Pennington Wood Pellets
Pennington pellets manufacture the Nature’s Heat line of pellets. There seemed to be many people that complained about the quality of these pellets in the past. Representatives from the company have stated any issues have been corrected. My advice would be to buy a few bags and give them a try before purchasing a ton.
Contact Info:
Pennington Wood Pellets
P.O. Box 290
Madison, GA 30650
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I have been burning Energx American super low ash. I have been very pleased with the performance of these pellets. How ever i estimated i needed 3 tons for the winter. But after further evaluation i need a forth ton.
So i went to Walmart and bout a 1/2 ton of the Pennington Natures Heat. I can say i noticed a big difference using this pellet. It produces more ash and lots of klinkers and not as much heat, not to mention they don’t last very long at all.. For the .25cents a bag i saved it is not worth it. Think i’ll stay with Energx
I agree! My neighbor and I bought these pellets at Wal-Mart and Sam’s club last year. We discovered that each bag has about 3-5 lbs. of fine particle waste. The fine particles clogged the augers and made it hard for the auto starter to ignite the fire.
The price was good but performance was not, other pellets, cubex, energex and New England have burned more efficiently with less ash and warmer fire.
i sold these and i will never sell them again the company is koetter and smith junk
BW, where are you selling these pellets? Did you buy them direct or through a distributor?
THESE WERE VERY GOOD I HAD NO PROBLEM WITH THEM.
I noticed this year that Home Depot is selling Pennington pellet and they avg in size about 3/8th of inch. There is way too much the size about a 1/2 a green pea. Also the longer ones are falling apart. The other thing I experience is the Home Depot mixed the 40 lb bags up from my previous experience and getting “”"”"”Premium HARD wood”"”"”" with bags of “”"”"”"Wood BLend”"”"”"”" which one of my pellet stove says use only hard wood. Again I didn’t notice the difference of the similar bag till I got home.
ashes galore,dust in bags,low btu,burnt out fan motors.bought 5 ton,burn’t 2…home depot is picking up Saturday,call pennington talk to Heather at 1800-285-seed …..Lots of Concern but seems like everyone is co-operating.
Bought 11 bags as a trial and am very glad that I did. The pellets are terrible: MUCH more ash, many klinkers, and burn far too quickly. Will not purchase Pennington again.
I bought 5 ton of the dirty soft wood…They are not from central pa ,cause Dave reese makes the best and burn super clean,…Now i have 3 ton and home depot’s picking the up…..Burnt out a motor,anyone else
I also bought penningtons from lowes. my first 10 bags on my new stove no less.. If you smell the pellet you’ll find that it smells like cardboard. I don’t think cardboard burns to hot. Maybe it’s me..
I bought a pellet stove a few months ago. I was told all about how clean they burn, all the heat they produce. They do burn clean, and they put out alot of heat….as long as you have the right pellet. I bought a ton of Pennington Pellets,,,,BAD CHOICE. lots of ash, dirty glass on the stove, and they burn up very fast.
Last year I burned the Wall-Mart Future Fuel pellets, and had no problem. This year they changed to Pennington and have had nothing but problems. they average 2-3 inches in length, jam up in the auger, dumping a load of pellets into the tray and put out the fire. I’m loading up the rest of the ton I bought and returning them to Wall Mart. Now looking for a better brand or a dealer for Future Fuel. I would like to know where to buy the Energx.
I purchased the Natures Heat from Pennington a couple of weeks ago, and all I can say is DONT!! I have a stove full of ash in three days, rather than in two weeks, they put our a lot less heat (almost a 50 degree difference from ozark), and burn and start HORRIBLY!! Unfortunately I cannot take these pellets back to the store, so I have been mixing in 25% corn with the pellets to get them to burn even close to okay. So a word of advice from a friend, dont EVER buy Pennington pellets, its not worth it.
I just baught eight 40 lb bags of Pennington “Natures Heat ” pellets at Wal-Mart in Riverhead Long Island. They light miserably and dont stay lit HORRIBLE HORRIBLE. A storm is approching and now Im screwed
To anyone who has had any issues with Pennington Natures Heat pellets.
Please contact Randy Osborn at rosborn@pennigtonseed.com or call 1-800-277-1412 ext 374. If there is a bad batch of pellets, which it sound like there is, have handy the store it was purchased at, and look at the bag that the pellets are packed in and see if there is a batch code embossed just above where the bag is sealed. If there is no date let Randy know that also.
We will help you……….
Dave Alger
Plant Manager
Pennington Seed Pellet div. dalger@penningtonseed.com
I baught 41/2 tons of pennington pellets from Sams club in Scarborough maine. thay are terrible. Fines, dust, some won’t burn, sometimes go out, etc. some of them look like pressed mud. I am verry dissapointed with them.
thank you
L. C. Withee
I thought pellets are pellets. So when Home Depot came out with a hot steaming deal – I bought 6 tons. So far I have burned about 1.5 tons and have had nothing but problems. The fuel forms clinkers and wont burn unattended for more than 24 hours. I have to constantly shut down the machine and increase the frequency of flue and stove clean out. I guess you get what you pay for.
I too bought some at Sams in Scarborough and the first ton was fine, but after that, they are black. They not only soot up my glass but I just found a fire pot full of pellets and pellets on the outside, like they just wouldn’t burn! I’m writing the company. We burned them last year with no problems…loved them infact.
Last year I bought Bio-plus pellets from Walmart and was very pleased with them. This year Walmart carried Pennington pellets, I wish I would have bought a few bags instead of 2 tons. They don’t start very good at all, it takes about 3-4 minutes to start burning, and when they do start to burn it takes awhile for the flame to get big. The other pellets started to burn in about 1 minute and took off with a very big flame right away. Last year I emptied my ash pan 2 all winter (Nov-April.) This year I started burning some of the leftover Bio-plus,(I bought 4 ton last year and had 53 bags left for this year), when I brought home the pennington pellets I started burning them, I have emptied my ash pan 2 times already, I even had to turn down my feed rate to 2, otherwise the pellets just burn up like paper. The Bio-PLus pellets I ran it on 4 all winter.Once in awhile the auger gets plugged and the stove shuts off with the Pennington pellets. These pellets are just terrible. I first seen them at walmart in Oct for $4.95 a bag, I then went in Nov and they had been marked down to $3.50 a bag, if they would be 1.00 a bag that would be too much. Do yourself a favor and don’t buy Pennington Pellets!!!
Hi,
I have been burning pellets for over 17yrs now. This yr I purchased a ton of
Pennington pellets from the Lowe’s in Winchester, KY. They are by far the worst pellets I have ever burned. They produce a ton of ash and a much smaller flame than I’m used to. Maybe I should have noticed there was no actual ash percentage on the bags. The best pellets I have ever burned were from the west coast called Golden Fire.
Thanks, Phil
This is the first year I have been burning pellets. I have burned ProPellet Brand from TSC, Pennington and Valcon from Lowes and have had good luck with the Pennington’s and the ProPellet brands.
Pennington must had a bad batch it seems they all ended up at Wal-mart and since been pulled.
Last years 06 pellets were great
Thanks to all for your comments. If we had a bad batch that got out please contact us we will make it right wth you. We value your bussiness and your feed back.
I am still here and moitoring for Pennington Pellets I will say again if you have any issues with Pennington Pellets please contact Randy Osborn at rosborn@pennigtonseed.com or call 1-800-277-1412 ext 374.
If there is a bad batch of pellets, which it sound like there is, have handy the store it was purchased at, and look at the bag that the pellets are packed in and see if there is a batch code embossed just above where the bag is sealed. If there is no date let Randy know that also.
We will help you……….
Dave Alger
Plant Manager
Pennington Seed Pellet div. dalger@penningtonseed.com
I am glad to see Pennington Co. wants to stand behind there product.I too have purchased a ton from Lowes and found that they are hard to start and my burn temps have dropped 30-40 deg.F.The ash deposits have stayed minimal though.It is refreshing to see product support. Last year Wal-Marts handled red & white bags of pellets from an Arkansas Co.and the company correspondance was terrible.I wish I had UPC #’s for you Dave to try and track your pellets.I have since gone to Team Green from Fort Garards, Pa. or Lignetics and the burn temp’s and ash deposits are great.I would suggest that pellets are rated by the national pellet fuel society is not all it is cracked up to be.
Very interesting discussion. Because pellets were difficult to find last heating season, in August (August 2007) I purchased three tons of Pennington premium pellets from Lowe’s in Cincinnati Ohio. I’m now about halfway through my first ton and each and every bag I’ve used so far contained a very large volume of fines (sawdust). The pellets seem difficult to start and when burned (in my just-cleaned Harmon insert), the ash forms into lava like chunks (rather than fine ash). I’ve never had these problem with any other pellets I’ve used and I’m not looking forward to the prospect of having to sift out the fines on the remaining 2.5 tons of pellets sitting in my garage. On the bags, it states that the pellets were manufactured by Pennington Seed, Madison GA, 30605. I haven’t yet found any code embossed on the bag but the UPC code on each bag is 3372960192. The pellets were shipped to Lowe’s in Cincinnati from PENNINGTON PELLET-184 WILSON MILL RD, MONTICELLO AR 71655. I have the UPC codes on the shipping lables (contained on the skids) if that would be of some help.
Bob Keenan– Bob, I’m sorry that you’re also experiencing the problems. I left a voice mail with Randy Osborn at Pennington yesterday but he has not yet returned my call.
The pellets you guys are selling are priced to high. You will soon see that people will start using something else. that is what I will be doing.
Im having EXACTLY the same problem J Hurrell has posted.
My Bags are imbossed
0926
1071
Wal-Mart in Riverhead Long Island (NY)
What I’m noticing is all these Pennington bags have rows large pinholes punched 1-3/4 inches apart top to bottom on the sides of the bags as if some conveyor or packing system poked them.
I’m not an expert but I think they are picking up moisture, this falling apart, sawdust, hard lighting.
Shouldnt these bags be waterproof ?
-Joe
i had to try the Pennington pellets.I bought three bags to try this weekend and they are’nt very good. I tried them because the Cincinnati Lowes and Home Depots are loaded with them and I need 9 tons for me and my neighbors.I use 180 bags a year {oct. to may}Sorry Dave alger and Randy O i hope you read this and improve your product.I’m calling the Home Depots and Lowes and asking them to go back to the Ozark Hardwood Products pellet. I Bought 7 ton last year,very clean burning pellet.I called Ozark friday to see who is carrying them.We also have Somerset Pellets in our area,they are pretty good too.I guess its all about proximity for the manufacturers.Any other good pellet in Cincy area i’d like to hear about them
I too stumbled apon these posts by accident after purchasing 2 tons of Pennington pellets from our local Walmart in northern Maine. Having all the same issues, hard starting, dirty burn and the hopper keeps jamming like a bstrd!! Have to keep babysitting it to make sure the fire does not go out…Also tried to contact Randy Osbourne at Pennington and left a message….2 days still and no call back….hope he wasn’t just “blowing smoke” in the above post about the fixing the situation. As I am new to the whole pellet stove trend and there is little to choose from when it comes to pellets, I will gladly look elsewhere when it comes to my pellet needs if I do not resolve this and keep having problems with the pellets. Also noticed that there was NO production number on the bags and also little holes on each side of the bags by the top, along with about 5-7 bags that got dumped because the sides were not sealed right!!!! If I get a resolution from Randy @ Pennington, I will keep everyone posted…..
call courtney @ pennington pellets 1800-285-seed…I am dealing with her now…They do play stupid and tell everyone theye have no complaints with bad pellets…Blowing hot air up your but.File a civil complaint against them if they do not co-operate,call consumer protection and they wil investigate,contact the better buisness bureau,Im from pa.bought 5 ton ,burnt out the blower because of the fine dust…These are soft wood pellets from the south and they buy from different company’s….But they should not be deceitful or you can sue for 3 times the damages in some states…I think they will take care of us…..
