Pellet Stove Fuel Selection

Pellet stoves are engineered to use biofuel from plant based material that are derived waste products such asused pallet, saw dust, wood chips or other waste products that uaully ends up in our landfills.. Small pellet of wood compariable to what we link with animal food, approximately, are produced by compressing the waste material into a size suitable for pellet stoves.

Fuel that is used for pellet stoves a couple of grades of pellets.. The premium grade makes up almost 95 percent of the pellets produced, where as the standard grade makes up the rest which quite often is used in agriculture as animal bedding. To prevent jamming and or bridging from happening in a pellet stove, manufactures attempt to meet the premium grade standard for size. The best favorable deminsion is generally less then 1.5 inches long and preferably even less then 1 inch to advoid bridging from happining of the augar of the pellet stove as the pellets drop onto the auger. Premium grade pellets will have less them 1 percent ash content after the pellets are burned. If there is a excessive amount of bark mixed into the pellet fuel, there will be a large amount of ash content. If there is less bark the pellets will be less brown in color, e.g. very dark indicates a lot of bark, with little or no bark the pellets are very light in color. The grade of pellet is not determined by the hardness of the wood as both hard and soft woodare used. The wood that is used is usually determinedby the local source of wood that the pellet manufacture has available for their production process.

It always is a great idea to try out different manufactures of pellets before deciding on your finale decision to determine, which manufacture works best for your pellet stove. Before you stock up to keep your home warm for the winter. Different brands of pelletswill have different price tags. Often the less expensive pellets sometimes is a better value for your money, don't make a decision strickly on price Inspect the pellets as you empty the bag full into your pellet stove, make sure there is not a lot of saw dust in the bottom of the bag although some sawdust will will not be abnormal. A lot of pellet stoves do not feed these loose saw dust fines very well, nor do these loose saw dust fines produce much heat value as the fines usually just becomes fly ash, means more intensive cleaning is required to keep you pellet stove air flows from being reduced. Some home owners will screen the saw dust out of the pellet to assure the pellet stove can augar the pellets correctly. Make sure the pellets you are purchasing are equivalent to or are premium grade, as this information should be listed on the bag. Most pellet fuel manufacturers belong to an organization called the Pellet Fuel Institute./p>

One big question that is ask over and over, will my pellet stove burn corn kernels. The answer is yes maybe, but in a mixed pellet / corn mixture with the corn. Corn kernals burn hotter and is possible to shut down the stove, by tripping a saftey switch from the to much heat from the corn, so be careful not to be too aggressive with high heat setting. Residue left over from the burnt corn has a lot of a substance left over that are called clinkers. Manual removal of the hard clinkers that have built will be necessary, usually with a scraper, causing frequent scrapping of the clinker then would be experienced with residue from wood pellets. If these clinkers are not removed, air flows are disrupted and the pellet stove will not function correctly. almost all manufactures of pellet stoves do not recommend corn to be burned in the pellet stove as they have experience with of the potential problem the consumer may have. If corn is something that you want to try, start 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 a couple of answers. First, unable to locate a adaquate source of pellets in my area. Second is the price of corn a lotcheaper than pellets to warrant the extra work.

By using a pellet stove, you will be able to lower your home heating cost over the use of normal gas or oil type of products or electrical heat. Always be sure that you follow the guidelines. It is always prudent to get your pellet stove appliance from a company that deals mainly in hearth products. Usually they will say get in touch with the manufacturer or a dealer of pellet stoves in your area. Any hearth store are internet site that do specialize in hearth product that did not sell you the pellet stove will not assist you as they have no desire or responsibility to help you. Some manufactures will offer assistance to you but in very limited manner, other manufacture will not assist you at all, as the manufacturer expect you to contact the company where you purchashed the pellet stove answer general questions and or do any warrenty work. often, when you need the most help and or guidance is in the main part to the heating season when the manufacture is experiencing their greatest call volume and frequently will not respond to your call swiftly. Saving money is very important, but if your pellet stove appliance does not work properly, or you have to hire a tecnition to fix your stove, how much money did you save? A knowledgeable service technician will often walk you though a dignosis of your problelm without even showing up at your door, and have your pellet stove back back in operation in a shorter length of time..