I want to displace the myth that a hardwood pellet is better than a softwood pellet, or vice-versa. It is my feeling that hardwood or softwood is too general, and that quality is more relative to specific species; and, furthermore, quality is also relative to the cleanliness (influences of outside contaminations) of the source, no matter what the quality of species.
 
Points to address:
 
·        Many people base their thoughts off of their experience with cordwood. Therefore, they might feel a hardwood pellet would burn longer than a softwood pellet because hardwoods are denser than softwoods. They must be educated to the fact that when talking pellets, the whole structure of the wood has been changed and a density of approximately 40 pounds per cubic foot has been achieved, using either hardwoods or softwoods. So, now everything is apples to apples in regards to density.

·        Density is weight per volume. If density is apples to apples, so will weight be…….a pound of cheese weighs as much as a pound of crackers; a pound of hardwood pellets weighs the same as a pound of softwood pellets. Some hardwoods contain more heat (BTU) value per pound than some softwoods, and some softwoods contain more heat per pound than some hardwoods. So, it truly is species specific.

·        Again relative to weight, some hardwoods have a higher ash content per pound than some softwoods, and vice-versa. So, it truly is species specific.

·        Quality of the manufacturing process is highly relative to quality of the fuel, whether hardwood or softwood. If density isn’t achieved; if moisture isn’t removed; if fines aren’t removed, then the fuel quality will suffer…..it doesn’t matter if it’s hardwood or softwood. I’ve seen, many a time, some of the highest quality raw materials turned into the lowest quality pellet (if you could even call it a pellet!).

·        Contamination in the form of rock/dirt/sand/grit/silica will greatly affect the quality, no matter what the species, whether hard or softwood.


I believe that, across this country, there is a huge false belief in regards to this subject and I feel that consumers are being cheated (misled), due to their own ignorance or through the ignorance of buyers at retail outlets. We’ve had buyers (mostly eastern) ask, right off the bat: Is your pellet hardwood or softwood? When we answer “softwood”, they state that they typically buy hardwood, but due to supply issues have also brought in some softwood pellets. They don’t know the species of the hardwood or softwood; they don’t know if the pellet has been manufactured on spec (moisture, density, fines, length, etc.); they don’t know if the raw material was contaminated…..they simply speak in generalities: hardwood vs. softwood. But, because the “softwood” pellets don’t “burn as well” (for whatever reason), they are not interested in our softwood pellets. This is so frustrating…..because we know, and so do so many others that have burned our pellet, that there probably isn’t a pellet in the world that can hold a candle to a  manufactured-on-spec, non-contaminated, Douglas fir (softwood) pellet.