Anyone use Marth, from Marth Wood Shavings? I have been using the pennington and have had very mixed bags. I will be contacting Randy tomorrow with my info. There is a 90 degree difference from bag to bag. I would rather less heat if it was consistent.
I bought a ton of Pennington pellets and am also having problems. VERY DIRTY!! I now have a severe dust problem in my home when I burn the Pennington Pellets. I also have another brand I am using and it does not cause the dust problem.
Anyone else have issues with dust?
I purchased three tons of Pennington Natures Heat pellets from Home Depot in Johnson City, NY and have also found them to burn poorly. The first ton wasn’t as bad as the last two. The second had about 15 bags with clumpy puffed up pellets, and the third was almost completely frozen solid with moisture in the bags. I had to return the third ton to the store. Luckily then exchanged them for me. Now the exchanged bags have caused a greater problem. Somehow a piece of what appears to be a rubber conveyor belt was in one of the bags and caused my auger to become jammed. I had to have my stove serviced which cost me $100.00 an hour labor charge just to get up and running again. I still have about 40 bags left in this ton and I am very hesitant to put them in my stove. I will hopefully be making contact with the Pennington Rep ASAP.
I used pennington pellets and they burn very well in a Bixby stove. I do not understand any poor raitings. They are clean, they light well, there size is perfect for the bixby.
Issues have been brought up in this Blog about the quality of Pennington Wood Pellets. Concerns have ranged from how well they burn, the amount of ash and clinkers they produce, the presence of long pellets, and an excess of fines or dust in the bag. The fact that many of you have encountered problems with our pellets is very concerning to us and we would like to work with you to resolve them. Some background – Pennington has five wood pellet plants in the East and Midwest of the US. The pellet mills in Missouri and Virginia have been in operation for many years and make an excellent product. In the last 12 months, three new pellet mills have been built to help alleviate the pellet shortages from previous years. We have experienced some quality problems from these plants as they were started up. Pennington Seed has high standards for all of their products, and we regularly test our wood pellets for ash, length, fines, and BTU. Despite these tests and our best efforts, it appears some sub-standard pellets from these new plants made it into the marketplace. If you have recently purchased Pennington Wood Pellets and not satisfied with them, you can contact Customer Service at 1-800-658-0410 or email mauge@penningtonseed.com. Please note the lot number on the bag (usually embossed near the top seal of the bag), where and when you bought them, and what the issues are with the product. Below are some comments concerning other questions raised by several Bloggers: Pellet storage – When possible, store wood pellets inside, out of the weather. If kept dry pellets can be stored from season to season. If this is not possible and you must store outside, keep product off the ground to prevent moisture from wicking from below, and cover with a tarp to protect from rain, snow and sun. Small holes in bags – The small holes along the top seal are added to assist bagging and palletizing of the product during the manufacturing process. These holes allow air to escape after sealing. In the absence of these holes, the trapped air would blow-out the seals when product is stacked on a pallet. Brands – Bio Plus and Nature’s Heat are both manufactured by Pennington. Nature’s Heat is a new brand launched in 2007 and is meant to replace the older Bio-Plus brand. Customer Service – Pennington Seed
We bought the Pennington wood pellets also, We have had a pellet stove for 20 years, burned alot of different pellets, but never have we had any this bad. DO Not Recommend these. Ash is horrible, Dusty,bad heat,cleaning stove daily,fire pot is always plugged,Walmart should return all of them. Our pellets have black spots all over them in the bags. Anyone else see this ? No code on bags,we”ll see what the company has to offer,let all of you know if they get back to me, Thanks betty
i work for a pennington pellet mill and not all pennington pellets are what you say some are not the best but i have talked to countless people the say they wouldnt buy any other pellets then penningtons fuel cause of the problems they are having with others pellets and the ash content and plastic deposits left at the bottom of their stoves but yet alot of you have down penningtons cause you got a bad bag or something all i can say is try some of the others and see the results
Well,
I sent in a copy of the receipt and an empty bag back to Randy Osborne, he seems to have known about the pellets….haven’t heard back yet so I don’t know if they are going to refund or what is going on….if I had bought 2 bags I would have chalked it up to a lesson learned but 2 tons is hard money to a struggling couple with 3 kids…LOL….and James…..oh James oh James, if you are going to post on here ESPECIALLY to represent a large company like Pennington PLEASE work on your GRAMMAR!!! Your whole post was a continuous run on sentence and did not represent Pennington very well!!!!! ( Sorry, no offense intended, just a piece of advice and my lit major talking)
This is a reminder message that we are still actively viewing the posts here. Some may not want to have to read all the way through all of the posts so we’ve decided to repeat what we have said and PROMISE to stand by just as a reminder.
Issues have been brought up in this Blog about the quality of Pennington Wood Pellets. Concerns have ranged from how well they burn, the amount of ash and clinkers they produce, the presence of long pellets, and an excess of fines or dust in the bag. The fact that many of you have encountered problems with our pellets is very concerning to us and we would like to work with you to resolve them.
Some background – Pennington has five wood pellet plants in the East and Midwest of the US. The pellet mills in Missouri and Virginia have been in operation for many years and make an excellent product. In the last 12 months, three new pellet mills have been built to help alleviate the pellet shortages from previous years. We have experienced some quality problems from these plants as they were started up. Pennington Seed has high standards for all of their products, and we regularly test our wood pellets for ash, length, fines, and BTU. Despite these tests and our best efforts, it appears some sub-standard pellets from these new plants made it into the marketplace.
If you have recently purchased Pennington Wood Pellets and not satisfied with them, you can contact Customer Service at 1-800-658-0410 or email mauge@penningtonseed.com or mauge@central.com. Please note the lot number on the bag (usually embossed near the top seal of the bag), where and when you bought them, and what the issues are with the product.
Below are some comments concerning other questions raised by several Bloggers:
Pellet storage – When possible, store wood pellets inside, out of the weather. If kept dry pellets can be stored from season to season. If this is not possible and you must store outside, keep product off the ground to prevent moisture from wicking from below, and cover with a tarp to protect from rain, snow and sun.
Small holes in bags – The small holes along the top seal are added to assist bagging and palletizing of the product during the manufacturing process. These holes allow air to escape after sealing. In the absence of these holes, the trapped air would blow-out the seals when product is stacked on a pallet.
Brands – Bio Plus and Nature’s Heat are both manufactured by Pennington. Nature’s Heat is a new brand launched in 2007 and is meant to replace the older Bio-Plus brand.
Pennington Seed Customer Service 800-658-0410 ext. 190 & 187
I live in Colorado and have burned many brands of wood pellets over the past years. Most of them are made from pines. I stumbled into a batch of Bio Plus by Pennington (Madison, Georgia) during 2007sold by Home Depot and I will have to say that they are one of the BEST brands yet. These have burned hotter than any of the pine types because as the white bags state they are made from hardwoods. I have only been able to find one other brand that equals this and it was a tan bag with a beaver logo from the Ozarks. It too is made of hardwood saw dust. I keep track of the temperature inside by placing an oven thermometer towards the front area away from direct flames and can say that under the same settings and outside conditions it will be 100-150 degress hotter and the same ash content as the others. I wish all the manufacturers would be required to state the actual BTU/weight output so we could actually be able to compare the different brands.
……Still NO reply from Randy at Pennington….I realize he is a busy man but it has been DAYS…..still uncertain about outcome! Has anyone heard back on their situation yet????
I tired of writing letter’s to Pennington. I get the same response asking for the number on the bag then a post appears here with SOMEBODY else to contact.
Dave Alger did return one letter I went nuts looking for the bags and number’s havent hear a word since.
This is going on 8 weeks and Winter is now almost over !
This “contact of the week” is “mauge@penningtonseed.com” Im sick and tired of this !
IM JUST NOT BUYING ANY MORE PENNINGTON PRODUCTS THESE PEOPLE ARE VERY DISORGINIZED or think we are all stupid !!
THEY NEED TO TELL THERE RETAILORS “STORE IN A DRY PLACE” …..PUT IT ON THAT BAG in ENGLISH (AND SPANISH IF THERE GOING TO WAL-MART. !!)
These holes in the bag have to go as well, pellets should be dried befor packing !!
WE THE CONSUMERS WE KNOW KNOW TO STORE THEM !
Well,
Received a call from Pennington today from Becky, they have cut a check refunding for the 2 tons of pellets that were bad. Sorry you are not having any luck Joe, did you try to CALL Randy O. at ext 374?? He seems to know what is going on and it may take a bit for him to get back to you but they resolved my issue and my faith in large companies…..quality control was an issue but customer relations is a must, and they pulled through with me!! I would say keep at it and keep calling Randy, good luck all!!
Good to their promise, Pennington Seed Inc. refunded my money today for the problematic pellets I purchased last summer. In an age when there’s far too little corporate willingness to stand behind products, Pennington’s response was truly refreshing and I congratulate them for their corporate integrity. I’m especially thankful to Peggy in Customer Service for her courtesy and helpfulness. I’ll most certainly give Pennington the “benefit of the doubt” in my next pellet purchase.
Thank you Pennington Co. for you past posted customer services.You should bo commended for your product support and information you have posted on this site.Your products will still be a viable purchase option in my future pellet purchases.I would still be interested to know from a previous comment what the dark particles are in some hardwood pellet products.[Green Team, Lignetics, etc.] Yours are always tan in color with no dark particles. Thanks, Timothy Graham
All I have to say is DON’T purchased Pennington Pellets. I have had several issues with my Harmon Pellet stove in the last few weeks. I changed back to the pellets that I burned before and have had no problems at all since.
I purchased pennington pellets from Lowe’s in Cincinnati (Ridge) and have had absolutely no problems. I’m burning them in a 17 year old Vermont Castings Pellet stove.
I bought 3 bags of CLEAN ENERGY pellets in blue&white bags from LOWES. They burnt great, but when I went back to get more, all they had was Pennington Nature’s Heat pellets. I needed some, so I bought three bags.
As I was dumping a bag into my furnace, I noticed something shiny….I found a 2.5″ long #10 self-tapping machince screw with a big fender washer head…brand new and shiny….in the bag.
Man, that would have buggered up my auger for sure!
I found the LOT NUMBER info near the seal of the bag, two sets of 4 digits as follows:
0104
1081
The lot numbers are actually “dimpled” into the plastic, not applied with ink or something.
I have had hit & miss lick with Lignetics. Some bags burn great, but some (the ones with an extra “California” text area) don’t burn well at all.
(American Harvest 6220)
Karl F.
Another victim of poor quality control I see. I had a piece of conveyor belt in one of my bags of Pennington and had to have my stove repaired. Submitted a bag to Pennington and was told that my claim has been forwarded to customer service. Still haven’t heard anything about that one.
Brian
I used some of the Pennington pellets I bought from Sams in Cheyenne. They burned good, no problems except more ash and dirtier glass than the WOW pellets I’m using now. They did seem to give more heat.
We used 1 tom of Pennington that worked great. Got them from Walmart. Walmart has run out of them and we are using Sparkman premium wood pellets. They are terrible. We are having the same problems others had with the Penningtons early on. High ash, low BTU and burning up fast. They seems to ignite ok. We have tried Dry Creek which did very well. They are from Arcade NY.
Thanks for the information. I want to buy in quantity from the manufacturer or a local distributor for next year.
Ok, I got the Pennington’s in Colorado at Sams Club.
The best heat and no ash to speak of.
Ran out and got some Heaters and have to dump large klinkers every day!
