ Jeff
Living in Hartford, CT and have a 2400 Sq ft split level raised ranch house. For Northern VT, plan on 3-4 tons for 1300 sq ft. I normally burn 4 tons, but added 1 ton to add cushion at the beginning and end of season where we only need heat at night. At $4.00/gallon for oil, I hate the noise of dollar bills going up the stack.
Hi ready to purchase a pellet stove. Need one to cover about 2500 sq. feet. any suggestions. live in the northeast. thank you
Jane – Harman P-68 is the way to go as it has highest BTU output – 68,000 per hr. However, you will need to evaluate whether you want a free-standing stove or fireplace insert. Insert stoves have lower heat output. Fireplace inserts typically require 3″ diameter liner to be installed up the chimney – which adds to installation costs.
The P-68 free standing stove can be installed with shorter pipe thru the wall of your house – but requirements have some guidelines on location of vent pipe with respect to any windows and location of stove with respect to walls in the room. I did my own install and pulled a permit for insurance reasons. Town inspectors typically go by the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Harman has downloadable instructions from website for their stove models (insert and free standing- so you can see what is involved. Good Luck
I just bought an Osburn Hybrid 45 something or other to heat my 1200 sq ft basement here in Maine. Anyone know if that was a good decision? Lol….too late now… Anways, I was just about to buy 2 tons of Penington Premium from Home Cheapo, but think I may hold off. I had no idea that there would be this large of a discrepancy in pellets! Where this is my first experience with a pellet stove, I want to make sure that it is a good one and not have it tainted with mediocre pellets… Outside of Cubex, are there any other reputable companies that I should at?
Thanks!
First I’d like to thank everyone for their helpful comments..
I live in NE Ohio and I have been thinking about buying a pellet furnace for a while now. With natural gas rate climbing 35% for next year I may have no other choice but to pull the trigger on the purchase. Currently we are facing a price of $20 per MCF of natural gas. Last year I used 75.6 mcf’s which will equal a seasonal heating cost of $1,512 next year.
My first question is can a pellet furnace / stove be tied into a tradition duct system? If I were to get the pellet stove I would ideally like to install it in my basement and vent through my chimney as I do with my natural gas furnace.
Second question is regarding the amount of pellets that I will need for our winters. Typically our winters last from mid-November to mid April. I have a 1650 square foot home that is about 90 years old. Although it isn’t a new home all the walls have been well insulated and all the windows have storms.
Lastly, if anyone from northeast Ohio has any suggestions on where I can purchase a stove at a reasonable price or knows anyone who installs them I would really appreciate it. Thank you!
Frank, i just put a deposit on a outdoor/indoor pellet furnace from Central Boiler. Check it out at http://www.maximheat.com. It is 175,000 btus, works as a primary source of heat, leaving your exisxting sytem as a back up, and holds 450 lbs of pellets in its enclosed hopper. I get my unit in 2 weeks. Going to install it indoor, next to exixsting oil burner, vent it to my masonary chimney, then power vet the oil burner to the outside.
Live in north central mass. Does anybody know where I can purchase Cubex pallets. Was purchasing from dealer in Amherst N.H. but they have closed shop due to med. reasons. This is by far the best pellet I have ever burned and would really like to stay with it.
I bought pellets from pelletsales last year and they kept giving me excuses why they weren’t going to deliver my pellets. I lost 3 days of work due to these incompetent people. That is what you get for buying over the internet. I tried this year again to see if they were better and they still had to reschedule twice. I cancelled my order and told them I am going to tell everyone not to use you. I even talked to the owner John Strimling and all he did was blow smoke up my ass. PLEASE DO NOT USE PELLETSALES.COM.
Mike P- Contact a certified chimney sweep to help you with chimney question.
One pellet stove manual I was looking over stated a 6 dia inch flue was ok for a pellet stove, anything larger needed to be lined. It was in the VF100 manual.
Hi,
Anyone else having a hard time finding pellets to purchase? I was about to order some at home depot but saw this sight first, thank goodness.
I have a Tarm wood pellet boiler coming this month so have been calling around for pellets . A lot of places don’t know when they will have pellets in stock.It is a little disconcerting. Calling today to place an order for LG Granule pellets. Anyone used those before?
Looking to purchase a truck load 20 to 24 Tons of premium pellets. I live in southern Wisconsin
Hi,
I live in Connecticut. Has anyone used Hamer Hot Ones? What other premium hardwood pellets are good?
Thanks.
I would recomend CUBEX brand, for premium hardwood pellets. On this web site (top right corner), checkout categories “wood pellets”. There is more information on the CUBEX brand. I have had the most success with CUBEX!
I haven’t seen anyone mention New England Pellets, made right in Jaffrey, NH and now in NY also. I have only burned NE pellets (premiums), they burn great, low ash. I have a P68, use about 5ton per year, but the wife likes to keep the house at ~72-74deg (a little warm for me); we’re in central MA so we see some cold weather on a regular basis.
Sorry, forgot to add house is just over 2,000 sq feet in size.
Comment to Eric,
Have heard that NE pellet can be made from used pallets. I burned it one year (live in Hartford, CT), then burned CUBEX. I am not inclined to go back to NE Pellet after CUBEX, but am trying a new brand this year (at least 1 ton anyhow) of Hammers.
With NE Pellet, it wasn’t bad, but had more ash and clinkering than CUBEX. CUBEX is from Canada and comes from oak floor manufacturer saw-dust.
Regarding fines and dumping direct from a bag (someone elses blog), I do this all the time time with no issue. However, as part of normal maintenance, one needs to take off the cover underneath the feed auger as fines collect here. Most suppliers recommend a annual cleaning from a “certified” technician. As long as you have a shop vac (w/ liner), a stove brush and the ambition, there is not much need for a technician.
We live in Western Washington and have enjoyed heat with a pellet stove for years. We presently have a Lopi
Yankee. We used to heat with a propane stove and saw the “handwriting on the wall” as propane was going up in price. We love the warmth of wood heat.
The great pellet debate is rather amusing..we buy from a reputable feed store or lumber yard ALWAYS.
There are just some things one should not buy from WALMART! Socks, underwear, cd’s, or towels are ok but I wouldn’t trust them to carry a premium brand of pellets!
Keith,
I would say 4 tons. I burnt 3 last season in CT and I could have used 20 bags or so. On average you will burn about a bag/day. I do keep the main floor at 72 degrees and some heat does go upstairs but the heat does have to kick on upstairs on the colder nights.
I know this posting is about wood pellets but I’m new to the whole pellet stove home heating thing and I really haven’t found any place that has offered as good as information as I have found here with everyone.
However I do have something I need to ask. I’m looking at buying my first pellet stove and I want a high end reliable unit but I’m not really sure what I should looking for exactly. In all honesty I want one an Ecoteck pellet stove but I just can’t seem to get any good information from anyone. So I don’t know if I’m looking at something I really don’t need.
Plus keep reading at several different places about how many bags I need to go through. Most places when I call say all I need is one bag, but when I look online, private blogs show I’ll need at least two bags. Who do I trust?
Thanks for the outstanding posts everyone. It’s been great for someone like me.
Thanks for the feedback, what a great forum. I really appreciate all of the valuable information I recieved thus far. I hope that as time goes on I too can contribute by sharing some of my own knowledge and experience.
Good luck to all and stay warm!
Need prices by the pallet and truck load price. 406 487 5354
scobey mt 59263
Purchased a Harmon stove in May and looking for pellets, my local Home Depot has Freedom Fuel Premium Pellet Fuel, would appreciate any comment on this pellets.
Christine Johnson
Tamworth, NH
check out PelletSales.com
charles,
if you want an ecoteck stove check out northlanddistrib.com
i am a producer of wood pellets in central minnesota i will be selling my pellets for $155.00 a ton if anyone is interested my email is bobbypratt84@yahoo.com.
I am thinking of purchasing a promethus brand insert for my woodstove.
Purchase price $125.00 I am new to pellets and am wondering if anyone has had experiences with a basket insert in a wood stove to burn pellets.
Thanks for any information you could provide.
By the way, this is a fantastic site and I am pleased with the feedback.
Thanks!
Bought a bascket last season, had no luck with it, Burns pellets really fast with minimum heat output
I just bought 2 ton of pellets from a lumber yard in Maine & I live in Maine, he said the state told him no tax, Lowe’s charges tax on there pellets so did he misunderstand or what? The pellets were made in Athens Maine if that makes a difference.
I tried Narragansett Pellets two seasons ago. They burned pretty well but the pellets were sometimes 1-2 inches long. Every couple of bags there would be a log jam (or pellet jam as the case may be) in the hopper and my stobe would go out. I would take a quick look at the pellets before buying to see if they have corrected this.
Hello,
I have a Whitfield FS20 Pellet stove that came with the house. I’ve never used it but will be using it this year. Any feedback on this stove brand and the best pellets for it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
We have the same brand and model Only been operating it for about 2 weeks so not much information can i give. We have been burning bear mountain pellets and live in W Washington State. I have some Pennington pellets for back up Bear mountain ran us 489 a bag at our local hardware store.So far so good Our home is 2100 feet and two story Upstairs is alot cooler but we just purchased this older home and are gooing to remedy that soon. Good Luck to you
I’m Looking to set up an account with pellet companies for 09 season does anyone know of any companies that are taking new accounts?
Menards in Burnsville, MN $4.38 a bag- no price break for ton pallets. Fleet Farm in Lakeville was $214 for a 50 bag pallet ($4.28 a bag) $4.38 per bag single…
hey guys, stumbled on this site thrue searching for pellets.I`m in the middle of looking for pellets because i`m on the schedule to get my new stove installed in 3 weeks.Never owned one but due to paying $900-$1000 amonth last winter for oil,i have to get some alternative heating.Your comments seem to be helpful but also mixed feelings on pellets.I live in n.e. penn and calling around looking for pellets.I`m finding that pellets are hard to come by and reading some of your posts now i have to be aware of which ones even to purchase.Does anyone from n.e penn.have any suggestions on a good brand?
I’m from the Mid-Michigan area, looking for a good place to buy pellets, this is our first year with a pellet burner, so not quite sure where to look.
I live in Maine and I used 600 gallons of oil last year, for heat and hot water, how many tons of wood pellets should i use? My oil company said I used 84 gallons for hot water last year.
Thanks
I live in PA. I see my local True Value store is selling Marth wood pellets. Could somebody please tell me how well they burn and if they know of any problems associated with Marth.
THANKS
Jon, visit this website to compare the cost of fuel oil versus pellets. http://www.pelletheat.org/3/residential/compareFuel.cfm Enter the cost of pellets and the cost of fuel oil.
Typically, heating with fuel oil is twice the cost of pellets.
There are about 17 million BTUs in a ton of pellets. That is close to 122 gallons of fuel oil.
