Can one of you fine, pellet burning, gentlemen point me to a thread or website that breaks down the different pellet brands and what the differences are/burn best? Just trying to ramp up my knowledge on pellets as I plan for the future.
Well... alright. Long term I will probably install an add-on pellet boiler. I was looking for a good starting point of how to choose good pellets and why some brand work better for some than others. Also, I see comments about ash build up with some brands. What is the downside of ash build up? And, let's say I buy an add-on boiler in six years. If I buy pellets now (as an example) would they maintain their integrity until they are used (if I keep them dry)?
They will be just fine as long as there is no direct contact with water. What brands do you have available local to you?
OK 1st pellets won't spoil keep them dry and you're fine I have 4 year old bags in my stash no issues
Okay, so ash doesn't increase any wear on any parts? Just shorter burn times and more frequent dumping?
Not sure. I will start looking at brands this summer and I also plan to start monitoring pricing to see what happens throughout the year.
Better yet, The good cheap stuff to save a few more nickles. Many brands rebag(same pellet diffent bag) for box stores and we got the scoop on them for ya too!
I'll get the ball rolling. Keep an eye in the big box stores for Somersets, Stove Chow, Presto Logs, Timber Heat, AWF(or Premium), FireSide Ultra, and Greene Team. TSC was selling re-bagged Lignetics too. Stay away from Inferno, Green Supreme, New England (depending on the bagging plant), and Curran/North American.
Let's focus on the brands to avoid for a moment. What makes them bad and how bad is bad? Are they just not as efficient and give off less heat? Also, to put things in perspective, lets say I find a bad brand at a much lower price than a good brand. Are the bad brands ever a worthwhile investment if the price is low enough?
I would burn Infernos only if they were free. I hope that tells you something about them. Made out of old pallets, etc.
What makes them bad? Would Infornos not get as hot as a good brand? Would it just shorten the burn time per load? Is it like comparing pine to oak or is it as bad as comparing dry wood to wet wood?
No heat to speak of, lots of ash. Yes, as bad as wet vs. dry wood. Plus the nails & pieces of metal people found in them aren't too good for the auger.
Ah! Okay, now I understand. Not just poor heat output and shorter burn times, but also the heat output is significantly less and there could be crap in them that causes damage to the unit. I like to know the negatives so I know what to expect. Sometimes the economics outweigh the negatives. As an example, VC stoves are kind of crappy, but at the price I paid, the low cost outweighed the negatives. With pellets, that doesn't seem to be the case.
The biggest issue I've come across with certain brands of pellets is simply lack of heat. They last forever, because they feed so slowly. I just went through a bag of Pure Fire pellets. I had to crank the stove way up to get enough input to make some heat. I suspect the BTU/lb was similar to other brands, but they fed so slowly that the stove didn't put out enough heat. Had the same problems with Eco Flame, Freedom Fuel, and North Americans. I've heard of other people that loved the Eco Flame, but my stove didn't. Even at almost full blast, my stove was literally putting out 135-140 degree air on the Eco Flames!
Question regarding heat output from different pellet brands; I will be using the pellets for an add-on boiler. Is heat output more, less, or equally important since the heat will be used to heat up water.