The stove shuts down…. Dry climate and stored in a garage.
I will try to get the Pennington’s again next season.
I looking for the best buy on Pennington pellets i have burnt them they are awsome and very few ashes. Is there a deal a person can get on them on the off season when you buy like 10 to 12 tons or not. Iam hoping so would like to stock up for winter.
Update on Bio-Plus versus Nature’s Heat: I’m having much better luck with Bio-Plus. The stove has not jammed or shut down at all. The ash and build up in the burn pot has been less than Nature’s Heat. I would be interested to hear from Pennington. What’s the difference? I thought Nature’s Heat replaced Bio-Plus. If that’s the case, in my opinion, Nature’s Heat is not an improvement.
Has anyone used Heartland? I just put in my order for next year and ordered 1 pallet.
I Just stumbled upon this site while trying to find some information on Pennington pellets.
I Just purchased 20 bags at Lowes in Killingly, CT. I bought these as pellets are getting hard to find and I was out.
The thought that Pennington is trying to stand behind thier product is great, and I will give input as I use the pellets.
My first thought when I opend and dumped the first bag is that there was a LOT, I mean a LOT of sawdust compared to other brands.
I checked the bags, and there is NO indication of any date codes or anything of the sort anywhere on the bag.
Not at all happy with Pennington pellets. The amount of fine dust is atrocious. I went to pellets from cordwood in part due to the mess involved with cordwood. These Pennington pellets are terrible for dust. I could not make more of a mess in the livingroom if I cleaned the stove by brushing it onto the floor.
The pellets burn considerably cooler than others I have used, and when I shut the stove down, the pellets remaining in the burn pot just stay there, a bit charred, but not burnt.
I got terrific hard residue on all sides of my burn pot after only two bags. I had to chip if free in ored to cleant the burn pot. The residue covered a good 1/4 of my air holes near the auger.
The ash produced by the Pennignton pellets is very coarse and crystalized together forming a sloid mass preventing the ash from falling away or into the ash pan.
I cannot comment on the amount of ash compared to other brands as the Pennington pellets are so bad in other respects that I am returning 18 of 20 bags tomorrow.
I am supposed to be getting money back for the 2 tons of Pennington pellets I bought. Not a full refund buy money back. They made me send in a back and a couple handfulls of pellets to show how much dust was in the bags. I will never buy Pennington Pellets again even after the refund.
I E-mailed Pennington, to all of the addresses listed on this site. I got a canned reply.. send the Original reciept, send a complete bag, How many of my bags had sawdust etc..
No mention as to the burn quality or other problems I mentioned.
I have returned the pellets as faulty.NOT as unwanted.
I am also sending my complaint with Pennington quality to Lowes and other retailers that carry thses poor quaility pellets.
It seems that Pennington is not serious about solving the problems as long as they have such a large market thru the major big box stores they can continue to profit by selling inferior pellets to the multitude who do not know the difference.
Hi Dennis I myself decided to stay away from Pennington, just because there seems to be a lot of people that have had issues with there pellets. This year I am going to go with LG granuals unless I start hearing bad things about them. I’m going to be ordering 4 tons next week, so if someone out there has had issues with them I would really appreciate input.
On another note….. What are people doing to get rid of fines? The guy that setup my new Harman XXV recommended that I sift the bags before pouring them in to the hopper. He said that I should never pour directly from the bag in to the hopper.
How are people getting rid of the fines?
We just recieved our Breckwell Big E stove from Novel’s Stoves.com. They had a good price and shipped from Washington state to Buxton Maine for free!
Just put 2 tons of Pennington pellets in the celler. We got them @ Sam’s Club for $204.50/ ton. This is by far the best price I’ve found in this area but I hope its not a mistake. Some of the bags were getting skewered by the fork truck when pushing the pallet to the front of the truck but they immediately replaced with new bags. I’m keeping my fingers crossed on these pellets. Being new to pellet burning I’m hesitant to go back for more untill I try them. But I can say that I’m impressed with Penningtons contribution to this forum although it is prudent for them to defend themselves. Our bags have a white sticker with the lot # and the pellets are dry, deep tan color with no black spots, however, some are 1 3/8″ long (is this common?). Hope the new stove can chew them up. The perferations in the bag make sence for shipping but I’d suggest a vacume sealing system instead. I think that all pellet manufactures should be required to list the exact ash content on every bag, perhaps with the garanteed size.
We slid the stove where the old wood stove was in the celler and now on venting and could use some help. The existing chimny is 20 feet tall and has a 6″ rigid stainless liner. I’m hoping that I can increase from 3″ out of the stove and plug into the chimny as is. I’ve contacted Breckwell, a few dealers and a couple users and no one agrees on if this would be fine or if I should reline with 4″ flex. BTW…We are only 250′ above sea level. Thoughts????
Fred- Thanks for the feed back. Who carries the Cubex? I’m going for more Penningtons. Still $205 at Sam’s in Scarborough. Call ahead because they sell the truck within a day after they arrive. Cash and carry only. I can’t believe how hard it is to get them in Maine!!!!! If someone set up 10 trucks at the mall parking lot they would make a killing. Bring a truck load of stoves while your at it.
Feels good knowing my heating cost for this winter is somewhat fixed!
I purchased Pennington’s Natures Heat from my local Wal-Mart. What I found was the pellets in bags that did not have a lot# sticker on them were dark in color and short in length and left softball sized klinkers per bag ( I burn nonstop once heating season starts). I found that the bags with lot# stickers on them had light colored, shiny, good length pellets. Those bags produced minimal ash and a few dime sized klinks. I did contact Pennington, even sent a picture of the bad batch klinker…they responded and would refund me. Unfortunately I didn’t have the receipts for the 25 bags of bad batch so I let it go. After that I burned 2 tons of Pennington with no problems. I have no qualms opening a bag of pellets to inspect them now. I will burn Pennington again as long as I don’t find those dark small pellets in their bags!!!
First, I have read the WHOLE blog!!
First time user of pellet heat. We’ll see how this winter goes.
I live in NH and am on a list at my local Agway. The pellets will not be in till Sept. I would prefer to have them now, since no one seems to have pellets.
I understand the issues with Pennington Natures Heat. BUT!!!!
I heard my local Sam’s club has Pennington N’sH now! and they are much cheaper then the ones I am waiting for.
Question is. Has Pennington fixed the issue yet?????
Tough question to answer in the middle of summer I know.
Thanks for any & all input.
As for Pelletsales.com, They are in my back yard and were the most expensive, and furthiest out on delivery date.
Wow, am I ever ever glad I found this site!! We just ordered a Harmon XXV last week, it will be installed mid September. We generally don’t even turn on our furnace till end of Sept. Have NEW basement under house & put infloor radiant heat in that, then pellet stove for main floor. NOt even re-installing our LP furnace. Est. costs for LP this year: $2700 for same amt of gas we used last year! At that rate, the pellet stove & infloor investment will pay for itself in 3-4 years tops!
So the company we are buying the stove from stocks 5 different brands and the only one here I’ve read a lot about is Pennington. Not going to go with that, even *if* they’ve fixed last year’s problems. Just don’t wanna chance it right away. We’ll see.
Here are the other brands they offer & am wondering if any body’s used these & what their experience was:
-Fuel King going for $179/ton
-Michigan Wood Pellets for $189/ton
-Dejnos Wood Pellets for $189/ton
-Pennington’s for $219/ton
-Uncle Jed’s Cold Remedy for $265/ton
This place has assured me that we can try out all 5 brands, if necessary, before deciding what to fill the rest of our 3-ton order with. And in fact, they let you mix it up if you want, use a cheaper one at start of season when high heat isn’t crucial & move to a better quality one for worst of winter, then back down, etc. They also assure me that they do not “run out” of any brands during the winter…. I sure hope not b/c this “guarantee” pricing and availability is why we bought from this particular company to begin with. They sell to their own customers primarily, if you didn’t buy your stove from them, I hear you pay higher prices and don’t get guarantees of availability…
So if anybody has any comments on the other brands, I’d appreciate any feedback. We live in SW Wisconsin & have a 110+ year old farm house w/ 2 additions on it (about 1/3 of the house has a 2nd story, currently not in use) could use some better insulation under siding but otherwise in pretty decent shape now that we have full, new basement under us!
I would like to comment on the Pennington pellets from last year. I initailly purchased about 1/2 ton from Walmart and they were great. Later in the season I purchased about another 1/2 ton that were terrible, basically unusable. I contacted Penninton by phone and they were fantastic! I forwarded them the receipt from Walmart and they sent me a check for each and every bag that was bad. There is definately something to be said about that kind of customer service in this day and age. This year they sent me a letter and told me how to get a free bag of their pellets to try before I buy again. They informed me that they are aware of the bad batch and it will not happen again this year.
Just an FYI for everyone.
I have been using Pennington pellets for the five years that I have had my stove and have been happy with the results. The stove manufacture said that I could burn corn also, but in trying, all it did was clog up the auger and the burn pot. Mixing the corn and pellets did not work either.
The only suggestion I can think of to alleviate issues is to inspect the bags you are going to buy. I buy by the ton and hand load in my truck and I don’t accept any that are wet. You can also feel the amount of sawdust in each bag. I also store the pellets in the garage on a storage rack to keep them off of the concrete floor.
There is an article in the Wall Street Journal today about the popularity of pellet stoves with the national average price of $250 a ton. This is less than I have been paying and I am shopping around for a cheaper price.
We just purchased 3 ton of the Natures Heat Pennington pellets this year from Lowes. 5.97 per bag. No deals for purchasing by the pallet. Usually it is a little cheaper.I hope we don’t have the same problem as alot of people had last year. The plant that made the pellets was in Madison GA. We live in Massachusetts.The pellets were very hard to come by as well. Constant calling , and selling out 29 ton in 30 minutes. I didn’t even ask about the brand we were getting. We really liked the Green Team in past use.
I bought 5 tons of Pennington pellets natures heat made in Madison GA. No embossed markings on bags. I bought them through Home Depot in upstate NY. I wish i had known about this web site before aquiring these pellets. Pennington has told me to try burning a bag and if there are issues they will reimburse me the $279 a ton plus delivery charge. Should any damage occur to my 2 stoves they will pay for repair. I burnt 3 tons of fireside ultra premium last year and was very satisfied. I openned a bag and the pellets were 2 inches long and there was a lot of sawdust.
I have burned several brands and have found that the way they are handled makes all the difference in the amount of ‘fines’. One brand (I don’t recall which- not Penningtons) had over 50# of fines per ton. I know this because I run all my pellets through a sifter to eliminate MOST of the fines. I made a sifter out of wood and metal screen. The pellets then drop into a 5gal pail and th efines drop into another one.
The Pennington pellets from Lowes in Shakopee,MN were $156 a ton ($3.14 per 40#) last Jan. but they started stocking their spring stuff and didn’t have any more after that. I didn’t ask the brand name yesterday, but they quoted me $5.97 a 40# bag YIKES! Here in MN I burned about 6 tons last winter (2007-2008)
The pallets that were loaded directly onto my trailer were great- low amounts of fines. The pallets I got from inside the store were a mess. It had been re-stacked apparently by gorillas who just threw the bags onto the pallet.
The holes in the bags are from the robot that stacks the bags onto the pallets. They have little grippers on the robot arms that pick up and orientate the bag and set it on the pallet.
The stuff from Fleet Farm in Lakeville was $3.80 a bag last year and had 60 bags per pallet. Lots of dust fines and ash.
Pellets are almost impossible to come by in Central, MA as of mid September. We ordered 4 tons of the Pennington’s Nature’s Heat from Lowe’s @ $298/ton (which is currently a steal)….however they delivered 2 tons of Nature’s Heat and 2 tons of “Tidy Timbers’ wood pellets out of Arkansas? Any comments ?????
