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| Scott Williamson |
We asked to interview Scott because he is not affiliated with any stove or pellet brand. He also has a Facebook group called Pellet Stove Troubleshooting & Repair. The group has nearly 17,000 members and it’s likely to include every technician in the country that works on pellet stoves.
What’s your primary advice to people buying pellets?
Scott’s first piece of advice is simple. Do not buy in bulk until you have tried the fuel. “Buy whatever you can afford. Buy a little and test it.”
Even pellets labeled premium can perform very differently from brand to brand. The word premium typically just refers to ash content being under 1 percent. It does not guarantee high heat output, clean burning in your stove, or easy ignition. If it runs well in your stove, then it is worth stocking up.
Before committing to a large purchase, test a few bags and pay attention to:
- How much ash is created?
- Does the burn pot clog up?
- Does the burn out empty itself during a shut-down?
- Any unusual odors from the pellet fuel itself (off gassing)?
If you burn pellets long enough, you stop looking for the perfect brand and start looking for what works consistently in your stove. Pellets are fuel. Some are better made than others. Your stove will tell you pretty quickly which is which.
Softwood vs. Hardwood: Does It Matter?
Yes! Buy softwood if you can. Scott says, “Softwood pellets are generally cleaner and produce more usable heat per pound.”
Species matters, but manufacturing quality matters just as much, sometimes more.
Scott has made informal heat comparisons in his own stove and has seen dramatic differences between brands under the same conditions.
Which brands would you generally avoid?
“If a bag leans heavily on patriotic imagery”, Scott says stay away! “Words like, American, Patriot, Liberty…. ‘Freedom’ that’s a big one. Freedom fuel, Patriot fuel, Liberty fuel. It’s all absolute garbage, and that’s because they’re relying on a certain demographic of consumers to buy them. They don’t care.”
Should I look for the PFI Logo?
Some bags display the logo of the Pellet Fuels Institute (PFI) but it doesn't mean the pellets are
PFI certified. A company can be a PFI member of have a Board seat without certifying their pellets through PFI. Even if it is PFI certified, certification also does not automatically mean that pellet will perform best in your stove. You may also see companies say that they are certified members of PFI, but their pellets are not certified.
I have seen excellent pellets with and without certification and poor pellets with and without PFI certification.
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| Only the logo on the left means the fuel is certified to PFI standards. |
I have seen excellent pellets with and without certification and poor pellets with and without PFI certification.
I have heard that some pellets smell like diesel fuel. Should people be concerned?
“Sometimes pellets have a mild pine smell. That is normal. Douglas fir can have a sharper scent. But diesel is not normal.”
A strong fuel smell can point to contamination somewhere in the fiber stream or during handling. If something about the smell makes you uneasy, do not store two tons of it in your basement.
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| Extensive signs of paint in pellets almost always come from recycled wood pallets. |
Bits of color in pellets usually come from manufacturers that reclaim old pallets to make their pellets. I don’t really know how bad it is. I suppose it depends on the extent of paint in your pellets and the degree to which you’re breathing it. Every home is different. Every situation is different. But I don’t think anyone should be buying pellets that have paint in them. I would not buy that brand again.
We know that some folks are finding a lot of paint in pellets recently made by Michigan Wood Fuels.
How about the eternal issue of fines (wood dust)? How bad are they for your stove?
The wood dust at the bottom of the bag is called fines. Every pellet bag has some. Too much can cause problems. Fines develop during manufacturing and transportation. The more pellets are moved, stacked, and jostled, the more they break down. In many stoves, fines settle at the bottom of the hopper. Over time, they can restrict the feed opening, contribute to missed ignitions, and reduce maximum heat output.
If your stove suddenly struggles to ignite and you have burned 40 or 50 bags without cleaning out the hopper, fines are often the reason.
The fix is usually simple. Once a month, let the hopper empty completely. Vacuum the bottom thoroughly. Then restart. Scott says it’s a simple thing to do but he often looks like a hero after fixing an issue by just vacuuming dust out.
Not all pellet stoves manage fines the same way. Harman stoves are known for being more tolerant of dust. Their bottom feed system, adapted from coal stove technology, helps push fines through the burn process rather than letting them accumulate as easily.
That does not mean you should ignore dust. Cleaner pellets are always better. But some stove designs are more forgiving.
Are Pellets Still Worth the Money?
Yes, if you heat with oil, propane or electric resistance heat. Pellets come out as the more practical and economical option, especially when bought in bulk in the spring, way before you need them, so that you can shop around for the best price.
I think that's the main reason that this industry still exists… Let's think of all the ways that it saves people money, right? Because it's not just on how much you pay for fuel or how much you use, but the pellet stove has long been a stop gap measure that fills a need that maybe prevents a more expensive repair in your central heater. Or you're building an addition, you can put a pellet stove in and that is a heat source for the bonus room. That is way cheaper than having to pull in duct work or infrastructure to bring heat to a system that you may have to update, because now it's not big enough, right? It's a stop gap.”
Scott’s Bottom-Line Advice
- Test the pellet before committing to buying a lot.
- Ignore patriotic marketing.
- Vacuum your hopper monthly.
- Don’t panic over a little dust—but don’t ignore it.
- Buy the pellets you can afford and manage.
More resources on wood pellets
Sustainability of wood pellets, AGH website.
PFI Qualified Pellet Producers, PFI website.
