Who's burning shoulder pellets now?

[jtakeman]

Can someone please explain to me what a 'shoulder pellet' is since all pellet brands rate their pellets at about 8200 btu/pound??? Size or density may be different but if you set up your stove for the proper flame size/feed rate, then it should not make a difference. Now if you just throw in a longer pellet or a less dense pellet and don't do anything to the stove, then, sure, you'll get less btu's but that's not the fault of the stove or the pellet. It's your fault for not compensating for the pellet characteristics.'
Sorry, but I just get tired of reading 'shoulder pellets' again and again.

Well, Instead of jacking the stove up and abusing it when it gets cold. I just change to a pellet that produces more heat at the same setting. Once it warms again, I go back to a pellet that doesn't. About the same as raising lower stove settings, Just doing it with pellets. Not all pellet produce 8200 btu/lbs. Some more and some less if you check the PFI test results. So there is a slight difference. I have seen anywhere from 7900 to 8800 btu/lbs.

Having the stat control the stove also helps as it only runs just enough to keep the shack warm. If I miss the forcast and don't change the pellet. Stove either runs longer or less depending on need. I prefer to have it run less with a hotter pellet in the cold. Warm weather and a shoulder pellet is where I save a nickle or 2 with a cheap box store pellet. Boxstore pellets are $209/ton and the cold season stuff is over $280/ton! Hence my theory for shoulder/cold season pellets. Nothin better to do anyway while sittin inside when its cold out, So playing with the stove/pellets gives me something to think about. Just a game and a chance to save a little. more money I save, More money I spend on fishin gear and toys!

 

[mralias]

MWP's ...

 

[SXIPro]

Beating a dead horse here, but one other thing to remember is that pellet quality can change over the years, as can the specific heat output of your stove based on how well you have it tuned, and how well and often you clean it. Case in point, a few years ago when we had a pellet 'shortage' I had to resort to using Fireside Ultras from HD. I thought they sucked. The heat was awful and my glass turned black by the time I was through one damn bag. Back then I typically burned NEWP. They were incredibly low ash, decent heat, and my glass stayed clean. Fast forward to this year. Green Supremes (NEWPs) give semi-adequate heat and TONS of ash, while the Firesides this year are a wonderful surprise. Plenty of heat and probably 1/5 the ash of the GS.

So, one year's shoulder pellet may be next year's big winner.

 

[MikeNH]

All I've ever tried (in the 2 weeks I've owned the stove) are NEWP which I know some folks here consider a shoulder pellet. They've been doing well for my configuration/house, keeping the first floor at 72ish and the bedrooms at 67ish, averaging a bag a day. We got below 0 a couple of nights. I'm fortunate that my house is 1860 sqft and very well insulated. All I care about is that the oil furnace hasn't kicked on once since the stove was installed. My neighbors with stoves are going to swap some bags with me so I can try out other brands and see how they compare. I've read that NEWP make a lot of ash. I have ash in there, but nothing to compare to see what "a lot" really is.

 

[P38X2]

All I've ever tried (in the 2 weeks I've owned the stove) are NEWP which I know some folks here consider a shoulder pellet. They've been doing well for my configuration/house, keeping the first floor at 72ish and the bedrooms at 67ish, averaging a bag a day. We got below 0 a couple of nights. I'm fortunate that my house is 1860 sqft and very well insulated. All I care about is that the oil furnace hasn't kicked on once since the stove was installed. My neighbors with stoves are going to swap some bags with me so I can try out other brands and see how they compare. I've read that NEWP make a lot of ash. I have ash in there, but nothing to compare to see what "a lot" really is.

Try MOST ANY other pellet and you'll see what the fuss is about

I don't get why they're so popular. To add insult to injury, I see about 60 tons of recently delivered MC at my local WM! Yikes

 

[MikeNH]

Try MOST ANY other pellet and you'll see what the fuss is about

Yeah that's my plan. Back in Dec when I bought the stove, I didn't do any pellet research. Now that the stove is in and heating the house, I want to experiment. I see from your sig that you are burning MWP. How do you find them compared to NEWP, and can I find bags of them in our area? (we live a couple towns apart). I got the NEWP for $240/ton delivered. I don't find them horrible, but again, I have nothing to compare them to yet other than comparing pellets to wood.