Just bought pellets in PA for 222 a ton Pennington Pellets. Hope they are ok this year. Read some horror stories from 2007 with these things.
Jon,
Re: Connecting to existing chimney.
I looked into this extensively. Most will say to line your chimney with 3″ all the way up. Its hard to find anyone to suggest otherwise with confidence for good reason. Its importand to have a good draft to prevent gas leakage into your living space. These stoves don’t create allot of draft on there own because they don’t expell much heat. In my case I already lined my 20′ chimny with 6″ rigid stainless a few years ago and decided to give it a try as is. Working fine so far. The liner reduced the effective cross section of the chimny enough. They suggest stainless because the gasses are corrosive and will destroy anything else and create leaks. In deciding what to do, look at what affects your chimneys draft. Consider your elevation above sea level and what happends when the wind blows. There is more to it but you should be able to find info on line. If your susseptable to down drafts go with 3″. I got my stainless from Bernard Dalsin Co. ( I think I spelled that right). They are the manufacturer but will sell to you if you call in a credit card order. You can find a catalog on line. Best prices i’ve found, know what you want when you call.
Burned 3 bags of Penningtons so far and they seem to work fine although I haven’t tried anything else yet. One strange thing….I detected a very slight popcorn smell in the house. Its a new stove (Breckwell Big-E) and may be its break-in syndrome? Could there be corn cobs in the mix and why would that be a bad thing?
Funny i find bad news 2 days after i buy pennington pellets, not much choice at this late stage of the buying game . No one seems to have pellets.
Beggers cant be chosers.
Hopfully i”ll be ok.I did call the factory and i was told pennington changed the sawdust from last year. lets hope for the best!
Have a great winter!!!
I bought 15 bags of Pennington Nature’s Heat pellets from Wal Mart in Rutland VT a few weeks ago. I read the bad reviews after I bought them of course. This is my first pellet stove so I wanted to try a bunch of brands. I Tried the Pennington Pellets last night and didn’t have any problems. They started up ok and burned well, good heat output. I ran the stove for about 8 hours with the Natures Heat Pellets with no problems. Hopefully is was just a bad batch in 2007.
Freedom Fuel from the Home Depot also burned pretty good, no complaints.
A couple of weeks ago we bought 2 tons of Pennington’s at our local hardware store. After buying them I read this webpage
They have alot of fines in each bag – enough to cause feeding problems. They burn very poorly and create alot of ash & clinkers. I cleaned the burnpot at 11pm and went to bed. At 10am the burn pot was FULL of clinkers and the freshly fed pellets were jammed up in the feed tube! We’ve burnied OHP pellets and never had anything like this happen with the OHP’s
In the interest of not burning our house down I’m taking the pellets back for a refund. Home Depot has OHP and Future Fuel this year. I’m going to buy more OHP which burns great in our stove. The Pennington’s are 225 per ton and OHP’s are 279/tom. I don’t really see any cost savings with Pennington’s
Looks like Pennington’s was having peoblems last year and from my expirience they are still having problems. My advice is be carefull when considering buying Pennington pellets.
I also noticed that the bags that OHP uses are more fragile than other pellet producers bags. I too would like to see them use a higher mil bag but all things considered they are a good pellet. When I consider my expieience with Pennington’s I’m not complaining about OHP’s bags.
FWIW the Pennington pellets that I had trouble with were mfg on 8/29/2008 so it looks like their problems are recurring for this year’s batch too. aGAIN, BE CAREFULL WHEN CONSIDERING BUYING PENNINGTON PELLETS.
Loren
I bought 4 tons of pellets this year, Lowes clean energy, pennington seed, green team and one local brand. the pennington seed burn fine in my stove England stove works 2200 sq foot model, yes, they have more sawdust in the bag or fines, and dont burn quite as hot, about a 1-2 degree difference in my home, not a huge deal, the blue and white clean energy from lowes seems to burn great, i bought them at the brewer, me store, i work there, we have been selling several brands for the last year, i have received NO customer complaints about any brand of pellet, however have had many many many, folks talk about how great the “green team” pellet fuel is, i will have a chance to burn some green team this weekend to see if the rumors were true, but for now, i see no reason to bash pennington, other then some extra sawdust, no big deal at all.
Just purchased 3 tons of Pennington Pellets from Wal-Mart. They are HORRIBLE. They Burn like paper. Burned 40 pounds in 10 hours with my stove set to low temp(range 1-10, set to 3). Lots of clinkers in the burn pot. Burn pot was full with a glob of pellets as large as a software. Quickly turned stove off as the glob of pellets was jamming up the auger. I left a voice mail for Randy Osborn at Pennington. Doubt he’ll ever return my call. I’m very mad(to say it nicely). DO NOT BUY PENNINGTON PELLETS.
typo.
not software
meant to say as large as a softball.
FYI: I did contact Randy Osborn at Pennington and he did reply back.
I am sending them an empty bag of the product.
Hopefully they will replace these pellets?
Will let you all know how that turns out.
Pennington are ok if you have an agitator that continuously stirs the burn pot, I’ve found anyway. I can imagine the difficulty without the agitator.
Does anyone have experience with “Northwest Pride Pellets” made by Atlas/Coeur d’ Alene Wood Products from Coeur d’ Alene Idaho?????
Wow. This page has been very informative. I live in Jackson WY and “inherited” a Whitfield Advantag II-T with the log home we bought Oct. ‘07. Spent last winter test-driving pellets by the bag, 1/2 ton, and ton. Burned 5 tons total from Nov. 1 thru April 1, plus the occasional bag or two in May & June when we had late snows. Here’s what we learned, some of it the hard way:
BEST by far: Lignetics brand. HOT, low ash, no clinkers, but definitely the most expensive here. Was running $265/ton + tax last year. Has gone up to $280/ton this year.
NEXT BEST: Reddi-Fuel. Still HOT, a little more ash, no clinkers. Was $240/ton, has gotten hard to find in town, and has gone to $260/ton.
INCONSISTENT QUALITY: Pennington. Some bags were ideal for my stove and burned hot with little ash. Other bags had too-long pellets and burned cooler with tons of ash. Not worth the cheaper price, in my opinion. Bought at SAM’s Club for $200/ton +tax.
WORST by far: Eureka pellets, sold at Smith’s/Kroger grocery stores. Not as hot, TONS of ash, and huge clinkers would build up when stove was on lower settings. I bought these in a pinch when I was out, at $189/ton and thought I had found some “screaming deal.” Ugh, you get what ya pay for.
On the lighter side, we LOVE our pellet stove. It, combined with a ceiling fan on our ridge beam, runs 24hrs a day except when we shut it down to clean it once a week (whether it needs it or not). We have left on a Sat. morning for a weekend trip with it burning on low, and come home late Sunday nights to a toasty warm (even in sub-zero temps) and still-standing house. Previous owner gave us the faith to try that, although we were nervous the first time. We also swapped out the old fire pot for a “Super Grate” and it was the BEST thing we could have done. Far better combustion, less clogging, easier clean out by far. Well worth the $75 I paid for it, and very easy to install. Looking forward to another winter with our Whitfield keeping us WARM. Would really appreciate any suggestions for better pellets, more efficient burning, etc. that others may have. Thanks.
I agree with you regarding Eureka pellets. Lowes always goes back and forth between brands (I personally like the Pretso and Lignetics (or something like that), but the Eureka pellets don’t burn nearly as hot, leaves heavy ash build up/”clinkers” in the pot.
Jon H. asked about Atlas Pellets. I used the Atlas Red Fir pellets and thought they were some of the best ever. Low ash and good heat and the glass on my doors stayed pretty clean. I’ve already read enough to know I shouldn’t have bought the Pennington Pellets, but has anybody had problem with visable smoke coming out he chimney, and within 2 bags I couldn’t see through the glass on the doors. I’ve been burning pellets for 10 years and never seen this before. By the way the stove worked perfect last season.
Thanks Jeff. Yours is the first vote in favor of the Atlas pellets. I have an opportunity to buy 5 tons at a great price, no tax and no shipping. I bought 10 bags of Eureka pellets at Smith’s right before this big snowstorm we just had, just to get us thru. Five bags in I had to empty the ash and couldn’t see thru any of the windows. That has been the case with Eureka always, and that is why I was/am worried about the Atlas pellets. The Pennington pellets did that sometimes, and sometimes I got thru 15 bags without emptying or cleaning. Like I said before, they were just too inconsistent to trust them.
Thanks John, I can’t find the Atlas pellets anymore and I wish I could. Since the shortage suppliers seem to have changed brand at all the store. I cleaned the stove out tonight and found a lot of ash, but no clinkers after only 6 bags. The biggest problem is they don’t seem to put out much heat. I’m going to try and take them back to Wal-Mart. Has anybody heard of Northern Lights Pellets? OSH has that brand, but don’t know anything about them. From what I’ve read you guys are lucky to have pellets so cheap. I paid $250.00 a ton for the Pennington’s. The Northern Lights are $279.00 and the Lignetics are $339.00 per ton here in Northern Ca. The nearest Lowes type store is 80 miles away and wouldn’t be worth the gas. Any experience with the Northern Lights would be appreciated.
Mike P,
This in in response to your posting of September 24, 2008.
We are happy to hear that you are pleased with the performance of Nature’s Heat Wood Pellets. We feel it is important for you to know that there is no corn and/or corn cobs used in the manufacturing of our wood pellets. Regarding the “smell”, you may want to contact the stove manufacturer to be sure that this is a normal odor, as you mentioned in your posting. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding Nature’s Heat Wood Pellets, please feel free to contact our Customer Service Department toll free at 1-800-285-7333 ext. 187 or send an e-mail to mauge@central.com .
Pennington Seed Customer Service
Robin in CT,
This is in regards to your post of September 25, 2008.
Pennington Seed strives to offer quality products for their customers. Yes, we had some issues with a very small number of our wood pellets in 2007. Pennington employees have worked very hard to make sure these issues were corrected and do not happen again. We have also instituted a more rigorous testing program that exceeds PFI standards for quality control. We hope you will be very satisfied with our wood pellets. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding Nature’s Heat Wood Pellets, please feel free to contact our Customer Service Department toll free at 1-800-285-7333 ext. 187 or send an e-mail to mauge@central.com .
Pennington Seed Customer Service
Loren,
This is in response to your posting of September 30, 2008.
In response to your comments and concerns, please contact our Customer Service Department at 1-800-285-7333 ext. 187 or send an e-mail describing your experience with our pellets to mauge@central.com . We would like to be able to asses the situation so that we can find out when and where these pellets were manufactured, as well as discuss and address your concerns. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Pennington Seed Customer Service
Tony,
The manuel for my Breckwell Big E states I can add 30% corn to the mix. If yours doesn’t you could call the manufacture. I do know that burning corn is a different ball game. It burns hotter so you could warp or crack your burn pot. Also the gases are more corrosive so the flue pipe will have to be 316 grade stainless steel. But I’m not sure if thats needed for the 30% mixture.
Still a pellet shortage in So. Maine. If you can find them they are around $300..Thats BS. IMHO
Pennington,
Thanks for your responses. I’m still a novice pellet burner and have only used yours so far. They seem to burn fine for me. The ammount of clinkers varies from very few to 1/2″ deep in 12 hours of burning on my #3 setting. Thats not a complaint as I shut down and clear the pot everyday regardless of whats in it while the daytime temps are around 50°. Could be an issue soon as I will have to run day and night. I screen the last 10 lbs of every bag just to be safe but there are so few fines its just about pointless. I’ll probably continue as a precaution for any pellets I use.
