Why Shoulder Pellets??

[Melissa220]

I took the saving money a step further. Finances keep me from getting the expensive choice pellets, so I burn shoulder all year - MWP last season. I did purchase a ton of the MWP softies, but saved them for the coldest days. I stretched them out further by mixing with the MWP blend to get the longer burn with the extra burst of heat. It worked well for me and I still have 24 bags of softies from last year. My home was a comfy 69 - 72 degrees all season.

 

[subsailor]

if the good stuff gives you more heat per pound, arguably you could run the stove less to maintain the desired temperature, cutting down on wear and tear?

How do you measure "wear and tear"?

 

[john193]

How do you measure "wear and tear"?

yea i'm not sure how one would go about doing that in this instance. let me check the app store, maybe there is an app for it?

 

[jtakeman]

yea i'm not sure how one would go about doing that in this instance. let me check the app store, maybe there is an app for it?

I bet the cheap pellet locator app is out already!

 

[schoondog]

That's why we own Harmans......

That's a great point that I haven't thought too much about. My inexpensive (cheap) stove needs a better grade fuel to take advantage of all the heat its inexpensive (cheap) heat exchanger can muster. You folks with Harmans superior exchangers can take full advantage of fuels with less energy.

Soon I will be upgrading to a new stove and It will be interesting to do more temperature tests with a new rig with more efficiency.

I still think the best deal is to get a good pellet at a great price !

Schoondog

 

[Pellet-King]

Huh?, wear and tear?, after 15 years my Whit has seen a new auger motor and combustion blower, which i changed by my choice, the wear i see is the bottom of my auger plate, when i get around to changing it this fall, i'll post pic's of the auger plate thats worn after million's of pellet's picked up from the auger

 

[tjnamtiw]

Good 'discussion'! I guess what really needs to be asked is 'what is the definition of a shoulder pellet?'. If it is a pellet that costs less and has less btu's per pound, then you have to look at actual cost per btu to see if it makes sense. If it costs less and has the same btu's per pound then it's a no brainer. You just put up with the problems that come with cheaper pellets. In the first definition, assuming you have a stove that can adjust the feed rate for a specific btu/hour output, (your ultimate goal, of course), you are going to feed more pounds per hour to get the same btu's if your shoulder pellets have fewer btu's per pound, which 'shoulder' seems to infer. Sure, your stash of pellets looks BIGGER since they cost less and you could buy more, but your stash of BTU'S is probably smaller. If you use the best pellets you can find with PRESUMABLY the most BTU's per pound, then your stove would run less or at a lower feed rate to keep you warm. That's assuming your stove can control itself at the lower rate.
Again, I'd love to see what people think the definition of a shoulder pellet is.

This is all academic to me since down here in GA, my choices for pellets is nil. You buy the one brand you can find at an inflated cost even though the damn pellets are made down here and either shipped up North or overseas.

 

[jtakeman]

I think you'll get as much variance on this answer. The replies should be interesting. My shoulders are usually the lowest price I can find. But I'm still picky about what they do. I pick through the cheap stuff and try to find the best one I can get. Not like I go buy any old cheap chit. I have my standards ya know!

 

[will711]

I have my standards ya know!

Yeah we just don't know how low they are

 

[Shaw520]

Ive purchased Somersets, Stove Chow, and Presto Logs all for 209 t,.... I dont consider these shoulder pellets

 

[mepellet]

This discussion, like many others on here, has no conclusion. Like other's have said, whatever works for you, go with it. Personally, I burn all "shoulder" pellets because was stove was (supposedly) designed to burn them. Keeps me warm when it's below 0, so that's all that matters to me.

I also burn mostly what many refer to as "shoulder" pellets Keeps the house warm and saves money.

 

[mepellet]

That's why we own Harmans......

Amen. I enjoy not having a stove that is picky.

 

[mepellet]

If it is a pellet that costs less and has less btu's per pound,

This is generally not the case. Typically, the cheaper pellets have higher BTU/$ when compared to the more expensive pellets.

 

[bill3rail]

I burn Box Store pellets At 209 a ton then I use a 10% off coupon so I actually pay 189 per ton. Why would I want to pay an extra 80 - 100 per ton? Just t save on a little more ash.

I took the saving money a step further.

My stove dials down to between 3/4 of a lb and 1 lb per hour. If it is going to burn at the minimum it might as well be for $229 a ton instead of $300 a ton.....

I think you'll get as much variance on this answer. The replies should be interesting.

I purchased a pellet stove to save money on fuel oil!
Why would I burn up that savings on a pellet for 1-1/2 times the cost?
I just bought 2 ton for $188. per ton, which should last the whole season.
My stove can crank out the heat with box store pellets without any problem.
Also, I do not live in an extremely cold climate, which makes it less likely to need maximum heat output. If I do need maximum heat, I just need to crank up the heat because I rarely put the setting above 2 out of 9.

Bill

 

[Melissa220]

Sometimes one's pellet choices have nothing to do with BTU's, type of stove, shoulder season or not and everything to do with one or both of the following:
1. what is available in your area
2. what is available in your wallet.

 

[countk]

Sometimes one's pellet choices have nothing to do with BTU's, type of stove, shoulder season or not and everything to do with one or both of the following:
1. what is available in your area
2. what is available in your wallet.

