USSC 6041 How To Use And Maintain page 15

Each time you load pellets into the pellet hopper, many considerations need to be made prior to
just loading your pellets into the stove. The following steps will cover types of pellets, where and
when to by, how to store them and last if the pellets you have on hand are even good to use.
It is important to understand the difference between soft wood hard wood pellets. The properties
of each will affect what settings on the stove to be made. Hard wood pellets generally burn
cleaner and produce a more consistent heat, but softwood will burn hotter while creating more
ash. The qualities of both hardwood and soft wood pellets are listed below.
Lower moisture content
Denser fuel
Burns longer
Hotter coals
Less creosote buildup
An important consideration prior to starting your USSC 6041 Multi-Fuel Stove is having an
appropriate amount of pellets on hand. On an average winter, you may burn through a 3 tons of
pellets. Pellets normally come in 40 pounds bags. The higher the feed rate you set your stove
to, the more pellets you will go through in a week. Table 3 shows an average rate of
consumption per day, and then depicts how my bags to buy based off of various feed rates.
Each stove burns at a different rate based off of a variety of factors, such as house type
or pellet type. You'll have to closely monitor your stove for the first season in order to
validate your particular feed rate versus consumption per day.
Feed rate 1 to 3 = 1 bag/day
1 Week's
Supply
Since it is a normal practice to buy pellets in bulk, to save money, we will now discuss proper
storage of your pellets. You will want to store your pellets in a dry area free from flooding, mold,
and excessive humidity. Pellets can be stored outside, but they need to be in a shed or if a
structure such as a carport, it is recommended to keep them up off the ground via a pallet. If
stored in this manner, a good practice to follow is to place some type of barrier between the
Load Pellets
Step One: Classify Types of Pellets
Hardwood
Burns hotter initially
Easy to light
Produces more ash
Burns up more quickly
Step Two: Purchase Pellets
Feed rate 4 to 7 = 1.3 bag/day
Feed Rate = 1 to Feed Rate = 4 to
3
7
Step Three: Store Pellets
Softwood
Feed rate 8 to 10 = 1.7
Feed Rate = 8 to 10
7
10
bag/day
12
15