Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) |
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A renewable fuel already being produced across the USA, Canada and Europe. Pellet fuel is a renewable, clean-burning and cost stable home heating alternative currently used throughout North America. It is a biomass product made of renewable substances – generally recycled wood waste. There are approximately 800,000 homes in the U.S. using wood pellets for heat, in freestanding stoves, fireplace inserts and even furnaces. Pellet fuel for heating can also be found in such large-scale environments as schools and prisons. North American pellets are produced in manufacturing facilities in Canada and the United States, and are available for purchase at fireplace dealers, nurseries, building supply stores, feed and garden supply stores and some discount merchandisers. * What do I need to use to make pellets? Well to start, you need to have a supply of sawdust, or leaves, or grass, or hay, or whatever is dry enough (10-15% moisture) to make your pellets form. It cannot be chunks, or sticks. It must be in a sawdust or pulp form to be put into the Pellet Mill. The largest size entering the Pellet mill should be no larger than pine shavings, and even that should be reduced whenever possible. Why? Because the biomass needs to be pressed through a flat die with small, (6mm for wood pellet, or 4mm for animal feed pellet), holes drilled into it. Pressing the biomass through the die holes is what forms the pellet. So what you put in the hopper must be small enough to go through, simple. A 40lb bag of Pellets is about $6 and good for about 12 hours of burn time. So, $12 a day. * Where can I get sawdust or other biomass? If you don't have a sawmill in your backyard don't worry, you don't need one. But you can't put wood chips into a Pellet Mill, so what's the solution? A Hammer Mill. Hammer Mills pulverize biomass into particles less than 1/4", which is perfect for a Pellet Mill. If you use a Hammer Mill, you will have all the sawdust you'll ever need and be able to pulverize leaves, hay, alfalfa, pinecones, cornstalks, grass, twigs, acorns, and whatever else is lying around your yard for FREE! * Can I use cardboard boxes and junk mail to make pellets? Absolutely! Talk about free fuel, throw that stuff into a Hammer mill and grind it up to a pulp, add moisture with a binder and sit by the fire! * How long will it take me to make pellets? Usually you will be able to make pellets almost right away. You may find that you have a lot of "fines" in the beginning, or that your pellets are short and stubby, or that they don’t hold their form, but using Pellet Binder will correct that for you, and soon you will start to make more consistent uniform pellets. * Can I "set it and forget it"? No. Pellet production requires attention by you. You will need to prepare the raw material, (Pulverize with Hammer Mill if necessary, adjust moisture, add binder if needed, feed the raw material into the mill, re-feed the "fines" back in, dry and store the pellets. * How long do I wait before I can burn my pellets? If your producing pellets in the Spring, Summer, and Fall, like a good doobie, drying time won’t matter. They’ll be dry by Winter. If you are producing pellets today that you’ll need tomorrow, you will need to setup a drying bed to help air dry the pellets. A simple rectangular bed large enough to hold them, should make them burnable within hours. The more Air and Sun they are exposed to, of course, will speed the drying time. * Why is nothing coming out of my pellet machine? Chances are you clogged your die. This will occur if you don’t use Pellet Binder, haven’t reamed your die, your sawdust is too dry, or if you used Wafer or particle board sawdust which contain glue that will reactivate by the heat the pellet machine generates.& In either case, you will need to remove the die and clean it. While you have the die removed, use a reamer to condition your die. This will smooth the rough edges of the holes in your die. * How do I produce uniform pellets? It takes a few things to produce uniform pellets: Use Pellet Binder™, easily stored, safe, all natural, and inexpensive. It costs $64.75 delivered to your door! Now that’s cheap! Available only through this website. We are the EXCLUSIVE distributor of Pellet Binder™ for small production mills. * My pellets are mixing with my "fines", what can I do? "Fines" are simply unpelletized particles that come out the chute with the pellets. You may want to use a 1/8 or 1/4 inch mesh wire attached at the end of your chute to allow "fines" to fall through while formed pellets "roll" down the mesh into your container. 6 to 8 inches in length should do it. * How long will the die and rollers last? A good question. The answer depends on how often you use the Pellet Mill and what kind of biomass you pelletize. Constant use of 4 to 8 hours a day over a period of 6 months using sawdust will wear down the die and rollers and they may need to be replaced. Less use of course and softer biomasses like grasses, leaves, and paper goods, could mean the die and rollers last well over a year. Changing to sealed bearings in the rollers is a good idea. * Can I get parts through Make Your Own Pellets? Certainly! Just contact us for all your pellet making needs! * Can I use the pellet mill to make animal feed pellets? Yes you can! The process is the same, just the raw material is different. Farm owners use Pellet Mills and grinders known as Hammer Mills to produce their own feed for their animals and you can too: Fish pellets, Rabbit pellets, Goat pellets, whatever! |
In short, pellet fuel is a way to divert millions of tons of waste from landfills and turn it into energy. Pellet fuel for home heating can be burned in a freestanding pellet stove, fireplace insert or a furnace. A pellet stove looks much like a wood stove, but is automated. Heating a home with pellet fuel requires only the ability to add pellets into a hopper, set the desired heat output and provide necessary appliance maintenance, such as cleaning out an ash pan. All other aspects of the heating process occur automatically. Pellet stoves and fireplace inserts come in a wide range of styles, sizes and finishes.|
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©2019 Make Your Own Pellets, LLC | (last updated 1-7-2019)