I have read all the comments regarding what brand of pellets to use?
In 3 years of using a pellet stove([Englander 25 pdvc)I have used three different brands.
Ozark Hardwood Products
Pennington
Fuel King
All three have worked in my stove, however the fuel king pellets have been the best burning with low ash and no unburnt pellets.
The pennington pellets were second best, They burn well ,but had some extra-lenght pellets in the bags. Also not as much heat output.
Ozark was the worst, long pellets and low heat lots of ash.
The price this season is 219.00 per ton for pennington at Sutherlands Lumberyard
Have not been able to find fuel king yet
Hope this helps some of you.
I recently ordered pellets from orderpellets.com also and i am wondering if anyone has used this company. dianne, did you receive your pellets yet? I am not sure when my will arrive. I also purchased a ton of pennington pellets from walmart today. There is not a lot of choices in the Upstate NY lately.
Back in the summer I bought a pellet stove from Home Depot along with 4 tons of Pennington Nature’s Heat Premium Pellets. The guy that delivered both the stove and pellets managed to get the pellets in the garage closest to our front door. So, they’re inside for the winter and don’t think I have to worry about moisture. I am on my second bag and all seems to be well in burning and ash residue. So far…..
However, in reading this forum I saw where folks were sifting out “fines” which I assume is the sawdust like residue in the bag. I haven’t seen too much of this residue but have seen some and went ahead and dumped everything into the hopper. Now I am worried about “fines” in the future and will sifting the pellets near the bottom of each bag. What do these “fines” do to the stove from continuing to dump everything in the hopper?
We have several cats and accumulate a lot of kitty litter buckets which hold a half bag of pellets each and is what we use to bring the pellets inside and dump into the hopper. Really handy. Today, after reading this forum I took a litter bucket and drilled closely spaced 3/16 inch holes in the bottom and will use to sift the bottom of each bag from now.
In defense of Pennington the two bags burned so far seem to have done a good job. I may be prejudiced since I am originally from Georgia where Pennington is located.
By the way, there’s already a pellet shortage here in Maine.
I picked up a ton of Pennington from Home Depot a couple of weeks ago and they are burning cleaner than the Dry Creek which I usually get from Agway. My husband says he spends 1/2 the time cleaning the pot than usual. They’ve either fixed their problems or we just got lucky.
I use a quadrafire mt vernon stove and have recently tried a new brand of pellets (Maine Woods Pellets) from Athens, Maine. They are developing at least 5X the amount of ash as the Pennington Natures Heat that I used before. I bought a ton of the Maine woods and I regret it so much.
The Pennington has produced more heat, nearly no ash and very smooth operation. The Maine Woods pellets are only 1/4 inch to 1/2 long and there is about 4% fines in the bags. I feel ripped off. I need to vacuum my stove nearly every night (1/3-1/2 bag) but only once in eight bags with the Pennington. I will try to find more of the Pennington pellets or one of the high grade softwood pellets spoken so well of here in the postings.
I have to admit it’s nice to hear that we were not the only ones with pennington issues last year. We bought a ton from Lowes and they burned great so we went back for 2 more tons. Those were absolutely horrible. We stuck it out and burned them as long as we could because the thought of lugging 2 tons back to the store after we had already carried them downstairs did not sound fun. We ended up bringing a little over a ton left back to to the store because we couldn’t take it anymore, they were junk. As we returned them the manager apologized and said we are definitely not the first to return these pellets and probably won’t be the last. This year there seems to be a shortage in our area of pellets so right now we were stuck with what we could find and are burning Marth Wood pellets. Our favorite is Maeder Brothers up here in Michigan but they had something happen at their plant I guess is what everyone is saying and they are so back logged that no local stores are getting the pellets in yet.
I put a pellet stove in my home about 16 years ago (live in South Georgia). I don’t need it often but last night when it hit 33 I knew it was time to fire it up again. I don’t need to order pellets often as a ton will last me about 3 years … it is normally warm here. This year I have been unable to get any local store to order me a pallet of pellets. Home Depot said they did, took my money but 3 wasted weeks later told me they didn’t ship in from other stores anymore. Tractor Supply could see them in another DC but said they couldn’t order anything less than a truck load … don’t need a truck load. Lowes, well – they had no idea what I was talking about. Lignetics is attempting to help me – but so far my local retailers are the stumbling block. Does anyone know the closest location when I can go to pick them up? Oh – Pennington’s are terrible. One year I tried a few bags … froze my stove up due to all the moisture content. I’ll never do that again.
pennington pellets are terrible. i like using lignetics or cubex. they are the best i have burned. cant find any pellets right now here in northern ny state. bummer.
I, ordered a pellet basket online. I am going to fill it with Pennington Pellets. I got my pellets from Home Depot in Pittsburgh PA. I picked them up and the kid didnt count the bags. I paid for 25 bags and got 32. I hope they are not junk like everyone else is saying.
This is our 1st yr of using a pellet stove (Englander 25-PDVC) – this unit is working great. We have tried a few different brands of pellets and here’s our thoughts:
Lignetics = great (low ash, very warm) from Tractor Supply
Somserset = good (low ash, warm) from Tractor Supply
Pennington = yuck (a heck of a lot of ash, burned too fast) from Home Depot
auburn, me. This is our first year with a pellet stove. I have a Quadra fire mt vernon insert. I wanted to buy green team pellets – I tried a few bags and they burned very well low ash great heat ouput. But our local lowes wouldn’t deliver and guarantee we would get the green team pellets (we could have ended up with any of the brands they carry and I didn’t want the pennington). So we opted for a Maine manufacturer – Maine woods pellet Co. I didn’t try them ahead of time. – they are absolutely horrible. I vacuum the stove daily my ash box is nearly full after 1-2 days and that only with my stove running on medium to low. I bought 5 tons of these things – never again. I need to find a place who will deliver a quality product …. any suggestions out there.
This is my first year burning pellets. Spent a small fortune on propane last year and really cant afford it anymore. Went with the Breckwell Big E stove and have been happy with the stove. I too have been using Pennington pellets and have had mixed results. I bought 3 ton for (and no joke on this) $130 a ton!!!!!!!!!! I do have clinkers from time to time but nothing to really complain about. Sometimes I fill the stove and have nothing for two days and then I find one next time stove is ready for a refill. I also have been experimenting with mixing corn in with the pellets. I have found that about 5-6 pounds of corn per bag of pellets gets me the right amount of heat. You cant mix too much corn in with the Big E because it has a sensor that will shut the stove down if it gets too hot. Also the fan speed will automatically switch to high. Normally run on a 3 setting when at home and 2 when gone to work or for overnight.
Also I am trying to find out a good website that shows the entire manufacturing process of pellets. kicking around the idea of starting a pellet plant where I live.. Have 3 hardwood sawmills within 15 miles of home. Plus the aviailbility and price of pellets makes the whole idea worth looking in to. I have family and a lot of friends who burn pellets and feel that a quality pellet at a good price around here would be the way to go. So anyone that has any info or can point me in the right direction would be helpful.
I bought over two pallets of Pennington Premium Pellets at Lowes in Northern Maine, they are terrible. Is anybody having this problem? My ash is Blue, gives strong oder like burning crayons, and has gave me and my family sore throats, nausia, and headache. I have stopped using them and what sucks is that I am stuck with over two pallets Thats right the ash has a lot of blue specs in it and I am questioning if they mixed some kind of plastics in these pellets. A class acton suit might be in order if I find out these have harmed my family. Im hoping to get an answer from pennington and will probably give a sample to the lab. I have taking pictures of this ash and if you wish to see them to compare please email me at sacray40@aol.com
I have been using Hamer pellets and have had no issues whatsoever: low fines, low ash, no clinkers, very clean, excellent heat. I give them a thumbs-up.
After reading the dismal reviews here, I swapped roughly $11.50 with the WalMart people for two bags of Pennington Nature’s Heat pellets–the only place with pellets in my area (western VA) and the only brand of pellets they had. The codes stamped on the backs of the bags are “LOT 619″ and “VA11108.” I opened one bag and they are clearly almost twice as long as the Hamer pellets. Will try them in my Thelin Parlour stove and report back.
Welcome from NM.
Recently bought some cheap bags (~$4.97/bag) of Pennington pellets from WalMart. They seem crumbly, smell strongly of pine sap, and appear to be sooting up the window on my Profile 20 stove faster than “normal”. Anyone else unhappy with these “Natures Heat” pellets? I was using Calentitos pellets made in NM until my supplier stopped supplying. These were great over the last four years.
I’ve been burning pellets for a couple years now and have been really impressed with the Pennington pellets I get from Wal Mart. But last time I went there they were all out. I went to Home Depot and picked up half a ton of Future Fuel II Pellets and they are horrible. Very dark and flaky. I’m getting more clinkers and the ash is chunky and builds up faster. I am not happy at all with the Future Fuel II pellets.
This summer I bought 3 tons of the Pennington Natures Heat pellets from the Auburn Home Depot. This is our fourth year of burning pellets and our first “Problem” with pellet quality. There is consistently saw dust in everybag I have opened (26 of the 150 thus far), inconsiistent sizes (1/4 inch to close to three inches) and a marked decrease in heat output. These factors result in having to frequently restart the stove due to start up failure (as the burn pot filled primarily with saw-dust) and of course low-heat out-put. Having just read through this forum I will be trying to reach Randy Osburn or Dave Alger as soon as possible as well as contact Home Depot to see if they will stand behind the product they sold. All I can say is Buyer beware, and like many of the readers are doing, just start with a few bags as not all 4o lb bags are equal. DP, Raymond, ME
I tried the pennington pellets last year. They are not the best by far. I live in Cincinnati and have been using Country Boy/White Lightning pellets. They cost more but are well worth the extra money. They burn alot hotter and give off very little ash and keep the glass fairly clean. The folks at Buttelwerth’s test their pellets and will only sell what they feel are the best pellets. For the record, several years ago they used to sell Pennington pellets and chose not to sell them any longer. The Country Boy/White Lightning pellets are made in Kentucky by Southern Kentucky Hardwood Flooring.
I bought 5 tons of Pennington Nature’s Heat in April. They stink. I ordered my stove around that time and was anticipating a pellet shortage. Many of us thought we’d be facing $5.00 a gallon heating oil about now, so I jumped on the first available pellets I could find. I will research my next purchase more thoroughly. This is my first go-around with a pellet stove, so I had no idea how much pellet quality (or lack thereof) could influence stove operation. The Pennington’s I bought come complete with about 5-10% sawdust per bag. My stove will not operate ( it goes out) on the lower settings due to the abundance of fine particles. I’ve solved this problem by creating a screener. I made a square frame out of 2×4s with handles on the sides and attached a sheet of 1/4 inch screen to it. I now have to dump each bag into the screener and manually roll the pellets around, allowing the fine particles to gather in a bin below. I then fill a 55 gallon barrel in the basement with screened, ready to burn pellets. I do the screening in the back yard, about 5 bags at a time. The dust is outrageous. The labor is pretty extensive, too. The screened pellets allow the stove to burn on the low settings, but the ash is out of control. I clean the stove 3-4 times a week. I look forward to the day when I see for myself what a “low ash” pellet performs like. You folks at Pennington should wear bags on your heads. Your product sucks.
