Pellets or wood?

[cbrick]

To avoid hijacking Reg's current thread on wood stoves I'll start anew.

I'm thinking of putting in a stove before this coming winter. I have a fireplace and haven't decided yet between an insert or stand alone plus I've heard some pro's and con's on both wood and pellets.

So what are the pro's and con's on both wood and pellets?

Other than the loss of the fireplace what is the pro's and con's of an insert vs. a stand alone?

Help here would sure be appreciated. Thanks,

Rick

[fishhawk]

I would go with which ever one doesn't need electricity to work.

[nagantguy]

Wood vets my vote, stand alone wood burning stove that needs nothing to operate except match and wood. Hard times are coming, winter is coming. I saw people unable to find the pellets last winter. After the Nov. 19,ice storm last year no power for 9 days for most of the area I live in. Used my generator sparingly for the well pump and freezer. And had plenty of heat. Guy down the road loves his out door burner, after 3 days no more gas for his generator, no more heat. Good friend also down the road also tells me all the time how much more efficient his pellets burn and how much less work buying them is compared to cutting wood. When he had no power it didnt matter how much more efficent the pellets are. Also we cooked in the dutch oven on the wood stove.

[cbrick]

I have a backup generator, small and cannot run the house on it but it will run the important things such as coffee pot, fridge, lights, coffee pot, microwave, lead pot. Did I mention the coffee pot? If needed it should also handle any needs the stove might have such as a blower so long as I don't have to unplug the coffee pot. :mrgreen:

Rick

[shooter93]

I've been thinking of installing one here and could either use an insert or stand alone. I'm leaning towards stand alone if for no other reason than I have both if I just want to use the fireplace. I've used wood and pellets before and for me it's pellets. Where I live there are a number of places in state that make pellets so that's a large part of the decision. Off season they are inexpensive in bulk. I can stock pile extra each year so they are always available. My wife can handle the bags easily when I'm away. Very little ash to deal with. You can get either ones that need power and those that don't. The ones I see here with power needs can use a battery back up so that's not insurmountable if I go that way. A wood burner heats you more than once though....once to cut it....once to split it and haul it in and then when you burn it. And don't forget to add one rear truck window a year to the cost if you'll be cutting your own wood......smiles.

[TCFAN]

I have a woodstock Fireview. Used it for the last 7 or 8 years. Heats my old house very well and is very easy on wood.It take no electricity to make it run and you can cook on it if needed.You can get info here.............. http://www.woodstove.com/fireview

[GRUMPA]

I would go with which ever one doesn't need electricity to work.

That's exactly my thoughts.

In this area most folks use wood, and not the pellets. Most folks are on solar power so they try and conserve on the power draw. Also.....pellet stoves need something to make it work. Like the igniter, conveyor system, blower, pellets and whatever. If just 1 of those things fails there's no heat. We keep things simple, need wood? just go get it it's all over.

[knifemaker]

Cbrick, a lot depends where you live in CA. Numerous areas are now starting to regulate wood burning and will outlaw them in the near future. If you are in northern or Central CA. away from major cities you should be safe installing a wood burner. My wife works in a general hardware store where they sell wood pellet stoves and the pellets. According to her there is less manufactors of pellets then there was 15 years ago and the few companies left have raised their prices by a good margin. Also most pellet stoves have a auger to feed the pellets to the fire and need electric power to run the auger. You will need a back up source of power if you live in a area that has frequent power outage.
We got rid of our free standing wood burner, Earth stove, just because the wife was getting tired of the trash and bugs that came in with the wood logs. It was a good efficient stove, I would throw on 3-4 logs in morning and dampen it down and we came home to a warm house after work. We live in the Northern foothills at 1800 ft.
We have since gone to a Lopi free standing stove that runs on propane. They also make them for natural gas. Stove has features that rate it at 84% efficient and the cost is comparable with buying cord wood for the winter. Lopi also makes inserts that go into fireplaces. Ours has a blower system on it that can be turned down or up if you do not want to hear the blower. If power goes out, it still heats by convection. Added bonus it looks like a wood fire burning behind the glass front door.
No matter what stove you get, get the one with the highest efficiently rating you can afford as it will heat your home at a cheaper cost and you save over time. Our home is a two story at 2500 sq. ft. and the Lopi heats the entire house.:)

[oneokie]

One gets more radiant heat from a free standing wood stove

[cbrick]

Thanks knifemaker, interesting. BTW, I don't live in CA.

