Comments on: Softwood versus hardwood pellets

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 22:28:14 +0000

I have used every pellet out there and have found Somerset to be the best by BTU, ash and auger clogs. I am a Universal HVAC Tech and can work on units as big as a ship boiler!
It is important to know the maintenance of your pellet stove as I have an Englander and their Tech Department is like no other in profession results. The stoves need to be cleaned bi-weekly, monthly, and yearly which all are equally important. The settings for air auger speed and fan are also something you should get from your dealer, if you are having burn problems. I do not use my home furnace at all, and my wife can also keep the unit running without failure. I am very fond of both the Somerset Pellets and my Englander Pellet stove. I have gone basically green with everything in my home and the savings are around $2500 per season. Oh except my wife who takes 45 minute showers, Squeaky clean I guess!

Regards,
Mark

By: BIGG BURN

BIGG BURN — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 01:25:49 +0000

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

By: Randy Lovgren

Randy Lovgren — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:22:57 +0000

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.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:43:14 +0000

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.