will be interested in what you find.. because I didn't check it out between these and the green supreme
cheat river pellets
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ducker said:
It will probably be some time before I'll have some results as right now I have the hopper full with GT's from a bag I poked a hole in. I usually start off my heating season with just the firewood stove until it can't keep up with the outside temps to keep opposite side of house warm, that's where the pellet stove is to help.
I will definately take pics of pellets to show length and measure and weigh ash to let everyone know my findings to see how they may compare to anyone else doing the same with the same brand pellets.
I have owned my pellet stove for 4 years...I heat my house with it. It is hard to beat Hammer Pellets or Link Jetex Pellets.
However, the test run of two bags of Cheap River Hardwood Pellets, with/without the use Feed Corn, is excellent.
The color of the burn, and with charting the heat produced, I find this product to be satisfactory.
I will buy this product from my local Lowe's, if they will match the competitor from Hams from Southern States.
I have tried and recorded 5 different brands of pellets, including Pine, for temp., ash, heat, and clarity of the burn/glass. Has anyone tried mixing Feed Corn into their pellets?
Any thoughts and comments would be appreciated.
Ralph
Anyone find more info on these pellets? I wonder if these are the same as the Clean Energy that was bagged for Lowes last year? They burned great for me, i liked them as much as the Somersets.
driftbuster said:
My understanding is that this is a new plant that started up in early 2011. I do not believe they are re-bagged pellets. I just cleaned out my stove and have three bags to burn. I cheated because Lowe's had three broken bags that I snagged for 1/2 off! they were 95% full.
So after burning about 10 bags of these so far... I've found the following
Inconsistent pellet length - quite a few very long (where my stove failed once, because of a pellet bridge in the hopper)
extremely dusty - a lot of pellet dust in the bag
lose bagging - it seems as if the bag itself is overly large for the amount of pellets inside, so they are shifting around quite a bit.
I'm fine with the heat output otherwise based on the sub $200 price I paid for them.
If I wanted high quality pellets - I'd pay a premium for them (over $250)
I got 2 tons of these and 2 tons of green team from Lowes... right now - I think I should have gone with just 4 tons of the green team and none of the cheat river.
Inconsistent pellet length - quite a few very long (where my stove failed once, because of a pellet bridge in the hopper)
extremely dusty - a lot of pellet dust in the bag
lose bagging - it seems as if the bag itself is overly large for the amount of pellets inside, so they are shifting around quite a bit.
I'm fine with the heat output otherwise based on the sub $200 price I paid for them.
If I wanted high quality pellets - I'd pay a premium for them (over $250)
I got 2 tons of these and 2 tons of green team from Lowes... right now - I think I should have gone with just 4 tons of the green team and none of the cheat river.
fullfatboy
Member
I've burned these in my Harman Accentra. What I've found is that some bags may have long pellets which bridged my hopper and stopped the insert. I've also had a bag where the pellet size was fine. There do seem to be more fines and dust than normal. If you have the choice between these and Green Team, I would buy the Green Team. However, I measure heat output as well and these gave me more heat than Hardwood Heats and some other brands. I will probably buy another 5 bags and see how they go. If you use a Lowes 10% coupon the price can't be beat. You can get these coupons on EBAY and they are very cheap. Its a good tip for any lowes or home depot purchase as HD will take the lowes coupon as well. When these pellets first arrived at my Lowes they were $6 per bag and then a few weeks later $3.90 a bag.
The Cheat River pellets burned well for me. I just cleaned the stove and the burn pot had almost NO clinkers! The ash is very fine.
The only negative is that the bags have lots of dust. My stove would shut off when run on 1 due to the dust smothering the fire. It burned fine on speeds 2-4. Before I put in a bag today, I used a Tupperware sifter and extracted the dust.
+ Low/fine ash
+ no clinkers
- lots of dust in the bag
Purchase again = Yes
The only negative is that the bags have lots of dust. My stove would shut off when run on 1 due to the dust smothering the fire. It burned fine on speeds 2-4. Before I put in a bag today, I used a Tupperware sifter and extracted the dust.
+ Low/fine ash
+ no clinkers
- lots of dust in the bag
Purchase again = Yes
fullfatboy
Member
I've actually become a fan of these pellets despite some of their shortcomings. They burn pretty hot. Just this morning I measured the heat output on my Accentra at 190'F. Much better than other brands I've tried. There is still the issue with dust and large pellets but hopefully they will work that out for the future.
they are at the Lowe's in Bethlehem for 224 a ton, not sure if I would purchase at this price....keep them in mind for later maybe.
