# hardwood, softwood blend vs hardwood



## Chrisnow86 (Oct 16, 2014)

I've seen lots of hardwood softwood blend pellets for sale, is there any benefits to these? or is it just better to stick with straight hardwood pellets..


----------



## alternativeheat (Oct 16, 2014)

Chrisnow86 said:


> I've seen lots of hardwood softwood blend pellets for sale, is there any benefits to these? or is it just better to stick with straight hardwood pellets..


 Really it just comes down to the grade of pellet and what your stove digests well. Try a couple bags before buying tons.


----------



## Chrisnow86 (Oct 16, 2014)

i figured that i will buy a bag and give it a shot, just wanted to know if they are crap


----------



## Bioburner (Oct 16, 2014)

Grade of pellet as alternative stated. Stove design will dictate how low you can go. I have to agree that Natures own must be using something out of a cattle feed lot as I have now tried them twice in two years without success. They look more like recycled cardboard. Even competed in the longest pellet contest with pellets over 3 inches. Softwood blends seem to blow the ash out of simple pellet pot designs, Whitfield, Ekotech, leading to longer times between cleaning of burn pots as well as easier ignition.


----------



## Chrisnow86 (Oct 16, 2014)

i have a Englander and i know these stoves are extremely picky.. you guys have Harmons and i know they burn just about everything. i had one bag of absolute crap.. "inferno" pellets and would have to clean out the burn pot every 6 hours or so while the stove was running, just quickly pull some of the build up out of the burn pot. and hardwood was a different animal more heat less ash.


----------



## mik_kane (Oct 16, 2014)

I just burned a bag of softwood/hardwood blend and I was very surprised how little ash I had. The name of the pellets was Supreme Comfort.


----------



## dlehneman (Oct 16, 2014)

Chrisnow86 said:


> i have a Englander and i know these stoves are extremely picky.. you guys have Harmons and i know they burn just about everything. i had one bag of absolute crap.. "inferno" pellets and would have to clean out the burn pot every 6 hours or so while the stove was running, just quickly pull some of the build up out of the burn pot. and hardwood was a different animal more heat less ash.


I have 2 Englanders and burning a good quality hardwood or softwood pellet makes a big difference on the cleaning process. I have had the best luck with 100% softwood pellets through, since they have all had less ash content, and seems "fluffier" then any of the hardwood or blends I've tried. MWP softies worked great for me last year. This year I couldn't get them, so I went with Lacrete's. More money then I wanted to spend for sure ($300/ ton here), but so far they are proving to be a spectacular pellet. Very clean and high heat.
Decent hardwood pellets should work fine for you also though, as long as your install is decent and your settings are correct. I normally do a quick cleaning once a day because I'm really picky about a clean stove, but tested not cleaning at all for several days last winter and it did fine. You definitely shouldn't have to clean after 6hrs...ever. I never tried last year's Infernos but this years "Gold" softwood blend from them burned pretty well for me. A good step up from GS in both my stoves, and same price.


----------



## Fsappo (Oct 16, 2014)

When dealing with Curran, we had best success with Softwood by far, next best was mix, last was hardwood.  This is only during 2 years and with that one particular manufacturer.


----------



## alternativeheat (Oct 16, 2014)

Bioburner said:


> Grade of pellet as alternative stated. Stove design will dictate how low you can go. I have to agree that Natures own must be using something out of a cattle feed lot as I have now tried them twice in two years without success. They look more like recycled cardboard. Even competed in the longest pellet contest with pellets over 3 inches. Softwood blends seem to blow the ash out of simple pellet pot designs, Whitfield, Ekotech, leading to longer times between cleaning of burn pots as well as easier ignition.


 Natures Own are the only pellets I ever returned !!


----------



## RKS130 (Oct 16, 2014)

Chrisnow86 said:


> I've seen lots of hardwood softwood blend pellets for sale, is there any benefits to these? or is it just better to stick with straight hardwood pellets..




While my Harman burns any/everything, I prefer softwood or softwood blend pellets.  They seem to give better heat with lower ash and less cleaning as a result.  

I also find that pellet size is a big factor.  The FSUs I burned for the the past 2 seasons, and the Heat'rs I picked up for this year, are both blends and both have a uniformly small pellet size.  The only adjustment I have made is to limit the feed rate a bit as each crank of the auger will deliver more fuel if the pellets are small.

