Wood pellets vary in quality.
Wood-pellet stoves are clean-burning and efficient, but the quality of the pellets matter. Wood pellets are a byproduct of the lumber industry, utilizing excess sawdust and scrap. High-quality wood pellets are almost pure sawdust with lignin, a type of polymer used as a natural binder. Other additives, from natural bark to chemical binders, decrease the efficiency and may produce more ash. A few simple home tests can help determine the quality of your wood pellets -- don't rely on the bag's label alone.
Instructions
1. Scoop wood pellets into a 5-gallon bucket, retaining as much of the dust as you can in the bottom of the bag. Pour the dust into a 2-cup measuring container. High-quality pellets leave less than a 1/2 cup of dust at the bottom of a 40-lb. bag.
2. Smell the pellets. Quality pellets smell like fresh cut wood, with no chemical odor. The color should be light, as dark pellets may indicate that they're made with ash-producing bark.
3. Drop a tablespoon of pellets into a glass of water. High-quality pellets break down into sawdust within a few minutes. Stir the dissolved pellets and wait for the contents to settle; the sawdust will float. If a large amount of materials settles at the bottom of the glass, your pellets contain additional additives that affect efficiency and ash.
Tags: dust bottom, High-quality pellets, pellets into, wood pellets