Why are most pellets Hardwood? Isn't Softwood popular, too?

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The energy content of softwood pellets is a bit higher because of the softwood resin it contains. From the World Forest Industries website:

Depending on the species and other factors, softwood pellets actually have 10-20% more BTU per weight than hardwood pellets because softwoods have resins in them that have a higher heating value than wood fibre.​

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Soft pellets hardwood pellets what ever you perfer is your choice they both burn well for me. I was just throwing what i have experienced out there & to let people know that hardwood pellets require a slower feed rate. Eveybodys stoves are a little different therefore what may work for my stove may not work for yours. Enjoy your thanksgiving and your warm winter cause pellet stoves are awesome!
 
Last year I was able to pick up 25 bags of Orford 100% softwood for $4 a bag...a great price for Central MA. I like them a lot, they seemed to burn better than any of the other "generic" 100% hardwood brands I was picking up at local big box stores (I've yet to order any brand by the pallet, probably won't go through more than 60 - 70 bags over the season).

Normally though the softwoods got for well over $5 a bag, and as long as I can find hardwoods $4 - $5 a bag I'll continue using those (I'm a cheap SOB). The Harman will consume most anything without complaint.

Last year the softwoods went on sale right around Christmas / New Years...I'm hoping they'll do it again. May break down for a full ton.

And the previous post by LakeGirl gave the best information. Think of a cord of softwood vs. a cord of hardwood. A lot more weight in the cord of hardwood, more burnable content for the same volume. Not so with pellets, a 40 pound bag of softwood weighs the same as a 40 pound bag of hardwood. I do agree that the softwoods seem to burn a bit cleaner, but I say that without any scientific evidence, just seat of the pants.
 
I guess i consider myself lucky here in northern Wisconsin sounds like your choices are limited as far as pellet brands, & the prices are a bit steeper compared to here. I am also cheap as well i use a lot of marth hardwood pellets & your right my Harman isnt to picky what it burns , but i have tried a pellet from one of the big box store just garbage ! But good from a different one which was marth premiums but cost more than what i can get them at my dealer.
 
I agree but dont care about ash build up cause i clean my stove thoroughly every 7 days. Don't you scrape your burn pot every few hours?
yes I do...
check out my scrapper!!! Long enough andHelps me scrape without turning flames down.
with heavy ash pellets, a dam can be produced overnight and it looks like a partial smothered flame in the AM.. it's why I try to burn just softwoods..but, well see how the Hamers do.
 

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yes I do...
check out my scrapper!!! Long enough andHelps me scrape without turning flames down.
with heavy ash pellets, a dam can be produced overnight and it looks like a partial smothered flame in the AM.. it's why I try to burn just softwoods..but, well see how the Hamers do.
Nice! Thats the same one i use . Just to let you know i like softwood too nothing against them i am just cheap & get a good price for the hardwoods.
 
I've haven't seen harwood pellets for sale around here, except for barbeque pellets, Douglas fir is the only thing available.
 
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I agree but dont care about ash build up cause i clean my stove thoroughly every 7 days. Don't you scrape your burn pot every few hours?

Say what? Every few hours? Are you saying my every 5 - 7 days scrape the burn pot is a bad thing? And empty the ash bin more than once a month?

Me thinks I should pay more attention to my stove....
 
Say what? Every few hours? Are you saying my every 5 - 7 days scrape the burn pot is a bad thing? And empty the ash bin more than once a month?

Me thinks I should pay more attention to my stove....
No no i was just asking scrape the burn pot every few hours & I clean my stove every 7 days.
 
my harman p61 has a huge ashpan so I empty it maybe every other week or so. still not full...
Nice stove big time heat producer ! Yup i am fimilar with the p 61 the ash pan is good size . When i bought my xxv the 61 was a choice i should of made but i didn't cause my kid who was 6 at the time i didnt want him to get burned from the top surface of the stove. The xxv has some kind of coating on top.
 
Nice stove big time heat producer ! Yup i am fimilar with the p 61 the ash pan is good size . When i bought my xxv the 61 was a choice i should of made but i didn't cause my kid who was 6 at the time i didnt want him to get burned from the top surface of the stove. The xxv has some kind of coating on top.
due to my stove being very close to the walls/curtains,
IMG_1737.JPG
I had to attach heat plates on both sides..
they actually get too hot to touch but Not a fire Hazzard..curtains are usually closed in cold weather..
 
Wow old thread. Wish there were more softwoods available to try around here. I did a few bags of AWF Ultra Premium White Pine but that was back when I had some issues with the stove (was hoping it was just pellets but ended up being a bunch of other issues). There where a ton of fines in them, plus slight stickiness to them made for a lot of hopped clogging for me. Only other softwoods I've found are the TSC horse bedding pellets (pine) that burned well but similar fines problem. I got a good deal on them but usually they are too much $$$. Whatever greater BTU wasn't perceivable by me and the while the ash content was less I still get so much I got to shut the stove down to clean out every 1-3 days usually so only a slight improvement there. Wish I could try some more.

As for the original old topic, well most pellet companies are using industrial waste and around here they are furniture and flooring mills. Everything they process is hardwoods, so only hardwood pellets are made. Just depends where you are at and what places are around I guess.
 
My Harmon dealer has pine pellets, they burn hot & very little ash. One ton of these pellets and u have to empty the ash pan on my accentra fs.
 
Wow old thread. Wish there were more softwoods available to try around here. I did a few bags of AWF Ultra Premium White Pine but that was back when I had some issues with the stove (was hoping it was just pellets but ended up being a bunch of other issues). There where a ton of fines in them, plus slight stickiness to them made for a lot of hopped clogging for me. Only other softwoods I've found are the TSC horse bedding pellets (pine) that burned well but similar fines problem. I got a good deal on them but usually they are too much $$$. Whatever greater BTU wasn't perceivable by me and the while the ash content was less I still get so much I got to shut the stove down to clean out every 1-3 days usually so only a slight improvement there. Wish I could try some more.

As for the original old topic, well most pellet companies are using industrial waste and around here they are furniture and flooring mills. Everything they process is hardwoods, so only hardwood pellets are made. Just depends where you are at and what places are around I guess.
What state are you in
 
Most pellets in these parts are softwood.
We haven't had a call for hardwood in years...
Most everyone "here" likes the softwood...

Dan
 
The beauty of pellets are generally that creosotes is not a issue cause pellets burn so clean. I was getting carbon build up on my burn pot with the hardwood pellets when i was burning them at a very low stove setting but that was because they were not burning long enough before my stove fed more pellets . So i turned the feed rate down to 2 half on my xxv cause i was getting excessive smoke you should not see smoke coming out of your vent but only on start up cause this means to much fuel not enough air. All the carbon on my burn pot is now burned off cause i have my Stove dialed in. Experimenting with new pellets is good but with every new pellet its requires tweaking to your settings a little.

The 5770 doesn't allow for any adjustments as-is. I have done a couple mods so far, and someday I would like to build my own controls for it and experiment with other pellets. No time right now, still getting settled into the new house.
 
Yes. Got it shortly after we moved in, new years eve clearance sale. Got it running early January. So far been a great little stove.

The Kirtland pellet factory is less than 10 miles away.
 
I've haven't seen harwood pellets for sale around here, except for barbeque pellets, Douglas fir is the only thing available.
You just have to keep rubbing that in don't you==c You've got far better pricing being close to the source.
 
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