The handful of bags of fully softwood pellets I have tried were great as well.


----------



## alternativeheat (Oct 16, 2014)

Chrisnow86 said:


> i have a Englander and i know these stoves are extremely picky.. you guys have Harmons and i know they burn just about everything. i had one bag of absolute crap.. "inferno" pellets and would have to clean out the burn pot every 6 hours or so while the stove was running, just quickly pull some of the build up out of the burn pot. and hardwood was a different animal more heat less ash.


As to Harman and hardwood, what I notice is a blue flame base with hardwood and lower flame height  than some softwood pellets. Same heat, though good hardwood pellets will beat low end mixes on btu. Hardwood takes an extra couple minutes or so to ignite.

Good mixes cut a compromise on all the above. A quality line of pellets should perform well. Good softwood pellets light up a bit faster than hardwood in my experience. But as I said in another post, so far the only pellet I ever returned was Natures Own and I think they were a blend as I recall. Thats nothing against blends but Natures Own.


----------



## Polar Bear (Oct 16, 2014)

dlehneman said:


> I have 2 Englanders and burning a good quality hardwood or softwood pellet makes a big difference on the cleaning process. I have had the best luck with 100% softwood pellets through, since they have all had less ash content, and seems "fluffier" then any of the hardwood or blends I've tried. MWP softies worked great for me last year. This year I couldn't get them, so I went with Lacrete's. More money then I wanted to spend for sure ($300/ ton here), but so far they are proving to be a spectacular pellet. Very clean and high heat.



I am glad the LaCrete's are working well... Choices were slim around here and I pulled the trigger on 2 tons blind.


----------



## Jason845845 (Oct 17, 2014)

alternativeheat said:


> Natures Own are the only pellets I ever returned !!



I'm new to pellets this year, when trying a bag of Nature's Own, they burned so poorly I thought my stove was broken.  They burn decent enough in a pellet basket in the fireplace though.


----------



## Pete Zahria (Oct 17, 2014)

Polar Bear said:


> I am glad the LaCrete's are working well... Choices were slim around here and I pulled the trigger on 2 tons blind.



Don't see many disappointed La Crete users.. 

Dan


----------



## alternativeheat (Oct 17, 2014)

Pete Zahria said:


> Don't see many disappointed La Crete users..
> 
> Dan


 Ya LaCrete is a good pellet. The dealer who had them last year here did not have them on his list during pre order this year. But I guess he is stocking them for bag sales. You can't walk in and just buy what he had on pre order this year. I'd have taken a couple tons of LaCrete on a pre order deal but got Okie DF instead.


----------



## Tonyray (Oct 17, 2014)

Any of you ever burn O'Malley's Hardwoods?
Trying them out this year...


----------



## erzeez77 (Oct 17, 2014)

Ive been burning la crete without a problem. Seems good but I dont have much to compare to seeing im a rookie to the pellet stove world. Also tried about 6 bags of pinnacle and they seemed decent to. Living in a small town I dont have much options. Im heading to the city where I can buy Canawick hardwood for 5.99$a bag which is about 2$ less then what I pay at home. That being said I should probably load my truck to the max weight this weekend and hope these cheaper pellets are decent.


----------



## alternativeheat (Oct 17, 2014)

erzeez77 said:


> Ive been burning la crete without a problem. Seems good but I dont have much to compare to seeing im a rookie to the pellet stove world. Also tried about 6 bags of pinnacle and they seemed decent to. Living in a small town I dont have much options. Im heading to the city where I can buy Canawick hardwood for 5.99$a bag which is about 2$ less then what I pay at home. That being said I should probably load my truck to the max weight this weekend and hope these cheaper pellets are decent.


While you are in the city see if they have a Tractor Supply or call before you leave, look it up in your browser etc. Around here some TSC have Clean Fire pellets, that's a good brand. Here they were $5.29 a bag or $2.54 a ton. right now they have TSC Hardwood Pellets made in PA. Haven't burned them yet so I can't suggest them. Last year they were from Maine Wood and were excellent for the money. As good or better than Energex Hardwood Premium but that doesn't speak for this year. I would grab a few bags of this and  that  pellet before you plunk money down on a bunch of unknown ones. Unless you hear otherwise, but even then it's questionable.


