Hardwood VS. Softwood Pellets
Which should you choose?
There are many options for softwood and hardwood pellets out there, and there are plenty for's and against's as to why you should go for either - here are the facts!
Hardwood pellets have a denser energy value. Typically 17.5Mj/kg. Softwood is typically around 16Mj/kg. So about 9 – 10% more heating value. A well-made softwood pellet is perfectly OK to burn in your pellet heater. Softwood pellets have a significantly higher ash content than hardwood pellets. Softwood is generally around 4 -5% ash whilst RedHot is less than 0.5%. This means that you don’t have to empty your ash pot and clean your heater as often when using RedHot pellets.
RedHot pellets are manufactured in NSW where there is an abundant supply of hardwood residue fibre. The quality of this fibre is simply first-class. Species include ironbark, spotted gum, bloodwood, blue gum, yellow stringybark and grey box. It is clean fibre with no contaminants resulting in an excellent quality feedstock to make wood pellets.
Controlling moisture content during the production of pellets is critical. Too wet and the pellets will not compress(fun fact: water can not be compressed!). Too dry and they will not bind either. So having a production facility that has the ability to continually measure, control, adjust, record and repeat that process is important. You can be sure that the RedHot pellets that you buy have been subjected to a strict & continuous quality control process. The technology RTG uses to manufacture wood pellets is world-class: from the accurate machining of the DIE to the automated packing and weighing system and having a robot stacking the bags accurately on a pallet all contribute to RTG making a true world-class pellet.
If you are genuinely interested in the anatomy of pellet making we are happy to arrange a factory tour for you when you buy your next tonne of pellets from the RTG. Come and see why we are passionate about making wood pellets.
We love what we do!