Pellet choices....

[Junkman]

Just came back from the place that I have ordered my pellets and they now offer both a hardwood and softwood pellet. The brand is Energex. I have been using the Energex softwood pellet for a number of years and never knew about the hardwood pellet. Does anyone have any experience with the hardwood pellets by Energix or for that matter any other manufacturer of pellets. By the way, I paid $211 per ton and was lucky to get them. Seems that there is a shortage of pellets in this area. Last year, the price was $175 per ton at one place and $185 at another.

 

[strokerduster]

junk, only pellets we know about down here go in air rifles. what cal is yours, 17 or 22. wood instead of lead, whoda thunk it. okay i'll shut up.........

 

[gsxr1100]

Yup, retail was $175 for pellets last year. I can ask the wife what the retail is now.

 

[beenthere]

Are the hardwood and softwood pellets the same price per pound?

Are the 'volumes' similar, pound for pound of each kind?

 

[Junkman]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Are the hardwood and softwood pellets the same price per pound?

Are the 'volumes' similar, pound for pound of each kind? )</font>

They are the same size bags, and the weight is the same. I don't know about the volume since there is no way to check the cubic inches/feet without measuring both. I checked the manufacturers website, but they don't even show a reference for the hardwood pellets.

 

[Highbeam]

Pretty much any woo dhas the same btu content per pound so as long as you are buying it by the ton, it shouldn't matter as far as cost is concerned. The additional volume from the same weight could be air or it could be something else leading to more ash.

I think I would prefer the hardwood just so the pitch and resins of the typical softwoods aren't in the system. I'm thinking cedar and pine tar.

 

[Dargo]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Pretty much any woo dhas the same btu content per pound so as long as you are buying it by the ton, it shouldn't matter as far as cost is concerned. )</font>

Well, not exactly. Attached is a little chart that will give a better explanation of the btu's available in certain woods. Besides some of the soft woods, like pine, being undesirable because of the creosote they will build up in your chimney, the moisture content is important. If you are buying wet wood, you are paying for water. Basically all water in the wood must be heated to 212 degrees for it to boil out; this produces no heat. Only after that moisture is gone does the wood start to break down, creating fuel gasses, which is at just over 500 degrees.

 

[HuskerInVA]

If I could find the Energex pellets in our area I think I would buy them. I compared the specifications of the Energex softwood pellets to the Pennwood hardwood pellets that I burnt last year.

According to specs on websites:

Energex softwood 8990 BTU / lb, .58% or less ash content

Pennwood hardwood 8400 BTU / lb, .33% or less ash content.

I'm not sure how Pennwood compare to other hardwood pellets, but in BTU for the buck -- Energex seems to be the highest.

 

[kensfarm]

Junkman I always used the hardwood pellots.. not the softwood so I couldn't tell you the difference.. maybe the ash content is higher on the softwood?

Last year I bought 3 tons skrink wrapped on pallets.. I was surprised that I could use my 3pt to move them.. because the year before I had done the same and had to take bags off to move the pallets. Each pallet contains 50 count of 40lb bags.

Guess I'd better order up soon..

 

[beenthere]

Maybe you are looking at the differences in BTU's per volume (cord), not the BTU's per pound when the wood is dry. Pound for pound of dry wood, will give about the same BTU's.
With pellets, there are other things to consider, I think, such as addatives to make the pellets, dirt and bark that come into the mix, and the species that go into the mix.
I was interested in the cost for softwood pellets vs the cost of the hardwood pellets, and if there was any big difference on vs the other.

A good chart however. Thanks for posting.