Quick questions from a clueless new buyer:
1) Do all pellet deliveries of a ton or more come in bags or is there another delivery method?
2) Does anyone store the pellets in containers to avoid rodents, bugs, etc? Like the rubbermaid garbage can holders.
3) Did anyone ever have burst pipes b/c they froze b/c the heat never came b/c the stove was burning and doing the heating? I had this with our wood burning stove. I had a great fire going for days and the pipes along our back walls froze and burst. I’m sure there is a solution but too clueless.
Thanks in advance!
I have used dry creek for years, great pellets but they had a fire so everything is delayed getting out. tried some from tsc not good
Jon,
I too am in Maine and this will be my first year with a pellet stove, I have been using oil with a wood stove back up. Based on MY oil and wood usage for the past 2 years I estimated that 1 cord of wood equalled 150 gallons of oil. This doesn’t consider the variation of overall winter conditions between those years and your conditions will vary the estimate. Now, with efficiency of wood 70% vs 80% for pellets and assuming 1 cord is equal to 1 ton of pellets in every other way, then 1 ton of pellets should be equal to 171 gallons of oil. This means you should use 3 tons and 84 gallons of oil this season.
Hope this helps.
Steph – I’ve only seen pellets in 40# bags but there must be a way to get some delivered with a grain truck for industrial burners.
I agree with Mike P. When I got my stove, I used spreadsheet to calculate oil usage before and after. My average oil usage for 2300 sq ft house (split level raised ranch) was 950 gallons in 12 month period. After stove, oil usage was 225 – 250 gallons. I still run oil for one circulating zone thru Megastore hotwater tank and some heating at the beginning and end of heating seasons. With 4 tons of pellets saving 700 gallons of oil, this equates to 175 gallons of oil per ton.
This doesn’t take into account home layout (distribution of heated air) and comparison for heating degree days -but close enough. One thing to consider in $$ saved is to add the extra amount of electricity usage to run the stove 24/7. I live in CT and see pretty high rates and believe by stove (Harman P68) adds $80 – $100/month.
i, like steph, would like to know if there is any rodent or bug problem when having these pellets around ?????
I have not experienced any bug or rodent problems in over two years of pellet use. Less dust and no smoke in the house. Not the case with the wood stove I took out. I live in MN and we regularly get extended periods oftemps below -20 and I have never had any frozen pipes. But houses here are built for those temperatures…
I only used 125 gallons of fuel oil last year. When I first moved in in 1994 I used 4 or 5 fills a year in a 265 gallon tank.
Jon, 600 gallons of fuel oil = about 4.9 tons of pellets. At $4 a gallon the fuel oil would be $2400. the pellets would cost about $1225 + tax (no tax on heating fuel in MN) + electricity to run fans and auger.
As I said before, there are about 139-140,000 BTU in a gallon of fuel oil, and 17,000,000 in a ton of pellets. That comes to around 122 gallons of fuel oil (expressed in BTUs)
That equals about 340,000 BTU for a 40# bag (8500 BTU per pound, 16.5 pounds of pellets = 1 gallon of oil.
Most pellet stoves can acheive 80% efficiency. I don’t think most oil furnaces will do that.
was wondering if anyone in the orange- putnam area of ny can tell me where i can find pellets by the ton?
Has anyone ever heard of ‘Tidy Timbers’ wood pellets out of Arkansas? If so, comments?
have 4 ton of tiny timbers nothing but clinkers
To avoid frozen pipes, on very cold mornings, I put (propane) furnace on for about 1 hour.
Has anyone used a buckner stove from NC they dont have a stirer in the fire pot and claim you dont need one. They have a hot water jacket atachment which i want so dont have to run my water heater. Any suggestions on what to purchase??
I would like to seek comments about Ozark wood pellets, I have been using dry creek for four years but I cannot get them this year.
I live in north central wisconsin, own a Harmon Accentra Inset, I’ve bought softwood pellets the last 2 years, am thinking of using some hardwood pellets, anyone information as to the benefits of one of the other, I would appreciate any information. Thanks
I also have a harmon Accentra insert and I heat 1700 sq ft. with dry creek wood pellets.
Has anyone ever used ARMSTRONG pellets. I can buy them for 180/ ton but I thought I’d ask if anyone has any recommendations on the product
What prices are being seen right now for pellets?
I am looking at about 4-5 tons for this winter
The prices seem to very from state to state and even town to town. Hearth.com has pricing for states, and the prices are normally entered by buyers. I think you have to register in order to view the prices. But it should help you out.
The address is:
http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/fuels/
Does anyone have a Maxim woodpellet/corn boiler made by Central Boiler. Would be intereted in hearing about it, as I have one on order.
Kevin, In orange County NY, I have found several places. Agway in PineBush Ny had pellets by the ton last week in stock with a few different brands. Also I-84 lumber was taking orders for an October delivery. Thompson Ridge gardens was also taking orders, not sure if they had any in stock. Also some local hardware stores have them by the bag. Lowes In Newburgh was sold out as well as Sams Club in Middletown, both told me to check back for next delivery. Also yesterday my wife saw a big truck in Wappingers falls full with pallets of pellets, my wife thougt it said woodpellets.com or similar on the truck. Also Duffys in Bloomingburg had them in stock by the ton as well last week. Any how, they are all around 250 to 319 a ton depending on who you call.
Hello, I have been using Cubex last couple of years, This year i’m trying some Hammer Hot Ones, does anyone have info on these? One person I know said they were pretty good, but I would like more input. Thanks
My brother has used Armstrong pellets for the past two winter’s in his Harman pellet furnance with great sucess.
Tim,
I also have a MAXIM coming on Wednesday 9/24/08. I’ll let you know what I think when I get it going. Anyone in Orange/Putnam county.try TRI COUNTY COAL in CARMEL. They can deliver up to 6 ton MAX at at delivery, nice people.
JOHN
I plan on hooking my pellet stove up to my chimney. (yes I have a seperate flue where my wood stove was ) I was told if I go up the chimney I need to run 3″ pipe all the way up the chimney.
I have pre bought 3 tons of pellets direct from the mill in athens maine this is is my first year with a pellet stove and it seemed like a good price has anyone bought or burned these before? and does any one from central maine know where i can by some loose bags as my order wont be ready till nov15th
oh yeah the price per ton in athens ME was $215 per ton
Hey Doug,
I didn’t no you could buy direct. Did you have a special connection? Any info on buying from Athens would be great. ( phone # ,contact person etc. )
Thanks
Thanks John, Let me know how your maxim is. Mine should be coming this week or next. Anyone ever hear of Homewood premium pellets?? Comments??
Regarding lining flue: Yes it is recommended. If you attempt to leave the 3″ diameter venting into the fireplace base – you will have leakage around the stove (if insert). If you have 3″ pipe venting into the larger flue (assume 8 x 10 inch chamber, there is not enough heat to warm the flue to create the draft. I have learned this from my oil furnace which has 12′ of horizontal run 6″ pipe dumping into base of flue. Everytime the furnace lights off (still use for hot water zone) , there is a back pressure from the cold flue thru the balance damper which yields a temporary wisp of oil smoke smell.
Cold air is heavier than warm. The transition from 3″ diameter pipe to 8″ x 10″ results in velocity loss of flue gas since the cross sectional area effectively transitions from 7 sq inches to 80 sq inches. Multiply this by the vertical height (in inches) to get the volume change. The stove fan cannot push this volume effectively and also cannot heat the flue to assist with draft. Also, should use insulated liner to help keep heat in to boost draft in the liner.
I have a free standing stove and the instructions advise to increase vent pipe size to 4″ if total linear run + # bends exceeds a certain amount (don’t recall from memory). This is to offset some of the pressure drop attributed to frictional losses in the 3″ pipe.
Shelley –
I would say follow the manufacturers recommendations. Give them a call if you need to.
I’ve burned Lignetics in the past and they were excellent but a little more pricey.
On the stainless pipe issue, did you use single or double wall?
I am going to be doing the same thing (use my existing chimney) and replace my wood burner with a pellet stove.
I used single wall 24 guage pipe.
I live in Mid-Missouri and have been heating with pellet stove for five winters now. I use a Breckwell Big E stove. The only place to pre-order as many pellets as I need (5 to 6 tons each winter) is through a local farm supply store called Orschlen. They have always stocked OHP (Ozark Hardwood Products) pellets by the ton, and have sold “Wood Resource” pellets by the bag. The OHP pellets have been reliable, but I think the handling and shipping causes the many small tears in the bags. OHP does not use very good packaging in my opinion, and I’ve written to them several times about this issue. This year, Orscheln did not have OHP or Wood Resource. So I’ve got a new brand of pellets I cannot even recall the name, but I don’t see it mentioned in the blog anywhere. Their performance is yet to be seen as it is not yet cold enough to fire the Breckwell up.
Heating with pellets allowed me to stay in my home, due to the lower cost, for which I am certainly grateful. But boy…are they labor intensive!! Those 40 pound bags are getting heavier every year and harder to get up the back five steps with.
What has really become an issue is that there is no delivery from Orschlen, so I must hire someone to pick up and deliver my pellets for me, which adds to the overall cost of heating.
I purchased a hopper, but my stove is pretty tempermental and requires quite a bit of my time. Loading up the stove with five or six bags of pellets just ended up not being a good deal for me.
I’m guessing that most stoves are pretty tempermental, but would like to know if you have high maintenance with your stoves. I’m quite sure the pellets have much to do with performance. I hope that the industry is well aware that pellets are becoming a viable and attractive alternative to oil and keep their production, and quality up to par for all of us.
Debra
East Meadow NY that is..$299.00 ton
Gosh, you guys are paying a lot for pellets. The price has stayed steady in Mid-Missouri for at least 3 years now. I pre-order for $174.50 per ton. There is, however, no guarantee of the pellet brand. So far I’ve been lucky that hard-wood pellets (oak) have been what I’ve been receiving. I would refuse to pay for anything less than hardwood pellets. It is common knowledge with consumers, and I must believe that the industry people also know, only hardwood is woth burning in the pellet stoves.
Debra
I have been looking for pellets for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, there is such a shortage in Maine that none of the local hardware stores, where I have bought pellets in the past have any in stock. I went to Lowes and they are now carrying their own brand. The salesman did not know the manufacturere but they are made in West Virginia. They are called Clean Energy. Anyone know about these? I only bought a few bags so i could test them. I also bought a bag of Nature’s Heat–they were as good as any others I have bought but was hesitant to buy more because of all of the comments I read here. My Home Depot is getting different brands at every delivery and they won’t sell by the bag so you can’t try them out.
Thanks for any further input!
Anybody ever burn Homewood Pellets??
Lowes in Farmingdale Suffolk County NY, just started this week charging sales tax on pellet fuel. Any info on who to contact to file complaints? 3 arrogant store employees don’t care or give any answers as to who initiated collecting taxes. Geez, almost sounds illegal!
