Fireside Ultra Pellets

[cntbill]

[quote author="Bill...me:

So for some comparison what are yours? That is if you still have the bags...

Ok Bill heres what I have...

The ton that I bought at first of January is marked... 4-28-07 MT
The 30 bags I bought a week and a half ago is marked....8-26-07 JK

Interesting, the 30 bags you bought have the same date and JK as the ones I just returned. But totally different, as I had lots of fines and low heat with tiny pellets.

You know bill....
I cleaned out my hopper friday....and put in a bag of those Firesides that I got a couple weeks ago....and I think your right. That particular "JK" and the August date on it do burn cooler. I had to open my feed plate more to get the heat I wanted. I picked up 10 bags of Natures Heat from Lowes.....trying them.....they seem to burn very good .....and hardly any fines at all.[/quote]

So opening your feed plate allows more pellets for the same burn rate? Then that would be using more to get the same heat, which is pretty much what I thought of them, so I'm figuring a not so good batch.

JimmyD, - Be interesting how the bags you got turn out since they are from the same batch it seems. If you have a way of checking the heat output before you put them in.

 

[MainePellethead]

So....the way I figure...thats a prime example of .....no two batches are the same.

 

[cntbill]

To say the least, not to mention some variations even between bags...

 

[JimmyD]

JimmyD, - Be interesting how the bags you got turn out since they are from the same batch it seems. If you have a way of checking the heat output before you put them in.

Bill, I'm 1/2 way thru bag one and the heat output is acceptable. I've burned hotter and I've burned worse. I check heat with the back of my hand near the unit. If it hurts its good

Jim

 

[MainePellethead]

JimmyD, - Be interesting how the bags you got turn out since they are from the same batch it seems. If you have a way of checking the heat output before you put them in.

Bill, I'm 1/2 way thru bag one and the heat output is acceptable. I've burned hotter and I've burned worse. I check heat with the back of my hand near the unit. If it hurts its good

Jim

I put a taco near it....if it melts the cheese....we call it good lol

 

[cntbill]

JimmyD, - Be interesting how the bags you got turn out since they are from the same batch it seems. If you have a way of checking the heat output before you put them in.

Bill, I'm 1/2 way thru bag one and the heat output is acceptable. I've burned hotter and I've burned worse. I check heat with the back of my hand near the unit. If it hurts its good

Jim

I put a taco near it....if it melts the cheese....we call it good lol

Yes, the "five senses" at work... and if it is a taco... "taste" works the best...

 

[RetireeBob]

Didn't the Stove Chow plant close a few years ago...like 5 or more? Are the produced in Western Massachusetts?
Am wondering where the Stove Chow pellets are coming from.

It looks like the stove chow pellets are made by the Energex plant in Mifflin, PA. I asked Energex where a dealer was in my area and one of their suggestions was to check my local HD for Stove Chow pellets. I checked local HD and the Stove Chow vendor services HD in PA area, not NH.

 

[krooser]

Still have some - they are 11-8-07 SD.

Fireside altra's ? If so it's funny the Stove Chow I just picked up have the SD by the date. So I'm thinking both are made by the same company, just one is White wood - Stove Chow, the other Hard wood - Fireside... Maybe that's what the guy at HD meant when he told me they came from the same place.... hmmmm

Taking a wild guess here, "SD" might be the mill indicator as to where they were made?

Those Fireside Ultras are softwood...

 

[sharkbait106]

"gw2kpro" posted pellet prices recently of Fireside Ultra...but didnt post how they burn. I think someone else said they burned well for them. Can anyone give an experience if these burn good or not?

They burn good but make hard chunks in the burn pot that are hard to break up after 8 hrs of burn time. I open the door to stir the burn pot and its one hard block! Bought 5 bags to try these pellets out. I've had the best luck with warm front pellets from Newengland pellet in Newhampshire.

 

[mark d fellows]

just a note on the energex brand, they make 2 types of pellets: premium grade hardwood (for residential) and commercial grade (for pellet fired boilers ) the commercial grade are high ash >3% ash content im not sure how they mark the different grades , so make sure the energex you are getting arent the high ash commercial grade as they truly arent meant for residential units built for premium grade pellet usage.

as for the fireside ultra , many home depot stores carry that brand and i have gotten very good reviews on them for the most part from customers i have who have burned them. i however have not had access to them to try myself so i can only give a second hand indorsement.

Energex makes alot of different pellets that is for sure.
But while we are discussing the Home Depot pellets I have a few observations.
When I first got into pellets HD was carrying Stove Chow.
What crappy pellets those were. Smelled much like pencil shavings. With little or no heat output and lots of fines.
They then started carrying Eureka brand. I had used that brand from a reputable dealer before and was impressed with heat output and general lack of clinkers. But to my dismay the Eureka pellets that HD was selling smelled terrible. (u reek-a)
The smell was so bad that you wouldn't want to keep a bag open anywhere your living area. Since my stove lives in the living room...this was a problem. I think that HD was buying old pellets that were stored too long with some other stinky product. The best was to describe the smell was musty or guano. Anyway they seemed to get the Fireside Ultra a couple of years ago and have seen this in the stores ever since.
If anybody knows what causes pellets to get that nasty smell...please tell us what cause it.
The fireside pellets don't seem to have the nasty smell...but they do have much more fines in the bags then the fresh NE pellets (2 tons this year) .I bought 3 tons of Fireside last year from HD. I still think HD stores the pellets at the end of the year rather then fire selling them as most stores do. So if you get HD pellets remember that...Buyer beware.

