# Pellets in a wood stove



## nmaho (Dec 10, 2014)

A friend has a pellet stove and he has 2 bags he does not like and he asked if I want them? Can I burn these in a wood stove? It's almost like free wood.


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## firefighterjake (Dec 10, 2014)

Kinda sorta . . . yes.

It's a wood product and it will burn.

Most folks that have tried burning these say just sticking a bunch of pellets in a woodstove and lighting them up doesn't result in a very good fire. There are some folks who have bought or made wire baskets which they have reported have helped.

My opinion . . . Woodstoves are meant to burn wood . . . pelletstoves are meant to burn pellets. Trying to burn cord wood in a pelletstove doesn't work out very well . . . same goes for trying to burn pellets in a woodstove.


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## nmaho (Dec 10, 2014)

Not that I am going to throw the whole bag in at once but just a couple of handfuls after I add splits


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## firefighterjake (Dec 10, 2014)

nmaho said:


> Not that I am going to throw the whole bag in at once but just a couple of handfuls after I add splits



A handful or two probably will not hurt things . . . but probably will not do much either in terms of heat. If you need to get rid of the pellets though, doing what you suggested should work.


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## Wood Duck (Dec 10, 2014)

I'd toss them in a handful at a time, or maybe when I build anew fire in a cold stove I'd make a place between the splits to fill with pellets. The challenge, I think, will be to keep the pellets up out of the ash so they can get air and burn. This could be done by putting them on top of some splits, or between some splits, etc. You could probably also toss a handful on a hot bed of coals and it might help burn the coals down.


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## Ram 1500 with an axe... (Dec 10, 2014)

nmaho said:


> A friend has a pellet stove and he has 2 bags he does not like and he asked if I want them? Can I burn these in a wood stove? It's almost like free wood.


I say, find someone that burns pellets and give it away......


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## Andy S. (Dec 10, 2014)

+1 on using to help burn down coals. I've been meaning to try it but haven't gotten around to it. If you try I'd be interested in the results.


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## Sconnie Burner (Dec 10, 2014)

Andy S. said:


> +1 on using to help burn down coals. I've been meaning to try it but haven't gotten around to it. If you try I'd be interested in the results.


X2, I have enough smaller kindling so I use that, but thought about buying a bag and giving it a try.


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## NHcpa (Dec 10, 2014)

Here's a thought, wrap a handful of pellets in newspaper to light the woodstove...I will try this.


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## bioman (Dec 10, 2014)

you could burn them in the stoves that I build, for sure.


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## jrems (Dec 10, 2014)

I use pellets frequently. In the morning I rake the coals to the front and sprinkle the pellets on top. Works like kindling. I wouldn't go out and buy any but I get a few bags for free from a friend every once in awhile if they don't burn well in his pellet stove.


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## samfatboy (Feb 17, 2015)

I am running short of pressed brick fuel, and even though the bio brick factory is right here in Connecticut, I cannot seem to find a source for a ton of them anywhere, I run a two stove operation in my house, with a pellet stove in the living room and a wood burner in the family room. I decided to investigate burning pellets in the wood stove.  

I did some research here and found several posts about pellet cages/baskets, etcetera.  So I Googled pellet cages/baskets and found a few sources.  There was a local pellet seller who advertised these baskets, so off I went to buy one.  When I got there all they had was the 4 liter version, which was way too small for what I was looking for.  

So I did more Googling and after looking at several variations a bell went off in my head.  I have a pasta strainer pot that I have wanted to replace for a long time, and gee wouldn't that 8 quart, stainless steel pasta strainer work just like one of those 7 liter pellet baskets?  I checked the prices on 8 quart pasta strainers, and they are considerably less than the pellet baskets, so....

Trial was today.  I filled the strainer ½  full  with ThermaGlo pellets (the worst pellets I have used this season).  Then I loaded three Eco Bricks spaced out on the floor of the stove to provide air circulation from the bottom, put the strainer of pellets on top of the three bricks, and one brick on each side.  I used a couple of my usual duraflame chunks in the top of the pellet pot as a starter, along with my usual startup routine.

Surprisingly, startup/heatup was perhaps a little faster than with just the bricks, taking just 20 minutes instead of the usual 35 before closing the damper shut off and moving to cat mode.  The stove seemed to run just like using bricks, initial cat light off and climb to 850 F, then cruised at 700 F for about 4 hours, with a 4 hour run down to coals at 250 F.

I am doing a full strainer tonight with 7 bricks to see how long the burn will go.  

Since I have plenty of pellets, this should allow me to moderate my brick use and get through the season without the need to buy another pallet of bricks.  I may be able to just use the strainer with pellets for the shoulder season. 

So there you go.  If you want to burn pellets in a wood burner, just grab an 8 quart pasta strainer from your local Walmart -- stainless steel handles highly recommended.


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## OHutton (Feb 18, 2015)

I've used them as a sort of kindling getting the fire going again like others have mentioned. I probably use them the most though when I've slacked on building a new fire and it's dying down and not catching well. I've maybe used 2-4 cups out of an entire bag. They work well in the right situation.

As far as burning down coals with them, it's not really practical. They only burn for a minute or two so you keep having to throw them in. Too high maintenance. Better to just throw a softwood split on there and call it good if you have one.


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## hamsey (Feb 18, 2015)

Sam,

Not sure if they are close but they have all sizes of bricks http://www.ctpellet.com/ Went yesterday and grabbed a few bags of the big ones. They do have a couple of ton of bricks.


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## samfatboy (Feb 19, 2015)

hamsey said:


> Sam,
> 
> Not sure if they are close but they have all sizes of bricks http://www.ctpellet.com/ Went yesterday and grabbed a few bags of the big ones. They do have a couple of ton of bricks.


Thanks for the reference.  Torrington is definitely a haul for me -- about an hour drive.  I may consider it if no one closer gets any in.


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