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About Maine’s Choice
Maine’s Choice pellets are one of the most trusted wood fuel pellets made from hardwood and softwood, which I think is the ‘way to go’ – the best of both worlds. The hardwood side provides pellet durability (hardness) with low ash, and the softwood side for high heat and stable pellets (high lignite) – if they are correctly made – without a lot of bark (dark pellets) – this is the way to go.
Maine’s Choice of “Super Premium” pellets are made from pure, recycled wood fiber. They burn with less than 5 % ash and provide a high BTU value of 8250 BTUs/pound, making them an eco-friendly option for an efficient home heating solution. The Lignetics family of brands now owns the brand, known for serving customers high-quality wood fuel pellets.
Review of Maine’s Choice
Contrary to popular belief, hardwood is not the only way to go with pellets. I have read and confirmed that softwoods burn very hot as pellets and provide more lignite (a natural binder) to hold the pellet together. They do not smell like wood – but mildly like peanuts. The pellets are NOT dark, which is a good sign to me.
However, they are mostly short, making me think back to my WalMart pellet experience, but I won’t go there now.
A few weeks after the delivery, we have a cold night, and my wife, who could live on the surface of the sun, asks to have the pellet stove fired up.
My Quadra-Fire stove begins dropping the pellets but doesn’t ignite them during the combustion phase of the stove cycle—I think, “Uh—oh.” However, within about 10 seconds beyond the combustion phase, they ignite (slow ignition). Maine’s Choice pellets are pretty hot—not the hottest I have used, but definitely OK for heat.
After a few days of running the pellets, I notice very little ash in the shake-down pan and NO CLINKERS—not a one. This cannot be. After a few more days of shaking down the firepot, very little ash and no clinkers are confirmed. Very ‘clean’ pellets indeed.
So, what we have here are low–ash, no–clinker pellets, adequate heat, and attractively priced in my area (Central Massachusetts). I would give these pellets 4.5 out of 5 stars and a ‘thumbs up.’ I would purchase them again. Thanks to Bob Dewsnap for submitting this review
As often happens from year to year, pellet quality can change in the same brand. For that matter, it can be month to month or even Batch to Batch. (Better manufacturers, less so.) This is a comment from user Cliff.
Conclusion
This year, I bought four pallets of Maine’s Choice pellets, and I have to tell you these are the worst pellets I have ever purchased. I have been burning pellets for seven years and only need to clean the stove every 14 to 20 days. At that time, the ash pot would be less than half full.
With Maine’s Choice pellets, I need to clean every week, and the ash pot is almost full. I don’t know how Maine’s Choice can claim these are low ash. They do not look like premium pellets. They are very dark, like they are mostly bark, and I am using more of them than usual. I am very sorry. I bought these and will never buy them again.
Read about Eco Flame Review.
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