 

[P38X2]

In my experience, MWP are considerably less ashy than NEWP, though not what I would consider a low ash pellet. Both burn very hot, IMO. TSC usually has MWP for around $209 at the beginning of the season. If you're gonna need them delivered, you gotta factor that into the price, obviously. I don't think TSC delivers. IMO, your best bang for your buck is gonna come from BB store products. FU from home depot are an inexpensive pellet a lot of people like. I haven't burned them in years but at the time, they were one of the best pellets I burned. I THINK you can rent a pickup from HD for a few hours for $19.99.

Are you in the SW part of the state or more central, towards Milford?

 

[MikeNH]

FU from home depot are an inexpensive pellet a lot of people like.

Cool thanks for your reply. We're in Temple. My friend has several tons of FUs and wants to trade some bags to experiment, so I'll check those out.

 

[P38X2]

You try Agway in Peterborough or Milford? They USUALLY only stock NEWP but I got some Orford softies for $250. At that time they had Ambiance for the same price. Belletetes in Jaffrey/Peterborough has MWP but they're even pricier than last year. $260 (1-3), $250 (4+) but the delivery fee is usually $20 flat fee. Hamshaw in Keene has top shelf stuff but again, it ain't cheap. They charge $16 to deliver to my town. Not sure about Temple.

Out of curiosity, does the town still plow everyone's driveways? Always thought that was a cool perk...providing yers is on the right part of the list

 

[SXIPro]

Cool thanks for your reply. We're in Temple. My friend has several tons of FUs and wants to trade some bags to experiment, so I'll check those out.

Or you can buy Green Supremes at Lowes for $209 if you really do like the NEWPs. Same pellet, different name/bag.

 

[MikeNH]

You try Agway in Peterborough or Milford? They USUALLY only stock NEWP but I got some Orford softies for $250. At that time they had Ambiance for the same price. Belletetes in Jaffrey/Peterborough has MWP but they're even pricier than last year. $260 (1-3), $250 (4+) but the delivery fee is usually $20 flat fee. Hamshaw in Keene has top shelf stuff but again, it ain't cheap. They charge $16 to deliver to my town. Not sure about Temple.

Out of curiosity, does the town still plow everyone's driveways? Always thought that was a cool perk...providing yers is on the right part of the list

Thanks for the info. I'll have to check around. As for driveway plowing, it's now a co-op with an option to buy in. I think the town had to stop because of something to do with the state and Insurance. The price is very reasonable for the co-op, but I've been doing my own all along, so I didn't really pay much attention to why the town had to stop plowing. I stopped burning wood partly because I'm older and lazier than I used to be, so I reckon I'll join the co-op soon too.

 

[Harman Lover 007]

I use green supremes all year worlds fine for me in my Harman when its 0 out only have the stove on med and the house is warm

When was the last time it was zero degrees on Long Island? Just askin"

 

[Shaw520]

powerhouse and stove chow in my hopper now

 

[nhredbird]

Burned Vermonts for a week, back to FSU.
Have to say the FSU this year is great.
I,m going to put more in the basement as soon as the white stuff in the yard is gone.

 

[DV]

Prestologs for me. Burned about 3/4 of a ton this year. Gonna pick up another ton of the same. and burn away!

 

[sandpipe]

Non-definitive definitions:

Shoulder pellet: What you don't put in your stove if you have the expensive stuff when it is wicked cold out.
Wicked cold: Under 0 deg F.
Expensive stuff: Any pellet that cost over around $250 per ton.

 

[tony58]

Burning Henry County Hardwoods and Country Boy "White Linhtning",Neither are shoulder pellets.Both are great,burning the Henry County first cause they are the oldest...

