# What can I burn in my pellet stove.



## buildingmaint (Apr 16, 2007)

Last night I put small  rolled up newspaper in my burn pot of my pellet stove and the sky fell. Well not really ,but why is this a bad idea? I didn't see any thing bad happen during this experiment. Why could I not put in small pieces of wood? I keep hearing about these nuclear pellets ,where can you get them? Russia  ?


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## webbie (Apr 16, 2007)

Nuclear (also known as miracle or LOVE pellets) can produce more heat than the actual BTU's in them. In fact, the heat directly relates to how many beers you had before you brag to your friends about how much you saved! There is also firewood which meets this same criteria.

But, given the small size of a pellet stove firebox and burn pot, let alone the chimney situation (lower temp) and the listing of the stove, etc. etc -I'm afraid that most pellet stoves are limited to low ash wood pellets or corn or mixtures. Certain biomass stoves can burn higher ash pellet fuel, which is starting to be available in some areas.


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## Corie (Apr 16, 2007)

Be careful too, because if you cause damage from burning a loony bin fuel you'll more than likely violate your warantee.  Stick with what the manufacturer recommends or at least stick with pelletized fuels which resemble pellets.  Switchgrass pellets, cherry pits, alfalfa pellets (smell like pot when burning from what I'm told), cardboard pellets, buckwheat and corn are some of the biomass fuels you can try out.  Stay away from cordwood or coal though.


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## jtp10181 (Apr 16, 2007)

What can I burn in my pellet stove?

Pellets


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## Corie (Apr 16, 2007)

jtp10181 said:
			
		

> What can I burn in my pellet stove?
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> Pellets



Hahaha yep that about sizes it up.


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## wg_bent (Apr 16, 2007)

jtp10181 said:
			
		

> What can I burn in my pellet stove?
> 
> Pellets



This is a trick question... right?  

Let me see now.  What are the choices?

Whole logs?
Corn?
Pellets?
Coal?
Compressed logs?
2x4's?
MDF?
Small dogs?
old chevy tires?

Hmmm I'm just not sure on this one.... 

I guess I need to get a pellet stove to work on the answer.


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## jtp10181 (Apr 16, 2007)

I keep suggesting someone needs to make a pellet stove that will burn shredded tires. Corey, make that one of your projects next year .


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## Corie (Apr 16, 2007)

Bet there would be zero smoke on start up! hahah


Don't they use old tires to make cement? Thought I saw that on dirty jobs.


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## Mrs-GVA (Apr 16, 2007)

I find dog food burns great!  IAMs burns better then Kibbles N Bits.  And dogs keep licking the glass...no soot build up


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## titan (Apr 17, 2007)

That's funny right there


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## HarryBack (Apr 17, 2007)

Mrs-GVA said:
			
		

> I find dog food burns great!  IAMs burns better then Kibbles N Bits.  And dogs keep licking the glass...no soot build up



You are a twisted woman, Mrs GVA. ;-P


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## Mrs-GVA (Apr 17, 2007)

HarryBack said:
			
		

> You are a twisted woman, Mrs GVA. ;-P



how else do you think I nabbed gva?  He finds me challeging!  8-/


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## alfio (Apr 18, 2007)

Mrs-GVA said:
			
		

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don't laugh, I was told by my harman dealerthat one of is customers is burning turkey feed . He has a turkey farm and at the end of the year  all feed he has leftover he would have to trow out by law . so he burns it in his pellet stove instead .


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## keyman512us (Apr 18, 2007)

> I find dog food burns great!  IAMs burns better then Kibbles N Bits.  And dogs keep licking the glass...no soot build up
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> HarryBack - 17 April 2007 08:09 AM
> You are a twisted woman, Mrs GVA.
> ...


ROFLMAO!! I love it!

Now my question for Mrs. GVA: ??? How long have you been "surfing this forum" over Mr. GVA's shoulder...with us "Nuts"...before you decided to "check in under you're own screen name"??? ...A belated "Welcome to the forum" all the same.