Good answer. Makes it easier to choose.

 

[jtakeman]

When I first started I had too few a brands to choose from and not many places. How soon we forget. Now pellets are pretty much every where in my area. We didn't care so much about what we were burning back then, It was how much could we get. Not many where trying to heat the whole house with a room/space heater. Mostly us electric users because oil was still pretty cheap. I think we had 3 choices for pellets. Agway-stove shop and Wally world. We bought what we could week to week from wally world(8 to 10 bags of Eureka's at a time) Stove shop was too expensive, But we did buy some when agway and wally world we out. Then HD started to carry some. I think it wasn't until 2001/02 when a lumber yard added Dry Creek, Before we bought our first ton. Nobody was just selling pellets until BT(2003/04??) came alone, CTpellet was shortly after(2005??).

Fast forward to today And I can find them on almost any corner!

 

[Shaw520]

Sometimes one's pellet choices have nothing to do with BTU's, type of stove, shoulder season or not and everything to do with one or both of the following:
1. what is available in your area
2. what is available in your wallet.

well said melissa...and in your words there is a reminder that its a "shoulder season"....and not a 'shoulder pellet'.

 

[Augmister]

Pellets are like politicians. I vote my wallet! They will all burn to ashes, eventually.

 

[dlehneman]

Last year being my first season with a pellet stove (an Englander PAH refurb), I just bought 4 tons of Green Supreme @ $209/ ton (cheapest thing I could find last year) and it worked fine. I kept the house 6 degrees warmer then I had it with oil heat and cost me less then 1/3 of what I was spending on oil so I was plenty happy. I also only used 3 tons so I had a lot left over to start this season. This season everything around here has gone up and after reading a lot about different pellets I am taking a different approach. I plan on 2 tons or so of "super premiums" for the coldest part of the year and an assortment of everything available around me for testing in the "shoulder season". If I find something I really prefer then maybe next year I will just get all of that, but I think it will be interesting to see how much they differ and if you really get more for your money. If I get more heat with the stove running at a lower setting it will use less fuel, combined with a cleaner burn, that will mean less time spent cleaning, so I am willing to pay a little more for that.

 

[jtakeman]

Last year being my first season with a pellet stove (an Englander PAH refurb), I just bought 4 tons of Green Supreme @ $209/ ton (cheapest thing I could find last year) and it worked fine. I kept the house 6 degrees warmer then I had it with oil heat and cost me less then 1/3 of what I was spending on oil so I was plenty happy. I also only used 3 tons so I had a lot left over to start this season. This season everything around here has gone up and after reading a lot about different pellets I am taking a different approach. I plan on 2 tons or so of "super premiums" for the coldest part of the year and an assortment of everything available around me for testing in the "shoulder season". If I find something I really prefer then maybe next year I will just get all of that, but I think it will be interesting to see how much they differ and if you really get more for your money. If I get more heat with the stove running at a lower setting it will use less fuel, combined with a cleaner burn, that will mean less time spent cleaning, so I am willing to pay a little more for that.

Keep us posted on your thoughts comparing them. Adds to the excitement around here and makes for some interesting reading.

Odds are you might find something in the shoulder class that may be just enough to do the whole season routine. Only problem then becomes availability. So find a back up if possible. Even then I'd still try to spend a few bucks at the local pellet house to keep them supported. That is if you have a good honest friendly one in your area. They need our support too.

 

[bill3rail]

Also if you read these "Best Pellet" threads enough, you will see that according to some pellet heads, "Brand X was great last year, and this year I wouldn't touch them!"

YMMV stands out in almost every discussion on pellets!

Bill

 

[bugize]

Also if you read these "Best Pellet" threads enough, you will see that according to some pellet heads, "Brand X was great last year, and this year I wouldn't touch them!"

YMMV stands out in almost every discussion on pellets!

Bill

 

[bugize]

This is a good subject...as I have been wondering which way is cost effective.
Now...I can get MWP for around 200 per ton,give or take.
I can get Lecretes for 300 per ton,which...is an awesome pellet...
But...does it warrant the 100 difference in price?....If I burn 5 tons....that 500$ more per year.
I know with a real good pellet,i will use less,for the same amount of heat....but I don't think I'll use a whole ton less,which would make it justifiable.
I am thinking 3 tons of mwp....then 2 tons of Lecreates for the cold weather...
The better pellets not only offer more heat for cold weather...but with the cold weather you do use more pellets,thus resulting in more cleanings.
The mwp does dirty up the stove faster...I have to do a complete cleaning every 2 weeks with mwp, with the better pellets I can go a month.
When the stove is dirty...you notice more pellet usage to get the heat you want.....as the exchangers are all gunked up.
My work shift allows me to only really do a complets cleaning once per month,during heavy usage in the dead of winter,is where the lecreates really shine.

 

[MCPO]

My Englander pdvc seems to burn any brand pellets I feed it just as good as my Harman does. Obviously the lower grade pellets produce less heat and more ash but I`ve yet to use a pellet that doesn`t burn well in either stove.
I much prefer to spend a little extra money for better pellets rather than use a shoulder pellet but price WILL determine just how much extra I will pay for premiums.