----------



## Chrisnow86 (Oct 17, 2014)

I purchased 5 bags of the tractor supply brand hardwood pellets to give them a shot and they burned fairly well.. they have lots in stock.. at least where i am.


----------



## alternativeheat (Oct 17, 2014)

Tonyray said:


> Any of you ever burn O'Malley's Hardwoods?
> Trying them out this year...


I have not but seems to me some folks liked them in the past.


Chrisnow86 said:


> I purchased 5 bags of the tractor supply brand hardwood pellets to give them a shot and they burned fairly well.. they have lots in stock.. at least where i am.


Good to know. I have a full hopper to burn off before I try the TSC Hardwoods. But TSC here has plenty in stock as well. I wish they had more Clean Fire, I'd run them through the rest of shoulder season and save my Energex hardwood for another time of year.. Anyway, it's warm here right now I probably won't burn again till overnight Sunday to Mon. Looks like low 30's coming in overnight Sunday night.


----------



## Tonyray (Oct 17, 2014)

alternativeheat said:


> I have not but seems to me some folks liked them in the past.
> 
> Good to know. I have a full hopper to burn off before I try the TSC Hardwoods. But TSC here has plenty in stock as well. I wish they had more Clean Fire, I'd run them through the rest of shoulder season and save my Energex hardwood for another time of year.. Anyway, it's warm here right now I probably won't burn again till overnight Sunday to Mon. Looks like low 30's coming in overnight Sunday night.


Speaking of Energex,
I will get to try the Energex Golden Premiums this winter..0,5 ash.... we'll see...
Bought 2 tons here in May on a early buy from my dealer...


----------



## alternativeheat (Oct 17, 2014)

Tonyray said:


> Speaking of Energex,
> I will get to try the Energex Golden Premiums this winter..0,5 ash.... we'll see...
> Bought 2 tons here in May on a early buy from my dealer...


Not available here, wish thy were ! I think my dealer is stuck in a rut. Energex Premium, Energex Hard, LG. That's his MO, well that dealer anyway.


----------



## Countryboymo (Oct 18, 2014)

I burn softwoods for the simple fact that I could go two days without dumping the ash pot and not lose much efficiency and one day zero.  With hardwoods it better get dumped and scraped twice a day otherwise the burn turned lazy and there was twice as much ash to deal with.

Still shocked I would ever say softwood is better to burn for heat but in pellet stoves softies are almost always best heat and lowest ash.


----------



## RKS130 (Oct 18, 2014)

Countryboymo said:


> I burn softwoods for the simple fact that I could go two days without dumping the ash pot and not lose much efficiency and one day zero.  With hardwoods it better get dumped and scraped twice a day otherwise the burn turned lazy and there was twice as much ash to deal with.
> 
> Still shocked I would ever say softwood is better to burn for heat but in pellet stoves softies are almost always best heat and lowest ash.


I like the Heat'rs pellets the HD in Mohegan Lake has.  I checked with the manufacturer and they are a blend, with lots of softwood, from Arizona.  The pellet size is nice and small, they burn clean in my stove and the heat is good.  I am set for the season (I hope).


----------



## Jackfire (Oct 26, 2014)

Im a Vermonter and grew up with wood heat , so when Dad went to the woods , me trailin behind, he ALWAYS cut hardwood ; that being said , the word is Softwood is best all round to burn in a pellet stove . Im finding all this hard to believe but ill give it a try . Hope i opened up a topic worth debating and am interested in hearing all points of view.


----------



## Chrisnow86 (Oct 26, 2014)

After testing a few different kinds I found hardwood softwood blend to be the best.. At least my stove likes them


----------



## Jackfire (Oct 26, 2014)

Ive been testing the Fireside Ultra / Energex , which is a mix , maybe 80/20  and  have been finding my 25EP likes and burns them well , keeps my 1700 square ft. house plenty warm. Am trying the LG granules now , 100% soft , cuz im a scepitical New Englander and wants to find out for himself.