I love the Scrat avatar also...one of my "Mrs" favorites'...and mine as well.


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## cogger (Apr 18, 2007)

buildingmaint said:
			
		

> Last night I put small  rolled up newspaper in my burn pot of my pellet stove and the sky fell. Well not really ,but why is this a bad idea? I didn't see any thing bad happen during this experiment. Why could I not put in small pieces of wood? I keep hearing about these nuclear pellets ,where can you get them? Russia  ?



This is funny but ingenius. I laugh because I have tried pellet fuel in my Vermont Casting coal stove. Now buildingmaint is suggesting wood chips for the pellet stove..... Anyway what about "rice coal" in a pellet stove? 

About the newspaper thing well ok. But now you have to make it auger friendly and hopper freindly. 

1) I'd suggest a pieace of paper the size of a gum wraper.
2) Place in your palm and roll in circular motion.
3) Paper will now be BB size like for a BB or pellet gun.
4) Throw in hopper.

Let me know how long it takes to make 4 TONS like this.


Without the commical remarks this compacted paper idea may be good biomass product for a pellet alternative.

Now how does one mass produce them at home


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## begreen (Apr 18, 2007)

The confusion may be because some new stoves burn a diverse variety of fuels. The new Mt. Vernon burns a wide variety of biofuels, including wood pellets in various grades, 100% corn, sunflower seeds, and wheat. I wouldn't be surprised to see compressed switchgrass or perhaps compressed waste products from biofuel production showing up as fuel in the future as well.


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## smirnov3 (Apr 18, 2007)

RingOfFire said:
			
		

> Without the commical remarks this compacted paper idea may be good biomass product for a pellet alternative.
> 
> Now how does one mass produce them at home



There is a company out in Washington state that prduces paper pellets for industrial boilers. They are too long for a pellet stove and their ash is about the same as standard (instead of premium) pellets.


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## titan (Apr 18, 2007)

Begreen, you say that the Mt. Vernon burns sunflower seeds?If so,I gotta get me one;I can't stop eating the seeds since I quit smokin 3 years ago.-Sometimes my work truck looks like a bluejay threw-up in the front! ;-)


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## buildingmaint (Apr 18, 2007)

I didn't mean run different stuff through the auger , just throw some rolled up paper in the burn pot. Or some small pieces of wood  I might come across in the burn pot. Not running non pellet stuff through the auger.


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## Mrs-GVA (Apr 18, 2007)

keyman512us said:
			
		

> > I find dog food burns great!  IAMs burns better then Kibbles N Bits.  And dogs keep licking the glass...no soot build up
> >
> > HarryBack - 17 April 2007 08:09 AM
> > You are a twisted woman, Mrs GVA.
> ...



Thanks for the welcome!  I became really interested with some of the political threads....but GVA wouldn't let me post because of my strong opinions....so I signed myself up!  Kind of cool, we're both on our computers at night poking around hearth.com.  We don't have lives!


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## GVA (Apr 18, 2007)

RingOfFire said:
			
		

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I've already started hwoooo haaaaaa <<<<<------(mad scientist saying)....See pic attached.
No those aren't tax documents  

Maybe this will keep the dog snot off the glass.... :cheese:


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## alfio (Apr 18, 2007)

buildingmaint said:
			
		

> I didn't mean run different stuff through the auger , just throw some rolled up paper in the burn pot. Or some small pieces of wood  I might come across in the burn pot. Not running non pellet stuff through the auger.



that would not be practical you would be constantly feeding it not much fun.


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## Gooserider (Apr 19, 2007)

Not a pellethead, and not reccomending this - if you try it, don't call me as I will only guarantee that if your stove breaks, you can have all the peices!  %-P  However it would seem to me like it might be possible to make some sort of imitation pellets out of newspaper other than by hand rolling individual pellets...  What about something like a pasta machine and paper mache' - mix the paper with water to turn it into pulp, then run it through a pasta machine, or possibly a burger grinder to extrude pellet sized bits - let them dry and burn...

