What Burns Better Hardwood Or Softwood Pellets

This is counter intuitive for anyone who is used to burning standard non pellet wood since hardwood always burns hotter in standard cord wood form.

What burns better hardwood or softwood pellets.

There s a couple reasons for this total turnaround when it comes to pellets. Here is a list of the best wood pellets for pellet stoves i have burned over the years. This is completely different than normal firewood heating in which hardwood i e. Hardwood pellets are often sold as premium pellets and costs more than softwood pellets.

Oak hickory etc is a far greater heat source than softwoods i e. Hardwood pellets are often sold as premium pellets for a higher price than softwood. The best wood pellets. The result is that the btu and burn rate is similar.

Quality and efficiency can vary based on your wood pellet stove design and manufacturer but rest assured that purchasing hardwood softwood or blended. So selecting a fuel is more about trying out which specific brand burns well in your stove. Many people will argue that only hardwood pellets should be burned in their stove and conversely some people will argue that softwood pellets are the only way to go. Because of this many people mistakenly thinking they are buying better quality pellets when they buy hardwood.

Hardwood pellets and softwood pellets are both compressed under very heavy pressure. People naturally think that since hardwood firewood has a higher btu and burns longer in a wood stove it must also be the same with pellets. Wood species between hardwood and softwood is not the deciding factor in pellet quality. Softwood pellets produce more heat meaning they have a higher btu output.

How a pellet is made is often more important than the species of wood used. Year after year the wood pellets listed below both hardwood and softwood pellets are considered in my opinion to be the best. With the amount of sparks flying when pellets drop from the shoot i suspect the softwood pellets were not all burning completely thus lowering the heat output. Softwood pellets burn hotter.

Softwood pellets burn hotter than hardwood pellets. The pellet stove and how it is operated can influence how clean the pellets burn. Your pellet stove may require different fuel and air settings for softwood over the hardwood it may be used to but a pellet stove can burn either. Some studies have even shown that softwood pellets actually burn hotter and cleaner because of naturally occurring resins that are found in softwood.

The result is that the btu and burn rate is similar. Most pellet stoves today are built to burn hardwood or softwood pellets. The only downside of the hardwood pellets was that the window had more soot than with softwood because it s finer it flies better.