Anyone have feedback about OZARK hardwood pellets? We purchased 3 tons through Home Depot and are having some issues keeping the stove going. Since we are new to this, I didn’t know if it was a pellet issue or just our inexperience.
Thanks for any feedback-
I talked with a very knowledge person over the weekend about pellets. He indicated to me that hardwood is NOT the best for pellets.Since a pellet from a stove is regulated (unlike a fireplace) the hotter the better.Here is where the softwood comes into play. Fast,hot heat is the way to go for a pellet stove. A new pellet plant in Hayward, Wi.will be making a combination pellet (soft & hard woods) very soon.
Also, there will be some pellets available in the next few years using grass. This should be very hot pellets, low residue, and lower cost.
Exciting times are just around the corner with our stoves!
Heather,
I used OHP for several years. It was the ONLY pellet brand I could get. Once in awhile I would get “Wood Resource” and I noted my stove functioned much better with the Wood Resource than the OHP.
I’ve discovered during my five years using the pellet heat system that my stove seems to be very tempermental. I had not ever considered that the pellets were, perhaps, the cause and not the stove.
One thing I did not like about OHP was their length. They are much longer than other pellets. The Wood Resource and the Nature’s Fuel pellets are no longer than 1/2 inch while the OHP were one inch or more.
Gad! There is nothing worse than waking up at 3 a.m. to a icy cold house because the darn stove shut down. One thing about this type of heating system is that it is very labor intensive.
I have six tons of “Nature’s Fuel” this year. I’ve not fired the stove up yet so no idea how these will burn. It is interested though what Bob says about hardwood not being the best for pellets…I have always heard exactly opposite!
It will be interesting to read anymore comments on OHP and the soft/hardwood issue.
First year with my pellet stove, I have a LP boiler now heat and hot water.
Used 1238 gals from Sept to Sept. $3500 total. CRAZY!!!
Anyway any ideas on how many tons of Pellets I will need this year? I know that some of that was to heat the hot water.
Bought 2ton from Lowe’s Tidy Timbers tried them out seem to burn good.
Anyone heard of them?
Tidy Timbers, is (Fiber Resources) – they are in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. (Hardwood)
Fiber Resources produces an excellent hardwood pellet from kiln dried oak shavings. The raw materials come from sawdust generated by oak flooring plants in southeast Arkansas and are manufactured nearby at the pellet mill. This premium pellet is low in ash and high in heat.
This is the info I got from PelletSales.Com
The pellets seem to burn great, But then again I have nothing to compare them to, being the first yr with my stove. Got them at Lowe’s for $298 a ton.
We bought 4 ton Golden Fire. Using up a bit of left over Dragon Fire. Would not recommend Dragon Fire as it has a lot of fines. Bear Mountain/ Golden Fire is available at Cenex last time we bought was $229. @ ton. Walmart products are not quality..would not trust to buy pellets from them.
Please correct or confirm for me that “fines” that term many here use, are the dust of crumbled pellets? Thanks in advance.
I use a Quadra Fire Santa Fe free standing pelet stove. The stove is rated for 1500 square feet but it heats my 1800 sqare foot home. I use pelets called HEAT RESOURCE. They are a PREMIUM GRADE PELET and the MATERIAL IS 100% OAK. The ASH and FINE content is LESS THAN .5% and they are PFI GUARANTEED. Normal cleaning is once a week during the chilly season and twice a week during the colder temps. I can buy these pellets from LOWES and a local store in Alamogordo, N.M. so I know LOWES carries them. When you open a bag you will notice very little saw dust at the bottom of the bag but are local store recomends you sift the pellets to save your auger. We use a strainer like you use for cooking.
Lowes here in MN wanted almost $6 a bag, Home Depot doesn’t carry them, Belle Plaine Co-op (farmers co-op) wanted $6.35 a bag YIKES! I went to Fleet Farm in Lakeville and picked up a ton of “Superior Pellets” made by Marth Wood products in Wisc. for $214.50 a ton. That’s $4.29 a bag, or 0.107 per pound. They worked well last year…
Jim, You need to make a sifter box. It sits on top of a 5 gal. pail. The screen sit at an anle to a chute for another 5 gallon pail. The screen has holes large enough to let the fines go through but the pellets dont.
I’m sorry but there is now way I would sift my pellets. If I wanted work I would buy cord wood. I would rather get a different brand of pellets or a different stove.
i just bought pellets for my new stove at orderpellets.com. help i did not know that pellets grades were so different.has anyone ever used this company.
To admin,
The only reason I sift my pellets is that the dealer I bought the stove said if you will sift the pellets you will never have auger trouble. On the other side I used to have a wood stove in my other house and what a mess that was and alot more work, I would never give up my pellet stove.
It warmed up here right after I bought the pellets at Lowe;’s–their brand called Clean Energy. But what we have burned has burned clean and not a lot of fines. We are going to buy what we need for this season from them. My understanding is that Lowe’s is only going to carry these once they have sold out of whatever brands they have left from last year. Not much choice at this late date. Still a pellet shortage in southern Maine.
can anyone shed some light on a backup battery system for my new p68 stove???
Hello Jim Badjar,
Can you tell me how you sift your pellets? Did you build something or buy something to do this? I have heard the same from my dealer here in Vermont.
Joe,
If you have a community college, or a university around you, or a county extension, call them and ask for the Engineering department. I’d bet they would be able to tell you easily how to hook up a backup battery system. The need for electricity to drive the stove leaves us all pretty much still at the mercy of the weather…and the utility companies!
DH
Power Battery back up!!!!!!!!
What you need is a Deep cell Marine Battery, a good Battery charger and a Power Inverter 1000 watt and up 8 Amps or higher. Thats it, The more you spend the more Hrs of run time you will get.
Pretty simple!
thanks andy,now how do you wire it all and hook it to the stove?
Joe, try out this link, it gives a lot of info on Battery backups.
http://www.alternative-heating-info.com/stove_backup_power.html
You just keep the battery charged for when you need it, when needed take it off the charger, hook up the positive and negative from battery to inverter. and then just plug your stove into the inverter.
Good luck, it is very easy!
Andy,
Thank you for this information! Very good. Debra
If anyone lives near Reno, NV, I was able to find Lignetics Presto Log pellets for $254.00 at Lowes. It is the best price and quality I could find.
I bought a Costco (at store) 115 amp/hour deep cycle battery for 66 dollars. In a test it ran my stove nicely for 15 hrs without recharging and could have it done alot longer but that was enough for me.
As far as inverters……if your pellet stove has a computer board, you may want to spend the extra money and get a 1000 watt “true sine” inverter for 350 dollars (at Costco online) vs a “modified sine” 1000 watt inverter for 100 dollars. The true sine provides MUCH MUCH MUCH cleaner power and you stove will appreciate it. You also should use a 3 stage battery charger for a deep cycle battery and it cost about 70-100 dollars
Now a question. I have a 2008 Lennox Montage pellet stove and was wondering………….does anyone make a wireless/remote thermostat that can be coupled with my stove.
Anyone,
Many many posts ago I read about someone mixing corn with their pellets to make their current batch burn properly. I’ve never heard of that before. I have an Earth Stove TP 40 , I saw in the manual that I can order a burn pot for corn. But is OK to mix a small amount of corn in with the pellets??
Does anyone have more info on pennywise pellets made in marathon wisconsin. How do the burn ?
I would like more info on the Penny Wise pellets, I bought some at Menards and they were great low amount of ash more heat and used less pellets to do it. I would very much like to know where to find more before next year if my results are normal.
To Tony,
About burning a corn mix. I have a Breckwell Big E stove and tried to burn a pellet/corn mix. It was not a good thing! The corn burns very hot and fast, much faster than the pellets did, so I ended up with huge burn-pot sized clinkers.
In addition, the corn invited unwelcome critters into my garage..much to my chagrin but the cat was happy! The price of corn these days, at least in my area, is at least as expensive as the pellets so it ends up not being a viable resource from my point of view and experience.
Debra
My first year with a pellet stove I have a TimberRidge pellet stove (TRMAX240). I live in Maine and am just starting to burn all night. The pellets are backed up going into the burn basket by morning. Last night had heat range on one and blower speed on three, pellets were overflowing the fire basket in less than ten hours. Does anyone know if I can slow down the feed rate or adjust something? Have contacted Englander Stove Works and they said make sure the settings are 1-9-1 and they are set at 1-9-1. Has anybody else had a similar problem? Thanks
Hi Jon,
I have the same prob. with my Englander Stove. I just keep it at setting 2and2 at night and have had no probs senses. But if anyone can tell us why we cannot run these stove’s on the 1 setting please right?
sorry, write
Mark,
Sorry I did not get back to you sooner but I have been gone on a deer hunt in Utah. All I use for a sifter is what you would use to drain water out of your noodles and all I sift is the bottom quarter of the bag.
Does anyone have info on Hammer Hot Ones? Thanks
Just another comment about ‘fines’. I have been using a bucket to store my pellets near the stove. I use a scoop to fill the hopper. I find that the ‘fines work their way down to the bottom of the bucket as pellets are scooped, and very little make their way into the hopper.
Regarding Hammer Hot ones. I bought a ton to try (along with 4 tons Cubex). A coworker bought all Hammers and was impressed. Cheaper and burns the same as Cubex – low ash – high heat.
Regarding fines – never had a problem with fines. My Harman P-68 does well. Not sure what all the concern is. If your pellet bags have alot of fines – buy another brand.
Hello,
I use Marth premium hard wood pellets in my Countryside Magnum 7500. after 12 bags I have about 2 cups of ash, with ctright corn I would have 1 1/2 ash binns full and half a vacume full. I have expericed the same heating as 12% moister corn if not more heat.
To Jeff Z,
It would be wonderful to live in a location where I had a choice of which brand to buy, but unfortunately for many people, including myself, we are at the *brand* mercy of the local stores that carry the pellets. I could wait until seaons and then probably buy from a choice of two brands, but by waiting I would end up paying $4.99 a bag instead of $3.50 a bag by pre-ordering.
Do you have a choice of pellets at comparable prices? If so, where do you live? I’m in Mid-Missouri…a place you would think pellets would be easy to come by, but availability is very limited here.
What I am hoping for is that there will be more choices as the technology is becoming more popular from coast to coast.
Thanks, Debra
I am buying a new pellet in our area. It is made with 30% Switchgrass. The ash content is higher (3-4%) . I was told that it should burn a bit hotter than a hardwood pellet. Will be trying them out tonight.
Price is $225/pallet.
At this point no one else in our area has any pellets, so these may have to do
If you live in the Pacific Northwest and need pellets…….Del’s Farm and Feed has Armstrong SBF pellets on sale (Oct 29th – Nov.9th) for 180/ton. I have been using them….and have nothing but good things to say about them.