Probably would have a lot of ash, and not as many BTU/lb as wood pellets, but might work...

Gooserider


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## jtp10181 (Apr 19, 2007)

Titan said:
			
		

> Begreen, you say that the Mt. Vernon burns sunflower seeds?If so,I gotta get me one;I can't stop eating the seeds since I quit smokin 3 years ago.-Sometimes my work truck looks like a bluejay threw-up in the front! ;-)



The Mt Vernon AE burns a lot of fuels and ass they test different things the thermostat can be updated to understand how to burn them. Out of the box it can burn Pellets, Corn, Sunflower Seeds, Wheat

They have talked about burning peanut shell pellets and switchgrass pellets in it also but I don't know how to get a hold of the fuel tables for those two.


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## HarryBack (Apr 19, 2007)

GVA said:
			
		

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note the green lettering on that New England Pellet bag.....those are Canadian softwood bags, originating in Palmer, MA!


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## GVA (Apr 19, 2007)

HarryBack said:
			
		

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Oh so those are your tax documents I've been shredding I mean pelletizing....


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## alfio (Apr 20, 2007)

HarryBack said:
			
		

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I don't  think that plant is up and running yet .


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## GVA (Apr 20, 2007)

alfio said:
			
		

> I don't  think that plant is up and running yet .


It's a bagging facility..... and yes it was up and running.


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## HarryBack (Apr 20, 2007)

alfio said:
			
		

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No, its up and running. Been there. Sold tons and tons of the stuff so far. Good pellet, good folks too, running that Palmer plant. They busted their behinds to get that place up and running, not to mention working the kinks out. They need someone like GVA there, tho.....and Mrs GVA to lend helpful, insightful advice. :cheese:


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## smirnov3 (Apr 23, 2007)

Gooserider said:
			
		

> Not a pellethead, and not reccomending this - if you try it, don't call me as I will only guarantee that if your stove breaks, you can have all the peices!  %-P  However it would seem to me like it might be possible to make some sort of imitation pellets out of newspaper other than by hand rolling individual pellets...
> Gooserider



I bet all those ex-hippies would be able to do that, since they all have lots of practice 'hand rolling' things that burn 

seriously, I have always wondered about mixing corn starch with sawdust to make your own pellets.  Probably wouldn't work.


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## wg_bent (Apr 23, 2007)

So, not owning either a Pellet stove nor a Coal stove with like the Harman Magnum Stoker, What is the real difference between a stoker coal stove and a Pellet stove becides the feed rate and blower volume?  

Why couldn't a coal stoker burn pellets or vise versa?


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## begreen (Apr 23, 2007)

Pellet stove's feed rates, auger, burn pot are not designed for coal. Pellet stoves typically have a forced draft exhaust fan that  is not designed for coal.


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## webbie (Apr 23, 2007)

A bottom fed (Harman) stoker for pellets is probably quite similar to a coal stoker. 

However, there is probably longer residence time in the burn pot for the coal, etc. - 

I don't know of any top loading coal stockers, although it is probably possible.

Harryback has had them all apart - perhaps he can confirm the differences.


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## Andre B. (Apr 23, 2007)

Webmaster said:
			
		

> I don't know of any top loading coal stockers, although it is probably possible.



Maybe a bit larger scale then you were thinking..
http://www.tesboilers.com/teskit.html#sprd


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## HarryBack (Apr 23, 2007)

Webmaster said:
			
		

