Pellet Information

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Softwood vs Hardwood Pellets

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Most people jump to the conclusion that hardwood is better than softwood.  When it comes to cord wood for a woodstove that may be the case - but when it comes to pellets, it's a completely different story.  Cord wood is sold by volume, not by weight.  So a cord of hardwood weighs more than a cord of softwood.  But with pellets, a pound of hardwood pellets weighs the same as a pound of softwood.  So actually what counts is heat output or BTU's.  Here is some information from the wood industry.

White Oak (hardwood)

Burns at approx. 8810 BTU/pound

Yellow Pine (softwood)

Burns at approx. 9610 BTU/pound

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This all boils down to you can get up to 10-20% more heat from a softwood pellet as compared to a hardwood. This does depend on the species of the wood.  All premium grade pellets have less than a 1% ash content, and whether it be a .6 or a .8 content you really won't notice the difference.  Remember, pellets are made from sawdust and chips that are extruded through the pellet mill, this process creates virtually the same density whether it be hardwood dust or softwood dust.  So whether it be hard or soft, the density of the wood pellets are approximately the same.  Pellet density is not determined by nature, but in fact by the pressure of the pellet mill.  So is hardwood better than softwood, I'll leave it up to you.  

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Ash content may vary from bag to bag and from pallet to pallet.  All our fuels are 1.0% or less ash content (Premium Grade)  Ash content listed is an overall average from multiple test reports obtained from the manufacturer.