I agree!!! I am having trouble with PENNINGTON pellets. I have to keep the speed on high on the flame goes out, therefore burning a bag a day. I am in contact with the store I purchased these horrible pellets about recourse.
hi steve in NH i also bout two tons of pennington there was so much fine saw dust that my stove stop working on low setting. So i call peggy at 1-800-285-7333 and she didnt even care or wonted to here about it. So a week later i put a bag in my stove and it stop working so i took it a part and found rocks and found a rock inbeded in a pellet. so i called her back and said come on guys cant you do better then that. I got the same thing she really didnt care. So i will be nice now but what i told her on the phone what she can do with there pellets. I had good luck with fireside pellets hope people read this and dont buy penningtons yes they suck
having problems with Pennington pellets natures heat low heat output dirty burning quick consumption filling burn pot fast
do not purchase pennington pellets problems in all areas
Folks,
Should you encounter any problem with Pennington Pellets and wish to discuss these issues with us, our Customer Service Department is available from Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 4:30 pm CST. Please do not hesitate to contact us at 1-800-658-0410 ext. 187. We want to help.
Thank you
Walmart finally got pellets in North NJ…so whadda think they have?
Pennington Nature’s Heat at 5.75 a bag. Right by the front door so they can move em fast…what did Barnum say, one every minute.
My wife bought 1 bag but I’m not going to even try, just return.
I will not buy Future Fuel II anymore either. Burn pot must be cleaned after every use.
Both of these brands will be avoided in this house.
I purchased bio-plus and natures heat from Pennington at lowes. in 40 pound bags. the frist five bags of bio-plus were pretty good. i went back and they only had the natures heat. Well out of those five more bags i only was able to use two and a half bags. lots of dust and clumps in the bags. the first two days i cleaned the stove out four times. I went to Lowes and they pretty much did not care. I said i will try one more time with Pennington. So i got five more bags. When i got home my wife had already purchased ten bags of the same stuff. Well the next day i loaded fourteen bags and took it back. i tried to e-mail Pennington but never herd back from them. I work so i cant call during the day. SO MUCH FOR E-MAILING Randy Osborn
randy osburn of pennington does not answer email with respect to problems with pellets
pennington did pay me for that ton of pellets–thankfully
i then give that ton of pellets to a older couple-
same here in my area pellets hold to get-
no clue why- 4 pellets mills
within 100 mile area here- go frigure-
I recently bought 3 tons of pennington wood pellets from Keystone Mills in Romulus, NY. I have been having the same problems with them as a many others. The clinkers are the worst. I have to clean 4 times a day. I e-mailed pennington and they promptly e-mailed back. I sent a empty bag and some pellets. They seem like they are concerned and want to help. Only time will tell.
local wal mart has pennington pellets again
no codes o nthe bags
just when made is allprolly from same plant they
was haveing problems with-
wal mart has them stored outside– gezzz
John,
As you have mentioned in your posting, “randy osburn of pennington does not answer email with respect to problems with pellets”, anyone experiencing any problems with our wood pellets should contact Customer Service, as I have instructed in my posting to George R. Please call us. if you would rather e-mail our Customer Service Department, please send any concerns to mauge@central.com. E-mails and phone messages (in the event you should happen to get voice-mail) are returned promptly. Again, we are here to help!
Thank you
pennington customer servive-
they have them stored in the green house – outside
where rain an snow gets on them.
wal mart there had one pellet there -
i have been burn pellets for four years i purchased a ton of pennington pellets
i am having to clean burn pot twice a day because of cilinkers pennington not taking responsible for bad pellets
I have a Pennington pellet success story. I was able to take the ton and a half I had left back to Walmart and buy some Atlas Red Fir pellets from OSH and have never been happier. I’ve been heating with pellets for 10 years and couldn’t believe the ash I had to deal with, and the glass turned black after one bag. After burning 25 bags of Pennington’s my pipe had more deposits in it than I would nomally see after a whole season of 150 to 200 bags of any other brand of pellets I have bought before. With the Atlas pellets I’ve burned about 20 bags already and still haven’t had to clean the stove and I can still see the flame thru the glass.
I noticed the new pellets say ultra premium on the bag and was wondering if this is a way to tell if the pellets are a higher grade? If so are there several grades to chose from and are there standards in the industry? Thanks Jeff
I have had only great experience with Pennington pellets…
However, when the Walmart was out of them, I got some Nature’s Earth Pellet Energy, LLC in Reform, Alabama – NEVER AGAIN! The advise above about the lighter color pellets was spot-on.
Price has gone bonkers! Good pellets are now $430 per ton – Had to buy a ton today, and the only place that had them was Southern States Coop – they private label so don’t know who makes them – have always found them to be good burning and low ash.
Oh, the truck had just arrived with 22 pallets – I was third in line waiting for them to be unloaded and there were two more waiting behind me – they were loading straight from the delivery truck to customers.
Having burned pellets for 5 years, this will probably be my last. Price advantage has vanished. I will be going back to wood burner for next year.
I am burning Pennington this year. I’m quite unhappy but seems to be the best I can get here in OK. Ozark Hardwood is much worse and the Pennington’s are worse than last year. I’m cleaning my stove every 3 days. The ash is horrible.
If anyone knows where to get a different kind here in the Southwest please let me know. These seem to be the only kind I can get.
Bought Pennington Pellets – Natures Heat from Sams Club in Elmsford, NY in Fall 2008. Opened one bag in October 2008 and had a mortified mouse. Discarded before pouring pellets into the pellet stove. In bag just opened and burned in March 25,2009 – found large chunks of brick and rocks. Now I screen ever hand full of pellets from Pennington that go in the stove. Caused the auger to jam and it cost me $168.00 to get my pellet stove repaired and the brick parts out. Two pieces were approximately 1 inch wide. Pellets leave a tone of ash and require more than one cleaning a week. Would not purchase this brand again. Still have about 12 bags of the Penningtons.
I recently bought 2.4 tons of Pro Pellets and I have been having much better luck with them (re: the ash and fines) than I had bveen having with the Pennington Natures Heat Pellets. Unfortunately, I have been on 3 lists where I live since the end of September for just one ton of Pellets. No one can seem to get them, and I have been having to pay per bag price from the few places (WalMart, Lowes and Home Depot) where I could get them. (Never more than 10 bags per trip) I am not slamming the Pennington pellets, but it seems the Pro Pellets thus far are better with heat and less ash. I am currently on day 5 of nothing but Pro Pellets and no problems. Other than having to drive 180 miles round trip to get the Pro Pellets.
pennington pellets are not correcting the problems they are having with their pellets wishing problem away
Ive burned pennington pelltets for years but this june i bought two tons i have never seen pellets so bad….. Not only bad with dust but found rocks and rocks inbeded in the pellets i called peggy at 1-800-285-7333 and she realy didnt even care. So i called home depot were i got them and they would exchaing them. I got better luck with them then pennington. I really think pennington got so big they just dont care about their customers any more its to bad. had real good luck with fireside i really think its time to change pellets brands. i will tell all my friends who also have stoves not to buy this brand.
glad to see some one is having proublems with pennington i bout two tons back in june. There was so much sawdust that it was cloging up my stove. So i called peggy at 1-800-285-7333 and she said send a sample with the bag. So i did then about two week later she now said we need a unopen bag. I didnt do that do to it would cost to much to send back. So about a week later i put a bag in my stove and it stop working so i took it apart and found four rocks and a rock inbeded in a pellet so i call her back and she didnt even care….. And dint realy wont to hear about it. I think they got so big they dont care anymore about there customers. So it sound like there are other out there that are finding things in the bags and just not me…. time to find a new pellet brand
have burn pellets for five years having all kinds of problems with pennington pellets
have report to home depot & wal-mart the problems i have had with pennington pellets clinkers high ass low heat output burn pot needing very frequent clean up
I bought 3 ton of pennington’s Natures Heat and am continuously taking my stove apart and pulling rocks and brick out of the augers. this is rediculous and all they want to do is give me 10% because i was able to burn them. they dont care about the loss from needing to heat with propaine while i fixed the stove. They dont care about any of the repercussions of us burning their terrible product. Luckily, HD is coming out to do an exchange and they arent even recommending to exchange for more Natures Heat. They are supposed to be delivering something completely different. Hopefully it is good.
hopefully this mike augey at Pennington will make a real attempt in keeping peoples business.
I have burned LG pellets the heat is not to bad but they seem to burn fast. The Blaze and future fule 2 are verry poor to say the least. The best pellets I Have used is BareFoot they burn hot and somewhat slow clankers are not to bad. my friend burns pennington and likes them. never heard of paper pellets what is the deal with them
Pennington pellets are the worst on the market. I started out using them and had to have my flue cleaned halfway thru winter. They also make my house smell like smoke. I switched and tried two other brands and have not had any problems using these brands for 4 years.
I read your post about the Pennington Wood pellets plugging your stove. Were they as dusty as mine are? I screened a bag and had 1 quart of fine sawdust. I was worried this may give me auger trouble also. Thanks for reply.. Rob Farrington Medway Me.
I purchased three tons of pellets for my new Harmon wood pellet stove. one of the ton was from Pennington. The first ton I burned was from Canada and the stove performed great. Lots of heat, low ash, and little cleaning. Even my glass front stayed clean. THEN, I started the next ton with Pennington Pellets. I had no heat, lots of ash (snake like curls) and the soot was all over my glass door. I stopped using them after 3 bags. I went back to Home Depot and asked about them. Home Depot knew of the issue, told me Pennington had a bad batch and said for me to bring them in and they would refund my money or swap them for a different brand. I will never use Pennington again.
Marth wood pellets are the best Pennington are the worst. Remember if your getting clinkers use more draft or use a lower fuel setting there is not that much more of a heat benifit running your stove on a high setting. Your pellets should last 24 hrs on 40 pounds. I live in Duluth Minnesota and use a Countryside Magnum stove as a only heat source and even when its -30F its pretty good. In the summer its a good idea to blow out your room air fan if its full of dust it does not push air very well.
Pennington pellets are the worst; clinkers, soot and auger clogs.
This is our first year with a pellet stove, burnt 5 different kinds of pellets, now we are left with the absolute worst, the Penningtons. thank goodness its March, I am going to find some good pellets and mix in the Penningtons just to get rid of them… I will never use Pennington pellets again.
Ya, I bought some of the Pennington pellets.
Left to their own accord they will produce
big clinkers. I had to mix them with some softwood
pellets and they worked just fine. Had to sift them
though as others have mentioned, many fines and sawdust.
Did like the Lowes “Clean Fire” pellets.
Bought a couple tons of Lignetics, good ones as well.
Low dust, ash, and good heat. Some bags create
clinkers after a couple days. A small mix of soft pellets to
minimize clinkers. I’ll buy them again. Fireside ULTRA good but
burn cold. Mix with hardwood pellets.
NIX on the Spruce Point, dusty and like burning pencil shavings.
New to pellet stoves in fall 2008. Bought two England stoves from Lowes. Bought 6 tons of pellets, from Lowes: 5 tons of Presto Log and 1 ton of Pennington. Did know there was any difference until I burned through the Presto Log brand, then found out how much ash & clinkers you get with Pennington. I found the Penningtons throw more heat than the Presto Log but overall have much more sawdust and junk. Right now I have a jammed top auger which I think is from the Pennington pellets.
One thing, I have found that two identical stoves running the same exact fuel will not burn the same, a lot has to do with the settings and your demand needs. A buddy of mine has one identical to mine also; I am diligent about cleaning mine every day or so, while he cleans his once a week, maximum. He has an exhaust air backing plate set over about 2″ from where it is supposed to sit, so the exhaust chamber is exposed, and it works great. I do mine according to the manual, and I have lots of problems. What’s with that?
Overall I am sick of pellet stoves already. Lots of maintenance, noisy if they’re in your house, they make a lot of dust from the fans running all the time, and when the power’s out so are they. I might switch to propane backup next winter.