So far it looks like a free standing wood burner. I have no gas in the house, propane or natural. It's all electric which is my main concern in getting a stove.

Rick

[cbrick]

One gets more radiant heat from a free standing wood stove

That sounds quite logical, an insert has part of it buried in the fireplace.

Rick

[Driver man]

I have a free standing fire that has a wet back and cook top. I heat the house ,cook and have excess hot water. It runs on wood,coal,coke.pellets, cardboard cartons and paper. It is a backup to the electricity but i use it almost exclusively in winter and the electricity becomes the backup. Ash removal is about 4 weekly and gets added to the compost.

[Hannibal]

I built an outside wood burner for both my house and garage. They both have a small duct-boost fan to aid in circulation, but if the power fails, they will both still function by convection.
I figured a good reason for stove is to save some money. Why put something in that you STILL have to buy fuel for?

[monadnock#5]

http://www.amazon.com/HAHSA-OUTDOOR-BURNER-Mother-Earth/dp/B000Q7K89K
If you want the ultimate, this is it. These things will burn anything, including wet hemlock with no safety concerns whatsoever.

The key to success with whatever your choice of fuels, is to determine how much fuel you will need to get you through the winter, and buy excess prior to the heating season. Running out of fuel at the end of February, and not being able to get more, is a bad situation to be in.

[Petrol & Powder]

I have a backup generator, small and cannot run the house on it but it will run the important things such as coffee pot, fridge, lights, coffee pot, microwave, lead pot. Did I mention the coffee pot? If needed it should also handle any needs the stove might have such as a blower so long as I don't have to unplug the coffee pot. :mrgreen:

Rick

yea - but will it run the coffee pot?

[jonp]

Wood stove. I have yet to see a pellet tree to cut down with my chainsaw. I was at my camp one year and a bad icestorm came through. I hung out, went ice fishing, loaded ammo etc and ran out of beer after 4 or 5 days so walked the couple of miles out to my truck and went into town where there was no power because of the storm. Everyone was in a panic as their lights, heat etc didn't work nor fridges. I got a six pack and headedback to camp. Put a few chunks of wood in the stove, lit the gas lights and put the beer in the propane fridge. All of this is a long winded way of saying never coúnt on electricity to be your main heat source.

Oh, I make coffee in an oldtime coffee pot either on the propane stove or the woodstove

[fishhawk]

What happens when the gen set fails to start or just up and dies or you run out of fuel? Any thing mechanical will break down when you need it most Mr Murphy is still around.

[jonp]

Thanks knifemaker, interesting. BTW, I don't live in CA.

So far it looks like a free standing wood burner. I have no gas in the house, propane or natural. It's all electric which is my main concern in getting a stove.

Rick
Why don't you run some copper line and put in a couple of wall mount propane heaters? After replacing the electric stove with a gas one it was first on my list. When the furnice went out 5 yrs ago I never replaced it. We just heat the rooms we are in. Much cheaper

[Petrol & Powder]

We heated exclusively with wood when I was a kid. I later used a wood stove as my primary heat source. I no longer use wood for heat but I still consider it to be an excellent source of heat.
A free standing wood stove generally beats an insert in terms of efficiency and output. A fireplace insert takes up less room and utilizes an existing flue. Between the options of a free standing stove vs. an insert, I would go with a free standing stove.
As for a pellet stove, I've never seen the advantage other than pure convenience. A regular wood stove is cheaper to operate and much more versatile.
The biggest mistake I see people make with woodstoves it the tendency to oversize them for your needs. It is FAR more efficient to run a small stove hot than a big stove cold. Now before everyone starts yelling about the need to bank the fire at night and not having enough heat during extreme cold weather because the stove is too small, allow me to clarify.
The stove needs to be big enough to provide the maximum heat needed in the coldest conditions BUT it doesn't need to be twice or three as big as needed in the worst case situation! When the stove is way oversized it is difficult to get a clean burn without burning too much wood and making WAY too much heat. A big stove promotes a large smoldering & cold fire with lots of smoke and soot. You just end up wasting wood and making creosote.
So, get a decent sized, heavy wood stove but don't go crazy on size.

Now, an outdoor, wood fired boiler with a solar/battery powered water pump and radiators......that would be a neat setup but a topic for another thread.