This thread is a crazy mess!
I can’t believe no one has set up a web site to compare pellet experiences and rate pellets, compare prices and availability, stove experiences, etc..
Has anyone heard of a company in Troy, PA that makes pellets and how their pellets are. My area has little pellets available and this may be the closest. They do not sell to companys just individuals i guess from what Agway told me. Agway and Loews are totally out of them.
I am new to pellet stoves any idea for pellets in New York upstate area near Elmira
There is a place in Addison, NY (take Rt 15 exit for Addison) that sells pellets. I heard good things about them. I think the name is Three Rivers. It is on the main road.
Finally, got my stove installed last week and i`m lovin` it. Started using turman pellets because thats what they delivered when they installed the stove.Also got a ton of lignetics from a local store nearby and i`m using both brands to try and see the difference if any ????? I do like the turman so far.I`ll keep you guys informed.
Try dry creek pellets, they are not that far away from you [deb]. I have had some great results from them in my Harmon stove.
To DH (Debra) comment from 10/27. Sorry you have limited choices in Missouri. I am in Hartford, CT. I paid $245/ ton of Cubex (4 tons) and bought an extra ton of Hammers Hot Ones at $220/ton (50 bags/ton). This was price on June order. Prices jumped $40/ton on Cubex later in season. I stay away from Home Depot and Lowes. they never have quantities I need. So, there a few other choices that deliver to my house. Once you pick your horse you kinda get on the list for next year. Good Luck.
Hi Jeff, I too also live in the Hartford area. Where did you find your dealer for your Cubex and Hammer Hot Ones? Which one do you tend to like better?
Thanks
Picked up two tons of pennington pellets at sams club,
low heat, high ash, blacked out window,
will be returning almost two tons to sams club
Extremely disappointed
Has anyone tried Uncle Jed’s Cold Remedy brand pellets and if so, did you have good luck or problems burning them? THank you.
I have a wood pellet stove and really love it. I burn comfy cozy pellets from canada and they are really good. I was wondering where these plants get their equipment from to produce these pellets and what is the average cost of a full production wood pellet operating line? Anyone that answer this would be greatly appreciated. Doing research for a school paper!!
I’m a first time user of wood pellets this year. Been using corn in the past but when it hit $300/ton I switched. TSC sells Tidy Timber pellets here in FL. 4.98 a 40# bag ($249/ton). Seems my feed settings for the pellets vs corn needed to go up a little and they seem to ignite okay.
Any info on Eagle Valley pellets
MikeP,
Thanks for the information, specific to the Breckwell Big-E. I’ve had mine Big-E for five years now. The first four years my local pellet supplier only carried Ozark Hardwood Product pellets. I had no experience with them, so thought that the ongoing and time-demanding troubles I was having with the stove were the stove, not the pellets. I had no idea the pellets were so varied. This year my local supplier had Nature’s Fuel, from Kentucky. Oh, it is like a world of difference. They burn hot, they leave little ash..in fact so little that in the four weeks I’ve had my stove fired up 24/7, I’ve only cleaned out the stove three times. It is amazing that the pellet quality freed up my time from six hours weekly (with OHP) to nearly nothing with Nature’s Fuel.
I’m hoping that prices will remain steady as supply balances demand. It is becoming a very popular heating method.
DH
To Everyone:
Just as an aside. Don’t waste your money on buying a “hot ash” vacuum cleaner. I went searching for one several years ago, and found that the stove manufacturers sell the vacuums at a very hefty price $250 – 350.
I talked to a person at a big-box lumber store and he suggested that I use a $30 sawdust vacuum. I bought it and have been very very pleased with it. The vacuum I bought has a long thin attachment which is great for getting ash out from behind the firewall. It works so well!
So before you spend a ton of money on a vacuum, check out the smaller cheaper vacs at Home Depot, Lowes, etc.,
Just wanted to share this with new users of pellet technology.
Regards, DH
DH,
Thanks for the feed back! I’ll look for Natures fuel. Your so right about the variation out there even within the same brand.
Vacumes – I agree with you. I have a small shop vac and put one of those fiber liners for use with sawdust and it works fine. When I empty (often lately) I brush it off and I’m good to go.
Mike
DH- Is a sawdust vacuum able to handle hot ashes? How about clogging? I’m currently using a small “shop vac” and it clogs easily. I also make sure the stove has been off for a few hours to make sure the coals have cooled down.
Admin,
Good points.
We should always exercise good judgement with any stove. If your going to use a Shop Vac be sure all ashes are cold!
I haven’t had any serious issues with clogging. You can tell when the filter needs cleaning by the sound of the motor working harder. I always brush off the filter when I empty it outside.
BTW…I’d add comments to the forum but I hate having to sign up for anything. I’m getting close to password burnout..LOL
Admin,
I don’t vacuum the burn pot area, just the floor of the stove and behind the firewall. Common sense dictated to me that it was not a good idea to be sucking up hot anything through a plastic tube! I should have mentioned it is never a good idea to vacuum up hot embers…… =o) But so far I’ve been able to shut the stove down, and once the blower kicks off, I can clean the stove out and vacuum behind the firewall. I’m not sure how other stoves are designed, but my Big-E tends to have a lot of the ash build up behind the firewall.
My vacuum does not clog as long as I keep the filter brushed clean, which I do each time I use it. The replacement filters were cheap, and I’ve only replaced the filter once in three years, so it really is quite efficient and a good value.
DH
First time writer on this site long time pellet user. I’d like to throw in my 2-cents. Have been burning pellets in a Harman Pellet Pro II several years now. The stove was given to me by a good friend. This year decided to go in with several others to buy a complete load back in May from a local retailer. Price at that time was $219. per ton ($10 per ton delivery) of New England Hardwood pellets. These are solid burning pellets, low ash fairly high heat output and very few clinkers. Received 1 ton in Oct. 2tons to follow hopefully end of Nov. Was told they had a fire at their plant in Jaffery N.H. Meantime I split a 1/2 ton with my brother of Greene Team pellets out of Penn. These are excellent pellets. Price was $298. from local Lowes in Worc. ma. They sold all 40 tons in 3 days!! unbelievable. Lets hope now that oil prices have come back down maybe pellet prices will follow.
Dp
local tractor supply here is selling cherry pit pellets for 4.99 a 40 lbs. bag . Anyone have any luck with these pellets ? Assistant store manager said they were / are a good seller at their griswold ct . store over the years .
DarrenP,
Boy, I hope you get enough pellets to last the season. That has always been a huge concern for me over the years. I just don’t understand why places like Lowe’s will not allow pellet users to pre-order pellets. It is not like any of us are not going to pick them up as our survival pretty much depends on them.
I’ve talked several times to the local Lowes manager in my area and met with a stubborn unwilling attitude about even considering that possibility.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m under no illusion that the price of any energy source, coal, oil, wood, is going to go down anytime soon.
I’ve had to become quite creative in getting my pellets from store to garage also. Most places do not deliver, so I hire a truck/driver to pick them up and deliver them to my driveway, then make a donation to my local high school football team to unlade and stack them in my garage. Works out really well. I go through 6 tons of pellets every season, as that is my source of heat in a turn-of-the-century old home with no wall insulation. New roof and top insulation helps but the house has 10 foot ceilings and is difficult to heat.
Anyway, I digress.
Mike…I’ve not heard anything about cherry pit pellets. I have heard though that a “paper” pellet is on the market now. I hope we will see some creative, green, reusable, sustainable technology coming from pellet manufacturers. They must be wise enough to know that if the pellet prices soar, the very people who likely starting using pellets due to cost, will find a different heat source and they will be out of business. The next few years in America will be vastly interesting, no doubt.
Debra
Got an Autrofalmm Integra II insert installed recently. Started it with a few bags of Dry Creek pellets my brother gave me which seemed to work well. Then I got a few tons of Wood Pellet Co. made by C&C Smith Lumber Company (Pellet Institute member) . Started burning these tonight and they seem tio be burning hotter , but there is a good bit of annoying wood burn smell produced in the room, the Dry Creek at none. Any ideas why this might happen?
I have been looking at pellet stoves for this winter. At the current price of oil 2.12 it is cheaper to run oil and that is at 225 per ton. Some places are 300 + per ton right now. So be careful i am not trying to start a feud or discourage anyone just stating a fact.
John,
I agree with you. I, don’t think I’ll be using my stove this year. I just filled my oil tank. Pellets have to drop below $200.00/ton to make worthwhile.
At $300.00/ton is the same as paying $2.53/gal.
Good luck to all.
yeah Joe looks like the pellet stove backlog gonna end quick and lots of used stoves for sale unless oil sky rockets again…. last week a p68 was 3000 this week 3600 supply and demand i guess ( the american way ) guess ill hold off on purchasing one. From what i been reading looks like the p68 is about the top of the line i am a believer in buying the best right off the bat instead of regretting it
Did anyone do the Math on Gas Vs Pellet
I am new to this type of heating. I looked at alot of stoves this last year and finaly bought a multifuel stove made by American Harvest. The owners manual says I can burn many types of fuel ie: corn, wood pellets, cherry pits, any type of biomass fuel. I hope that more companies are going to start up and make different types of fuel as this will make it easier to find and buy. I have been using a hardwood pellet I bought with the stove from a retail store here in Minnesota called Mills Fleet Farm. The pellets burn nice and start easily. I have been using the stove for a month now and I have maybe a half a of a coffee can of ash from every where. This fuel is called Superior Hardwood Fuel Pellets (premium grade) made by Marth Wood Shaving Supply Inc. Marathon, WI. Last year I paid $ 2800.00 for oil to heat my home. So far this year including the stove, installation and pellets it has cost me less than $ 1700.00. I bought 45 bags of pellets and I have used 20 bags so far. I keep the house at about 70 deg. I am happy about the fact that I might save money this year and not only that but I did my part to make the world a greener place.
Terry,
Go ahead…Rub it in.LOL. Pellets are still around $295 here in So. Maine and heating oil is as low as $2.05/gallon. We are at the breaking point between using oil vs pellets at these prices.
Good luck with your pellet plant endevor. I’ll bet the initial capital expense wil be high. There are some short videos on YouTube.com on how pellets are made. Hope this helps.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wood+pellets&search_type=&aq=f
Mike
I do plan on getting at leats one more ton for the year. I will find out this week if I can still get them for the same price as before. Waiting to hear if my supplier can get them yet, he has sold over 50 ton already. If he cannot get them I’m in the same boat as everyone else. The local feed mills sell pellets @ 5.00 a bag, and I have seen pellets at Home Depot and Menards for 5.99 and 5.49. Tractor supply is just a little cheaper but every time I go and check it out they dont have any. Everybody pre-paid and they cant even get enough to cover those people.
Thanks for the info I’ll check it out…
NJ not many pellets available. Sold out as quick as they get em.