For the passed two years I wave burned Bare Foot. They burn hot and clean. Some times I have to play with the air and feed as not to get clankers. I am about to order 2 or 3 tons for next year. I also like to buy diffrent brands 6 bags at a time. The way I would put them is fireside and LG is 50/50 some heat and burns clean.I don’t like Natures Heat, Blaze,pennington verry poor with big clankers and black soot. I just picked up 5 bags of Allegheny Pellets so far not so bad.
This was our first year burning pellets. We used Pennington from Home Depot and had an awful experience – lot’s of sawdust (auger jammed frequenly(, the stove was completely black from soot within 1 day. Chimmney was heavy with soot. Heat output was not very good. I was very discouraged and thought it was my stove or pellets in general. I am glad I read this and saw that these seem to be issues with the Pennington pellets themselves.
pennington still haveing problems with there pellets–
bought ton last yr from wal -mart– never again
ash n soot was terrblie-
best ones i found was ligntecis-work greta in my breckweek big e
After experimenting and using the following
brands with the grade:
Energex softwood, C+
Spruce Point, D
Pennington, C
Fireside Ultra, B-
CleanFire, B
Blazers, B-
Greene Team, A
GreenWay B-
Lignetics, B+
Somerset, A
So, Somerset and Greene Team are the best.
I picked Green Team to buy this year as they
are double screened and have very few fines
(i.e. no dust in my house when I pour the bag.)
Still waiting for that A+…………
Pennington Pellet Company should be ashamed of themselves…
I purchased one ton from Lowes in August of 2008 and found small pieces of rocks in 3 bags in a row when I got to the center of the pallet. The rocks were the same color and size of the pellets so they couldn’t be screened out. It almost seems like sabotage. Each bag had just 3 small rocks which nearly broke my auger. I heard the clunking and took them out. I screen all of my pellets anyways because of all the sawdust and fines in the bag. Sorry Pennington but three strikes and your out.
Thanks Lowes for taking them back and replacing them with a proven brand.
i’ve used pennington pellets and i prefer them over any of the others
At the beginning of this site it say’s that you have improved the Pennington pellets. I read comments from August 2009 that still have complaints, have you improved or are they the same? Is it just the price that is good? Will I ruin my pellet stove by burning your pellets?
Donna Brown
I tried Pennington, lots of dust, hard to light, I found Instant Heat at a flower grower in Central New York, they are close to dry creek and about 30.00 a ton less so far.
i wish i had found this before i bought 3 tons for the season! Does anyone know if they are better this year????
I also just bought 3 ton of Pennington from Home Depot. After reading these posts, I went back to HD and bought just 2 bags and brought them home to try. I’m actually happy with the quality. No fines, no long pieces, and decent heat. I haven’t seen a difference between these and other brands (I have a Breckwell p4000) This is my second year of burning and I’ve tried 3 types of pellets. Also, HD has them for $239 a ton here in Vermont. Good Luck.
Whew! Was on my way to buy 90 bags of pennington pellets from a guy whose house burnt down. Glad I found out all of the problems with PENNINGTON!!!!!!! Fix your product!
I just left all three Home depot stores in my area (Maryland).Seems like they are only going to sell these junk Pennington pellets.And $300. a ton? The local hardware store has Lignetics for $289. and everyone knows how good they are.If Pennington wants to produce poor quality and do nothing about it,thats fine, but I expect more from Home Depot.Do your homework Home Depot! Or do you even really care anymore?
I used Pennington pellets last year (08-09) burned about two ton. The only problems we had was some of the pellets were to long (2+ inches) and the glass door ashing up.
I read the comments pertaining to the problems many people were having, I contacted Pennington seed Co., I ask them if the problems in fact were corrected, they said they had. I went to Lowe’s purchased two bags of the improved pellets to check them out. This is what I have observed between last year and this (09-10).
A lot less dust or fine, shorter pellets, the burn and BTU’s are still good and a lot less ash on the glass door, I purchased 600lbs to start with.
I just purchased 3 bags of this product and was quite surprised at the improvements they had made .I was a big fan of green supreme but to my dismay I cant find any .It seems to me when I first purchased my stove the savings were great but now it sometimes costs more to heat with pellets .I found that sams club is selling this natures heat at 230 a ton which makes it more affordable.the greed of these suppliers is insane .They need to get a grip and bring the price back to where it is a savings to have this product .But when they are charging anywhere from 269 to 319 a ton they are just ripping off the customer .
I just purchased 4 bags and was surpised at the inprovement…still a little more ash than other bags
I’ve burned several tons of Pennington pellets over the past few years and the inconsistency from bag to bag is ridiculous. Some burn good, others give little heat and leave behind a ton of ash.
As for them having fixed the problem, don’t believe it. I bought a half ton at Walmart as recently as 2 weeks ago and they’re awful. I’m done with Pennington and certainly wouldn’t recommend them at any price. Surprised they’re still in business producing garbage like this.
This is my third year burning pellets when I bought the stove I bought 1 ton of Pennington from Home Depot ,it burned dirty and inconsistent. I got another ton from Lowe’s they were made in Canada a little better,Lowe’s got a different supplier Green Team those burned very hot and clean.
Second year I bought 5 ton of Green Team from Lowe’s good heat clean burning and very little dust from the bag when I fill the stove.
After reading that Pennington had improved and Sam’s club had them on sale I purchased 5 ton. I started the season burning Green Team, glass stays fairly clean even after burning for 2 days I was down at Lowe’s and the had some broken bags I don’t remember the name but they were in brown bags those burned ok .
Now I’m into the Pennington 12 hrs of burning and the glass is completely black have to clean the stove every 12 hrs full of clinkers and I have to run the heat up to the next number to get the same heat out, and when I dump the bags in dust is all over the place.
Now I have 5 tons of this garbage to use!
I will never buy Pennington again.
I would call Home Depot and try to return them.
I bought seventy bags of this product at Walmart in Sacramento, California. I thought my stove was clogged and air flow stopped but it is just these pellets! My door is black and hard to clean. Some kind of reddish brown film. The cup is full and over flowing most of the time. Filthy residue on all parts of my stove. I use to love my pellet stove but this experience is devastating and awful! If I return them, I’m sure Walmart will give me a refund but I have to load and unload and make at least two trips with my pickup to return them. I will never buy these again! Something terrible has been done to them since last year! They use to be cheaper and much better. What a change in a product!! Not good!
I’m glad I read this page. I usually use Armstrong SPF but thought I’d give Pennington a try since Wal-Mart is close. I’m glad I only bought five bags. I’ll use them but won’t dump them in all at once. Maybe mix in a handful with each bag of Armstrong pellets. Funny, I asked Wal-Mart to price match. I can get Armstrong for $4 a bag. Wal-Mart wouldn’t price match because of the so-called “quality” of the Pennington pellets which they claim are the best sold locally so they’re going to continue selling what obviously seems to be an inferior product for $4.40 a bag
I read with interest on Pennington’s home page how wood pellets are a ‘cost stable’ heating fuel. Funny. Four years ago I could get a bag of pellets for about $1.80. Now they’re $4 and up. Cost stable indeed.
I think the price of pellets is to high $5.00 and up per bag.The price of oil today in RI is $2.22 per gal how can you compare.If it stays like this my house will run on oil.
well im glad to say i like pennington pellets i do see alot of sawdust but the heat is great and yes i have tried alot of diff brands i bought 5 ton last year at homedepot and i have 6 bags left so ill be out looking for a good product i hope i find some
What is with the all plastic bottles? Why does a company need to buy so many recycled plastic bottles? I mean I could understand if it was like for the bags the pellets come in, but don’t you guys just like buy huge rolls of plastic sheets and then print your name on them. What use would the plastic bottles be good for at your plant locations? Oh maybe it is like one of those great things you are doing for the enviroment, you know “going green” only you are going plastic. Well if I had known I could have taken my bottles to you I would have just thrown them in the big bin outside. Oh but there is no bin for plastic bottles there is just a bin for garbage. It’s too bad they don’t make that bin big enough to hold your whole company. My only wish would be that you guys would sell out to china. Then it would be Chinese people screwing Americans, instead of Americans screwing Americans. So what again is with all of these plastic bottles? gil American
Greetings from northern Wyo. base of the Bear Lodge Mountains,Have some pennington pellets, 30 bags purchased last year at wally world,what a joke!! full of sawdust,clinker up,will not feed,plugs augers,plugs air feed,smears glass from incomplete combustion, will not burn right unless cut 50/50 to 75/50 with pope &talbot 9200 b.t.u. ponderosa pine Heartland brand which is a great pellet, it often gets 0f. to -30f.actual air temp. with strong winds,pushing chill factors to -40f., cannot have nasty pellets that will not burn,plan on calling customer service to see what they can do.If anyone out there can get the heartland they are worth it
Can you believe wal-mart in Airway Heights wants 5.95 per bag. Whant a rip off. They should pay the customer to haul them to the dump!
We will never buy Pennington pellets again. Full of saw dust and used 2 bags a day to heat the house. A lot more maintenance to keep the stove clean. Waste of money.
I sell both pellets and stoves…..there is a world of difference in pellets…..you just get what you pay for…..if you shop for price alone expect to get poor quality…..and will wish you had shopped quality instead…….i sell Lignetics (1% ash) and Hamer super premium (1/2% ash). Both are good quality products…….
In 2008-2009 there was a shortage of pellets on the east coast…….we had pellets shipped in from other manufactures out of state and they were poor and lots of headaches, ash, and clinkers!!….both manufactures claimed they were hard wood, low ash, and burned hot, but they did not deliver!!……but our clients were happy to have heat as many rely 100% on pellets for heat…….but disappointed with their performance……some drove over 1 1/2 hours to get pellets for heat….
This season (2009-2010) they all are glad we can once again obtain our usual premium brands……….NOTE…if there is no PELLET INSTITUTE membership, seal and information box on the bag, you are buying a pig-in-a-poke…….you have no idea what is in the bag!!……..
Once the euphoria of the low price fades, the depression of poor quality sets in……..
Dutch Country ACE Hardware
711 E. Lincoln Ave.
Myerstown, PA 17067
717-866-8882
PS……i burn pellets too..
I also purchased these pellets at a Sams Club and have been thoroughly unsatisfied. They burn quicker, produce a TON of ash, clog the auger and don’t ignite immediately. I have to clean the stove after every use and go through 2 bags a day. What is a good quality pellet available in Maine?
Do not buy these pellets! I am thinking of bringing the two tons of remaining pellets to the dump. I have had nothing but problems. The Pennington pellets will break your stove, either your auger or igniter. I had the repair guy out here Monday. The ash pan fills up fast with half burnt and still burning pellets. I had to dump the waste out into the snow and in the process almost spilled them onto the floor of my house because I nearly burnt my hand with the still aflame pellets in the ash pan. Luckily I did not start a house fire. This is crazy. Do not buy these pellets!
I also purchased two tons from SAM’s club in August 2009. I orginally thought something was broken on the pellet stove! I dismantled and cleaned the stove. The pellets burn very slowly and very small pieces and dust particles pellets with 20% saw dust in each bag. The small peieces and saw dust seem to smother the flame. I tried a few other brands and they burnt fine, only had to clean out the stove once during the week. With the Pennington, I clean out the stove twice a day and thats not enough. I restricted the pellet feed rate to the max and added on to the restiction plate and still the Darn Pellets will not burn. Sorry but if I was offered free Pennington pellets for life I would pass. I purchased a pellet stove to help free us from the slavery we have to oil not to become a slave to the pellet stove.
How do I return 50 – 40lb bags to the customer service counter? Mybe these Pennington pellets will work in the outdoor fire pit or instead of sand I can spread on sidewalks?
I am getting indications that the retailer that pellets are bought from makes a big ddifference.
I recently bought pellets from Lowes in Banner Elk, NC. The pellets destroyed my Auger motor. There was a lot of ash. The manufacturer told me that Lowes had bought the pellets some time ago and likely did not store them properly.