[runfiverun]

wood.
free standing..
I grab wood when I'm up in the hills, fence posts when they get replaced around the ranches, pallets here and there, tree branches when I see them or trim the back yard, scrap wood tossed into a field or ditch, it all adds up.
coal don't cost too much and is a good filler once you have a decent fire going too.
your little generator could easily power a small fan to circulate the air and scavenge heat from the exhaust pipe.
and they can be cooked on or in easily.
it's main drawback is the ashes need cleaned out.

bags of pellets are easy to deal with.
but the stoves can be temperamental, especially when you need them, and NEED electricity to work.

[dragonrider]

Having heated with wood for 20+ years and with pellets for the last 20 years, my vote is for pellets. Wood is simply too much work for me anymore. Using pellets is no work at by comparison. I have a generator and plenty of fuel for time when it is needed. I also have a coal stove in the basement that I like even more than pellets, puts out a lot more heat, as much as 100,000 BTU's. I use it in the coldest months.

[cbrick]

Having heated with wood for 20+ years and with pellets for the last 20 years, my vote is for pellets. Wood is simply too much work for me anymore. Using pellets is no work at by comparison. I have a generator and plenty of fuel for time when it is needed. I also have a coal stove in the basement that I like even more than pellets, puts out a lot more heat, as much as 100,000 BTU's. I use it in the coldest months.

Thanks everyone for the reply's & tips.

As I was ready to reply to this thread a thunder storm hit, power was out for an hour and a half. I Think somebody is trying to tell me something. :mrgreen:

Yeah dragon, that was my thinking in considering pellets, less work, refuel less often and less ash to clean out.

Rick

[dragon813gt]

If you go w/ a pellet stove better have a backup generator for your primary generator. They always fail at the most inopportune time. And while wood may be work. It's readily attainable. Pellets have a habit of not being available past November around here. And if you don't buy overstock at the end of the season you pay through the nose.

[bdicki]

Rice coal with battery backup.

[TreeKiller]

You might look at a Toyo kerosene heater. They are very efficient. just another option.

[1lonewolf75]

Next winter I plan on puttin a wood boiler system fer the house in the garage. One of those outdoor units. That'd heat the garage and the house. Plumb to the house. If the power fer the pump goes out I'll have it set up so that I go open two valves and bypass the pump lettin it circulate via convection. Still get heat that way. Wall mount heaters this year and fer the times were away visitin family fer a weekend. I thought bout a wonder wood but I don't want all that stuff in the house. Tbose put off lots of heat and you can cook on them. They've got blowers but you can use em to heat ifn the power goes out if its in a room that can distribute heat to yer other rooms.

[birddog]

Rick,
A stand alone wood stove is a better choice in the sense of lost power,etc. As long as wood is plentiful it costs less than pellets. I've used mine here in east central Iowa for 17yrs and last year was definately one cold son of a gun!! Never lose heat when the power is out either.
Charlie:drinks:

[JeffinNZ]

Here in Christchurch we have very severe restrictions of solid fuel heating due to the pollution problems we get in the winter. The pellet fires are extremely efficient, there is no denying it BUT I don't like that they are electrically fan boosted so dependent on the power being on AND there are not many pellet suppliers so not much competition on price. Nothing like cutting a log. That said the pellets are a tremendous use of waste product and even some industry is using them now.

[MaryB]

I went pellet stove, mine is a 12 volt model that will run off of battery, draws about 48 amp hours a day so a small solar setup would keep it going. Mine is on my big solar setup with 928 amp hours of battery so I am good for 2 weeks with no power and no sun. I can also burn corn and thinking about it for this year. Lot more work with needing to clean the corn, put it in storage, clean it again before burning it... plus corn creates nitric acid and venting only lasts a year with it.

[GabbyM]

Corn has dropped below $3 a bushel again. It burns nicely.

[dkf]

I run coal in my stove but I can burn wood if need be. Coal keeps the chimney nice and clean. Between a pellet or a wood stove I would go with the wood. Assuming you have plenty of wood available.

[jonp]

I went pellet stove, mine is a 12 volt model that will run off of battery, draws about 48 amp hours a day so a small solar setup would keep it going. Mine is on my big solar setup with 928 amp hours of battery so I am good for 2 weeks with no power and no sun. I can also burn corn and thinking about it for this year. Lot more work with needing to clean the corn, put it in storage, clean it again before burning it... plus corn creates nitric acid and venting only lasts a year with it.

