Hardwood vs Softwood Pellets

[Rugman29]

Hello
I picked up a few bags of hardwood pellets (Canawick) to try out. They seem to burn well and give good heat.
I am wondering if the 40 pound bags of hardwood pellets have the same amount in them as 40 pound bags of
softwood pellets. I would think that hardwood pellets would be heavier, therefore would be less volume in a bag
than softwood.
Anyone know if this is true?

 

[Czech]

Saw dust is saw dust, 40lbs = 40lbs. The pellet making process compresses the dust into the same density regardless.

 

[AVIVIII]

Definitely over-thought that one!!

I believe the bags are 40lbs not because it was decided to be a good weight, but because that how much 1 cubic foot (1 ft^3) happens to weigh.

I could be wrong as well, but either way, i agree, sawdust=sawdust.

 

[tjnamtiw]

Pellet length also impacts volume of a bag of pellets.

 

[AndrewChurchill]

The first year I ran my boiler I used hardwood pellets. They burned well but I noticed I had a lot of clinkers. The next year I could only get softwood pellets. They also burned well but the ash was much finer and no clinkers. Since then I've only used softwood pellets.

If you compare a pound of softwood to a pound of hardwood there are more BTUs in the softwood but since cut wood is sold by volume instead of weight there are more BTUs per cord of hardwood than softwood.

That means theoretically there are more BTUs in a bag of softwood pellets as opposed to hardwood pellets.

 

[johnnycomelately]

Definitely over-thought that one!!

I believe the bags are 40lbs not because it was decided to be a good weight, but because that how much 1 cubic foot (1 ft^3) happens to weigh.

I could be wrong as well, but either way, i agree, sawdust=sawdust.

40 lbs is actually the weight of the bag because the dimensions of a pallet allow for 5 bags to a layer and 10 layers high without a remainder. Keeps it nice and neat as well because the 5 bags per layer are the same footprint as a wooden pallet.

 

[DAKSY]

Softwood pellets actually have more BTUs than Hardwood pellets
due to the resins IN the softwood which cause the SW pellets to
burn hotter.
That's my story & I'm stickin to it.
I DID burn Cleanfire SW pellets towards the end of last year
& I was pleased with the lesser amount of ash in my P43.
Plus the Harman "speedbump" in front of the auger seemed to be
less pronounced, & didn't seem to be as stubborn to remove...

 

[jtakeman]

Both bags will weigh close to 40 lbs. It even says so right on the bag! The bag could actually weigh slightly more or less. But this has nothing to do with the pellets, Its a variance from the bagging machine. I have seen few that were right on the button!

Some bags seem fuller than others, But that's something to do with the density of the fuel(how much its compressed). Less dense pellets bulge the bags(looks like more in them). Where as more dense pellets the bag seems less full(looks like less in them).

 

[johnnycomelately]

Both bags will weigh close to 40 lbs. It even says so right on the bag! The bag could actually weigh slightly more or less. But this has nothing to do with the pellets, Its a variance from the bagging machine. I have seen few that were right on the button!

Some bags seem fuller than others, But that's something to do with the density of the fuel(how much its compressed). Less dense pellets bulge the bags(looks like more in them). Where as more dense pellets the bag seems less full(looks like less in them).

Moreover than the actual compressed density of the fuel, is the bulk density. Bulk density differs from the density of each pellet (how tightly they are compressed)
A longer or fatter pellet will have less bulk density than a small short pellet. Bulk density is read in terms of lbs./cubic foot. The smaller the pellet, the higher the bulk density.