Makes no sense since heating oil is down under 2.00. This makes pellets a luxury item… Anyway I use a Breckwell Big E
I’ve used New England…Low ash, ez start, little fines
Lignetics as good if not better except sizing inconsistent.
I just bought a few bags of Future Fuel II at home depot. I hope they are good.
NJ seems to be paying 300.ton or 6.00 a bag… that’s too much
I hope tractor supply gets some lignetics at 4.00.
Where do you get 200 a ton, not pelletsales they want 320.00 but yes delivered.
Sacray, that sounds pretty bad. Is there any chance your stove is not vented properly? You really shouldn’t be getting the combustion exhaust in your house. The exhaust from pellet stoves should be going outside and completely separated from the blower. It may be possible that something else is burning in your blower motor.(?) I hope that you get this resolved soon.
To the group:
It’s real obvious that there is no “standard” amongst the pellet makers that would ensure a quality product. I don’t think any of us mind paying for a product that lives up to expectation, and thus is the success of free enterprise.
I’m wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how to go about “creating” a standard that could be used industry wide?
I’ve no idea what or where to begin finding out this information, but would be willing to try to help spearhead a petition urging standardization of pellet product. It seems there are standards for fuel oil, natural gas etc., so why not pellets?
Do you think the Dept of Energy would be a place to start?
Suggestions and comments sure welcomed.
DH
TAG….I am from Bonney Lake and all i burn is ARMSTRONG……they burn fine. I have nothing bad to say about them
Spent the last hr. reading this forum top to bottom. First, let’s not be fooled by the sudden drop in oil prices. Nobody magically found a huge new supply of oil. My take is that with the major incentive towards alternative energy, ie pellet and wood stoves, hybrid autos, etc. the oil cartel or whoever controls the prices realized that they needed to do something to slow down the momentm, otherwise oil would not be the dollar paralyzer for all products that it now is. Slow down usage to help with economic conditions, but don’t give up the effort. When we let down our guard and get complacent again, WHAM, they will hit us harder than ever.
That said, I am a first time user of a pellet stove…..the prospect of $4.00 gal oil made me do it. I installed a Quadra-Fire Mt. Vernon and love it. The blower is whisper quiet. I am using LG Products and Boreal Products pellets, out of Canada. Both are shown as being premium pellets. Without previous experience, they both burn very well, no large clinkers, although the Boreals do seem to create a bit more ash. I notice a small bit of fine dust at the bottom of the bags but nothing that I am concerned with. I vacuum my stove weekly using a small shop vac. I installed my stove in the basement of my ranch house in Central Vt. hoping to get heat to the upstairs. I installed a floor register but don’t get as much heat as I anticipated. I also tried a fan without noticable results. Anyone have a solution to get more heat upstairs? By the way, great forum! Thanks
I forgot to mention that the Quadra-Fire also has a $40.00 cord that plugs into the back of the stove with aligator clips for connection to a backup battery in the case of a power failure which we see plenty of in Vt. This is what made me go with the Quadra-Fire rather than the Harman which would reqiure a $400 inverter if purchased at the stove store.
I have found that Bear Mountain pellets from Oregon are the best.
I have tried many others and the Bear Mountain are the only ones I will put through my stoves.
I have heard that some pellets are put together with animal fat and if that is true then I would imagine this would really crud up your stove and vent pipe.
A ton of Bear Mountain is going for $370.00 in Southern California.
This spring they were $292.00.
At this rate the pellet stove may become extinct in a few years.
Greed will have killed another fine invention and unfortunately I just put out $5000.00 for a new Austroflamm.
DH,
From what I’ve read there is the Pellet Fuel Institute (PFI). They developed standards for pellet quality ect. but are considered guidelines not the rule. Some pellet companies will put a PFI stamp on each bag with the ash and moisture content. I would like to see this be the rule and all should comply.
The quality of pellets have gone down hill due to the downfall of the economy, I install and service / clean 100’s of stoves a year and I can tell what fuels are used in my region. I have a brand I recommend due to the fact they list what is in the bag and do not change the blend. they are Bear Mountain pellets out of oregon. it uses a blend of 95% doulglas fir and 5% western red cedar. There is some really junk pellets out there. I recommend people to stay away from hard wood pellet, and anything with pine. look at your bags. most will say 100% wood product. and not list what they are. there was one company using broken pallets in there pellets but there web site advertises 100% fir I do not know of pallets that are made of fir. Also what is shipped on pallets?? allot of nasty stuff…
In post above I mentioned I just purchased Future Fuel II from Home Depot and here’s my take on this brand from Montana.
1.Start quick but burn fast with seemingly lower output than other brands.
2.Very dark in color. I question raw material? (why so dark)
3. Much higher ash content. Past premium standard I’d think
4. Package OK and fines not bad. Labeling is very non-descript? ?? ???
5. Very short 1/4″ pellets(consistent?) and almost crumbly in your fingers. (Handle bags with care or you may have lots of fines)
I feel they are lower quality overall and will not be my 1st choice.
They do burn… buy bags as needed and not quantity.
HAS ANYONE TRIED/EXPEIRIENCED PELLETS FROM OVERSEAS?
I have a brekwell pellet stove. Can anyone advice what brand to use?
Thanks. Your help is much appreciated.
does anyone know the c-settings on us stove 6220 with 6.0 software pkg.???
has anyone burned somerset hardwood pellets made in ky. & how do you like them as compared to other pellets you may have burned??
would like to get feedback before i buy them>
thanks
Are you talking about Somerset Ky.? We were able to get a few tons of pellets there last winter but then after making several trips to the factory we were told they would no longer sell to the public,they were behind in their BIG company orders and large store orders .If you are from this area , are you having trouble finding the pellets?We sure are,,We have 3 stoves running and went thro about 10 ton last winter, we even had to buy shelled corn to mix with the pellets in order to get us thro the winter, You have any ideas? I was in here trying to find pellets already and its only July and I ran into this web site..Thanks
http://www.pelletheat.org/3/news/28291-PelletFuels-Newsletter.pdf
Page 25 is worth keeping! We likely will have to advocate for ourselves to insure a steady supply. The listing on page 25 is widely spread throughout the states. The entire newsletter is worthy of a read though. Seems like good sense to keep up with what is happening in the industry.
Regards, DH
Anyone know where on Long Island I can get pellets? Everyone seems to be out and no one has a clear definition as to when they will get restocked.
Mike in Long Island, from what I have been reading. The shortage of pellets will be ending in January ‘09. Manufacturers say they will have it under control and be caught up with demand at that time.
Now if only something could be done about the stove shortage
Im in rural Ohio and pellets are in high demand and everyone is out. Because spring came early last year .. we have about 25 bags left from last year vulcan brand.. love em just cant find them anywhere. I think we got them at Lowes. I can burn about a bag a day and keep the house toasty, very little ash and they light easily and they dont put that nasty black tar on the glass. I read that the pellet shortage is almost over.. but till the stores start getting them in….my stove is for wood only.. any way to convert it to corn which is every where here.
Just a side note.. why is it you can buy horse bedding (soft wood pellets) all over the place but you can’t find wood stove fuel?? They look the same feel the same .. but no I wouldnt suggest burning them in the stove.. it would make an ash mess like you’ve never seen.
I am headed to Vermont to ski this weekend and found a place near Rutland I think that has them for $299 per ton! I will try to pick up a ton while I am up there.
Thanks for the feedback.
hi melody,
i to am in ohio, where are you located.??
The pellet industry headed for trouble?
The reliance on waste product (sawdust) of a strong economy is proving to be a poor position for stability and growth. If the industry is going to grow and succeed, it has to avoid the disruptions and manipulations that plague other energies such as the oil industry.
Confidence amongst pellet users/retailers has been shaken again by lack of product, poor distribution, and non competitive pricing.
In speaking with one retailer he stated that he will not be selling pellets this year as they were expensive and impossible to maintain supply. In short to much effort for the return. Many pellet end users are no doubt nearing or past the same point. Effort > Return = lost consumers.
I wonder if it’s possible to process lumber just for pellet use? I’m not saying to rape the forests in whole…but a well planned backup for times when the waste material used for pellets is in shortened supply.
The pellet industry knew a shortage was coming but did not have a plan to resolve it. Retailers oversold pre orders that could’nt be delivered. With no choice consumers buy every and any pellet in site trying to make their alt energy investment positive. None of this is good for the pellet industries future.
America grew and was designed on the premise of abundant/affordable energy, yet again we live in the fallout of energy problems.
I’m not surprized!
Pellets are being made from other than waste sawdust from lumber mills Poor grade softwood debarked logs are being ground up and processed into premium pellets. Wood chips are also being used to
make wood pellets. Research is also being done to used switchgrass
(prairie grass) cut 2-5 times a year to produce the raw material for pellet production. This additional sources of raw material will alleviate the shortages of sawdust. The another longterm solution is to fund and build additional pellet manufacturing capacity. Europe has over 440 pellet mills and an industry over 35 years old. North America has only about 85 or so pellet mills.
We have heated our home with wood pellet stoves for 18 years. We are having great difficulty buying pellets this year and recently bought animal bedding pellets to try. Has anyone used bedding pellets in their stoves? Any problems or concerns?
My husband waited too long to purchase pellets this year and now we can’t find any in Maryland. Can someone tell me where we can purchase some?
Just a blurt out on marth pellets from marathon wi. They are plain out simply awesome low ash, great heat , so little cleaning.I find them in plentiful supply at menards.They have never let us down on keeping good supply. Also the new pellet plant in hayward wi. is running 30 miles from us with the word that there will be another opening in ladysmith wi. area. It just a matter of time price competing will happen especially in areas were multiple plants open. patience ! to all ! Sellers of pellets need to get a better hand on product availability to all these people who complain about shortages in certain areas of the country. By contacting the makers of them and establishing that long lasting business relationship.A lot of places either don’t have a lot of room to store large amounts of pellets or plain out don’t want to.So question your supplier harder. And to suppliers that work hard for keeping their up to par great job because you have mastered the business supplier relationship.
has anyone been to …………..
iburncorn.com
iburnpellets.com
harth.com
a lot of info. there on pellets & corn burning.
check them out………………..
Feedback for Kathy M. . . . . .
I spoke with a manufacturer of wood pellets that marketed their product for horse bedding. The only difference between the wood fuel pellets was the timber species. Horses have allergies to certain species of wood (I don’t know which). So, bedding pellets are from sources not containing the allergy causing timber species. The process of making bedding pellets is exactly the same. Some things to consider:
Horses don’t care about ash content. So, bedding pellets may have more bark content (creating more ash content).
Moisture Content: Fuel pellets are flying off the shelf, so the moisture content is similar to the day it was made (you are probably buying with in a week of manufacture). Wood is hygroscopic (moisture absorbing). So, if the bedding pellets are old, they may have a higher than desired moisture content.