My wifes parents went this route as a backup to the boiler powering the floor heat. They leave the floor on 72 I think and on the coldest nights the pellet stove starts itself up and runs for a bit to keep the chill off and then shuts itself off during the day. Works like a charm.

[Plate plinker]

+1 dragon rider
and when corn is cheap burn corn

[RED333]

Wood stove. I have yet to see a pellet tree to cut down with my chainsaw. I was at my camp one year and a bad icestorm came through. I hung out, went ice fishing, loaded ammo etc and ran out of beer after 4 or 5 days so walked the couple of miles out to my truck and went into town where there was no power because of the storm. Everyone was in a panic as their lights, heat etc didn't work nor fridges. I got a six pack and headedback to camp. Put a few chunks of wood in the stove, lit the gas lights and put the beer in the propane fridge. All of this is a long winded way of saying never coúnt on electricity to be your main heat source.

Oh, I make coffee in an oldtime coffee pot either on the propane stove or the woodstove
Both of these, plus 100.
We have been heating with wood for 20 years, have an "Earth stove" we picked up at a yard sale, works great.

[FISH4BUGS]

We bought a Jotul Norsk stove. Big mama stove, and it heats the entire house. We went with wood over pellets because of supply issues. People ran out of pellets last year. The stove needs nothing but wood to run. Pellet stoves usually need electricity to reliably feed the pellets.
We burn 6-7 cords of wood per year and went from $3000 a year in propane to less than $600 (just heat the hot water now).
The generator runs almost the entire house, including the 240v well pump, which is 600' deep. Made sure the casting shed was wired to the generator (priorities you know). After the 2009 ice storm, in which power was out for 10 days, a high output generator was installed. Life is good. Freezer full of food, 50 gallons of gasoline, a wood stove with 7 cords alongside the barn, and a casting shed that works even when the power is out. Life is good.
Wood stove all they way!

[Jailer]

Thanks knifemaker, interesting. BTW, I don't live in CA.

So far it looks like a free standing wood burner. I have no gas in the house, propane or natural. It's all electric which is my main concern in getting a stove.

Rick

You're in the same situation I am (all electric). Last winter when we had this:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b180/Jailer/posting%20pics/Img_0224_zps9f377ca5.jpg (http://s19.photobucket.com/user/Jailer/media/posting%20pics/Img_0224_zps9f377ca5.jpg.html)

We were still able to do this and live comfortably:

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b180/Jailer/posting%20pics/Img_0232_zps632e4a45.jpg (http://s19.photobucket.com/user/Jailer/media/posting%20pics/Img_0232_zps632e4a45.jpg.html)

[randyrat]

Free standing wood stove
Providing:
-You don't have to haul wood a long ways
- already have a good chain saw
- strong healthy back
-Truck or something to haul wood in
- Lots of time
I see a few things about burning wood....Time , Safety, equipment, risk
How valuable is your time, can you use a chain saw safely, don't over look the wear and tear on your equipment ($)AND your back

[Mk42gunner]

My vote goes with propane, for ease of use. I live in the country with no gas lines nearby, and own no timber.

I bought a multi-fuel pellet stove about eight years ago when corn was under $2.50/ bushel. It will burn corn, pellets, cherry pits, basically anything that will fit in the feed auger.

I burned corn the first three or four years, this is what I found out:

The good side was that it was cheap to use, there is a learning curve to getting corn to burn and stay lit. Once you get it set right, it provides decent heat.

The down side was you needed to clean the ashes out about every third day, and out of the exhaust pipe/ flue every other week or so. A shop vac with a good filter is your friend in this, blue paper mechanics towels worked best for me.

I burnt pellets once corn got over the supposed break even point. Pellets are easier; they stay lit, but don't put out as much real heat as corn, no matter what all the charts say.

Cleaning the stove goes from every two-three days with lots of black ashes to three weeks if it needs it or not with very fine light ashes. (Hint: very small micron filter on the shop vac).

The real bad thing about my pellet stove was that I replaced four drive motors over the six years I used it. Small AC gearmotors aren't exactly cheap. When burning corn I lost track of how many agitator rods I welded up, The factory price was outrageous for what they are, plus they didn't last enough longer than my cold rolled steel ones to justify the price.

