In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

★★★☆☆ ThermaGlo Wood Pellet Fuel (Review)

Discussion in 'Pellet Fuels' started by slvrblkk, Dec 27, 2014.

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  1. slvrblkk

    slvrblkk

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    ThermaGlo Wood Pellet Fuel results: FINAL RESULTS



    Temp Average – 300-380 (on door thermometer)


    Ash Volume – 16 ounces


    Ash Weight – 2.95 ounces


    Ash Percentage - .46%


    Fines In Bag – 3/4 cup (3.95 ounces)


    Pellet Length Avg. – 1/8” - 3/4”


    Bag Weight – 40.0 lbs. (0 oz. left in hopper)



    NOTES:

    Purchased from Bucks Pellets (currently not selling them, not sure what ton price was)
    Dusty
    Manufactured by Northeast Wood Products, LLC
    Currently on Craigslist for $300 a ton (Whitehall, PA)



    I didn’t really have high expectations for these pellets but in actuality, these burned pretty well. The pellets themselves were either small bits or a half to three quarter inches long. Fines were a bit on the higher side. Ash was very fine and light grey. Ash volume was not bad however the ash weighed in on the heavier side. The bags are a bit sketchy as someone took a black marker to all the bags (see pic) and blacked some things out. I saw people made reference to this on other sites too.


    All in all these are a solid shoulder season pellet but IMO they are not worth anywhere near $300 a ton.


    Recommend!




    Disclaimer: as with everything....YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY....the review is just my opinion of them

    IMAG0319.jpg IMAG0311.jpg IMAG0312.jpg IMAG0314.jpg IMAG0308.jpg IMAG0316.jpg IMAG0317.jpg
     
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  2. DexterDay

    DexterDay Administrator

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    Very good review! I picked up a few bags and mine had the black marker treatment.

    I was sketchy, but was waiting for your review to burn mine. Looking forward to them now!!
     
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  3. SteveA

    SteveA

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    slvrblkk,
    I gotta say, you're reviews are totally awesome. Most reviews are 'these run hot', 'lots of ash', etc.... These comments are subjective, I love the way you put SCIENCE behind the reviews. There is BUT ONE thing I think would be great for you to add, and that is the 'burn rate'. You have temperature, but a smaller pellet will feed faster, so a bag will burn quicker. By having the burn rate, you can tell hot much heat per bag you're getting.

    I've been burning Stove Chow, which most would classify as an ashy pellet. You're review shows it having the same ash content as 'low ash' pellets going for $80 a ton more then the chow. Keep up the good work.

    Also, how many bags do you burn for a review? Maybe this is one more thing to add?
     
  4. slvrblkk

    slvrblkk

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    Thanks for the comment and welcome to the board! I really based everything off our real tester/reviewer on this board, jtakeman. I basically went off of his template, he actually keeps track of burn times and more indepth details than myself. I'm kind of just having fun with this and trying to get a "database" of sorts together here on this forum. I will definitely consider adding this moving forward and really appreciate your input.

    I only test one bag per review but I usually buy at least two bags to have on hand....just in case. I only did get one bag of these ThermaGlo's though. Last year during a test (Pellheat I believe) my kid cleaned out the stove before I got home work not knowing I was doing a test on them....lol...I was like "WHO CLEANED OUT THE STOVE!!! NOOOOO!!!) lol
     
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  5. subsailor

    subsailor

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    Here's the skinny on the bag I bought: Note that these are just observations, no technical testing was done.

    The bag is mostly clear and very thick. Heaviest bag I have ever seen. I could see a fair amount of fines in the bottom of the bag but when I dumped it in nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The analysis label that had the ash percentage blacked on Steve's bags wasn't even on the bag I got.

    Unlike the picture above there was no color variations in this bag. All the pellets were very dark. The average length of the pellets was close to 1" but I didn't hear much grinding in the auger when they were feeding.

    The heat seemed to be ok but it wasn't particularly cold last night and heat output is difficult to measure with a Harman.

    The there was the ash. The ash was light and fluffy, but there was lots of it volume wise. The most I have seen in any pellet in several years. I scraped the burn pot before I went to bed last night and this morning it was falling off the edge of the burn pot.

    All in all, nothing impressive. I'd burn them in a pinch, but that's about the only time.
     
  6. slvrblkk

    slvrblkk

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    Nice, good job on that sub!!! Always good to get a different perspective on it!
     
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  7. Skier76

    Skier76

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    I burned two bags of these and they did fine in my stove. I didn't have any cross outs on the bags. But there was a white sticker over a section on the back of the bags; I'll take a few pics.

    I've got a ton these coming this week. So you'll hear some jibber jabber from me regarding how they burn in the coming weeks. I've been burning primarily AWF Pines and Okie Golds so it should be interesting to try another brand. $318 delivered so probably about $260 a ton. Home Depot phone order. Ironically, I called the order in while standing in another Home Depot. Sadly, I knew the other HD had a delivery coming today that was delayed by the snow yesterday.
     
  8. Skier76

    Skier76

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    Tough to see...the writing under the label.
     

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  9. Skier76

    Skier76

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    "Super" is now gone from the bag.
     

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  10. Skier76

    Skier76

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    Back of the bag.
     

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  11. DexterDay

    DexterDay Administrator

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    Must have ran out of markers at the plant?
     
  12. Skier76

    Skier76

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    Imagine all the work to cross that out on every bag. "So as our summer intern, we have unique job for you this year...."
     
  13. loebee

    loebee

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  14. loebee

    loebee

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    Hi:
    Just thought I would throw my 2 cents in about these Therma-Glo pellets.I went to HD in Bethlehem,Pa.to get a ton of SC,but they were out of them.They said they just got a load of Therma-Glo in.They didn't know anything about them & I had never burned them before.I bought a ton.Well I can see why people say super is crossed out & the ash content is crossed out.I wouldn't even call them a premium pellet.They have at least 3 times the amount of ash as SC.I have an old Winrich stove so I have to clean it quite often.Every couple bags with these pellets.Never Again.
     
  15. Skier76

    Skier76

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    I've been burning these for about a week straight with some AWFs and Okie Golds mixed in.

    My observations:

    Heat output is a bit lower than the other pellets I've been burning. Overnight and during the day, I've noticed the temp has been a few degrees under (on my wifi stat) what the other pellets were burning at. I could usually stay around 73ish with the AWFs/Okies....I'm in the low 70's, sometimes a tick under 70 with these pellets. I'm noticing the same overnight; a few degrees under the other pellets. Certainly not a deal breaker.

    Ash: I'm getting more ash with these pellets vs the other pellets mentioned above. I have an insert, so my ashpan is basically a glorified cookie sheet. It was fairly full this week when I cleaned the stove. I did take some time to move the ashes away from the burnpot between cleanings.

    My stove has an agitator, so I can't comment on clinkers. It'll eat pretty much any pellet without a fuss.

    So overall....not a bad pellet. I wouldn't run out to buy these, but if they were all the store had, I wouldn't worry too much. They'll get us through the rest of the season without much of an issue. I still have some AWFs and Okies. I'll be using those for overnight burns on the colder nights.
     
  16. Skier76

    Skier76

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    Update: I've been burning these exclusively the latter part of the winter. Very ashy. Usually, I clean my stove weekly and the ash pan isn't ful. With these, the ash was touching the base of the burnpot and had an effect on the flame. I often had to dump the ash pan between weekly cleanings. Heat output was OK, lower than the AWFs and Okie Golds. Even with my agitator, these things left a good amount of carbon in my burnpot liner. This weekend, I'll be emailing the company about my experience with the pellets.
     
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