# Stove Chow vs Green Supreme



## whitetailscout (Aug 12, 2014)

I have a Lowes and a Home Depot right near me. Lowes has the Green Supreme for $237. Home Depot has Stove Chow for $239. Also Tractor Supply has the MWP for about the same price. Which of these pellets would you choose?


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## oliveone (Aug 12, 2014)

I have not burned the Tractor Supply MWP. I think the Stove chow has to burn much better then the Green Supreme.

I vote stove chow !!


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## stoaf88 (Aug 13, 2014)

oliveone said:


> I have not burned the Tractor Supply MWP. I think the Stove chow has to burn much better then the Green Supreme.
> 
> I vote stove chow !!




Stove chow by a mile


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## joescho (Aug 13, 2014)

oliveone said:


> Tractor Supply MWP. I think the Stove chow has to burn much better then the Green Supreme.


 
X2

SC


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## ttdberg (Aug 13, 2014)

Green Supremes - burned two tons in the past two seasons.  Consistency issues.  First year - Picked up a 1/2 ton a Lowes, they were fine (good heat, low ash).  Later I picked up another 1/2 ton at TSC and they were terrible (bad heat, so much ash).  Last year's batch gave good heat, but *extreme* amounts of ash.  I mean so much ash that after scraping the burnpot clean just before bed, by the time I got up in the morning it was completely buried by a mountain of heavy black ash again causing lazy flame, poor heat output, etc.  Don't get me wrong, I was glad to be able to find some in a pinch (tail end of the shortage earlier this year), but I will go out of my way to avoid buying them again.  This year, I picked up some MWP during the TSC $25 off sale a few weeks ago.  Never burned them before, but folks really seem to like them, I am hopeful they will be great.

whitetailscout - Which home depot has chows?  Never burned them before, but would like to try a few bags this winter.


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## Woody1911a1 (Aug 13, 2014)

out of those 3 , stove chow wins hands down .   LOVE 'em


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## Micmann (Aug 13, 2014)

Stove Chow, all the way.  Green Supreme are rebagged New England Pellets. Crap IMHO.


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## Pellet-King (Aug 13, 2014)

Chow's or even better Fireside Ultra, GS is GARBAGE!


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## TimfromMA (Aug 13, 2014)

I use GS as bedding in my rabbit's cage.


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## ttdberg (Aug 13, 2014)

TimfromMA said:


> I use GS as bedding in my rabbit's cage.


We do the same thing, using whatever TSC happens to carry at the time


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## TimfromMA (Aug 13, 2014)

Just make sure the people in the house know the difference between between heat pellets and bedding pellets. I know I would react quite negatively if I came home to find someone dumping the DF pellets into the rabbit cage.


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## ttdberg (Aug 13, 2014)

Oh yes, we have very clear ground rules in that regard.  The good pellets are stored in one area, and the bedding pellets in a completely different area.


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## whitetailscout (Aug 13, 2014)

TimfromMA said:


> Just make sure the people in the house know the difference between between heat pellets and bedding pellets. I know I would react quite negatively if I came home to find someone dumping the DF pellets into the rabbit cage.


I heard that people were so desperate for pellets at the end of the winter, they started burning bedding pellets.


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## ttdberg (Aug 13, 2014)

That is absolutely true.  The guys at my local TSC love to tell me how folks were resorting to buying the TSC branded horse bedding pellets during the shortage.  It's funny how the stories vary though.  One will tell me he had to warn all the people that bought horse bedding pellets about the serious negative affects of burning pine pellets, the intense creosote build-up they cause, and so forth, and the next one will tell me how burning the horse bedding pellets is actually an improvement over the typical run of the mill blend or hardwood pellets they happen to carry at the time, and how he has some customers that won't burn anything BUT the horse bedding pellets, etc.  Oh, and the horse owners in the area were all mad because the pellet burners were stealing up all their horse bedding.  It's all too funny.