You know, Stove Chow must have some consistancy issues cause I just burned 4 bags and they were a fine pellet. Little to no fines, no smell, burned hot and whitish without an orange tinged flame, started well, etc.

I just bought 10 more bags cause I liked them, but I also recommended them to my niebor and he bought a ton. I hope his turn out to be as good as my first 4 bags or I would feel horrible.

Mark

 

[showdogs]

I got a ten percent off card from Home Depot. I have been using Fireside Ultras for about a month so I bought a ton for a total of $269. I couldn't pass up the no payment for 12 month deal also. I have tried as many different brands as I could find in the last month and I think the Fireside Ultras are right up there in performance.

 

[sharkbait106]

"gw2kpro" posted pellet prices recently of Fireside Ultra...but didnt post how they burn. I think someone else said they burned well for them. Can anyone give an experience if these burn good or not?

They burn good but make hard chunks in the burn pot that are hard to break up after 8 hrs of burn time. I open the door to stir the burn pot and its one hard block! Bought 5 bags to try these pellets out. I've had the best luck with warm front pellets from Newengland pellet in Newhampshire.

I just bought a ton of the fireside ultra and they burn great! I think my problem (being a new pellet stove guy) is that I didn't have the airflow open enough because I'm having no problems with the chunks anymore. Also the window on my insert isn't getting black anymore. I got ahold of a 10% off coupon so the pellets ended up being 269.00. Another thought, If anyone else got burnt from newengland pellet llc in suffield ct. buying pellets thy never delivered, I was told the owner just attempted suicide.

 

[investor7952]

What a difference a year makes. I paid 300 a ton just 2 weeks ago at HD !!i THINK THESE PELLETS SUCK. Must clean stove every 3 days

 

[cntbill]

What a difference a year makes. I paid 300 a ton just 2 weeks ago at HD !!i THINK THESE PELLETS SUCK. Must clean stove every 3 days

Yes I will have to agree on that...

Over the weekend I was in the Pottstown HD and they had some Fireside Ultra's and since pellets in the Reading area are a bit scarce I'd thought I'd pick up a few bags and just see if there was any difference from last year. Well, pellet size was much better, but heat output still not as good as some others, all though a little bit better than the batch I got last year by 50*. Defiantly would not go out of my way for them.

 

[investor7952]

This is my first year so I dont have much experience with too many pellets. I do know fireside ultras dont get my room up to temp like Hammer hot ones do.The fireside ultra force me to clean my stove every 3-4 days. When the outside temp is 30 or higher they work great.But when we are 20 or under tough to maintain 70-71 at any setting.

 

[www_godzilla]

I have 6 bags of these. I will let you all know how the burn. I hear good things about these. I still think it depends on how you have your stove set. You need to experiment. Some people just dump pellets into their stove. Sometimes you have to give them more air,etc.

 

[Lorne41]

I just picked up 10 bags of the Blazer Premium at my local HD yesterday in Bangor Maine and I like them! They burn hot and my Englander 25-PDVC really likes them. They throw damn good heat with average ash and don't smoke up the stove glass. I've posted a couple of replies here about crappy Corinth and Athens pellets but these Blazers have them beat hands down. The blazers are softwood made from fir according to Blazer website, www.wowpellets.com and meet PFI standards. The pellets are all small/average size with no long ones with just a hand full of fines in each bag. If anyone has been having problems with getting decent pellets here in Maine, especially our local ones, I'd recommend trying a bag or two of the Blazers. Of course the price is $5.85 a bag around here, but I'm thinking of getting a ton or two off season and saving some money.

 

[benpelletstove]

I have already burned 3 tons of Lignetics ($4.79 a bag in September 2008) since middle of october in Maryland. These did not produce that much ash and I needed to clean out the burn pot every week. I tried about ten bags of Stove Chow ($5.95 a bag in January 2009) from HD and the pellets were darker, smaller and more fines. I needed to clean the burn pot after few days. I am also trying Fireside Ultra from HD ($5.98 a bag in January 2009). It appears that the size of pellets are about the same as Stove Chow but not as dark but about same amount of fines as the Stove Chow. I go through about a bag in 12 hour period at 4 fan speed on my Empress Insert. Is this normal? I like the Lignetics better than the Stove Chow of the Fireside Ultra. Is the pellet price much cheaper if you buy early (April or May) in the season? I have installed the pellet stove in July 2008.

 

[magsf11]

Just tride a bag of the fireside ultra from HD at 5.97 a bag and I did not like them. The heat out put was not the same and it seamed I went threw the bag really fast. I will stick with the Wood pellet co. brand from C&C;lumber, My St. Croix Prescott works well that brand.

 

[Steveo]

I have been burning the fireside ultras and I love them. I will definately buy more when needed.