Winslow2010 said:
you know, I have noticed that they do have quite a low ash output from what I've used in the past!
fullfatboy
Member
The main problem I've had with these pellets is the fact that they clog up my hopper due to the large length of some of the pellets. Seems like something they could easily fix and I hope they do for future lots. Last night my insert powered down due to this and it sucks waking up when the house is freezing. Other than that, good pellet!
Here are my results for two bags:
78.8 lbs of pellets
38 oz of ash volume
6 oz of ash weight
Found a good size clinker in burn pot that I had to chisel away with the handle of the paint brush, don't remember finding one as big with the TC's I burned last year. Ash volume is about the same as the TC's but if I remember correctly TC ash weighed more. So far Greene Team are still a better choice for my needs even though ash weighs slightly more than CR's, I'm liking the less volume pellets.
I still have 3 more bags of these CR's and will do another 2 bag test in near future to see if it is close in results to this first test. Right now I'm running a second 2 bag test of GT's.
78.8 lbs of pellets
38 oz of ash volume
6 oz of ash weight
Found a good size clinker in burn pot that I had to chisel away with the handle of the paint brush, don't remember finding one as big with the TC's I burned last year. Ash volume is about the same as the TC's but if I remember correctly TC ash weighed more. So far Greene Team are still a better choice for my needs even though ash weighs slightly more than CR's, I'm liking the less volume pellets.
I still have 3 more bags of these CR's and will do another 2 bag test in near future to see if it is close in results to this first test. Right now I'm running a second 2 bag test of GT's.
If my math is correct these CR's test at .0047588 .47588%
Light but high in ash.
BTW, I keep reading about how pellet lengths clog augers but still have not had a situation like that with any of the few brands I've run through.
Light but high in ash.
BTW, I keep reading about how pellet lengths clog augers but still have not had a situation like that with any of the few brands I've run through.
I have run a fair number of Cheat Rivers through my stove as well. I haven't had any issues with long pellets (or clinkers). To the extent that my stove responds to a long pellet, I usually just hear a grinding sound when the auger turns and it's over pertty quickly. I've had that problem with Lignetics (over two seasons now) but not with the Cheat Rivers.
I'd pick up the Cheat Rivers again at the $197 price. My local lowes has switched to Presto Logs at $244/ton - so I'm done with Lowes for now.
I'd pick up the Cheat Rivers again at the $197 price. My local lowes has switched to Presto Logs at $244/ton - so I'm done with Lowes for now.
glenc0322
Minister of Fire
i purchased 10 bags of cheat river pellets from lowes and will be returning 5 of them they had a low heat output and alot of ash. there was also alot of dust in the bag and they also had very long pellets in them over 2 inches long i was able to burn them no problem but would not recomend them. I am new to the pellet family and only burned a few different brands i like the great american pellet but am trying different brands to see what is best for me
Why are you paying tax on Pellets?? It is alternative energy...George Bush passed that law. I don't pay taxes on it. And if a Vendor wants to try and charge me tax on it (which no one ever has) I wouldn't buy it from them.
Fuel pellets are tax free. George Bush, a Republican, who supports clean energy! Tell your Vendor you are not going to pay tax on it. I refuse to buy from Lowe's because they tax my pellets! I buy my pellets from Southern States and local hardware stores that know Federal Law.
rideboard147
Member
I burned some cheat river pellets last season I got from lowes in Tx. They burned pretty good for a hardwood in my stove. I usually only burn softwoods.
I picked up 6 bags of Cheat River pellets a couple weeks ago to try before I bought 4 tons for winter. Must say I'm impressed, They burn hotter than any others I've used so far, in fact got my attention as I couldn't hold my hand up close to vent as it was too hot. So I checked temp and get 210'F when stove is calling for heat. Lignetics run 190'F
So this morning I picked up 2 tons of Ligs and 2 tons of Cheat River to burn when really cold. They have about same ash as Ligs but its lighter in weight as you can see holes where the air comes up through it, and seems cleaner burning as sides of stove stays clean and hardly any on the heat exchanger. I may have found a new favorite for a great price!
will711
Minister of Fire
I burned a bag last week similar results as other posters real good heat, fluffy ash , but several long pellets 2" + was concerned they would bridge the hopper kept a close eye the stove no issues. I would try them again.
I bought 4 ton of Cheat River's from Lowes this year. They had 4 tons of Green Teams proudly sitting by the entrance, but won't guarantee what pellet you get, because all of them have the same part # to them. Guess what I got? Yeah Cheat Rivers. Anyhow, they have LOTS of fines, dust, ect in them. I have over half a 5 gallon bucket full that my sifter pulled out after burning less than half a ton. This could be because they went through a lot of handling from the WV plant to my PA store. They seem to burn ok after I sift them. I did spot a few long pieces too. I'll burn 'em, but I won't get them next year..
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