Okanagan Douglas Fir

[md2002]

Oh we understand. One advantage of a stand alone stove instead of an insert is the ash pan size.

You don't have to tell me my friend, I'm the one that needs to clean out the ash pan every 2 nights Maybe one of these years my wife will decide to chip in with the ash cleaning duties.

 

[md2002]

Maybe 9 tons of DF = 10 tons of Green Supreme? I need pellets and only live a couple miles from ECL but I seldom buy from them. I bought some Okie gold and Okie platinum from them last year to test. They were OK but too expensive for what you got. If I could get Fallon's to answer the phone I may be getting a ton or two this weekend.

I agree on the quality vs. the price. I've only been doing this for 3 years now and the price of pellets is getting ridiculous! I got Lacretes this year at $360 for 1.3 tons, when I bought them from the same place 2 years ago they were $305 for 1.3 tons and delivery was only $20.00 back then, this year delivery was $75!! The price increase is hitting Lowes as well.... the Timber Heats I got there last year are .58 cents more per bag this year. When you're talking 200 bags that adds up.

 

[New Hampshire Jim]

I have been a burner of the Oakies for the last 4 or 5 years. Last year at the end of the season I picker up 10 bags of the Douglas fir to try out. I didn't see a big difference in the heat output or much change In the ash content .Certainly not a buck twenty a bag more. I would call what the salesman at ECL said as B.S.
Now that said Home and Hearth (Fallons) Is out of Vermont's and doesn't see a delivery In the near future of them. SO With ECL out Fallons out and Pellets Direct out of the good stuff If It were me as a hedge against not finding any I would pick up the Douglas Fir Bite the bullet on the price and see what happens with the pellet inventory going forward into the burning season. I don't have a warm and fuzzy feeling this year about seeing excess inventory. Way to early to be seeing suppliers running out.
Jim

 

[JohnD]

Me neither!

I think someone's gonna be short on fuel come spring!

So no way is 3tons of DF's equal to 4 tons of NEWP? I thought it sounded too good to be true... That's why I asked....
Thanks

 

[ttdberg]

The DFs are the hottest I've ever burned. Will 3 tons last as long as 4 tons of another pellet? That remains to be seen, and I agree with the others it seems unlikely. I think what would tend to happen (at least in my case) is 3 tons DFs would last the same amount of time as 3 tons of any pellets. I tend to keep my stove at the same settings no matter what I'm burning. If I'm using NEWPs let's say, I'm getting XYZ heat value from them. If I'm using the DFs, I'm getting a lot more heat at the same feed / burn rate. So with DFs, the house is more comfortable in general, and the stove doesn't have to work as hard to get out of it's own way, but I'm also not burning less pellets. This is most relevant on the coldest days of the year when the stove really has to work hard to keep the house up to temp. $375/ton? No. Given the available choices, I would wait for the Golds to come back in stock, or see if you can find some La Cretes or North Country - those generally go for ~$300/ton as well and are excellent choices. You can get 5 tons of those for the same price as 4 tons of the DFs. If none of those are options, you could try your local Lowes, TSC, or HD and pick up what they have to offer for ~$240/ton this year. Worst case scenario you'd be getting Green Supremes which are the same as NEWPs anyway.

 

[Havilcek stole the ball]

I put one ton of OK DF's into the 5 ton mix this year for use when it's single digit weather, although I've yet to max out the settings on the P-68 no matter what the weather. More curiosity that anything, I guess.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

love the screen name "Havilcek stole the ball" lol,

 

[md2002]

I have been a burner of the Oakies for the last 4 or 5 years. Last year at the end of the season I picker up 10 bags of the Douglas fir to try out. I didn't see a big difference in the heat output or much change In the ash content .Certainly not a buck twenty a bag more. I would call what the salesman at ECL said as B.S.
Now that said Home and Hearth (Fallons) Is out of Vermont's and doesn't see a delivery In the near future of them. SO With ECL out Fallons out and Pellets Direct out of the good stuff If It were me as a hedge against not finding any I would pick up the Douglas Fir Bite the bullet on the price and see what happens with the pellet inventory going forward into the burning season. I don't have a warm and fuzzy feeling this year about seeing excess inventory. Way to early to be seeing suppliers running out.
Jim

Well said, I bought some LaCretes and paid more than I wanted to but everywhere I called pellets were out of stock and I didn't want to get caught this year with no pellets. I still swing into Lowes just about every night to pick up 10 bags if they have them for an extra cushion and more times than not Lowes is out if pellets when I go in there. A friend of mine called the local Lowes and they told them they have 30 tons but their all spoken for. I would take what you can get. I have 200 bags of Lacretes and about 60 bags of Timber Heats... I have no interest in paying $7 a bag this year as I had to do last year.

 

[ttdberg]

I put one ton of OK DF's into the 5 ton mix this year for use when it's single digit weather, although I've yet to max out the settings on the P-68 no matter what the weather. More curiosity that anything, I guess.

