Forgive me if this has been discussed before. I’ve had 100 bags of my favorite pellets (Heartland) stored in my shed for two years. They have been kept completely dry, especially with our lack of humidity in Colorado. I’ve kept them as my emergency stash, as these particular pellets do get very hard to find every year. Do they break down over time? Should I burn them up this winter - and hope to be able to land another 100 bags to replace them with? I’ve been burning pellets for about a month already, so I’d go through them pretty quick if I started burning them. Thanks, friends!
They are fine. I've had some for 3-4 years, with two of those stored outside (on a double layer of pallets and under tarps) and there were no issues. Actually, I think the original okie golds that I finally used up last winter were bought in 2017. We get a lot of humidity during the summer, and water comes into the garage from the overhead door, still no issues with what is stored in there. I buy as much tonnage as I am willing to store when there are good sales instead of buying every year.
Keep the pellets dry. They will last 100 to 200 years. Wooden buildings last 100's of years, if the wood is kept dry.
Humidity will not bother them so much as water physically touching the bags that will eventually get to the pellets through the holes that are perforated into the bags to remove air. The pellets actually survive well until water touches them. The pellets will absorb the water and swell into what we call footballs in the corners of the bag. Even then, Open the other end. hold the football and pour out the dry pellets. They will burn fine. I've kept some for 8 years without issue. And that was in a basement that had high humidity in the summers.
And Harman has the drop down feeder? So even is some sawdust gets in it won't be an issue like some side feed stoves.
Yeah, it shouldn't cause any trouble with his P43. I've had a lot of the sawdust get poured into the hopper from damaged bags. Didn't have any issues. Just make sure to check the fines box at the next cleaning - I've been known to skip that on my P43 because it doesn't fill the fines box often - whereas the P61a fills it quickly (the exact opposite happens in the ignitor area with ash - they have their own personalities, LOL).
I have been storing pellets outdoors for about 6 years. The plastic skirt over the pallet will eventually break-down due to the sun. I cover the pallets with cloth canvas that I purchased from www.ChicagoCanvas.com. I put a few bricks on the cloth canvas. At some corners of the bags, the pellets did expand due to moisture. Not sure if the corners picked-up the moisture while the pallets sat at the Big Box Store or while the pallets sat in my yard, covered by a cloth canvas. The expanded pellets and even sawdust burns fine by mixing it with good pellets. Not bragging, but by putting the pellets through a Harman stove. Even wet sawdust can be left outdoors to dry or left in the kitchen, the same room as the stove. I put the sawdust in a bucket. The top two inches will dry-out. I can scoop-off the top two inches and then let the next two inches of depth dry-out. I mix the sawdust with good pellets. The more sawdust, the more bridging in the hopper. The more sawdust, the faster the mix catches fire in the burn pot. Overtime, fines will collect and sit in the bottom of the hopper. If burning a mix containing a lot of fines, it is good to run the hopper competely empty once per month. Only once did I have a full hopper (plus the 50 lbs extension) and the pellets bridged inside at the bottom just above the auger. Yes, you guessed it. I had to scoop out the pellets until I got down to the bottom of the hopper. Too many fines had accumulated at the bottom.
