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Pellet Stove Fuel Selection

Pellet Stoves use biofuel products from saw dust, used pallet or other wood product that usually can end up in our landfills. Small wood pellets similar to what we associate with animal food, about .25 inch in diameter and averaging about one inch to 1.5 inches long, are produced by compacting the discarded material into a deminsion fit for pellet stoves.

Pellet Stove fuel two grades of pellets.. The premium grade makes up roughly 95 percent of the pellets made, the remainder of the production is standard grade which quite commonly is used in agriculture as animal bedding. To minimize jamming and or bridging from happening in a pellet stove, manufactures attempt to meet the best grade standard for range. The most favorable deminsion is usually less then 1.5 inches in length and preferably even less then 1 inch to avert bridging from happining in the hopper of the pellet stove where the pellets drop onto the auger. Premium grade pellets will have no more them 1 percent ash content when the pellets are burned. If there is a more then usual amount of bark combined into the pellet fuel, there will be a higher amount of ash content. The whiter in color the pellets are indicators of the amount of bark, e.g. very dark indicates a lot of bark, with little or no bark the pellets are very light in color. High grade pellets can be made from both soft wood and hard wood. The type of wood that will be used will be determinedby the local source of wood that the pellet mill has available for their production process.

It always is a wise to try several brands of pellets before deciding on your finale decision to deside on, which brand works best for your pellet stove. Before you stock up to keep your residence warm for the winter. Different brands of pelletscan have different costs. Often the less expensive pellets sometimes is a better value for your money, don't make a decision just only on cost Inspect the pellets as you empty the sack full into your pellet stove hopper, be sure there is not an unnecessary amount of saw dust in the bottom of the bag although some sawdust will be normal. Some pellet stoves do not feed these loose sawdust very good, nor do these loose sawdust make very much heat value as the fines usually just turn into fly ash, meaning more frequent cleaning is essential to keep you pellet stove air flows from being restricted. Some home owners actually screen the loose saw dust fines out of the pellet to assure a correct amount of pellets are feed by the pellet stove. Check to make sure the pellets you are purchasing are equivalent to or are premium grade, as this info should be listed on the bag. The Pellet Fuel Institure is an organization that numerious pellet manufacture belong to./p>

An often asked question that is ask frequently, can my pellet stove burn corn kernels. The answer is yes maybe, but in a mixed pellet / corn mixture with the corn. Corn kernals produce more heat and can The heat from corn kernels is greater then from wood pellets and can shut off your stove, so be careful not to be too aggressive with setting the heat selection to high. Residue from the burnt corn has a lot of a clinker that areleft in the burn pot. Manual removal of the hard clinkers that have built will be necessary, usually with a scraper, requiring frequent scrapping of the clinker then would be experienced with residue from wood pellets. By keeping the burn pot clean of this clinkers, air flows are not disrupted allowing the pellet stove to function correctly. Most manufactures of pellet stoves do not recommend corn to be burned in the pellet stove as they are aware of the likely problem the user may have. If you do decide to try to burn corn, begin with a limited quantity mixed completely with your pellets. The rule of thumb is not to exceed a 30 percent to 50 percent corn to pellet fuel ratio. You need to ask yourself, why do I want to burn corn? There really is only two answers. First, if there is a shortage of pellets in my area. Second is the cost of corn a lotcheaper than pellets to warrant the extra work.

Using a pellet stove can save you considerable amount of money for heating your residence over the use of normal gas or oil type of products or electrical heat. It is necessary that you read the owners manual supplied by the pellet stove manufacturer for the operating instructions with regards to the periodic cleaning (recommendations. If you buy your pellet stove through a large chain store or large multi product web site that does not specialize in hearth products, you can expect very little help. Often they will say get in touch with the manufacturer or a pellet stove dealer in your area. Any stove store are internet site that do specialize in stove product that did not sell you the pellet stove will not help you as they have no responsibility or desire to help you. Some manufactures will offer assistance to you but in very restricted manner, other manufacture will not help you at all, as the manufacturer relies on the company that sold you the stove to do any warrenty work and or answer general questions. often, when you want the most advice and or help is during the main part to the heating season when the manufacture is experiencing their largest call volume and frequently will not respond to your call swiftly. Saving money is very important, but if your pellet stove appliance does not will not function the way it is supposed to, or you have to hire a tecnition to fix your stove, how much money did you save? When you are having trouble with your pellet stove, a good service technition can help you figure out the problem, and have your pellet stove appliance back and producing heat in a faster space of time..