> A bottom fed (Harman) stoker for pellets is probably quite similar to a coal stoker.
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Im not familiar obviously with ALL stoker stoves, but the Harman magnum stoker uses a pusher block assembly rather than an auger to feed the fuel in. The size of the burn area is MUCH greater as well in the stoker rather than the pellet unit. Steel and cast iron seems heavier as well. The magnum stoker controls are basically timing based, whereas the pellet units are generally temperature-based. The stoker units require a chimney, or, (ugh), a powerventer, except for the DVC500 which uses proprietary pipe for venting, but is vented thru a sidewall (it still uses a pusher block though). Another problem with an auger feed and coal is that due to the higher temperatures, the flights of the auger burn off, and fairly quickly.....there was a Harman that used an auger to feed coal once upon a time, no longer made, called the Magnum44....due to several issues, it isnt made anymore....this was about as close to being a pellet stove as a coal stove could be. One of the major problems with coal was the water in the coal...most coal is pretty wet, at least when its bagged. Water + coal + burning = sulphuric acid, which isnt real good with steel. Harman sticks with a pusher block now in all of their stoker units, tried and true, seems to work best. Alaska stoves uses a oscillating piece of steel and an inclined plane to feed coal....a different method of delivery, and pretty problem-free, as long as you remember to remove the ashes.


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## wg_bent (Apr 23, 2007)

HarryBack said:
			
		

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Sounds to me like a coal stoker could... in theory be "adjusted" so that it could burn pellets.  Drop in a smaller burn pot, load with pellets, flip the fuel switch to "Pellet" and off she goes.  (HEY HARMAN...I get credit on the Patent!!)


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## webbie (Apr 23, 2007)

Perhaps in theory, but pellets are virtually always a good bit more expensive than coal, so there might not be much demand.

I remember the EFM coal stokers, and I think they used an auger - but then again they may have used that to get the fuel close to the pot, and then something else to get it right into the pot. 
Hey - they are still in business!
http://www.efmheating.com/d520.html

looking at the manual, it appears to be an auger which terminates shy of the firebox - it would seem that this type of design would eliminate the excess heat on the auger.

This stoker is tried and true - they've been in the field for 50 years -- I have a good friend who has one in his house with the oil backup.


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## Gooserider (Apr 24, 2007)

Warren said:
			
		

> So, not owning either a Pellet stove nor a Coal stove with like the Harman Magnum Stoker, What is the real difference between a stoker coal stove and a Pellet stove becides the feed rate and blower volume?
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> Why couldn't a coal stoker burn pellets or vise versa?



Never having burned either, I've wondered about this as well, and I suspect the problem is probably to do with the volume of fuel involved.  My understanding is that a pellet stove has a very small amount of fuel burning at any given time - maybe about a quart pot's worth.  Coal on the other hand needs to have a considerably larger volume of fire to maintain enough combustion - you have to get the coal hot to burn it, which takes a pretty good sized fire, maybe a cubic foot worth...  Thus a coal stove wouldn't burn pellets because you'd get too much heat from that many pellets going up at once and overfire.  A pellet stove can't burn coal even if it was pellet-sized because the fire wouldn't be big enough to be self sustaining.

This is pure guess work on my part though, so I'd hope that Corie or someone else with expertise in both technologies could say if I'm right or if there's some other reason...

Gooserider


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## restorer (Apr 24, 2007)

Gooserider said:
			
		

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Goose, 

I'd add to your analysis, burn rate. I think it takes coal much longer to combust than a wood pellet. The feed rate to replenish a fire would be radically different for the two fuels. Doesn't seem to me to be a realistic combination/multi-fuel option.


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## Gooserider (Apr 24, 2007)

UncleRich said:
			
		

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Wouldn't seem to me like feed rates would be that big a deal - after all we have adjustments for such things, though it might take a "coal setting" and a "pellet setting" to set appropriate adjustment ranges.  However I think some of the other issues raised are probably better reasons why it wouldn't work...

Gooserider


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## berlin (Apr 24, 2007)

augers work fine in many many coal applications, the key is to not have the air enter untill a point much higher in the "burn pot" thus preventing excess heat on the auger. this setup usually requires more space than push-block design, thus it is more common in coal furnaces, in a stove where space and compact design is a concern push-blocks are favored. the reason augers have problems in this setup has to do with two issues combining; the close proximity of the fire bed to the auger heating and thus softening the steel, and the abrasive grinding that takes place w/ anthricite vs. softer coals, this causes wear on the auger in excess of other applications where the perform well for decades of use.


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