Same here. For me they are somewhat of a novelty, and definitely outside my comfort level as far as cost. It was a tough decision, but I do have a ton in the bunker for use exclusively during single digit / sub-zero temp weather. To offset the price, I also stocked up on a variety of different less costly brands as well. That helps to lower the average "per-bag" price into a more comfortable range, and allows me to sample different kinds of pellets so I know if they are worth buying again in the future.

 

[Edward Hughes]

Me neither!

I think someone's gonna be short on fuel come spring!

Hello jtakeman, I thought that DF "BS" would bring you out. Its fall an the stories start.
I had to check your comparison list again, just in case I had over look those Pellets.
Hope there will be some up dates, this year
Good burning

 

[TimfromMA]

This year will be my first using the DF pellets. Prior years, I've used Okie platinums. I've kept records and graphs of my pellet uasge over the past several years so it will be easy to gauge what, if any, effect the DF pellets have on my overall pellet consumption. I still have 20 or so bags of platinums left before I'm on DF exclusively.

 

[Pete Zahria]

....Now that said Home and Hearth (Fallons) Is out of Vermont's and doesn't see a delivery In the near future of them.
SO With ECL out Fallons out and Pellets Direct out of the good stuff ....
I don't have a warm and fuzzy feeling this year about seeing excess inventory.
Way to early to be seeing suppliers running out.
Jim

Could be a rollercoaster season.
Right now, everyone wants pellets, and fast, and more than usual.
Many laughed at the notion of buying in May/June, calling it a scheme.
It wasn't a scheme. It was trying to avoid this situation.
Another big dealer in this area, is calling all of their customers, and telling
them they will not be able to fulfill their orders. Talk about some wild people..
Being on a list, steady customers for years, and being told near October that they
are on their own? We had over a dozen call today looking for 4-5 tons.
This was the first day of the announcement!
Problem is, as mentioned above, we and other dealers are having a tough time getting stock.
We could have sold 3 truckloads today.
We get one sometimes 2 a week. Same for others.
So not only was the business rough enough, now there is a big market of "new" people.
And most of them are being told, sorry... at least for now.
So right now, it's serious. And to add to the frustration, prices are going up.
But.. all indications are that it may settle in November.
But then get ready again for spring if predictions for a tough winter materialize..

We'll see.

 

[Profilebrewing]

ECL is not out of pellets. I was there again today. They had DF and new England's right in the middle of the lumber yard. I didn't make it out back to see what they had back there, but 5 days ago there was a lot.

 

[dtrace]

The DFs are the hottest I've ever burned. Will 3 tons last as long as 4 tons of another pellet? That remains to be seen, and I agree with the others it seems unlikely. I think what would tend to happen (at least in my case) is 3 tons DFs would last the same amount of time as 3 tons of any pellets. I tend to keep my stove at the same settings no matter what I'm burning. If I'm using NEWPs let's say, I'm getting XYZ heat value from them. If I'm using the DFs, I'm getting a lot more heat at the same feed / burn rate. So with DFs, the house is more comfortable in general, and the stove doesn't have to work as hard to get out of it's own way, but I'm also not burning less pellets. This is most relevant on the coldest days of the year when the stove really has to work hard to keep the house up to temp. $375/ton? No. Given the available choices, I would wait for the Golds to come back in stock, or see if you can find some La Cretes or North Country - those generally go for ~$300/ton as well and are excellent choices. You can get 5 tons of those for the same price as 4 tons of the DFs. If none of those are options, you could try your local Lowes, TSC, or HD and pick up what they have to offer for ~$240/ton this year. Worst case scenario you'd be getting Green Supremes which are the same as NEWPs anyway.

I just got my North Country in. I took a peak at the first few bags, and they seem to be loaded with fines on the bottom. any similar experiences with this type of problem? I've heard they are a fantastic pellet

 

[ttdberg]

I just got my North Country in. I took a peak at the first few bags, and they seem to be loaded with fines on the bottom. any similar experiences with this type of problem? I've heard they are a fantastic pellet

Mine look the same way. I've found that pretty much any pellets that come in bag with clear bottom look like they have lots of fines when viewing the bottom in the bag. Don't worry about that. See what things look like when you load them in the hopper.

 

[chken]

Based upon the reports I've read the BTUs in a bag of DF pellets is at most 10% more than in your avg big box store brand. Something like 8800 BTUs for Okies vs 8000 for your average stuff. There's no way that 3 tons of DF can equal 4 tons of the regular stuff. When you do the math, you'll find that the BTU/$ of the expensive stuff isn't a good value. However, I love DF pellets and if I could afford them, I'd buy them not for the heat, but for the cleanliness. They leave so little ash behind.

Last thing, once pellets get to around $8 a bag, you're getting into oil heat territory. That is, oil heat becomes price competitive, once pellets get up to around $8 a bag. And, given that you don't' have to do all that labor as with pellets, then there's little reason to buy expensive pellets when there is a shortage if you have oil backup.

 

[alternativeheat]

Based upon the reports I've read the BTUs in a bag of DF pellets is at most 10% more than in your avg big box store brand. Something like 8800 BTUs for Okies vs 8000 for your average stuff. There's no way that 3 tons of DF can equal 4 tons of the regular stuff. When you do the math, you'll find that the BTU/$ of the expensive stuff isn't a good value. However, I love DF pellets and if I could afford them, I'd buy them not for the heat, but for the cleanliness. They leave so little ash behind.

