Many customers looking for the best option for their home choose wood pellets the same way they choose wood for a wood stove. The type of wood you use in a traditional wood stove determines safety, ease of use, and temperature.
In nature, hardwoods grow more slowly than their softwood counterparts. Their growth rate affects their density over time. Wood stove burners are forced to use hardwood because density determines burn time. Hardwood with a higher density has a longer burn time compared to a softwood log. This often confuses a wood stove burner when switching to a pellet stove.
Wood Pellet Differences
Traditionally, wood stove burners have been most concerned with the type of wood they're using and how the density affects the use of the wood. However, during the pellet manufacturing process, wood fibers are compressed into pellets of similar density.
Pellet manufacturing involves pressing wood and residuals into pellets of uniform volume. The natural densities of hardwood and softwood don't affect the efficiency of wood pellets nearly as much as their original forms. Softwood pellets have higher BTUs than hardwood pellets, but only because of a higher concentration of lignin, which ignites at high temperatures. It has nothing to do with density.
Some consumers believe that they cannot use softwood pellets in their pellet stove. This is not true. Your pellet stove may require different fuel and air settings for softwood than for hardwood, but a pellet stove can burn both.
Wood Pellets for Heating
Hardwood and softwood pellets undergo similar processing. The final products have the same density. For example, the ash content depends on the region where the wood comes from and the quality control requirements the pellet manufacturer has with its raw material suppliers. There are hardwood pellets that are much better than some softwood pellets and vice versa.
While the densities of hardwood and softwood pellets are the same, the key difference between the two is the heat output measurement. Softwood has a higher heat rating, meaning it burns hotter than hardwood pellets due to the higher concentration of lignin.
Ultimately, which option you choose depends on your personal preferences and the production quality of your wood pellets.
Pellet quality is the real difference
The type of wood, hardwood or softwood, is not the deciding factor in pellet quality. The manufacturer and the region where the wood is sourced have more to do with the quality of the pellet than whether it is a hardwood or softwood pellet.
The pelletizing process gives manufacturers precise control over the composition of the wood pellets. When you burn wood in your wood-burning stove, you get the results that nature made. However, when you choose wood pellets, the manufacturer determines the effectiveness of your fuel. It's up to the manufacturer to determine what standards the pellets must meet and what processes they go through to meet customer expectations.
This difference makes the quality standards of your wood pellet company the deciding factor in your purchase. Since your wood pellet manufacturer has the ability to produce a product with the ideal characteristics, you deserve a supplier that takes advantage of this opportunity.