If you burn corn, you need away to transport and store in bulk, forget about buying in 50# bags at the feed store. A pickup and an old chest type deep freeze will work; this gives you a chance to clean the corn as it goes from the truck to the freezer. I ended up with a couple of auger carts after a year or two.

I usually got through the winter with 175 bushels of corn, with pellets I could go through a one ton pallet (50 bags) in thirty days.

Do lots of research on pellet stoves before you buy one, they aren't cheap.

As Randyrat said:


Free standing wood stove
Providing:
-You don't have to haul wood a long ways
- already have a good chain saw
- strong healthy back
-Truck or something to haul wood in
- Lots of time
I see a few things about burning wood....Time , Safety, equipment, risk
How valuable is your time, can you use a chain saw safely, don't over look the wear and tear on your equipment ($)AND your back

I will agree that a wood stove puts out some of the best heat, as long as you are physically able to keep up with it.

Robert

[cbrick]

Decisions decisions decisions. Yes I have and can use a chain saw. Yes I can handle dealing with carrying all the wood in but want to is a different matter. Today I'm young but tomorrow I'll be an old f*rt, d*mn birthdays anyways. Getting wood? Not on my property anymore, no more trees I'm willing to cut down short of wind damage etc. When I bought the place 2 1/2 years ago and got everything cleaned up I got enough firewood for about 3 years in the fireplace (not for heat but for pretty). That leaves me with buying wood. I have used a wood stove for heat before, back in the early 70's when I lived in Oregon for three years a wood stove was all I had.

Could put in propane but the reason most houses in this area are all electric is that electricity is cheaper than gas in this area, I was kinda shocked just filling the BBQ tanks. No natural gas lines in this area. Propane is still an option though because I'm considering a whole house back up generator next year. That leaves the question of buying a bulk tank or renting it. If I rent it I am stuck buying propane from that company regardless of their price. If I buy the tank I can shop the price and most likely save but run up installation cost up.

Question for those that use pellets, if the power is out or if it has a mechanical problem such as the auger can it not be hand fed pellets until repaired? That would be a PITA but then so is freezing.

Decisions decisions decisions. Many valid points brought up so far, thanks folks.

Rick

[waksupi]

Both of these, plus 100.
We have been heating with wood for 20 years, have an "Earth stove" we picked up at a yard sale, works great.

I had an Earth Stove, then got a Lopi catalytic about 20 years ago. Uses half the wood, for the same amount of heat.

[scb]

I've gone down the same path as dragonrider. The only thing I'll add is that I put in a whole seasons worth of pellets in one afternoon by myself. That was loading them on the pick-up one ton at a time. Driving home and un-loading them. Never did that burning wood.

[shooter93]

It is just going to come down to your situation Rick. What is available and how easily. Like I said here they pellets are made so off season they are cheap and we don't run out. I'm getting to the age where cutting wood is more than I care to do now. Propane runs 1.49 to 1.69 a gallon here. I just filled at 1.69 and the highest I paid at the "shortage" last winter was 1.99. I own my tank and it's 1,000 gallons so a small propane generator makes sense for me and would run quite awhile on 1,000 gallons and as Mary said it doesn't take much of a solar set up to run the pellet stove. Sooooo....get them both and add propane too....then you'll have it all covered.....smiles.

[MaryB]

Pretty much decided on corn this year, going to have to stuff the lawn mower and generator in my wood shop for the winter, right now they are in the corn shed. 100 bushels is usually plenty for me to get by all winter and that is equal to about 3 tons of pellets. Corn is going to be half the price but a lot more work! Will start filling the corn bin shed next week.

[Mk42gunner]

Question for those that use pellets, if the power is out or if it has a mechanical problem such as the auger can it not be hand fed pellets until repaired? That would be a PITA but then so is freezing.


If the power is out you can use an inverter and a 12 volt battery or an UPS; in theory, I never tried it.

My stove fed about two tablespoons of fuel every 20 seconds or so, so I really don't think you want to try hand feeding one. The one time my feed auger motor went out, the stove was down for the count until I could get a replacement motor.

One other thing about pellets. They need to be kept dry. Not covered with a tarp in the yard, but under a roof that will actually shed water. Wet pellets swell and disintegrate, they are just pressed sawdust after all. The edges of the pellets will put holes in the plastic bags small enough not to leak, but large enough for moisture to get inside.

