Shoulder pellets or??

Generally I just grab from the top of the pile.

In a perfect world I would burn the ashiest pellets during the shoulder season and save the low ash pellets for the cold.
Since it would save me cleaning time.

As far as heat goes, i have tested many a pellet and for all intents and purposes they all burned at the same temperature when the feed rate was equal. So I base my pellet quality on ash/clinkers exclusively.

 

Corinth also makes a 100% Softwood correct?

 

That's kinda the way I do it too ,but when I stack I try to mix them up a bit right now I have 8 different options on or near the top over the next few weeks mostly gonna roast T Heat's ,Energex & B Foot's saving the softies for colder temps . With B box prices almost as much as better stuff why bother with ashy chit

 

I hear everybody's sentiment on the BB stuff vs. the good stuff and I agree. However I'm still able to buy MWP's at $219 so I'm buying them. If they run out or the price goes up, I still have 6.5 tons in the basement.

 

I always had 2 tons just for early/late shoulder use. Gotta save the real hot stuff for those real cold days.

 

I'm kind of in between on this. Even with MWP/FSU, my stove pretty much idles until we get down into the 20's. It irritates the cheapskate in me to see my stove burning with the distribution blower off. So running good stuff year round would just make the situation worse.

 

Try running Room/Auto instead of manual or constant and don't fret trying to save the Igniter..
the Dist fan keep running till your left with embers..
it's like it wants to squeeze every bit of heat that is in the stove..
re-posting a thread I did on this..below...

.ok... when I run my Harman on room/auto the distribution blower will keep blowing into the room even when the flame ramps down and close to just embers in the burnpot.
on that setting it's like the stove is squeezing every bit of heat it can into the living space
as opposed to room/manual where when the flame starts to ramp down, the distrb blower shuts off Much sooner and It's sending any and all heat right up the exhaust and all during maint burn or what I Call simmer mode for quite sometime... I have used room/manual many times but it seems as if room/auto puts heat into the room for much longer stretches than in manual mode. [at least now during shoulder season]..
BTW:
When the flames are ramping down in room/auto, If I put the switch in manual, the blower shuts off immediatly...yes I know the ESP [in the Exhaust] is satisfied BUT it is the heat going up the Exhaust and Not into my room is what made me go Back to room/Auto.

 

Unfortunately I don't live where I can actually get those. And if I could, I couldn't get them delivered without a hefty charge (okay, technically there are people who would deliver - but that charge would not be just hefty, but ridiculous).

So, I go with middling pellets that I can haul myself from a place that isn't too far from where I work. Or, like this year, I took advantage of the fact I was already having a bunch of stuff delivered, and just tacked on the pellets for the same delivery charge.

Next year though, I'll have a truck that can do some hauling. Just need a trailer then I can pick up some of the good stuff myself

 

Same here. At the end of every season I say "next year I am not messing with the cheap stuff". Just cant seem to do it when next year comes.

Last season was the first I started using Auto on/off for the shoulders. My stove and I think subsailor stove are on original igniters. Mine goes back to 2009 and still working fine, but at this point it doesn't owe me anything.

 

At 219.00 for MWP, I would be buying several tons

 

yes... especially when the cost of new igniter on ebay is around 70.00 and not hard at all to replace..
I have a Harman P61 and the ones sold are exact harman specs right down to exact wire lenght..

 

Interesting finds on Ebay

With the cradle

HARMAN Stove- Fireplace Igniter [XP3520] 3-20-677200 + Cradle (PP3522)1-00-06620

and, without the cradle

HARMAN PREMIUM SUPER IGNITER 15 Finned 310 watts.1 YEAR WARRANTY

jtakeman , you know anything about these aftermarket igniters? You're the man on the better than OEM and cheaper than OEM for blower motors, etc

 

At $220/ton, I burn the good stuff all season long.

 

they are both the 15 fin models so that's good.

 

Not mine. I have the improved igniter. I burned out 2 in the first 3 years.

 

See my sig.

 

Yikes !!! That sux.

Were the first one or two the older 13 fin models?

 

I believe so but I never saw them. They were replaced under warranty.