----------



## Chrisnow86 (Oct 26, 2014)

I think the blend works well I can imagine cause it best of both worlds.. Plus it's all about the quality too


----------



## Jackfire (Oct 26, 2014)

*Ive been told BTUs are higher with soft  , time will tell*


----------



## Lake Girl (Oct 26, 2014)

erzeez77 said:


> Living in a small town I dont have much options. Im heading to the city where I can buy Canawick hardwood for 5.99$a bag which is about 2$ less then what I pay at home. That being said I should probably load my truck to the max weight this weekend and hope these cheaper pellets are decent.



Trebio are not a bad option and seemed to be carried by Wal-Mart.  I got a ton of Sure-Fire from the Kenora Home Hardware (not carried at local one).  Getting LaCrete's from the North American Lumber Store.  Try Crappy Tire too - Firemaster, Trebio and Cannawick at the local one.  Haven't tried the Cannawick yet...


----------



## Lake Girl (Oct 26, 2014)

Chrisnow86 said:


> I think the blend works well I can imagine cause it best of both worlds.. Plus it's all about the quality too



Some blends are better than others - depends on percentage and types of wood used...


----------



## Wilbur Feral (Oct 26, 2014)

Tonyray said:


> Speaking of Energex,
> I will get to try the Energex Golden Premiums this winter..0,5 ash.... we'll see...
> Bought 2 tons here in May on a early buy from my dealer...


Tony - Please do let us know how the two Energex differ, and if you like both.  I hope to burn them next year, from PA Pellet Guy.  He was having supply issues earlier in the year so I stocked up on Presto and Hamer's.  But his service and prices are good, so I plan to stock up in the summer next year on Energex, largely because they're produced in PA and thus minimize transport.  Thanks!


----------



## Jigger (Oct 26, 2014)

I have an older model Englander. It's a 25 PDVC. I've found that it does prefer I feed it soft wood pellets. I get less build up in the burn pot when I burn softies. If I burn hard woods I have to scrap the ash out twice a day. Lately I've been mixing hard wood and soft wood pellets together as close to a 50-50 mix in a bucket. I get a lot more heat for some reason and only have to scrap out the pot once a day.


----------



## Jackfire (Oct 26, 2014)

Think ill try that , got a ton of FSU and a ton of LG granuels  , we will go 50 50 and see  also got a ton of Vermont wood pellets coming  along with a ton of Maine Wood pellets , wonder how they will mix ?


----------



## Tonyray (Oct 26, 2014)

Wilbur Feral said:


> Tony - Please do let us know how the two Energex differ, and if you like both.  I hope to burn them next year, from PA Pellet Guy.  He was having supply issues earlier in the year so I stocked up on Presto and Hamer's.  But his service and prices are good, so I plan to stock up in the summer next year on Energex, largely because they're produced in PA and thus minimize transport.  Thanks!


will do....


----------



## Lake Girl (Oct 26, 2014)

Jackfire said:


> Think ill try that , got a ton of FSU and a ton of LG granuels  , we will go 50 50 and see  also got a ton of Vermont wood pellets coming  along with a ton of Maine Wood pellets , wonder how they will mix ?



Or save the hotter ones for the dead of winter...


----------



## Jackfire (Oct 27, 2014)

Which do u consider HOTTER


----------



## Lake Girl (Oct 27, 2014)

Jackfire said:


> Which do u consider HOTTER



Can't get either where I live.  Try checking reviews on the forum or here:  http://www.woodpelletreviews.com/

Edit:

LG Granules:
Variety of black spruce and Jack pine
_LG Super Premium_
Calorific value > 8700 BTU/lb, 5.61 kWh/kg
Average humidity < 4.5%
Ash < 0.4%
Bag or bulk

_LG Premium_
Calorific value 8500 BTU/lb, 5.48 kWh/kg
Average humidity < 7%
Ash < 0.6%
Bag or bulk

Are Fireside Ultras a product of Energex, Quebec?


----------



## alternativeheat (Oct 27, 2014)

Lake Girl said:


> Are Fireside Ultras a product of Energex, Quebec?