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## mralias (Aug 13, 2014)

whitetailscout said:


> I have a Lowes and a Home Depot right near me. Lowes has the Green Supreme for $237. Home Depot has Stove Chow for $239. Also Tractor Supply has the MWP for about the same price. Which of these pellets would you choose?


Which HD has the Chow...Need some shoulder season pellets.


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## TimfromMA (Aug 13, 2014)

ttdberg said:


> That is absolutely true.  The guys at my local TSC love to tell me how folks were resorting to buying the TSC branded horse bedding pellets during the shortage.  It's funny how the stories vary though.  One will tell me he had to warn all the people that bought horse bedding pellets about the serious negative affects of burning pine pellets, the intense creosote build-up they cause, and so forth, and the next one will tell me how burning the horse bedding pellets is actually an improvement over the typical run of the mill blend or hardwood pellets they happen to carry at the time, and how he has some customers that won't burn anything BUT the horse bedding pellets, etc.  Oh, and the horse owners in the area were all mad because the pellet burners were stealing up all their horse bedding.  It's all too funny.



That's funny considering probably the best heat pellet on the market is DF which is a pine tree.


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## mralias (Aug 13, 2014)

TimfromMA said:


> That's funny considering probably the best heat pellet on the market is DF which is a pine tree.


But it's a very special pine tree.


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## oliveone (Aug 13, 2014)

Have Somerset's on hand for this year and next year already to go. would love to get a few tons of stove chow for the shoulder season.


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## whitetailscout (Aug 13, 2014)

Just curious what all this talk about Stove Chow being for the "shoulder season" is all about? Will they not do a good job of heating in the dead of winter?


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## BrotherBart (Aug 13, 2014)

Yeah I laugh about the talk about Chow. Because two years ago when I put that 25-PDVC in the basement for heating it just when I am down there doing stuff everybody here talked me into buying that three tons of Chow like it was God's answer to cold.


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## whitetailscout (Aug 13, 2014)

BrotherBart said:


> Yeah I laugh about the talk about Chow. Because two years ago when I put that 25-PDVC in the basement for heating it just when I am down there doing stuff everybody here talked me into buying that three tons of Chow like it was God's answer to cold.


 
It wasn't good?


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## BrotherBart (Aug 13, 2014)

I have no clue. They are the only ones I have ever burned so I have nothing to compare them to. They burn, the basement gets warm.


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## mithesaint (Aug 13, 2014)

whitetailscout said:


> It wasn't good?



Stove Chow was Ok in my stove.  OK, not great.  There are many other brands I'd buy before I'd buy chow.  Still better than Green Supreme though.


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## Pellet-King (Aug 14, 2014)

FSU burn even hotter as there mostly softwood than Chow are hardwood based, but who knows what this year's supply will be..
Last winter when it was very cold under 20 for weeks FSU blew me out with well over 82 degree temps in my living room, even the oak floor's around the stove were very hot., that pellet was Smokin'!


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## Tonyray (Aug 14, 2014)

Using a Harman P61,
last winter I burned 2 tons of HD Stove chows[229.00]  and 2 tons Energex Hardwoods[250.00]..
The heat was great from both Pellets.. Both kept my poorly insulated house[600 sq down/ 600 sq up] around 74 degrees all winter at half throttle..Full throttle would have been way too much heat for us..
The Ash from the chows was a bit more than the Energex but No clinkers or Sticky residue in the chamber.
Chows are bagged by Energex and many assume they are the same but the smell is sweeter [bagged/burned]  and the Energex hardwoods are more consistant in size.
As far as a ' shoulder pellet'  I am of the many who don't get into a pellet for every conceivable weather condition. All season pellet if there is such a term. but feel free to expiriment and see what gives.
That said, Chows are HD's Best pellets & glad they charge the same as the other brands they sell.
I stay away from Green Supremes and Presto logs which the sell here often. Burned both once and never again!


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## briansol (Aug 14, 2014)

Stove Chows are like a unicorn around here...  kinda like somersets.   you hear about these fabled bags of pellets, but i've never seen them with my own eyes.


