By Nyree Pieck
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27 Sep, 2020
Pellet stoves are a great source of heating your home and is also a typical transition for people who want to move away from burning wood. So you've purchased a pellet stove and now you wonder what type of pellet to burn and how to purchase them. Here is a quick read that will help with the most common questions we receive at House of Warmth Stove & Fireplace Shop in New Milford, CT. Hard vs. Soft - In a wood stove you typically want to burn hard wood so many people are surprised when we recommend our La Crete Pellets which are a soft wood pellet. Once pellets are compressed, it does not matter if they are hard wood or soft wood because one is not going to burn faster than the other. The auger motor on the pellet stove determines how fast pellets drop into the burn pot. What you need to look for is BTUs per bag and ash content which are addressed below. Premium vs. Super Premium - With a premium pellet you will typically clean your pellet stove about once a week. With a super premium pellet you will clean your pellet stove about once every two weeks. Why is this? You need to understand two numbers on a wood pellet bag: 1. BTU's per bag. 2. Ash Content. The higher the BTU content, the more heat it will produce per bag of pellets. The lower the ash content, the less you will need to clean your stove. The idea is to purchase what you can afford that will be the highest BTU's and the lowest ash content. Pellets with a low BTU content or unlisted BTU content and a high ash will typically make an unhappy pellet stove owner as you will be cleaning your stove daily and will be frustrated with how much maintenance a pellet stove takes. When to purchase? All pellet manufacturers offer pre-season pricing. The best time to purchase pellets is in the heat of the season in July or August when prices are at the lowest of the year. Starting in September, prices tend to creep up about $5-$10 a ton. They continue to increase about once a month. By the bag or by the ton? It depends. If you have room to store them in a cool dry place we always recommend purchasing them by the ton as this is going to be the best pricing for pellets. Many people will store them in a garage, a basement, or a shed. It is very important to keep them dry because water is the kryptonite to pellets as they will make your pellets unusable. If you don't have room we recommend purchasing them by the bag. You will pay a little more however you will not need a lot of space to store them. How many tons do I need a year? Our typical homeowner uses between 2-3 tons a year. It depends on how cold the winter is and how long the season is. It also depends on how well insulated your house is. When you get down to your last ton we recommend making a decision on whether or not to purchase an additional ton. Don't ever wait until you are on your last bag as sometimes pellets are scarce toward the end of the season. Can tons of pellets be delivered? Yes. Most places offer delivery. We can deliver up to 3 tons of pellets. We outsource anything more than 3 to an independent driver since he can carry 6 at at time. What brands do we sell? Here at House of Warmth we carry Energex Pellets and La Crete Pellets. Energex are a hard wood pellet and we have been selling them for 30 years. They are a very good overall pellet that have great reliability. They are made in Mifflinton, PA. Energex are a Premium pellet with @8,200 BTUs per bag and <1% ash. About 5 years ago we started carrying a super premium pellet called La Crete. La Crete are a soft wood pellet with @8,900 BTUs per bag and <.4% ash. They come from Canada. The feedback that we have been getting from the La Crete has been incredibly positive so we have continued to carry them and will continue to offer both brands so our customers have a choice. So what other wood pellets do we recommend besides Energex and La Crete? Any hearth shop or wood pellet distributor is going to carry at least a premium pellet. Other brands we like are: Barefoot, Hamer's Hot Ones, Turman, & Cubex, Maine Woods. --Blog by Nyree Pieck, Owner The House of Warmth Stove & Fireplace Shop is a family owned business in New Milford, CT which sells wood, pellet, and gas stoves, wood and gas fire pits, outdoor kitchens, and BBQ grills. They also sell fireplace accessories, venting, and fuel. (pellets, coal, and biobricks) They sell Lopi and FireplaceX wood stoves, wood fireplaces, and wood inserts. Check out their online store: www.houseofwarmth.com Also, click on Design your fire on the top right hand side of their website to see all their Lopi and FireplaceX models.