I don't know, some say yes to that though. I do know that I burned 5 bags of FSU last year as a test and survived it. I didn't catch the same hype some folks seem to get from them. They were messy and did not produce the heat of the PA Energex, IMO. Nor of TSC's own brand name pellets. They heated my house, I would take them in a pinch. But with the P61 you can tell a good hot pellet because the stove radiates heat more with hot pellets vs lower BTU Pellets, Harman or not. Even my wife noticed that, she was camped out next to the stove most of last winter with a broken rib. With the FSU, she said lets not buy these again. Ya they burned, they got the house up to 73 same as hot pellets but you did not feel the same radiating heat from the stove. Just my experience with them.

This year I have a ton of the PA Hardwood Energex which are 8600 btu. I haven't started burning those yet, I haven't even unwrapped them  and have had them about a month now. I'm just burning up loose bags of this and that pellet for now, trying to get through till we need heat full time. And then after the Energex are gone we/ I have two tons of Okie DF at the dealer with our name on them stored under cover..


----------



## UpStateNY (Oct 27, 2014)

In past years when I burned half hardwood and half softwood, I noticed the automatic start takes longer with hardwood on my Harman stove.  

Currently I need a new starting coil.  Since I am too cheap to spend the $100 to get a new starter, I have been using a torch to start my stove.


----------



## Bioburner (Oct 27, 2014)

Our Ecoteck Elena takes longer to ignite hardwoods and we prefer to use softwood blend in it as the ash blows out of the pot better and that keeps the periods between cleaning longer. Can't tell if it takes longer to light in the PC45 as it has a pressure ignition system made to light corn too.


----------



## erzeez77 (Oct 28, 2014)

Lake Girl said:


> Trebio are not a bad option and seemed to be carried by Wal-Mart.  I got a ton of Sure-Fire from the Kenora Home Hardware (not carried at local one).  Getting LaCrete's from the North American Lumber Store.  Try Crappy Tire too - Firemaster, Trebio and Cannawick at the local one.  Haven't tried the Cannawick yet...



I bought a dozen bags of Cannawick from crappy tire to try them out. The hardwoods. They seem to do the trick to keep the house warm at the moment.


----------



## Tonyray (Oct 28, 2014)

erzeez77 said:


> I bought a dozen bags of Cannawick from crappy tire to try them out. The hardwoods. They seem to do the trick to keep the house warm at the moment.


Hardwoods will always take longer to Ignite than Softwood...
have read that a Bag of softwoods will not last as long as bag of Hardwoods but having never used them, I can't say.


----------



## Lake Girl (Oct 28, 2014)

erzeez77 said:


> I bought a dozen bags of Cannawick from crappy tire to try them out. The hardwoods. They seem to do the trick to keep the house warm at the moment.


Might want to plan on the LaCretes and Pinnacles for the middle of winter  file:///C:/Users/Acer/Downloads/Wood%20Pellet%20Testing%202012.pdf

Some of the US brands tested are not available in Canada:  http://woodpellets4me.com/pdf/2011-2012-PelletReview.pdf

Edit:  LaCrete rating 8730 btu

Cannawick rating from their website is 8000 btu


----------



## alternativeheat (Oct 28, 2014)

Soft do light quicker. Some soft do burn faster as well. Heat output is debatable, again some soft do burn hotter and some not so hot. There are some crappy soft pellets out there too. A decent hardwood pellet should burn in the upper 8000 btu range, around 8600 or 8700 BTU and I have found they burn with a lower flame height than softies do, in general.. In my experience a hopper full of Energex Hardwood out lasted a hopper full of LG softwood.

Hardwood pellets in my experience do tend to produce a little darker ash and perhaps a bit more of it or heavier anyway.

That said, I've found Spruce Pointe pellets to burn hot and fairly long and spruce is relatively soft compared with oak or maple. Spruce Pointes are rated at 8700 BTU. Douglas Fur is probably the hottest of them all, Okanagan claiming 9200 btu on the bags I had last year of DF from them.. They burn hot, light easy, produce next to no ash and burn reasonably long. But around here they are costly. I have found nothing yet that matches them though.

Right now I'm burning Tractor Supply Blends, they burn hot and dirty my stoves glass sooner than many other pellets, reasonable ash. Hotter than PureFire in my experience, noticeably hotter too. PureFire though produce less ash, less smoke on start up and less glass staining. Non of this matters in shoulder season but it might in the cold of winter. An easy starting pellet is an asset during shoulder season as I run my P61a ( Room Temp Auto) but that doesn't stop me from burning any pellet I grab !