The most annoying thing about my stove is that it is noisy in operation. Forced air induction and the circulation fan both run all the time.

One fuel that I wanted to try but never got around to was pecan hulls. They should fit the feed auger, and there is a pile of them at every pecan cracking plant. I know they will burn, but I don't know how fast.

Robert

[MaryB]

I remember someone burning pecan shells over on Iburncorn forum. They worked but uneven size made feeding difficult

[Mk42gunner]

Thanks for answering that Mary. I haven't been over there for several years, they used to answer a lot of my questions.

Robert

[MaryB]

Iburncorn went down last spring, he is just now bringing it back up.

[1lonewolf75]

The bad thing bout propane is last winter durin the coldest part it hit $5.00 + a gallon and if you were out and even a good standing customer you couldn't get any without prepayment. Min deliver is 100 gal so us broke people who live pay check to pay check were out till it dropped in price. Lead to a lot of cold nights fer us.

[waynem34]

I remember walking into a house with a free standing stove when I was 10 after hunting 8 hours.We were guest and they had a two story house.I tryed to go the other way and day said boy what's wrong with you.It was so hot,It was like a roof in summer.He said it was even hotter up stairs.HeHE they had an outhouse and a great dane I could ride on.Coal miners.HEHE

[GabbyM]

My vote goes with propane, for ease of use. I live in the country with no gas lines nearby, and own no timber.

I bought a multi-fuel pellet stove about eight years ago when corn was under $2.50/ bushel. It will burn corn, pellets, cherry pits, basically anything that will fit in the feed auger.

I burned corn the first three or four years, this is what I found out:

The good side was that it was cheap to use, there is a learning curve to getting corn to burn and stay lit. Once you get it set right, it provides decent heat.

The down side was you needed to clean the ashes out about every third day, and out of the exhaust pipe/ flue every other week or so. A shop vac with a good filter is your friend in this, blue paper mechanics towels worked best for me.

I burnt pellets once corn got over the supposed break even point. Pellets are easier; they stay lit, but don't put out as much real heat as corn, no matter what all the charts say.

Cleaning the stove goes from every two-three days with lots of black ashes to three weeks if it needs it or not with very fine light ashes. (Hint: very small micron filter on the shop vac).

The real bad thing about my pellet stove was that I replaced four drive motors over the six years I used it. Small AC gearmotors aren't exactly cheap. When burning corn I lost track of how many agitator rods I welded up, The factory price was outrageous for what they are, plus they didn't last enough longer than my cold rolled steel ones to justify the price.

If you burn corn, you need away to transport and store in bulk, forget about buying in 50# bags at the feed store. A pickup and an old chest type deep freeze will work; this gives you a chance to clean the corn as it goes from the truck to the freezer. I ended up with a couple of auger carts after a year or two.

I usually got through the winter with 175 bushels of corn, with pellets I could go through a one ton pallet (50 bags) in thirty days.

Do lots of research on pellet stoves before you buy one, they aren't cheap.

As Randyrat said:


I will agree that a wood stove puts out some of the best heat, as long as you are physically able to keep up with it.

Robert

Good advise there.

Outhouse looking units with a water circulation to the house is what I like. Not a low cost setup. but when you fire it you do indeed fire it up. High temp burn reduces suet and it's just a short stack and all outside anyways. No shop vacuum needed. Feed system is a grain scoop shovel.
Another down side of bringing wood or other stuff inside is all the insects that come in with it.

We have two 500 bushel grain bins sixty feet from the house. Plus we grow the corn. If the price goes up we could just auger it into a wagon and haul it to the elevator to sell. Those bins have been empty since roundup ready beans came into play. Since they were save back seed bins.

BTW: chain saws are for working men. I use a plumbers drill bit and black powder.

[Lloyd Smale]

common sense would tell me to take a tree cut in and process it into pellets and ship them to the store would cost more then buying a cord of firewood.

[cbrick]

common sense would tell me to take a tree cut in and process it into pellets and ship them to the store would cost more then buying a cord of firewood.

To the best of my knowledge the pellets are made from lumber mill sawdust, chips, scrap, recycled paper etc. Not from raw lumber.

Rick

[KAF]

There is a huge difference in pellets. Some are extremely dirty, the dirt causes clinkers in the burn pot. The dirt melts then builds up in the pot.. Hard to clean the pot.

I burn wood, no electric needed, insert with ss flue.