You folks do realize that you have to clean out the stoves fairly regularly, especially if you are using them a lot? Right? Honestly, our pellet stove is so much cleaner and more efficient than our soapstone wood stove...not as pretty, but definitely more efficient and cleaner.
It might, however, vary with make and model...most things do. I have also heard that if you get crap pellets, you are gonna get crap out of your stove...always get hardwood pellets and for ours, we can mix it with dried corn...key word is DRIED....any moisture will gum up the works...whether it be pellets or corn.