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## whitetailscout (Aug 14, 2014)

They have Stove Chow at the HD in Seekonk, MA and in Coventry,  RI.


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## Tonyray (Aug 14, 2014)

briansol said:


> Stove Chows are like a unicorn around here...  kinda like somersets.   you hear about these fabled bags of pellets, but i've never seen them with my own eyes.


The Fame about stove Chows comes from the fact that they are a very hot low cost pellet that get a bad rap...
very ashy but if u vacuum your stove regularly, not a deal breaker...
also, due to being inconcistant in size, they may tend to cause a dam in drop feeders occasionally..


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## ttdberg (Aug 14, 2014)

Can you clarify something?  The part about them being very ashy concerns me.  I have read that same comment repeatedly about Stove Chows on these forums.  I don't care about fly ash that builds up outside the burnpot - no issues with that at all.  However, if it's the kind of heavy ash that continuously builds up IN the burnpot, and you need to scrape the ash off the front of the burnpot every day, just to keep a decent flame burning, then these are not for me.  Think: Green Supremes.  One of the many reasons I bought the pellet stove was convenience, not to have another item to babysit every day.


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## joescho (Aug 14, 2014)

ttdberg said:


> Can you clarify something?  The part about them being very ashy concerns me.  I have read that same comment repeatedly about Stove Chows on these forums.  I don't care about fly ash that builds up outside the burnpot - no issues with that at all.  However, if it's the kind of heavy ash that continuously builds up IN the burnpot, and you need to scrape the ash off the front of the burnpot every day, just to keep a decent flame burning, then these are not for me.  Think: Green Supremes.  One of the many reasons I bought the pellet stove was convenience, not to have another item to babysit every day.


 
I have never found Stove Chow to have more or less ash than any other pellets I have burned.  They have also never made any clinkers on me either.

Pellet stoves are a real nice convenience especially when compared to a burning stove, but like everything else, you really shouldn't expect to fill the stove and not bother with it for a few days.  Even if its to make sure everything is working ok.


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## Tonyray (Aug 14, 2014)

ttdberg said:


> Can you clarify something?  The part about them being very ashy concerns me.  I have read that same comment repeatedly about Stove Chows on these forums.  I don't care about fly ash that builds up outside the burnpot - no issues with that at all.  However, if it's the kind of heavy ash that continuously builds up IN the burnpot, and you need to scrape the ash off the front of the burnpot every day, just to keep a decent flame burning, then these are not for me.  Think: Green Supremes.  One of the many reasons I bought the pellet stove was convenience, not to have another item to babysit every day.


Each morning I use the Harman supplied tool and pull ash down to the Ash pan [my OCD] and do a few burn pot scrapes after..
Having a harman that pushes the pellets into the burnpot the pellets do most of the ash moving so never had a problem keeping a good flame..
I do this each morning so not sure if that is what u concider baby sitting a lot....I mean pellets make ash so something has to be left behind unless the premo low ash pellets leave barely anything after 24 hrs of burning.
. [Some people here have Magic pellets that claim no ash]

I Do Understand your concern as some pellets make soooo much ash that they end up smothering the flame.....[which has never happened to me with Chows but maybe due to the Harman design...].
One good thing about HD is most times u can buy single bags to try as they usually keep a loose skid in The Nursury area..that's how I started by buying 5 bags as a newbie back then.
Never had heard of them before and if those 5 bags we're not burning good I would never have sprung for 2 tons last winter[before the Vortex induced shortage]..
_Actually I just looked and saw you have a P68 So we have the same Harman Auger system._
I also agree with the poster who said, _"but like everything else, you really shouldn't expect to fill the stove and not bother with it for a few days. Even if its to make sure everything is working ok._


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## Tonyray (Aug 14, 2014)

briansol said:


> Stove Chows are like a unicorn around here...  kinda like somersets.   you hear about these fabled bags of pellets, but i've never seen them with my own eyes.


funny....
lot of people concider them Shoulder pellets at best but I think the low price and fact that they come from HD gives them the low quality stigma...
on a scale of 1- 10 [best] I would give them a Solid  6 ....


