Wood pellets what do you use?

[kenstrac]

I would like to hear what you are using for wood pellets and how well they burn for you.
This is my third year burning pellets when I bought the stove I bought 1 ton of Pennington from Home Depot ,it burned dirty and inconsistent. I got another ton from Lowe's they were made in Canada a little better,Lowe's got a different supplier Green Team those burned very hot and clean.
Second year I bought 5 ton of Green Team from Lowe's good heat clean burning and very little dust from the bag when I fill the stove.
After reading that Pennington had improved and Sam's club had them on sale I purchased 5 ton. I started the season burning Green Team, glass stays fairly clean even after burning for 2 days I was down at Lowe's and the had some broken bags I don't remember the name but they were in brown bags those burned ok .
Now I'm into the Pennington 12 hrs of burning and the glass is completely black have to clean the stove every 12 hrs full of clinkers and I have to run the heat up to the next number to get the same heat out, and when I dump the bags in dust is all over the place.
Now I have 5 tons of this garbage to use, and now I can't find Green Team around here.

 

[whistlepig]

We use Ozark Hardwood Products pellets. They burn with very little soot. The glass stays clean unless we crank the pellet stove all the way up. We buy them at Menards.

 

[Steve C]

I would like to hear what you are using for wood pellets and how well they burn for you.
This is my third year burning pellets when I bought the stove I bought 1 ton of Pennington from Home Depot ,it burned dirty and inconsistent. I got another ton from Lowe's they were made in Canada a little better,Lowe's got a different supplier Green Team those burned very hot and clean.
Second year I bought 5 ton of Green Team from Lowe's good heat clean burning and very little dust from the bag when I fill the stove.
After reading that Pennington had improved and Sam's club had them on sale I purchased 5 ton. I started the season burning Green Team, glass stays fairly clean even after burning for 2 days I was down at Lowe's and the had some broken bags I don't remember the name but they were in brown bags those burned ok .
Now I'm into the Pennington 12 hrs of burning and the glass is completely black have to clean the stove every 12 hrs full of clinkers and I have to run the heat up to the next number to get the same heat out, and when I dump the bags in dust is all over the place.
Now I have 5 tons of this garbage to use, and now I can't find Green Team around here.

We have been using pellets produced in weidman michigan by Maeder Brothers, they seem to work well. I am suprised that the pellet prices are so high this year. I bought them for 129 a ton last year this year they are around 200. Other energy sources seem to be down in price. Propane is on sale in this area compared to years past.

I didn't know sams club had pellets. What did they sell them for

 

[Sackett2]

Our pellets, Bear Mountain and Goldenfire, are both satisfactory but not perfect. plenty of soot.
Prices in Oregon have been 200-225 a ton for the last 3-4 years ;(

 

[kennyd]

$250 per ton in my parts...

 

[SPIKER]

I dont have a pellet stove:
but see prices in my area are 229 / ton as spray painted onto the wall of pellets out front of TSC.
north ohio.
mark

 

[RonMar]

5 tons from Sams Club... Take them back if they are no good... That was a substantial order, and you dealt with them in good faith that their product would be functional. One thing that is lacking in the pellet field is tracking ability for particular pellet lots. These last two pallets I bought had packing slips and the date the pallet was loaded at the plant, and by whom. It was about a month prior to me purchasing them... What you bought could have been several years old, and what was not selling well before they improved their quality. I think the ammount of dust in the bags is an indication of this. Older pellets have most likley been moved around more. Movement works the pellets together in the bags and causes them to shed more and more dust. This could also be a factor of time... Depending on how long and how they were stored, could effect how much moisture they have absorbed. Added moisture will break the pellets down. I bought some pellets 2 years ago from a local hardware store. They had just gotten a fresh load in and I was waiting for that. But sure enough the kid on the forklift came motoring out from the back lot with a pallet loaded with a plastic cover that had moss growing on it. I made him take it back and load some of the bright shiney new batch... Caveat Emptor...

I have always tried a few bags before I commit to a large quantity buy.

I am in the northwest. I have used Atlas, Bear mountain, Armstrong and Cleanburn. Those 4 brands have all burned pretty much the same, with about the same cleaning interval and ammount of ash. All had few clinkers. Prices were between $195 and $225 over the past 3 years depending on what kind of sale I caught. Got this years 2 tons at Dels farm and feed on sale for $200...

 

[Willl]

Natures fuel, about 225 @ ton

NATURE'S PELLETS

 

[whistlepig]

$235 a ton here. We don't use a pellet stove as primary heat. We have geothermal which is cheaper. We use the pellet stove as backup heat. Also on bitter cold nights we fire it up just for comfort. We don't buy in bulk so we buy pellets in small quantities. We have tried several brands and Ozark Hardwood Products is by far the best.

 

[charlz]

I've also had some bad experiences with 'clinkers' etc. Same brand, different year went from mostly fly ash and no clinkers to almost no fly ash and clinkers. The clinkers particularly suck in my stove as it is an 'insert' and there is very little room under the fire pot to get them out.

Our pellets out here are all softwood so YMMV but I try to go by the color of the pellets.. if you see green/black stuff in there... very likely no good. The best I have had so far was 'Firemaster' out of Canada. They are/were processing pine beetle killed trees into pellets and they were the nice 'straw' color of a pine board. They package them in a clear bag since they look so good

This year I am using 'Natural Glow' which is made in Oregon. I bought a ton of them at the end of last year and had good luck. I bought 5 ton on sale for $185/ton (last time I saw the price was 2005) regular price $199/ton at a local farm supply place. They were the cheapest pellets, others like Bear Mountain were $250/ton, but I think they are a good pellet, mostly fly ash and they burn hot. Not sure if they think the Natural Glow are a 'cheaper'/lower BTU pellet or if it's just because they are made about 200 miles away and freight is cheaper.