I purchased a pellet stove last year and have tried just about every pellet out there before making my decision on what I was going to burn . So far my best choices are Turman and Kentucky Comfort .They dont leave that much ash . When I burn the Turmans I don’t have to service my fire pot but every 3-4 weeks . I’ve tried Lignetics ,Hammers ,and so forth ,but my choice will remain with Turman .
I have been using Golden Fire Pellets for years with no problems until this year. I bought 125 bags and they are AWFUL. They are too long and clog up the feeder. They are not as hot and harder to start and produce GIANT klinkers. They are also a darker color. I know as I have some bags from last year that I compared them too.
I have been burning pellets to heat our 1800 sq. ft. home for 14 years, and as long as you do your research you will do fine. If on te other hand you buy from a start up and especially light colored pellets “Stay away”. I got a deal this summer on 4 tons of pellets from a local start up, they are light in color – compared to lignetics these look white. I can tell the normal person 3 things to make sure you get, dark color (no it’s not bark), Nice sheen on the outside, and tough to snap or break.
Sounds simple I know – but I am experienced and got taken to the cleaners this year.
The pellets I bought are light, low shine and break easy. Don’t save a dime to spend a dollar.
The “white” pellets throw hardly no heat – heat setting on 8 in 24 degree weather – using lignetics the setting would be 1 with plenty of heat.
Stick with brand names.
Many thanks, Mike, for the info. A friend found us some pellets from the Rocky Mountain Pellet Company so we haven’t had to use the animal bedding pellets yet.
orderpellets.com is Pine Bush Agway/Northeast Hay and Grain out of Pine Bush NY. DO NOT ORDER ANY THING FROM THEM. They have not filled my order which I place with Northeast Hay and Grain in Sept. Never got my order, when I canceled the order a credit was never issues. Same story as the reviews below, I spoke to Dan, Ricky & Mike in the pellet dept and never got my pellets or my refund. They would not let me speak to the person in the Finance Dept responsible for my refund.
Has anyone heard of fahrenheit technologies endurance pellet furnace. If you have one, how do you like it?
Hello Pellet Hunters
Does anyone know about Future II pellets…..Home Depot has some and have never tried. Been burning for 4yrs using a Enviro Evolution. Any comments on the pellets or stove would be great.
Marty Duluth,MN
Kathy.. on the animal pellets.. if you are gonna use em … mix them with a hardwood pellets… about half n half.. or two hard to one soft. You will get lots of ash , less heat and they burn quicker but when you are cold any heat will do.
Picklebelly Im in Union Co.
melody,
what furnace/stove are you burning & what fuel are you using.??
i`m in guernsey cty.
I am glad to say that Golden Fire stood behind their product and are replacing the bad pellets. Turns out not all of my 125 bags were bad, only 35 as I had several lots. So I am back to buying Golden Fire Pellets. It is nice to find a company that stnds behind its product.
nature heat pellets—– what can i say
never buy them again
bought ton of them- had to clean stove after
half bag of them.
production code on bag was 8-01-08
they was terrblie-
am sure penninton had lots of calls o nthem
5.75 bargin price–
here pelletsare almost 300 ton-
wal mart is getting 6 bucks bag
nature heat pellets
pelletheat.org go tothat web page
then click -feul avablie
brings up a list of pellet mills in the USA
Bob Griswold,
Can you please contact our Customer Service Department at 1-800-285-7333 ext. 187 regarding the outside storage of our wood pellets?
George R.,
The proper way to go about solving any possible problems with our wood pellets is to contact our Customer Service Department. Please contact US and not Randy Osborne. Randy is quite busy and it is difficult for him to answer every call and e-mail in a timely manner. We are here to help you from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM Monday through Friday CST. The number to call is 1-800-285-7333 or 1-800-658-0410 ext. 187, 138, or 190.
Thank you
Anyone using a pellet maker that you can buy??? If so would like to hear some reaction/advise.
thanks
Has anyone tried HEATER’S pellets? If you have what did you think.
Thank You
Jim
i have magnum 6500 that burn pellets and corn and i have all heat i need. i clean am and pm and love it. my furnace has not been on yet this year.my corn i buy from local farmer@4.00 bushel with 12% moisture and my pellets are around 212.00 a ton. very happy to support are local industry in michigan.
THANK YOU;
DOUG
TEMPERANCE, MI.
Pro Pellets – Very unhappy. I have to clean the pot every three to four days or the stove shuts down.
By far the worst pellets I have ever purchased. One tenth of each bag is essentially saw dust.
i purchased 3 ton of heat in an instant this season. mill is in addison ny.i have been verry pleased ash content seems alittle hi but absolutely no clinkers and heat output is verry good. i can maintain my 1700 sq ft ranch at 69-70 degrees with outside temps at low to mid 20s 0n #2 setting #3 when temps get lower. i clean my ash pitt daily just to be sure i get maximum combustion air.i clean entire stove once a month.i think alot of people are uninformed on maintaning there stoves they do reqire some work but much less than wood stove.also verry few fines with this product i purchased through pellets direct in uxbridge ma and would think they are available in other states.
The company Pelletstogo in Loveland Colorado is a Brand new company selling one of 2 newest plants Rocky Mountain Pellets from Walden Colorado!!
I’ve been burning pellets for 6 years now and these pellets by far are the best I’ve gotten a hold of!!
Very comparatable to genetics I believe the name was!
Anyway if you live in the Northen Colo. Front Range area You should give PelletsToGo.com a try ! They even deliver for a small fee!!
Sincerly,
Robert
(970) 663-7830
question for yas;–
does penninton make big heat pellets also??
they same just like nature hear pellets- high ash-lots of dust
went to home depot to grab a ton . when i got home low and behold its not the usual brand i get from them its future2 pellets and let me tell you the REALLY SUCK not just clinkers these things are the size of baseball clog up the whole pellet basket. will not be buying these again . and now i have a whole ton of these to burn. oh joy.
oh btw does everybody else have to wait 30-40 minutes every time they get pellets at home depot for them to find a fork lift operator or is it just my luck
Mike
I’ve used two tons of pellets now the first two for my new stove. The first ton was just fine (I guess), but the second ton we got from Home Depot and are the Future Fuel II and even I can see a really big difference. That’s why I’m on line to get info about them. The ash turns hard when its being push towards the ash bin and seems to block the mouth. Instead of a light dust type of ash from the last ton, I don’t remember the name of that brand.
Mike, I am in the middle burning a ton of Future Fuell II pellets. I have nothing but problems. I have to clean the burn pot about every 4-6 hours because of the clinker build up. They also tend to burn with a lot of black ash that clogs up everything. I doesn’t matter what air or feed setting I use. They totally suck. Good luck with yours.
Hi Mike,
since the Depot is cutting all the parttime employers hours to “zero” and since they seem to cut everybody elses houres wherever they can find a way (which gives the managers a bigger bonus) – I have o say that I made the same experience as you did ….. wait … wait … and … wait.
POOR MANAGEMENT
shouldnt have promblem finding new england pellets there
mill here has been shipping them to there-
hard to get here- 80 miles of the plant— go figure
Is it just me or are wood pellets becoming more costly to use than oil and electric? I have had a pellet stove for a long time, using it as a cheaper way to heat my entire home and now, in Maryland anyway it’s costing upwards of 330.00 a ton and the quality is poor. Alot of the local stores stopped carrying them. I stopped buying them and started using my furnace and it’s cheaper per month! Another good thing ruined buy good ole American greed.
pellet prices in NE MN are around $4.95 per bag that is with buying by the ton discount. These are highend Spruce Point Pellets out of Canada. Cheaper hardwood blends are around $4.68 per bag no discount on per ton price.
It appears to me that before long propane will be very comparable to pellets. Thinking about going back to wood stove.
Same here. This last fewbag I bought at walmart is garbage. My firepot is filling up with clinkers before I can get any real heat.
does anyone know anything about granules LG.. they are softwood out of quebec? i’m thinking about pre ordering them form pellet sales.com for next season. has anyone burned them and what do you think
rob
Rob
Never used this brand of pellet. Here is some info that might help you with your decision.
Granules LG Premium Pellets (Softwood)
Granules LG out of Quebec Canada offers 100% top-quality softwood pellets made from Black Spruce and Grey Pine and are known for their superior heating value. With an average heat value of 7765 BTU/lb, moisture content of 6.97%, and ash level below 0.38%, Granules LG pellets will deliver a high quality, low maintenance burn. Founded in 1995, the company now has a highly trained team of professionals using state-of-the-art equipment allowing them to produce a consistently great product for the consumer.
http://www.pelletsales.com/types-of-products/softwood.aspx
I bought 3 tons of LG granules from pellet sales .com . I have been pleased with them but think New England Pellets burn a little hotter and have less ash
What brand specifically is “New England Pellets?” What is the manufacturer?
the lg’s out of canada burn clean an are ok for heat ,yes they are soft wood,as far as pennigton you guys are right they suck.the best ones i found were out of lowes called clean energy they burn hot an clean,too bad they are out of them.
finished burning 2 1/2 ton of lg granules. new stove seems to me like high ash. and burns very quickly on desired heat setting. since then I’ve tried 15 bags of fireside ultra and i’m very impressed with the difference. hardly any ash few clinkers but, much much more heat. Able to use a lower heat setting!
Has anyone ever seen or tried paper pellets? I am wondering if this is an option as paper prices have decreased and it may be an option now. Please advise.
Am currently using PAPELLETTS out of Ulysses PA. I got six tons this spring at a discount rate by joining a founders club. At $ 199. a ton I love them. Using more pellets in Vt. this year due to the nutty weather. Had good luck with Dry Creek last year and new England out of NH. have two properties on pellet stoves. The prices and availability are getting bad in VT.Wrote emails to both senators cong. and go. about a pellet lant in Vt. so far no reply. A lot of squawk about fuel prices and lack work but no action. That’s politics. They run to LIHEAP for funds for oil heat.
walt,
interesting post. would you give me more info. on the paper pellets. ??
company name, address phone # & etc.
thx
picklebelly
walt,
interesting post. would you give me more info. on the paper pellets, company name, address, phone # & so on…
thx
picklebelly
Paper sounds good but has anyone heard of pellets made of switch grass?
Terry,
Never heard of switchgrass pellets, but I suspect they would burn well. Hopefully, some yahoo’s won’t descimate the American prairies growing and harvesting switchgrass like they did in the 30’s. The removal of the prairie switchgrass directly led to the cause of the dust bowl. It was an amazing thing, and hopefully lessons learned…but then humans seem to not learn so well from disaster.
I can easily see that there are usable materials that manufacturers could use for pellets, and I’d really love to see the industry expand. Seems that pellet availability is a real problem in most parts of the country.