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## Tonyray (Aug 14, 2014)

BrotherBart said:


> I have no clue. They are the only ones I have ever burned so I have nothing to compare them to. They burn, the basement gets warm.


Good Honest answer Brother Bart...No Embelishment...


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## BrotherBart (Aug 14, 2014)

Well, I could say they are the best pellet I have ever burned.


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## Tonyray (Aug 14, 2014)

BrotherBart said:


> Well, I could say they are the best pellet I have ever burned.


yes.. u could have said that and it has been said here by some people who have only burned 1 brand.
could also say my Wife is the best women I could have married but I refrain also since I have only had 1 Wife so far.


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## wazilian (Aug 15, 2014)

Stove Chow is the best I've burned in my stove. I tried a few tons of Hamer's last winter and it was a disaster. This year I'm just getting 5 tons of Stove Chow as soon as our Home Depot gets them in and being done with it.


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## Tonyray (Aug 15, 2014)

wazilian said:


> Stove Chow is the best I've burned in my stove. I tried a few tons of Hamer's last winter and it was a disaster. This year I'm just getting 5 tons of Stove Chow as soon as our Home Depot gets them in and being done with it.


Wow..... Hamer's a disaster?
tell us more... seriously... never burned them but I always read posts about those being some of the "Magic Pellets" around the forum..


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## Pellet-King (Aug 15, 2014)

briansol said:


> Stove Chows are like a unicorn around here...  kinda like somersets.   you hear about these fabled bags of pellets, but i've never seen them with my own eyes.


Brian Glastonbury HD has Chow's $239, I'm not buying let'um sit there and lower the price....ripoff, there capitalizing from last season's glut, If this winter is warm they'll be giving them away


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## TimfromMA (Aug 15, 2014)

Pellet-King said:


> Brian Glastonbury HD has Chow's $239, I'm not buying let'um sit there and lower the price....ripoff, there capitalizing from last season's glut, If this winter is warm they'll be giving them away



It was 55 this morning when I left for work and its the 15th of August. Im starting to suspect a winter even longer and colder than last.


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## Jocko1 (Aug 15, 2014)

Pellet-King said:


> Brian Glastonbury HD has Chow's $239, I'm not buying let'um sit there and lower the price....ripoff, there capitalizing from last season's glut, If this winter is warm they'll be giving them away


Yea but if it's gonna be cold again like I expect your gonna be S.O.O.L!    48 here this morning.


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## Pellet-King (Aug 15, 2014)

price of oil is dropping $3.18 here today, I'm not falling for or jumping the gun on pellet's


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## Jocko1 (Aug 15, 2014)

You got to get below 2 bucks per gallon before your even with pellets and if you think that's gonna happen I got a bridge for sale for ya in Brooklyn


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## wazilian (Aug 19, 2014)

Tonyray said:


> Wow..... Hamer's a disaster?
> tell us more... seriously... never burned them but I always read posts about those being some of the "Magic Pellets" around the forum..


I have an Englander so getting more air through the burn pot is not really possible so the Hamer's don't get that extra air they need to burn properly. Hamer's need more air. All they did was gunk up the burn pot and I was consistently having to clean the burn chamber and get up on the ladder in the middle of winter to clean out my flue liner.

With the Stove Chow, sure there is a lot of ash, but if I can get to a weekly cleaning (instead of every day or 2) and the burn pot stays relatively clear and I get decent heat, I'm happy.

Hamer's are probably still one of the better pellets, if you have the right stove. Others can attest to that like you mentioned. I got all excited when I found them local to me. Even bought 3 tons just to play with some of the settings on my stove....but nothing really changed.....sigh...... Who knows, I may try again some year....