 

[MCPO]

I figure with the warm spell, I might as well go through the green supremes I have left. So far, while not very hot, they have been as clean as anything else. I probably have 30 bags, so I run through those during this period, and maybe burn up my omalleys.

I don't consider stove chow a shoulder pellets anymore. it actually is quite good in my stove!

Personally I wouldn`t refer to any lousy pellet as a "shoulder pellet". A rose by any other name is still a rose.
Actually I never met a pellet that my stoves didn`t like although there were some that I thought cost more than they were worth.
My stoves burn any brand I put in them and both burn them well. The difference is the amount of dust and ashes.
Sure some heat a little better but I find variations in brands from one year to the next. Wish I could get some Hammers Hot Ones around here.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Well, Instead of jacking the stove up and abusing it when it gets cold. I just change to a pellet that produces more heat at the same setting. Once it warms again, I go back to a pellet that doesn't. About the same as raising lower stove settings, Just doing it with pellets. Not all pellet produce 8200 btu/lbs. Some more and some less if you check the PFI test results. So there is a slight difference. I have seen anywhere from 7900 to 8800 btu/lbs.

Having the stat control the stove also helps as it only runs just enough to keep the shack warm. If I miss the forcast and don't change the pellet. Stove either runs longer or less depending on need. I prefer to have it run less with a hotter pellet in the cold. Warm weather and a shoulder pellet is where I save a nickle or 2 with a cheap box store pellet. Boxstore pellets are $209/ton and the cold season stuff is over $280/ton! Hence my theory for shoulder/cold season pellets. Nothin better to do anyway while sittin inside when its cold out, So playing with the stove/pellets gives me something to think about. Just a game and a chance to save a little. more money I save, More money I spend on fishin gear and toys!

Well, I sure can't argue with the last statement! We all have to have our 'toys'. If you can do the adjusting of the heat output and keep a decent set of running conditions by changing pellets, then I guess it's worth it. I probably couldn't tell the difference in heat value from 7900 to 8800 though except for the flame height and ash so I would have to adjust the only control we Quad'ers have, the feed gate. In fact, running the lousy Carolina wood pellets, we hardly had any flame at all, which equates to less heat (shoulder) because their density was so poor. I couldn't run that way so we had to open the feed gate all the way. When I put a good pellet in, then the feed gate got closed all the way. For Quad'ers, it's almost a no-brainer to adjust the flame height. I guess that was why I made the comment. I guess with other brands of stoves it's a lot more of a hassle to readjust the stove.

 

[jtakeman]

I guess with other brands of stoves it's a lot more of a hassle to readjust the stove.

Not really, Just a push of a button. Only reason I adjust with pellets is to not over fire or abuse the unit. After running 8 seasons with my quad at full tilt, I just can't do it to the new toy. Really don't need to either. Mid range with a solid(high heat) pellet has no issues keeping me warm.

I guess you could say with the hotter pellet I'm just opening up the invisible feed gate.

 

[Shaw520]

..looks like us n. easterners have a shoulder pellet week coming up.....think I have bout 15 bags of GS left.

 

[St_Earl]

i'm bummed at the 40 degrees forecast for sunday here.
everything is so much easier when what's on the ground doesn't melt and refreeze.
just hoping things change by the time sunday gets here.

 

[jtakeman]

..looks like us n. easterners have a shoulder pellet week coming up.....think I have bout 15 bags of GS left.

Down to 4 bags of Stove Chow. Might need to burn my Cubies!

 

[Shaw520]

Down to 4 bags of Stove Chow. Might need to burn my Cubies!

nah,.. save the cubies for the cold stuff,.. grab 10 bags chow @ 4.19 bag for now.

 

[jtakeman]

nah,.. save the cubies for the cold stuff,.. grab 10 bags chow @ 4.19 bag for now.

OK, You talked me into it(that was easy)! Now we'll just need to work on the Mrs(AKA the Boss)! I kinda spent to much cash for xmas gifts!

Wait, I got some gift cards Woohoo! $50 @HD and $25 @Lowes!