Regards, DDH
What about cotton hulls
Regarding: Breckwell Big E stove troubles
Hi Folks,
Does anyone here have a Big E? I’ve had mine 4 years (maybe 5) and have had to replace the igniter twice already. At more than $100 a shot, this is getting pricey!
The convection blower blew out the other night and filled my house with smoke, so I’m virtually without heat except space heaters right now.
I suppose I’m just blowing off steam here because I’m highly irritated that a piece of equipment that I paid nearly $1700 for five years ago is breaking down already.
I keep it maintained, vacuumed, cleaned etc., so I know it is not pilot error.
Anyone else having major troubles with their stoves, either Breckwell Big E or other brands, or did I just get a lemon?
Thanks for taking time to respond.
Debra
Hi All,
I have had my Bid E for 4 or 5 years now also. Had to replace the convection blower I believe twice and I also think one circuit board too. Tuff to remember but I believe warranty covered it all. I think the purchase price was $1900 plus installation. I take very good care of my stove and it heats my 2000 sq. ft. house well. All in all I am very happy with it.
On a side note I just switched to Lignetics pellets and I think when I put it on any other heat setting other than 2 for an exstended amount of time I think it may be tripping the high temp thermodisk. Anyone with a Big E have any exsperience with Lignetics green lable hardwood and connifer.
Thanks Jon.
I have recently used Spruce Pointe pellets and have found them to be the best I have ever burned in my 4 seasons. They are a pine pellet with no bark.
I have been burning instantheat pellets for this season ,I can not say enough great things about them. You can buy them right from the factory for 250.00. Yes they are in Addison New york.The pellets are burning at about 450-500 degrees, with very little ash.I can only say to try them yourself.Mike
I have a chance to buy 2 Tons of LG pellets for around $200/ton. From what I hear they seem to be fast-burning with maybe not as heat output. Does this sound like a good deal? I have to pick them up.
That does seem like a very good price.
That is a good price, considering pellets are selling for $340 a ton where i am.
LOWE’S – HICKSVILLE, LONG ISLAND NY TODAY AT 12:00 PM HAD 18 TONS OF GREENE TEAM HARDWOOD PELLETS. $5.97 A BAG.
Pennignton is just awefull!! we use American heritage or Pro-Pellets, those seem to be very good, and not having to clean the stove as much, We live on the far eastside of Cleveland in the “snowbelt” and Pro-Pellets in Painesville, Ohio is great and they’re the cheapest right now at $5.52 per bag, $235 ton.
Athens pellets from Maine are awful also. My stove would get so many clingers it would shut down within 24 hours. I bought 2 ton at $295. per ton at a small lumber yard in Gray Maine. Thought I would do a good thing for the local economy. Am now burning Greene Team that my dad bought at the same time for $241. per ton. I get a lot more heat and a lot less ash from the Greene Team. My first year with a pellet stove and now I know what a difference there is between good and bad pellets.
Hi Sue, I am the secretary at Western Maine Pellet Sales and I have read your complaint about the pellets you bought from Maine Woods Pellet. If you call us with some info about where you bought them and if you have your slip, we will try to see if we can talk to the manager of Maine Woods and try to deal with him. They had a bad batch of pellets last year but they have now changed their procedure and their customers are very satisfied with them. You can reach us at 897-4273. Thank you.
Valley Forest Wood Products out of MN has bulk pellets available for a limited about of time. The price is $159/ton. Large volume orders are preferred. Contact 218/735-8400
I have read all the comments and am surprised at the problems everyone is having with the quality of their pellets. For years I have used North Idaho Energy Logs fire logs and pellets. They are consistant in heat output, low ash, low fines and price. They are made by a small company in Moyie Springs, Idaho. I encourage you to look them up or ask your supplier about them.
Forest Valley wood products have high ash and low heat. Used two bags for trial run. You get what you pay for.
this we bought freedom fuel {natures earth co.} they are so bad the basket clumps up and they dont burn up all the way alot of ash as well if on a rating it would be 10 thumbs down or more.
John,
I am from Duluth also…..I used to buy pellets from Menards. Now I buy from Widdes farm & feed in Esko. They have a premium pine wood pellet called Spruce Point…if you buy by the pallet (60 bags) it works out to $4.95ea. I have been burning for 4 seasons and these are one of if not the best.
I use a Enviro Evolution.
I have a multi fuel stove made by American Harvest. Corn is now at $9.00 for 100 lbs bagged and certified at less then 12% moisture. It burns hot and seems to work as well as or better then the pellets I have been using all year. I needed to add some oyster shells (chicken scratch) to reduce the klinkers but only a couple of handfulls per bushel and that seems to keep things going.
has anyone used Granules pellets made in Canada could you please comment
on quality
I have burned ALOT of LG Granules this year. They create a lot of fine ash. Yet,they don’t put out a whole lot of heat. I have found Green Team to be the best overall wood pellet.
I read most of the post here and I have to wonder why most of us are still burning pellets when we are paying the prices that are being ask. Around here it is about 300+ /ton if you pick up and some are 350/ton. If you are getting good pellets (which seems difficult to find) and you have a fairly efficient stove the breakeven point seems to be a difference of 50 between a ton of pellts vs a gallon of oil (300/ton vs 2.50/gallon of oil). Oil in our area has dropped to around 2.00/gallon so at this point pellets are more expensive (and more work). than oil.
I have been burning two years (about 3 1/2 ton a year). I happen to buy New England Pellets the first year and found them to be the best. Good heat and clean burn. I only had to clean the stove & pot once a week with small amount of fine ash-no clinkers. This year I started out with InstantHeat and there is much more dirt. I have to clean the pot at least once a day or it won’t automatically re-ignite. and least 4 times the dust and many more clinkers. I have used a few others from Tractor Supply and Lowes with similar problems. I have been lucky enough not to get any of the real bad stuff.
Thanks for the feedback.
Maine Woods Pellets have improved greatly. I’ve been burning their pellets since September of 2008. The pellets were quite small in size with a lot of dust and fines. They burned ok but the pellets Maine Woods are producing now have greatly improved. They are a lot cleaner and longer in size. I’ve been getting great heat from them also. I’ve been able to purchase them directly from the plant in Athens Maine rather then from a dealer. This has saved me quite a bit of money. The bonus to the whole thing is now because I’m a returning customer I can purchase up to 2 ton of pellets at a reduced price of $200 a ton. I’ll continue to purchase my pellets local helping Maine’s economy.
I just got my yearly notice from Higbie Farms in Chili, NY, to preorder my pellets for this upcoming winter and the prices range from $269 – $299 cash & $279 – $309. My guess is that they’re selling Dry Creek at the upper end. I have been buying pellets from them for the past 3 years and the costs for Dry Creek have increased dramatically each year (2006, DryCreek = $165 – 2008 DryCreek = $229). I think that this is ridiculous. Everything that I have read indicated that the costs of pellets should be coming down
Can anyone recommend someplace else to buy pellets at a more reasonable cost in western NY?
Thanks,
SLG
In Central NY the going rate is $270-290 per ton. Your correct, when you look at demand and oil prices, the pellet costs SHOULD be coming down. But my main supplier (PA Pellets) just raised our cost $15 per ton.
This is based on the lack of raw materials. The less new construction going on as well as less furniture manufacturing means less sawdust. This causes the pellet makers to bid against each other for raw mats. Who would have thought some day we would be bidding on wood waste.
Anyhow, a good solution is the Europa Pellet Stove. It has battery backup, a 12 volt system that uses about 75% less electricity than a typical stove and uses 40% less pellets/corn than other stoves.
It’s expensive, but with the $1500 tax credit for 2009/2010 it becomes affordable.
I’m using a breckwell Big E. Have used 3 ton of LG, not much heat. Had to use high setting to get decent heat output. Ash left is decent. But now for the worst part. You need to chisel left over harden crap from burn pot!!!
Then tried 15 bags of Fireside Ultra was impressed with higher heat output and Low ash. There were alot big wood chips and splinters in theese bags.
I ended last season with 1 ton of Greene Team from lowes. So far the best
that i used. Extremely hot very very low ash. I would love to buy more of theese but lowes changed brands.
I just bought a early buy 4 tons of Aplling County for next seaon at $249 a ton Royal fireside Mendon MA
Has anyone used theese?
these pellets were terrible. Full of fines. Had to empty burn pot three times a day. Fines clogged auger and snapped pin. Have a hudson river saranac and seems to be a problem with burn pot filling up fast. maybe your stove will have better luck
The Hudson river Saranac is a new Made In China stove that has been having trouble with almost every kind of pellet.
Again, anyone new wanting to get into burning pellets, please do your research, but it from a store you trust and don’t go cheap. If you cant afford a high end pellet stove, just burn something else.
“If you cant afford a high end pellet stove, just burn something else”
That is just a ridiculous statement to make. I’ve had an Englander for 3+ years and outside of regular maintenance the stove has been rock solid. You can still have problems with “high end” stoves as well. The bottom line is you need to do your research before buying one.
I have burned Dry Creek Pellet for ten years. I always thought they were the best. I have tried all kinds of brands. Hands down, Dry Creek were the best. But as the years went buy, Dry creek pellets quality went down hill. Now their is rumor that they added more soft wood and fillers to them,which makes them a no longer a top brand. So I tried a brand called ROCKY MOUNTAIN PELLET COMPANY. The Best I have ever burned. They even put the BTU rating on the bag. Which is over 8000 BTU each bag. They are called Super Premium Pellets. They have their own website. Check it out. Heat output is owesome. I was a little worried because they are made of pine. But, believe me, they beat any pellet around. Just purchased 4 ton for next year. You will not be sorry. Please visit their website for any information. Rated as a 10……………………
RHL,
Thanks for the kind words about our pellets. Rocky Mountain Pellets prides ourselves in being the best pellet money can buy. I’m glad that you are a believer.
Would it be ok to post your comments on our website?
Thanks again,
Doreen Kostelac
Rocky Mountain Pellet Company
I never sold Rocky Mountain pellets, but I have sold premium softwood pellets in the past and I can say (without getting scientific) that a good softwood pellet burns just as good as a hardwood pellet.
I would also stay away from New England Pellets until further notice from the industry
Has anyone used either PA Pellets or O’Malley Pellets? I have to pick between the two and haven’t ever seen or used either
I used O’Malley pellets last year in my Harman P38. Produced a good amount of heat and very little ash. Burned an entire ton and only emptied the ash pot three times. But I’ve only burned two brands of pellets so I don’t have a lot to base my opinion on. But they were much better then the Big Heat pellets I’ve burned.