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## Tonyray (Aug 19, 2014)

wazilian said:


> I have an Englander so getting more air through the burn pot is not really possible so the Hamer's don't get that extra air they need to burn properly. Hamer's need more air. All they did was gunk up the burn pot and I was consistently having to clean the burn chamber and get up on the ladder in the middle of winter to clean out my flue liner.
> 
> With the Stove Chow, sure there is a lot of ash, but if I can get to a weekly cleaning (instead of every day or 2) and the burn pot stays relatively clear and I get decent heat, I'm happy.
> 
> Hamer's are probably still one of the better pellets, if you have the right stove. Others can attest to that like you mentioned. I got all excited when I found them local to me. Even bought 3 tons just to play with some of the settings on my stove....but nothing really changed.....sigh...... Who knows, I may try again some year....


I guess the Air problem would make sense....
hey... bright side is the Chows have to be cheaper priced...


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## Pellet-King (Aug 19, 2014)

What I know of last season was FSU are hotter than Chow's, there more lighter in color, they seem to be same as energex canadian premium softwoods, when i got mine nobody was buying the SC at Westfield Mass HD, I had to have them sell me 3 tons from the inside of there big display in front.....but.....they gave me what you all call clinker's and I never had clinkers in 15+ year's of burning....only downside.


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## Tonyray (Aug 19, 2014)

Pellet-King said:


> What I know of last season was FSU are hotter than Chow's, there more lighter in color, they seem to be same as energex canadian premium softwoods, when i got mine nobody was buying the SC at Westfield Mass HD, I had to have them sell me 3 tons from the inside of there big display in front.....but.....they gave me what you all call clinker's and I never had clinkers in 15+ year's of burning....only downside.


Interesting..
The Chows are bagged/distributed by Energex here in Upstate Pa...


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## Pellet-King (Aug 19, 2014)

Tonyray said:


> Interesting..
> The Chows are bagged/distributed by Energex here in Upstate Pa...


Yes the SC is Energex American and FSU is Energex Canadian


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## Tonyray (Aug 19, 2014)

Pellet-King said:


> Yes the SC is Energex American and FSU is Energex Canadian


I burn both Energex hardwoods and Chows..
Although they look alike the Chows Pellets size are a bit longer,[kind of inconcistent] and the smell is different out of the bag
and burned... much sweeter smell..
.My Wife likes the smell of Chows in the Fall  when she is outside on the Porch neat  the Exhaust.
[That would be Her Endoresment


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## Tonyray (Aug 19, 2014)

Pellet-King said:


> Yes the SC is Energex American and FSU is Energex Canadian


hardwood vrs Softwood...


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## dlehneman (Aug 19, 2014)

wazilian said:


> Stove Chow is the best I've burned in my stove. I tried a few tons of Hamer's last winter and it was a disaster. This year I'm just getting 5 tons of Stove Chow as soon as our Home Depot gets them in and being done with it.


We have the same stove, I haven't tried Stove Chow's or Hamer's since I haven't seen them here, but last years FSU's from HD burned very hot and with average ash content (really good bang for the buck). Green Team Platinums from Lowe's burned a somewhat hotter and cleaner, but you do need to be creative with discounts to get reasonable pricing on them (I'm only paying $221 a ton this year/ versus the $299 regular price). MWP Softies worked great for me and were probably the hottest and cleanest I've tried in my stove (I have new stuff to try this season).
If your signature is correct, your setting are much higher then mine though...I'm running at 2-2-1 after lots of experimenting (depending on the pellet and season I change the first 2 to 1-1 or 2-2). I wonder how much the basement install effects the best way to run it though, since mine is a relatively short exhaust run through 3" (4ft vertical to a 90 degree bend with 2ft horizontal through the wall), OAK about 18-24" off the ground below the exhaust.


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## mralias (Aug 19, 2014)

Tonyray said:


> hardwood vrs Softwood...


Oh boy. You said a naughty words. Popcorn time.......


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## wazilian (Aug 20, 2014)

dlehneman said:


> If your signature is correct, your setting are much higher then mine though...I'm running at 2-2-1 after lots of experimenting (depending on the pellet and season I change the first 2 to 1-1 or 2-2). I wonder how much the basement install effects the best way to run it though, since mine is a relatively short exhaust run through 3" (4ft vertical to a 90 degree bend with 2ft horizontal through the wall), OAK about 18-24" off the ground below the exhaust.


