Wood pellets

[Brian Palmer]

Wife and I got a wood pellet stove this year and have been trying a couple different brands. I was just wounder if anyone else using a pellet stove what their favoirte brand is and hard wood, soft wood, or mix?

[Dan Hintz]

I think it's pretty much irrelevant... I know there's supposed to be a difference, and there probably is, but it's not worth my time to worry about it. I use the cheapest brand I can have delivered (American Wood Fibers). I empty my ash container maybe once every two weeks, I get no serious clinkers to worry about (I just scrape the ash pot every other day with a few quick scrapes of a screwdriver around the edge), and the heat output is perfectly fine.

[Tim Offutt]

I use softwood pellets. Uncle Jed's Cold Remedy, but I think it is a local brand made in upper Wisconsin. I haven't seen them anywhere else.

Our local seller said sodtwood produces more heat per 40 pound bag than hardwood pellets. He explained it this way:
Generally speaking softwoods burn hotter than hardwoods but they do not burn as long. This is because the wood density is less in the lighter softwoods. When the sawdust is compressed, pelletized and bagged all things are equal regarding weight. Forty pounds of hardwood is the same as softwood. Sounded good to me.

I bought some hardwood and tried them. To me the softwood seemed to burn hotter but it is really hard to say for sure. I burn them in a pellet furnance, not a stove. It starts and stops as needed, whenever the thermostat calls for heat. It seemed that the furnance ran for shorter times versus the hardwood pellets. I don't use a bunch, maybe buy a ton or two per year and we have probably ran 6-7 tons through the furnance since we installed it.

I can say we get very little ash. I can burn the complete season and only empty the pan once or twice, usually once. A skid (2400 pounds) of pellets will produce about a cubic foot of ash. So it burns pretty completely. I find very little in the chimney also. When is burning there is little noticeable smoke from the chimney. It is pretty neat to bring in a skid with a forklift and carry out the remains in a small bucket.

FYI, my supplier told me they sell 70 semi-trailer loads per year at his store. Pretty amazing. They are very popular in Northern Wisconsin.

Tim

[steven c newman]

The one house I had years ago, went from Fuel Oil to pellet. cut the fuel bill in half. Treid wood pellets for a while, then switch to Cherry Pits. Cheaper, with the same amount of heat.

[Dan Hintz]

Treid wood pellets for a while, then switch to Cherry Pits. Cheaper, with the same amount of heat.

Haven't heard of anyone using cherry pits... any more info on their use, or where to order them from?

[steven c newman]

I got them at Quality Farm & Fleet at the time. About $10/ton cheaper than the wood pellets. There is a stove store nearby, I can check on the pits nowadays. Dr. Lee's Stove @ Logansville, Oh.