OK Tell me how you can tell if you have really good pellets?

[investor7952]

Not sure what stove setting your on or what pellets your burning, But thats a start. I don't know your stove and you really need to figure out what is best for it. But I can say my stove on medium heat with one of the best pellet brands throws that much. On the cheaper brands its in the low 200º range.

Now go out and get a few bags of different brands. Try some of the best you can find. This is where you want to be. Then compare to the cheaper brands. You will see a good difference in the heat numbers.

Hey Jay I have a Harman Accentra insert. When Burning Lignetics I get around 260 or so fireside ultra,stove chow, around 220-230. Cleanfire I just tryed this year and not in too cold weather yet but I was getting 240-250. I just wanted to know if these are good #s since this is just my 2nd year burning and still learning. I also have available to me but at about 30 dollars more a ton, Barefoot, NEWP, drycreek

 

[jtakeman]

Not sure what stove setting your on or what pellets your burning, But thats a start. I don't know your stove and you really need to figure out what is best for it. But I can say my stove on medium heat with one of the best pellet brands throws that much. On the cheaper brands its in the low 200º range.

Now go out and get a few bags of different brands. Try some of the best you can find. This is where you want to be. Then compare to the cheaper brands. You will see a good difference in the heat numbers.

Hey Jay I have a Harman Accentra insert. When Burning Lignetics I get around 260 or so fireside ultra,stove chow, around 220-230. Cleanfire I just tryed this year and not in too cold weather yet but I was getting 240-250. I just wanted to know if these are good #s since this is just my 2nd year burning and still learning. I also have available to me but at about 30 dollars more a ton, Barefoot, NEWP, drycreek

The 260º from the Lignetics is good. The others are so so. We call them shoulder season pellets. You want the ligs or better for the cold weather. Cleanfire is good numbers too. You also need to compare the ash from them. You could try the Barefoots there pretty darn good. Should be just a tad better than the ligs. NEWPS and Drycreeks are good. But there heat is a little lower than the ligs. If you see Cubex in your travels they are a must try for anyone. One of the best hardwoods I have burned!

I only see hardwood pellets on you list? You might want to try some softwoods. Rocky Mountains, Okanagan, Dragon Mountain, Spruce Points amd LG's just to name a few. But be careful, Once you try some softies you will be hooked. They are hard to beat! I find the quality of the softwoods to be more consistant that the hardwoods.

Don't take my word for it, You have to try what you can get and afford in your area. But always keep some good hot pellets for the COLD!

Have fun!
jay

 

[GVA]

In addition to what the others have said.
Really good pellets will stack themselves in the basement
and clean the stove weekly.

 

[peirhead]

all comments are appreciated both sincere and otherwise.......what I was really looking for is how do good pellets feel after they are burned..if you run your hands through the ash and run it through your fingers..close you eyes .. is it sandy/gritty feeling, or like talcum powder ( like flyash) extremely smooth and fine!...Can you tell a good pellet by the leftover ash....mine is very gritty! I assume the less ash left the better the pellets, but how should that ash Feel!

 

[jtakeman]

all comments are appreciated both sincere and otherwise.......what I was really looking for is how do good pellets feel after they are burned..if you run your hands through the ash and run it through your fingers..close you eyes .. is it sandy/gritty feeling, or like talcum powder ( like flyash) extremely smooth and fine!...Can you tell a good pellet by the leftover ash....mine is very gritty! I assume the less ash left the better the pellets, but how should that ash Feel!

Awh, I feel like I just failed a quiz in school. :lol: I look for the least amount and then I like the light fluffy stuff. Coarse is usaully close to clinkers. You will see scale on the burnpot with the coarse stuff. I would say maybe talcum powder or maybe even dry cake batter.

Never really looked at it that way.

jay

 

[Stentor]

ok i'll be serious now (yeah right)

ive spoken with customers in my job for close to a decade, have been burning pellets at work and at home for going on 17 years, ive burned dozens of brands. what i have learned from this is;

one man's trash is another man's treasure. when customer 1 says "brand x" is the best pellet ive burned but i got some "brand y" pellets at the end of the season last year and they were junk they wouldnt burn right"

then you find out he hasnt cleaned his flue and run 5 tons of pellets that season.

This point went by me at first but I think it's important for ordinary homeowners like me. I've just started burning for the season with a really clean stove and everything's great. By next March or April, even regular cleaning is not going to leave me with a stove as good as it is in October. That's why end-of-season cleaning is important. Probably I should remember that if I'm less happy with pellets then, the fault may be in me and how I take care of the stove, not the pellets.

 

[krooser]

A quality softwood pellet will produce more heat and make less ash than a hardwood pellet.

Fir seems to be the cleanest and hottest... and I would concur. Spruce and ponderosa pine are pretty close followed by regular old white pine.

 

[jtakeman]

A quality softwood pellet will produce more heat and make less ash than a hardwood pellet.

Fir seems to be the cleanest and hottest... and I would concur. Spruce and ponderosa pine are pretty close followed by regular old white pine.

I with you on that! The quality seems more consistant year in and year out too!

jay

 

[newf lover]

I seem to be the only one with this problem. I bought a few bags of the Okanagans after reading so many good reviews. Put them in last night (after sifting them), seemed fine, I went out and left it on low because the guys were watching the game and they don't like it too hot. Came home, looked in the stove, full of a thin coating of black soot. It was mostly on the firebrick and the walls, a little on the glass. Thinking maybe it didn't like a low burn, I turned it off, cleaned it out this morning, and fired it up. More black soot. Turned it off, waited till it cooled, cleaned it once again. Took the Okies out of the hopper, ran the stove on test to make sure there were none left, loaded it back up with what I had been burning, NEWPs. No soot. This makes no sense to me on many levels. First of all, it's a good pellet and by all accounts, burns clean. Even if it was a subpar pellet, my P68 should be able to handle it. I know there was no foreign matter in the pellets because I sifted them and they were fine. Very strange. I have a couple other bags, and will test them at some point, but frankly I've had enough of cleaning my stove for awhile. I'm taking this as another lesson to test a few bags of whatever pellet you're planning on buying to see how it burns in your stove.

EDIT-
I ran it again after it had powered down for awhile, and it seems to be running dirty (although there's no black soot) with the NEWPs as well. It was OK the first time I tried it. I'm beginning to think there's something up with the stove. I don't mean to start a new thread here, but I didn't want to leave any kind of negative impression about the Okies when it might be something up with my stove. Will post a new thread if needed after I try a couple things.