Yeah I think I need to update the settings in my signature. I changed them last year after talking with Englander staff.

My basement install probably does limit some things. Roughly 28 feet of total run is pushing it, although my full setup got the approval from Englander staff. My OAK is only 8 feet maybe. It doesn't go up the chimney like the exhaust. The OAK goes up the basement wall and out the rim joist.

If I learn something new with my setup, I'll give Hamer's a try again. I'm an engineer, tinkering is what we do.


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## dlehneman (Aug 20, 2014)

If you like to tinker, you may find that grinding down the rough edges and high spots inside the exhaust blower housing helps a bit (I did this last year). I also found that my burn pot wasn't sitting completely flush due to some lumpy welds, so I solved that by grinding them down. It burned noticeable cleaner after that mod.


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## dlehneman (Aug 20, 2014)

I am considering moving my stove to the basement and getting another to go in it's place, so I'm curious, does your exhaust seem to get a lot of buildup? I guess what I'm wondering is if it requires more frequent cleaning due to the long length, although that may be hard to answer if you haven't run the same stove with a shorter exhaust.


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## wazilian (Aug 21, 2014)

dlehneman said:


> If you like to tinker, you may find that grinding down the rough edges and high spots inside the exhaust blower housing helps a bit (I did this last year). I also found that my burn pot wasn't sitting completely flush due to some lumpy welds, so I solved that by grinding them down. It burned noticeable cleaner after that mod.


I have used my dremel to shave off some of the welds spots on my burn pots in the past and any other high points that would keep it from seating correctly. Maybe I'll try taking a look at my exhaust fan's housing and see if there are high spots too. Most likely is as this is the 6th season with the stove.


dlehneman said:


> I am considering moving my stove to the basement and getting another to go in it's place, so I'm curious, does your exhaust seem to get a lot of buildup? I guess what I'm wondering is if it requires more frequent cleaning due to the long length, although that may be hard to answer if you haven't run the same stove with a shorter exhaust.


With the Hamer's gumming up the works, I was cleaning my liner every few weeks it seemed. More frequent if I think it was really bad. The first year I had the liner (this is the 3rd year with it I think), I used all Stove Chow all winter long and I did not clean the liner until after the burn season, not every month/ton that is suggested. I could tell it was dirty enough that I should have cleaned it during the season, but not enough that I noticed a degrade in my burns. I will plan on doing it every month/ton this winter however to keep this thing running as best I can.

Because my EVL was over 15, its recommended to go to 4" liner/exhaust pipe. The liner doesn't get as much of the build up as my 3' horizontal run. Unfortunately that is how far I have to take it to get it to my vertical liner in the chimney flue. If we stick to the cleaning every month/ton, we should be in good shape.


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## briansol (Aug 21, 2014)

Pellet-King said:


> price of oil is dropping $3.18 here today, I'm not falling for or jumping the gun on pellet's


Where are you getting 3.18 oil?   My guy wants 3.64 still!




Pellet-King said:


> Brian Glastonbury HD has Chow's $239, I'm not buying let'um sit there and lower the price....ripoff, there capitalizing from last season's glut, If this winter is warm they'll be giving them away


hrm, i work in e hartford.   maybe i'll swing down on the way home from work and scope it out.

getting them home will be costly though.   my pickup is good for 1/2 locally in town (dakota), but not 30 highway miles.   would need to make 3 trips out of it per ton, and that completely negates the cost.


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## ttdberg (Aug 21, 2014)

Briansol, take a look at this for prices for CT:
http://www.cashheatingoil.com/oilpricesinct

In my area, prices range anywhere from $3.25 up to $3.60+ right now.  Suspect the places charging $3.60 are the larger ones that are sitting on older inventory that cost a lot more than current market prices.

Also, check this out to drill down a bit for prices in your area:
http://www.newenglandoil.com/conn.htm

Time to shop around.


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