Newbie wondering what pellets to buy

Good day,

I just bought a house with a St Croix Hastings pellet stove and I am trying to figure out which pellets to buy. I have read a bunch of treads but I wanted the opinion of some seasoned vets. The gentleman I bought the house from said he was using green supremes or Maine's Choice but that he didn't like how any of them burned. Went to do a deep cleaning yesterday and found almost no ash anywhere. So if they burned poorly, he did a great job cleaning. I'm planning on getting 2 tons this year and then falling back to the oil boiler after that. I figured that way if the pellet stove doesn't do well for us were not out too too much money.

Here are my local options:
Prices per ton
Canawick $289
Cubex $299
Energex $269
La Crete $353
Maine's Choice $274
Matra $299
Okanagan $299
PWI (Logik-e) $289
North Country $279
Super Spruce $314
Supreme Douglas Fir $384
Vermont $314
Wood and Sons $289

But there is always Lowe's and home Depot. Both are $249 per ton in my area.

I know everyone says burn a couple of bags first but not even sure what I should experiment with.
I was thinking about getting a couple of bags from home Depot but not sure what I should test from the local pellet dealer.

Thank you for any and all help!!

 

For + $10... I'd go with the Wood's..

Dan

 

I've burned a hopper full of the North Country and I like them so far.Very little ash but lots of fines in the bag.

 

You are in Maine so that Wood + Sons price is better than we pay in Southern New England. Just some fyi, the La Crete price of $353 is probable for a metric ton (60 bags), those are a very good pellet as well.

 

Some of us in Maine buy our pellets from a place in North Jay. Here is the link to their website.

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai...wjrnpSh4o3lAhWDtlkKHX1RBLoQ0Qx6BAgNEAE&adurl=

A lot of their prices include delivery.

 

Thank you for all the replies. I am going to pick up some woods and sons and north country tomorrow to see how they burn.

Subsailor thank you for the suggestion but I'm in southern Maine. What some people call northern Massachusetts these days. Once the kids are out of school, I'm high tailing it as far north as the wife will put up with.

Thanks again

 

I think you will like both of them. Matra is another good option to try out.

 

Hi,
I am a 15 year owner of a St Croix Hastings, VT is my choice to burn also Logik E and pretty much any good soft wood pellets. I learned that is what she likes the most.

 

They deliver state wide and I'm pretty sure all of NH as well.

 

BTW Perma welcome to the forum.

 

Called a few years back, they would not cross state lines - may be different now

 

I went to pick up some woods and sons but they don't have any till this weekend. But I got a free bag of la Crete and got sold on trying Okanagan. I was told they were bought out and are now a superior pellet, we'll see. They aren't carrying naturals this year too many wet bags in the delivery. Also stopped and got some stove chow.
Let the testing begin

Thanks again

 

Have fun with the testing! They may have over sold you on the Okanagans, but only you and your stove can really tell that! I do recommend going back to grab some Wood and Sons as well as Vermonts if they have any. Both are well worth the time to try out. Enjoy, and please do report back findings, we're always interested to hear other's experiences with burning different products.

 

Also believe it or not I burned some Green Surpremes last year in my Hastings and they sure burned better than my notes had indicated fro a couple years back.

 

They used to be a really good pellet, but I bought some last year and was disappointed at how ashy they were. I still have the mid-grade Oakies of old and they burn much better IMO.

I had a Hastings several years ago. Although it was a really good stove, I had to adjust the damper if I changed pellets. Other people say they didn't have that issue and maybe it was a case of buying middling pellets that vary widely in how they burn. I stuck with FSU's and was happy with how the stove performed with those and I could get them readily and at a good price (they would be somewhat comparable to the Chows).

I would also stay away from Maine's Choice - which is totally different than Maine Wood Pellets (MWPs). Most the others on that list seem to be good pellets although some people don't like hardwoods (like Cubex). It really depends on what your stove/setup likes, so have fun experimenting.

 

So, since the weather has been unseasonably warm, I have only gone through one bag of la Crete. This is what the ash pan looked like after I knocked and swept all the ash down into the pan. Over all in my mind not bad plus the glass stayed clear. I only burned in the evenings at heat level 5 till the house was 74°f then shut it off till the next day. I filled up the hopper with some stove chow. I will update after I burn through the bag.

 

member Tullytown highly recommends Easy Heats if you can find any of them locally

 

As others have said you can't go wrong with Woods and Sons and I as well like the Matra's these two have the lowest ash output and crank out some heat. North Country are a good pellet but create a lot more ash than the aforementioned, Okie Plats output same as mixed or some hardwoods alot of ash very disappointed with them last year .
Good luck and welcome aboard