Softwood versus hardwood pellets
There is always debate on the subject of hardwood versus softwood pellets.
When talking about firewood it’s universally known that hardwood is better.
Based on my experience with firewood it always seemed to me that softwood burns hotter, but not as long as hardwood.
Many people buying pellets look for brands that use hardwood to manufacture the pellets. I don’t think you can make the same assumptions that hardwood is better for wood pellets. Firewood is sold by volume, usually the cord or 128 cubic feet. Wood pellets are sold by weight, usually 40lb bags.
Since you are buying by weight I don’t think it matters if the pellets are hardwood or softwood. I haven’t had the chance to compare but I suspect a 40lb bag of hardwood pellets are smaller than a 40lb bag of softwood pellets.
If you have an opinion on hardwood versus softwood please leave a comment below.
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Hardwood vs. Softwood pellets. I have burned both a woodstove, and a pellet stove in my home. In selecting firewood, it is advantagious to burn hard wood if you dont want to get up to feed the stove alot. With the pellet stove the burn is controlled by the auger speed feeding the burn pot. Since the auger speed is controlled by chamber temperature, it really doesnt matter whether you use hard or soft pellets. I have also read complaints about ash produced by different pellet manufacturers. In my experience, ash was produced by moisture content and not the density of the pellet. I have used Lignetics, American Freedom, Agway, and Tractor Supply, all with the exact same result. Make sure the retailer and you both store the pellets where the bags are kept dry.
Softwood is not as dense as hardwood. in other words, 1 board foot of softwood is much lighter than 1 board foot of hardwood. That is why it burns quicker and therefore you use more softwood than hardwood in a conventional wood burning stove. This doesn’t apply to pellet stoves because softwood pellets and hardwood pellets have a similar density. the softwood sawdust is compressed and extruded using high pressure rams into its pellet form. Softwood is less dense than hardwood but it is also more compressible. The softwood sawdust winds up being compressed to about the same density as the hardwood pellets. Softwood pellets appear to burn a little hotter than hardwood pellets and they also don’t seem to have a significantly different burn time. This information, however, does not necessarily mean that softwood pellets are better than hardwood pellets. their are other factors to consider.
I have burned several brands of hardwood somerset, lignetics, bayou, tidytimbers, pennington,and several more, I have only burned one softwood, cleanburn, it appears to me the only stand out in btu’s in sommerset a noticeable differance and the wall thermostat proves it. The rest were a close second ligs, tidytimber, bayou, cleanburn, these are all in the same boat. Other soft woods I cannot get in pa. But cleanburn is made from 100 percent douglas fir burns clean (extremely) clean this would be number one when it comes to ash, but btu’s same as my second place picks