Pellet stove roll call!

[TFucili]

Thanks for the tip, Tom. Stihl offers two models, the SE62 and SE122. I think I will order the 62. The specs are very similar but way less money.

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/wet-dry-vacuums/wetdry-vacuums/1001075

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/wet-dry-vacuums/wetdry-vacuums/1001074

Just to be clear, Nick, I don't know who makes the Stihl stuff today. Hopefully just as good as my old timer.

 

[Mikey-KE7LBB]

The house I bought a couple years ago came with a Quadrafire 1200-1 insert and a shop-vac ash vacuum. It was made back in '08 and I assume the vac was made around the same time... I absolutely love them both!!! No issues, except for a couple of bad bags of pellets and one of the "decorative logs " split in half.

Plenty heat given off and I really enjoy watching the fire!!!

 

[NIsaacs]

Just to be clear, Nick, I don't know who makes the Stihl stuff today. Hopefully just as good as my old timer.

Still made in Germany so I ordered one. They are on backorder like a lot of stuff but I am on the list. Stihl is made by the Swiss, US, Germany, China and Brazil so who knows where it is coming from

 

[wyosteve]

Just a quick tip. I'd suggest running a surge protector before the stove. I have a Quadrafire and a power surge burned up the control board. Easy to replace but not overly cheap!

 

[JR]

I guess I gotta be the one to "fire" this thread back up

6lb brisket, home grown potatoes and brussel sprouts with chopped bacon and onion. Yummy.

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

 

[NIsaacs]

Still made in Germany so I ordered one. They are on backorder like a lot of stuff but I am on the list. Stihl is made by the Swiss, US, Germany, China and Brazil so who knows where it is coming from

Made in Hungary but it is quiet, powerful and no exhaust dust that I could see. It is hard to contain that really fine pellet stove ash. Just come in today.

 

[Dan_69GTX]

Just stumbled onto this thread... Our new house has a pellet stove. Had coal and wood stoves before, but never pellet. Fired it up the other day. During the remodel of the basement I installed a programmable thermostat. The stove can run on level 1 heat and bump to 2 or 3 (depends on setting) when the thermostat calls for more heat.

It is an "Itasca" model from "Hearthland" stove, which I found is no longer in business.

Using "Lignetics" pellets. Folks recommend testing pellets first, but I didn't know that, bought 2 tons, so hopefully I'm not going to have to create a large bon fire with them.

So far, 2 bags done and it is working ok.

 

[AH64ID]

Using "Lignetics" pellets. Folks recommend testing pellets first, but I didn't know that, bought 2 tons, so hopefully I'm not going to have to create a large bon fire with them.

I hope you have better luck than I did. My usual brand was out last spring so I bought a ton. They were horrible. Every bag had at least one hole, some pellets were wet, and they don’t burn well. They were dirty and cold when burning, and more often than not the stove would need a reset to get lit as they wouldn’t ignite properly.

I was so pissed with them that I email the manufacturer and sent photos. They ended up giving me $50 back. I would have just returned them but I didn’t have time to load them all back in the truck and repeat with another brand.

Needless to say I did a happy dance a few weeks ago putting the last bag in the stove.

More than likely you will have a different experience thou, as they have many plants and the pallet I got was made out west.

 

[Dan_69GTX]

Hopefully I do have a good experience. Several folks recommended them and said about other brands to avoid.

I turned it off last night before we left and I'll clean it out tonight and see what the ash/residue looks like.

There was an ash vacuum left by the previous owner, but I'll use the normal shopvac instead because the ash vac filter shrunk and isn't fitting the canister correctly - meaning I'll blow ash everywhere.

 

[NIsaacs]

We bought two ton of the Lignetics this year from TSC, very good pellets.

These are also good pellets, we used a lot of them.

These are no good!

It's crazy because the same company has a plant here, only pine. They are also a good pellet. However, about two years ago we had a cold winter, everywhere, so there ended up a pellet shortage. This plant got into it with all the local businesses that sold their pellet and they shut them off. Caused a lot of local hard feelings. Their complaint was they would use the plant for storage and wouldn't commit to a certain volume per year. They would just go get a small truck load when they needed them. I could see both sides.

What is crazy is they can import them from a 1000 miles away and still compete with the local plant. Then these are shipped to the same locations from where the imports come from!!??

 

[Wayne M.]

It really hasn’t been cold here yet. I’m just running it while I’m home and on weekends just so I can familiarize myself and build confidence with it. I’m still uneasy letting it run while sleeping.
This is what was left to me- 5 bags and was told it’s excellent stuff. But now sold out around here.

I only have room right now for about 15-20 bags- an area 3 wide X as high as I can steadily stack. So I’ve been grabbing these at Walmart.

And they seem to work well @ less than $6 a bag.
What I’ve learned so far is to determine the setting (Hardwood/softwood) in the Tstat settings. The Walmart stuff is a blend, LeCrete is softwood.

 

[AH64ID]

I bought my winter stock a couple weeks ago. I keep ~ 1ton in the garage and have 3 more in the horse trailer.

The wife now works full time from home so I’m curious what that does to the pellet use.

 

[Dan_69GTX]

Mine was 5.3 per bag if you bought by the pallet (1 ton). Never realized there were so many variables. I'll post a pic of the bag later.

 

[AH64ID]

Mine was 5.3 per bag if you bought by the pallet (1 ton). Never realized there were so many variables. I'll post a pic of the bag later.

Yes there are quite a few options!!

I have been the happiest with the American Eagle brand, and most recently their 100% doug fir premium line. It's worth the $0.40 (pre discount) price increase over the blended wood.

I get 10% off the pallet and then buy during a sale to get another 10% off. Brings the price from $6.19 to $5.01.

 

[Wayne M.]

So my quip in my last post caused us to get down to a windy 26* tonight and since I was preoccupied I forgot to raise the stat for the stove to light off. I found out that room gets a bit chilly, so this was the first real test of how this works. The room went from 65 to 74 in short order, and the convection was felt in the stairway. I’m quite happy right now.
Need more bags. Hmmmm

 

[Dan_69GTX]

Here are the pellets I got. 4 bags used and no issues so far.

 

[AH64ID]

Here are the pellets I got. 4 bags used and no issues so far.View attachment 125666

Not the same as the Lignetics I had issues with.

 

[Dan_69GTX]

Not the same as the Lignetics I had issues with.

That is great to hear. Would be ....miffed ... if I bought 2 tons of crap. Especially since I have a LARGE mound of horse manure already waiting for the garden, which the calves are having fun playing "king of the mountain" on.

 

[Dan_69GTX]

Do you sift out the pellet dust before dumping them into the stove?
If so how do you sift them?

Had a clog today and found it to be too much dust or fines or whatever you wanna call it.

 

[AH64ID]

Do you sift out the pellet dust before dumping them into the stove?
If so how do you sift them?

Had a clog today and found it to be too much dust or fines or whatever you wanna call it.

We don’t. Open, dump, recycle the bag, repeat as needed. Never had an issue.