The manufacturer is sending me a replacement ton of pellets. The manufacturer could not have been any more accommodating. The guy at Lowes was worthless in my opinion. If the fresh ton are good, I will let everyone know the manufacturer. They deserve the business because they have done such a good job of customer service.
Could you list the name on the bag such as “natures heat” also the production date. Mine are 12-19-08. Made in MADISON GEORGIA.
They were bought at a LOWES in LI NY.
The guy bought 4-ton & he had no complaints.
He hurt his back & is going to Gas since an addition to his house.
TO EVERYONE:
PLEASE LIST THE MANUFACTURE DATE SO AS TO WARN OTHERS OF BAD/GOOD PELLETS BATCHES.
Picked over 2-ton up yesterday from a guy in Long Island NYC for cheap. I am in North NJ. It was worth the trip!
They burn a clean flame. I have to turn feed setting up to 5 to get the ashes to push off the burn pot.
Noticed the dust when I pour them in.
HOWEVER-this is the 5th time they were moved & I was throwing them etc. I have to move them 3-times.
However no problems due to dust.
Fortunatly I have a HARMAN Advance stove.
These pellets are not as “Dense” or compact/hard as say “CURRAN” pellets that I burn on 3 1/4 feed setting.
ALSO NOTICED:
There were pieces of near black small pellets that are “rock hard”. Looks like they are compressed MDF or another man made wood by product.
Will keep an eye out for any rocks/brick etc.
There are some longer pellets in the PENNINGTON bags.
They break apart pretty easy though.
These are reasons you have to turn your feed setting up.
Got them cheap so if I go thru a bit more that is OK.
The ASH is ok & not clinkers as of yet. The ash does not “congeal” into one or big hard clumps. Which if it does congeal into one clump usually too much “silica” or soil/dirt/pebbles/sand.
Picked up some TREECYCLE pellets-they smell like rotting wood/landscape debree-horrible. Even the HARMAN could not break the congealed clump of ash off the edge of the burn pot.
Mixed them 50-50 with few bags of the CURRAN’s & it worked fine.
Good efficiency high flame & ash pieces are no bigger than 3/8″ & the burn is a straight line across my burn pot….nice.
Going to see if these PENNINGTON’s light ash will also be a good mixture 50-50 to get rid of the TREECYCLES bad batch. Got 70 bags to go thru unless they take them back.
Took a cupful of the TREECYCLE pellets & soaked them in hot water for 10 min.
You should see the amount of sand/pebbles at the bottom!
I will try putting a screen at the bottom next time to let the heavy particles go thru.
IS THERE ANY WAY MORE PELLET BRANDS COULD BE LISTED ON THIS FORUM?
ALSO A NOTE TO LIST THE MANUFACTURE DATE & WHERE BOUGHT so as to inform or warn????
It is a great forum.
I have tried several brands of wood pellets, The “Natures Heat Pellets” are far the best. Ther is less than 3% residue in each sack. Some other brands have upward of 10% residye. Even tho your pellets smoke up the glass more ,due to the coating, that is minor. I have been buying my pellets at Lowes, but today i found out they have switched brands. Can you tell me where i can buy your product in Edmond or Oklahoma City?
Thanks Keep up the good work
wel lafter going on 2 yrs would think
pennington would have problems firgured
out with there palnts producing the worthless pellets–
ONLY IN AMERICA
been using dry creek pellets with no problems. i ran out and thought i would purchase some of yours. the price was less and i said i would give them a try. never again will i purchase these. no heat, to much ash and they do not all burn. had to clean my stove after the second bag .
I’m look for work i have 10 yrs exp. wood pellet industry STAN J. PARKS_______________________________
PO Box 4387
Omak WA 98841
(509)846-0159
February 6, 2010
HR Dept.
RE:
Dear HR Department
Attached please find my Resume and list of professional references. I discovered your advertisement on the internet and believe I am the candidate you are looking for.
You will note that I have been involved in the Production Industry for the last 20+ years. I have been responsible for personnel management , production , quality control, and safety. I began my career as a Millwright, became promoted to Shift Supervisor, and then promoted to a Department Head. I am competent in all phases of Plant Operations. I have computer skills, including Maxmo, PLC, and some robotics. My crews enjoyed their assignments, were loyal and motivated to do a good job for the company. Part of being a good supervisor is having an open door policy, listening to an employee, and assisting in their productive and personal development.
I would like to meet with you to further discuss goals, and how I can provide my proven expertise in meeting those objectives. My availability for hire is immediate. Your serious consideration of my application is greatly appreciated and I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.
PROFESSIONAL REFERANCES
Ron Green
Construction Management, LLC/Owner
(208) 765-6020 ph (208) 765-6028 fax
Jim Fox
Jacobs Corporation/Executive Sales
(503)580-6533 direct
Monty Linsbloom
Kaman Industries
(509) 290-2958
has anyone used the curran pellets ??
if so did you like them??
I bought them in North Jersey at Lowes.
Bags Dated: 08-09 on top corner.
There are 3-different types.
Mine were the Hardwood/softwood blend.
They smell great & burn nice.
Ash & heat were ok.
They are a new state of the art plant & I believe the wood debree used is from a “controlled source” like a wood/floor mill etc.
They are a dense pellet.
Pennington pellets are horrible I brought 10 bags will use them in only in extreme emergency, they are filthy I have never seen ash that I could stir around with a butterknife. Looks like thick soot pellets could be pelletized manure, never seen a pellet burn like this glass on stove black. Pellets are 3inch long WOW! broke some up with my hands my stove was a mess. ITS hard to believe that this is wood also noticed no pellet institute marking also no listing on whats in the bag, Do your selves a favor stay away from these MUD STICKS, unless you like VOLCANO LAVA in your burn pot.
First of all the image you are showing on this website is of a Natures Heat brand of wood pellets not the Pennington brand. Second I have bought 10 tons from Sam’s club this year and have not had a single problem with any of their product, I have three stoves and burn the Natures Heat brand in all three with no problems at all.
THANKS!!!
I picked up the NATURES HEAT.
They do say “pennington” on the bag & made by “pennington seed”.
i do not mean to offend anyone but i do know this forum is excellent some comments are harsh but i do not believe consumers willfully lie on companies plus it is how word gets out we all burn to save money on energy bills so it is our right to demand good product. I just brought 10 bags of penninton some of you are stuck with tons. We as consumers need pellets we can trust, my multifuel is hooked to a wall thermostat Iam rarely at home i will pay more but i need to trust the product no rocks burn well etc
LETS LEAVE STORES WITH THERE PALLETS OF SUBPAR PRODUCT THEN WE WILL SEE A CHANGE. MONEY TALK THATS WHAT SENDS THE MESSAGE ,YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE TO SIFT THRU BAGS OF PELLETS FOR ROCKS AND SCREWS THATS THERE JOB AND BY THE WAY THEY ARE LEGALLY BOND TO THERE PRODUCT, PELLET STOVES ARE FAR FROM CHEAP NOT TO SPEAK OF THE VENT KIT THAT RUNS 300 DOLLARS AND UP. PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENTS!!! SEND A MESSAGE THE PELLET BUSINESS IS BOOMING I LIVE IN THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH AND NEW MILLS HAVE OPENED IN PA. AS LONG AS WE BUY JUNK THEY WILL KEEP MAKING IT!!!!!!!!
I was bigg enough to come on and make negative comments about Pennington Pellets I must apoligize to pennington and whom ever esle my comments hurt thru trouble shooting ,my lava like ash was do to my error I just happened to be burnning PENNINGTON when the problem started, I will learn to trouble shoot my stove before publicly bashing a company, because this is whats in the hopper when the problem occurs sorry again FOLKS.
Why isn’t this comment in all CAPS like the rest of your comments?
The Pennington brand and the Natures Heat brand are both very good products made by very helpful and intelligent people, if you really even had a problem all you had to do was contact them so they could walk you through it, a company that has been around that long does not stay in business if they don’t produce a quality product.
Pennington pellets are NOT very good. Way too much ash, not high heat. The daily special at Home Depot. Avoid. The Fireside brand pellets at Home Depot are much better.
I bought a Harmon PB-105 Pellet Furnace Boiler system. Am heating a 4800 sq.ft. ranch. Thus far I am REALLY pleased with the performance. My propane bill was $7000 last year. Never again, now that I have my pellet furnace. I have read nearly all the posts and am concerned about the quality of pellets. I burned 8 tons of “pro-pellets” which worked well on a feed rate of about 4. Ash wasn’t an issue and I routinely clean the firepot each Saturday (minimal klinkers.) I recently bought a little over a ton of “Marth” pellets. They seem to smoke alot whaen getting going but I can’t say there has been a difinitive problem. My supplier has said he will have these next year because they burn 50 degrees hotter and require about 30 % less pellets. Any advice? Thanks in advance.
Chuck
Anyone have experience with Sparkman Wood Pellets?
THEY ACT HOT BUT THEY ARE CRYOVAC
was at local wal mart today-
had nature heats pellets– 6 -bucks bag\
just said low ash preiumwood pellets-
Pellet stoves generally cost very low and the Installation costs are relatively low,
Regards/-
Jason Webb
I own All Basics Stove Shop in Merrimack NH, and there are many good pellets out there. Softwood Pellets have a fluffier ash so it appears that there is more. We sell Energex, Turman, Maine (There are 4 different Maine Pellets) and Super Premium (Limited Avail) My advice is to try before you buy.
We manufacture pellet mill dies and roll shell, if you need this kind of products, please contact us. My e-mail is : zjkhx0001@yahoo.cn
instant heat pellets here at ace hardware -219.50 ton
I am in rural Nevada. Am looking at buying pellets from Western Family.food store. There is nowhere on the bag that states who the manufacturer is. I have been led to belive it might be Pennington!! Is there anyone out there that knows about this. If it is pennington I will staw away from them!?! appreciate any help on this…
i bought 10 pallets of the pennington peletts at home depot @ it was the biggest mistake each pallet i have used so far has had 3or4 bags in the middle of the pallet that were no good hard as a rock the amont of heat generated poor extremely high ash content @ lots of kikas this product should be banned
You have to be kidding me. I thought the word was out on the Pennington stuff. I believe I commented on this site noting that Pennington was bad! A lot dust….
I purchased 1/2 ton of Pennington Nature’s Heat pellets in December 2010 from Sam’s Club and Walmart in the Western NY area for about $4/bag just to give them a try. I’ve had no issues with the Nature’s Heat pellets, they burn hot and clean, minimal ash. The Penningtons burn as well as other brands such as Stove Chow and Hamers. The Pellets are certified as premium grade by the Pellet Fuels Institute which places standards on acceptable levels of salt, ash, and moisture content of wood pellets, same as any of the other premium brands out there.
Bought Bags at lowes.I have a advanced harmon.First time i bought these pennington pellets.I think they are some awesome pellets.Very Very clean pellets.Burns real hot little to none ash.I can tell what pellets i get.I try alot of pellets to see what is out there.I have to clean my glass window every 4-5 days.Not really with these pellets.Can go 2 weeks with these pellets.Search for review on this product.Thinking that it would be alot of good reviews, just the opposite..,I say try them again..I live in west michigan..thank you
I purchased a ton of pennington pellets from a local store. These pellets were the worst pellets ive ever used in my stove. They took forever to light. the firebox would fill up with smoke and eventually the smoke would leak out of the flue pipe. My burn pot would fill up with ash and turn into a solid brick. My house now has smoke damage on the ceiling thru out the house. Luckily the local store is going to give me my money back on the thirty-eight bags i have left over. I wouldnt use these pellets again if they were the last pellets on earth!!!