Last thing, once pellets get to around $8 a bag, you're getting into oil heat territory. That is, oil heat becomes price competitive, once pellets get up to around $8 a bag. And, given that you don't' have to do all that labor as with pellets, then there's little reason to buy expensive pellets when there is a shortage if you have oil backup.

Yes true. I have DF's for mid season burn when I will use two bags per day or even more on some really cold nights. When I hit 3 bags I mix them with a bag of what ever else I have on hand and that still cuts ash by quite a lot. Although here and as I recall last year the bags read 9200 BTU and some box store pellets are only 7800 ( Green Supreme I'm pretty sure is only 7800 actually). And the dealer this year has DF listed as 9200 again FWIW. . But anyway, I use them for the lack of ash as well in the mid season burn. I probably will use Energex again this year, the hards are advertised as 8700 BTU, definitely more ash than DF. I was hoping for Spruce Pointe but not at 7..49 a bag for 8700 BTU when Energex Hards are $5.85 when you buy a ton and also advertised as 8700 btu. I'm picking up a ton of those this week. I might run LG's for my shoulder season pellets, easy lighting pellets. They burn faster than LaCrete or Spruce Pointe but that won't matter much in the shoulder season ( also $5,85 a bag by the ton). I have some Energex Premiums now rated at 8600.

 

[jtakeman]

So no way is 3tons of DF's equal to 4 tons of NEWP? I thought it sounded too good to be true... That's why I asked....
Thanks

No way would 3 tons = 4 of another. Doing the math I don't see it.

8800 for DF and 8000 for NEWP. Is only a 10% difference. And thats the lab world not real world were you won't even see that. Once you factor in variables you probably only see approx 5% IMHO. Not even worth the extra cash if your frugal. But if you want to clean far less? The ash content is where the big difference is. Better than 50% less so you could go 2X as long between cleanings!! And this is where these pellets stand out IMHO. Cold spells where you can't afford to shutdown every few days to clean. Having the bit of extra heat doesn't hurt during these times as well.

If ya can't find the NEWP's go to the boxstores. They have Green Supreme's which are the same pellet.

Good luck!

Hello jtakeman, I thought that DF "BS" would bring you out. Its fall an the stories start.
I had to check your comparison list again, just in case I had over look those Pellets.
Hope there will be some up dates, this year
Good burning

I won't be testing much these days. Life takes turns and I have too many other distractions. Raising a teenager is one of them. Sorry!!

 

[Edward Hughes]

No way would 3 tons = 4 of another. Doing the math I don't see it.

8800 for DF and 8000 for NEWP. Is only a 10% difference. And thats the lab world not real world were you won't even see that. Once you factor in variables you probably only see approx 5% IMHO. Not even worth the extra cash if your frugal. But if you want to clean far less? The ash content is where the big difference is. Better than 50% less so you could go 2X as long between cleanings!! And this is where these pellets stand out IMHO. Cold spells where you can't afford to shutdown every few days to clean. Haven't the bit of extra heat doesn't hurt during these times as well.

If ya can't find the NEWP's go to the boxstores. They have Green Supreme's which are the same pellet.

Good luck!



I won't be testing much these days. Life takes turns and I have too many other distractions. Raising a teenager is one of them. Sorry!!

Well it is good to see ya back since aug 22. I know those teenagers, can be busy
Thanks for all the work, on the wood pellet comparison, and maybe some of us can fill in some updates.
Good Luck

 

[moey]

Problem with spending that much is you may as well burn oil.

 

[TimfromMA]

Pellets would have to climb over $500 per ton or oil will have to go below $2 per gallon before I switch back.

 

[steveg_nh]

I know this thread is a couple of months old, but it was a good read. Oil price per gallon is only part of it. You have to look at how efficient your oil burner is as well. For me, in Jan, Feb and March, my past 4 years oil consumption shows me burning about 7-9 gallons of oil PER DAY! At even $2.50 a gallon, that's $20 in oil in one day. With pellets at $5.50/bag, if even if I needed 3 bags, that's only $16.50, a savings of 17.5% still, over oil...

 

[Phoenix Hatchling]

I know this thread is a couple of months old, but it was a good read. Oil price per gallon is only part of it. You have to look at how efficient your oil burner is as well. For me, in Jan, Feb and March, my past 4 years oil consumption shows me burning about 7-9 gallons of oil PER DAY! At even $2.50 a gallon, that's $20 in oil in one day. With pellets at $5.50/bag, if even if I needed 3 bags, that's only $16.50, a savings of 17.5% still, over oil...

Try this calculator and enter your efficiencies for both units and cost paid. For me my break even point with oil is $2.52 per gallon, since I paid 300 per ton for pellets.

http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/heatcalc.xls

 

[steveg_nh]

Cool, thanks.

 

[bcarton]

According to that spreadsheet pellets would have to reach $900/ton to cost as much as my 98% efficient electric heat.