I bought 3 tons of PA pellets last year. This was my first year with the Big E stove. I was disappointed as I thought I would get more heat. I stood in front of the blower and it took a while for me to get hot. This year I am doing research. LG and Okanagan O’mally have be recommended. Does any one have any sugesstions for me as to which one to use. I am looking at the Okanagan as they say they burn the hottest.. Still have 2 tons of PA left and thought I would mix them together
We well PA Pellet at our shop in central NY. Aside from one batch last year with extra long pellets, we’ve sold hundreds of tons with all good results. Customers love the fuel and they dont kill stoves. They even work decent in the Lowes/Home Depot stoves and the Hudson river stoves.
Has anyone used Atlas Ultra Premium Red Fir Pellet? If so how did you like them?
We had purchased 4 tons of Atlas pellets last year and we absolutly hated them. They changed the location of their plant and when they did that the pellets were horrible. They have tons of ash and not much heat. They were great the year before the plant moved and now we are afraid to buy them again. I think we will try Bear Mountain pellets this next year. Normally, we go through about 2-1/2 tons but this year we went through just about 4 tons and we thought we bought plenty extra. They just didn’t put out the heat and clogged our stove with so much ash. You could dump a cup daily of ash.
A product that sells itself is Country Boy Pellets (white lightening). They consist of 100% oak and no tree bark. A true hard wood pellet. Call Anthony at Long Island Wood Pellet Supply or visit his website at liwoodpellets.com. If you would like to sample a bag give a call 631 243-1034. Check the early buy program and its benefits.
You mentioned that you used a brand from Canada that your were pleased with. Can I ask you what brand name pellets they were that you liked?
Anyone living in eastern wa or Ore…..did you see Coastal Stores have Bear Mountain and Golden Fire pellets on sale for 199/ton. That is a unheard of cheap price They say the sale will last all summer, but that is not certain. A&A Stoves in Tacoma want 288 a ton for the same thing…..and thats the sale price AND THATS A RIP OFF.
Has anyone used Natural Glow (Blue Mountain Pellets), if so how did they burn.
BEEN A CUSTOMER OF DRY CREEK FOR YEARS AND YES THE QUALITY HAS GONE DOWN. NEW ENGLAND PELLET CO OPENED LAST YEAR IN MY AREA PUSHING OUT OTHER BRANDS OF DEALERS ARE CARRYING. NE PELLETS ARE TERRIBLE BURNED 1/2 TON CLUNKERS WERE TERRIBLE AND HEAT WAS NOT GOOD AT ALL. DRY CREEK 08 $245 TON DRY CREEK 09 $280 WITH A BAD ECONOMY DOES THIS SEEM RIGHT? GAS IS CHEAPER AND EMPLOYMENT IS HIGH LOOKING FOR NEW BRAND NOW
Try PA Pellets if your from NY or PA. The cap lock key is right above the shift key on the right side of your keyboard
Has anyone had any experience with LG pellets. I used Instaheat last year and thought they were a little dirty. Used New England 2 years ago and that was pretty clean
We had a Whitfield that was 15 years old and last winter burned 5 tons of Golden Fire and Bear Mountain pellets. Liked then both. I changed to a Harmon stove as the Whitfield was a pain to clean and was wearing out. I ordered 5 tons of Natural Glow from Classic Heat in Gresham for $190.00 a ton.
Bill, when you get the chance , let me know how well Natural Glow burns and as to whether it is clean burning. I just bought 3 tons of Golden Fire at 235/ton in Seattle. I used Bear Mountain last year and they were leaps and bounds better than everyone else I tried (Lignetics, Armstrong, Blazer, Clean Burn)……..and ive heard that Bear Mountains other product “Golden Fire” is better than Bear Mountain itself.
Where did you buy pellets in Seattle ?
Marc
For anyone else not wanting the negative pellet stove experience, here’s some advice. When your buying a piece of equipment that has 2 fans, an auger, a number of limit switches, a computer circuit board and is going to burning in your home. Don’t buy it at Lowes, Home depot, ect.
You dealing with technology and fire. Buy it from a specialty retailer. They don’t sell garbage and they can help you diagnose problems.
We sell high end pellet stoves in my store. I can’t tell you how many people would come here to look and I wouldnt see them again for a couple of months. They would come in and ask if we could fix their Englander or other off brand they bought from a tractor store or lowes for $1800. The $500 they saved gets eaten up fast when I bill them $100 per hour (the going rate for home depot type stove repairs) plus parts.
If you want to burn pellets, buy a good stove from a fireplace shop, or don’t bother wasting your time.
Additionally. A decent stove makes little noise, are very little maintenance and the better ones have battery backup.
You can look at this example of the type of stove to buy if you want quality http://www.pelletstove.com
please folks, burn oil or gas before you burn home depot/walmart/lowes pellets. The big box stores have one criteria for what pellets they sell. The cheapest
Barefoot makes a good pellet
sadly bought my pellet stove in 08- then they now have taqx break–
surely could use that now– last august feul oil was over 4 gallon – cny
whatss person to do
frank why stay away fron new england pellets?/
was our local wal-mart today — nature heat pellets–6.50 bag-
Has anyone used North Idaho Pellets and/or Natural Glow. If so, did you like them?
Has anyone used North Idaho Pellets and/or Natural Glow. If so, did you like you have good luck with them
any one haveing problems with there Big E stove/
I just checked TSC pellet prices. They want $239.00 per ton. Last year they were $179.00. Natural gas prices are the lowest they have been in 5 years. I think I will pass on the wood pellets this year. Too much labor and the pellet makers are not going to bend me over for an extra $60 per ton over last year.
The Atlas pellet plant in Shelton, Washington puts out a decent product. I purchaced 2 tons at $220.00. They can be purchased through Peterson’s Stoves Plus in Shelton. They do not have storage room so you need to arrange to pick them up.
Hi Folks,
Anyone every use “Fiber Resources” pellets? It’s what my supplier is offering this year and I can’t find any comments on this brand.
Thanks in advance! Debra
Pellet prices are soaring!
Does anyone have any feedback about how well “Fiber Resources” pellets
burn?
I’ve had such bad bad results with OHP, the only brand I could get for four years, then last year was able to buy Nature’s Fuel..(good!) and really will never buy OHP again, even in a crunch. This year my supplier is carrying “Fiber Resources” and so I am curious to know your results using that brand. Hope someone can give me some feedback on this question.
Thanks for your time today,
Debra
Thank you Nicole, To tell you the truth I’m disappointed in the pricing of this years pellets..Last year Lowes had a summer price of 259.00 a ton in bags,,,this year no discount in the ton pricing just 5.97 a bag or 300.00 per ton …With oil at 2.00 to 2.25 a gal I find no savings in burning pellets..even last year at 259 + 15 a ton delivery i broke even…not including the cost of the stove…I hope that the increase cost of pellets is not going to kill the pellet industry like the coal businesses in the 90’s when the price of oil dropped
Please pass my feelings along to your upper management …Bill
— On Tue, 8/11/09, Nicole Cerna wrote:
From: Nicole Cerna
Subject: LIGNETICS OF WEST VIRGINIA
To: bpf1974@yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, August 11, 2009, 9:13 AM
Thank you for your interest in Lignetics Premium Wood Pellets. I have personally researched and located the closest dealer in your area.
Marlborough Ace Hardware
25 E. High St. #3-4-5
East Hampton, CT 06421-1001
(860) 267-7943
There are also sister stores to some of the Lowe’s and True Value warehouses, try checking your local Lowe’s and True Value stores and see when they will be receiving their loads from the warehouse. Also try Do-it-Best Centers and Ace Hardware stores, as well as any locally owed operations which purchase in bulk. There are also K-marts’ and Tractor Supply dealers that can be of assistance to when they will be receiving also.
If there is anything further I can help you with please feel free to contact me directly,
Thanks kindly,
Nicole Cerna
Administrative Assistant
Lignetics of West Virginia
Rt. 5 Gilmer County Industrial Park
Glenville, WV. 26430
(304) 462-4848 office
(304) 462-4852 fax
Are you looking for Lignetics only or other brands as well?
You could try http://www.btpellet.com in Bristol or
Blakeslee Pellet in MIddletown.
Agway gets pellets but they are usually pretty expensive.
I’ve been keeping my eye out to see hwat Home Depot gets in this year.
An early post asked about Okanagan. Any feedback? I was thinking of Barefoot, but can’t get a good price (also difficult to find). Trying to research Okanagan… Would love not to have to clean the stove every 5 days!!
Been “pelleting” for five years. Each year we get different pellets since we’re limited in this area ( Long Island, NY ) to just a couple of stores selling them. I just bought 2 tons of Tidy Timbers, never saw this brand but LOWES was selling them for $300/ton!
Just looking at them I feel like I’m heading into a long winter. Anybody know about these pellets?
I just read a review of the Tidy Timbers. The person writing said they ran out of the NE Wood Pellets they bought last year and bought the Lowe’s brand…They said they burned better and heated better than the NE’s….Which I just bought!! Oh well, will be anxious to hear how you make out this season. Please post and let us know.
I can get you PREMIUM pellets. 100 % GREEN Product
High BTU’s
Low Ash
0 fines
this prodcut can get wet
no wood allergy
Clean
Let me know if you are interested. I can deliver to you by the ton for $ 319.00 per ton.
Need a good price on hard wood pellets for the East End, North Fork, Long Island, NY area??
08/19/09 I paid $269/ton for New England Wood Pellets at Fireplace Showcase in Seekonk, Ma. They have a brand called “Inferno” which was formally Narragansett Pellet Company for $259/ton. I’m going to wait a year and see if I hear anything about the Inferno. Delivery for the 5 ton I bought was $125–Not bad. I’m hoping I made the right decision about the NE’s….Never burned them before, but heard they were a very good pellet….Price was right for August.
I tried Narragansett pellets. They would clog up my hopper because some of the pellets were very long. I’m curious if they corrected this woth the “Inferno” brand. I have a harman bottom feed stove. Maybe if you have a different stove they would work fine.
I also picked up 2 ton’s from there you here good and bad things about them? I like to use Bare Foot for two years they were A1. I went to Homedepot today in south attlebro mass they have pellets on sale ?269/ton so much off a ton up to $200.00off for 5 tons? They are selling fireside I have used them they are ok but it’s A good price I wish I held off hope this help’s some one out.
PS.it’s A 3 day sale……………………………………
Interesting. My Home depot is selling the Fireseide pellets for $299/ton. They have a sale. If you buy two tons you get $50 off. If you buy 3 tons you get $100 off. The pellets are Fireside and they are ok pellets.
I BUY THE INFERNO BRAND FOR WOOD PELLETS. THEY BURN WELL AND CLEAN. THEY TOOK OVER NARRAGANSETT PELLET AND FROM WHAT I HEAR, ARE DOING A GREAT JOB. I RECOMMEND THEM TO ALL PELLET USERS
I store my pellets in the garage. What I have is 2 large bins in which I am able to dump a full bag in each bin. This is easier for the family to scoop the pellets for the stove. But I beleve the best thing about doing it this way is that you can