----------



## Lake Girl (Oct 28, 2014)

Tractor Supply and other "store" brands can be from some pretty good manufacturers ... UPC codes are usually the way to track them ... see the sticky on UPC at the home page of pellet mill or enter the UPC code in the search box to see if its already been identified.


----------



## erzeez77 (Oct 28, 2014)

Lake Girl said:


> Might want to plan on the LaCretes and Pinnacles for the middle of winter  file:///C:/Users/Acer/Downloads/Wood%20Pellet%20Testing%202012.pdf
> 
> Some of the US brands tested are not available in Canada:  http://woodpellets4me.com/pdf/2011-2012-PelletReview.pdf
> 
> ...



I had my suspicions about the cannawick not throwing the heat like the Lacretes and Pinnacles.


----------



## alternativeheat (Oct 29, 2014)

Lake Girl said:


> Tractor Supply and other "store" brands can be from some pretty good manufacturers ... UPC codes are usually the way to track them ... see the sticky on UPC at the home page of pellet mill or enter the UPC code in the search box to see if its already been identified.


The Tractor Supply brand in stock locally right now were produced by Maine Woods and tehy burn hot. The said they have no idea what will come in next. I bought PureFire there recently as well. And they also have Natures Own in stock, which they are perfectly welcome to keep Natures Own.. I told the girl that's the only pellet I ever returned to a store.


----------



## ttdberg (Oct 29, 2014)

Alt, what do you think of those Pure Fires?  I bought a couple bags to try but haven't thrown them in the hopper yet.  There was a sign hanging over the pallet explaining the benefits of burning softwood pellets   As for categorizing pellets by hard, soft, and blend I don't think it's that cut and dry.  I have burned both excellent and terrible pellets from each of those categories.  It really depends on overall quality, the stove they are burned in, and of course - your perception of what's good and bad.  You have to test, test, test to see what you will like.  I will say that in general, I prefer softwoods, because I tend to have the best experience with them, however this year I picked up a few bags of Hardwood Heats at TSC and so far they are the hands-down winner for both heat and ash output.


----------



## alternativeheat (Oct 29, 2014)

I thought the PureFires were a decent pellet, they light easy, not too ashy. I have burned hotter running pellets in my stove but that doesn't matter this time of year. Although I see we have some colder weather headed our way. I'm running TSC pellets now, then on to Energex Hardwood (8600 btu) probably by Thanksgiving.
TSC pellets to me burn hotter than PureFire but more dirty. They produce the infamous Harman burn pot speed bump rather quickly compared to PureFire which was cleaner.


----------



## ttdberg (Oct 29, 2014)

Thanks for the feedback, looking forward to trying them myself.


----------



## RKS130 (Oct 29, 2014)

Last year I burned FSU with great results.  None to be seen this year, but our HD has Heat'rs, a brand I never saw before.  I wrote the company and they got right back to me.  Like FSU, it is also a softwood/hardwood blend.  This one is from Arizona and I like them just fine.  Small pellets, great heat, low ash, clean burn, and relatively low amount of fines in the bag.


----------



## briansol (Oct 29, 2014)

im general, softwoods are hotter and produce less ash.   I don't know why anyone burns hardwoods to be honest, besides price


----------



## alternativeheat (Oct 29, 2014)

briansol said:


> im general, softwoods are hotter and produce less ash.   I don't know why anyone burns hardwoods to be honest, besides price


I burn the Energex Hardwood for a tons worth or so, then DF for mid winter. DF here are considerably more money than Energex Hardwood but the EHW are getting up there pretty close in btu at 8600. I really like Spruce Pointe but my local dealer priced them out of willing range to pay ( 7.49) a bag singles or by the ton (8700 btu). Next down the list being a sure thing was Energex Hard at $299 a ton and as I said 8600 btu. I like LaCrete but too far to travel, same price as the Energex Hardwoods and the later are a 20 minute ride from my house.

I might have taken LG from the same guys who sell Energex but hey had not taken delivery of them yet when I went to pick up pellets.

So thats why I burn hardwood. Partially price driven, also travel distance. But good heat too!


----------

