Lowes Wood Pellets For Pellet Stove (2024)

FAQs

How long will a 40 lb bag of pellets last in a pellet stove? ›

Calculating How Many Pellet Bags You Need

A highly efficient fuel, one pound of wood pellets will produce approximately 8,000 BTUs of heat. So, if you are burning pellets on the “low” setting, say 1.5 lb./hour (or 12,000 BTU), a bag will last about 26 hours. (40 lbs. divided by 1.5 lbs./hour = 26.67 hours.)

Pellets are sold in 40-pound bags. Depending on factors related to your home size and pellet stove usage, you should be able to get around 24 hours of heat from one bag of pellets. There are 50 40-pound bags in one ton, and we recommend 2 tons to 5 tons to last you the entire heating season.

Complement Your Favorite Foods. Each pellet flavor, or type of wood, has a unique taste and naturally complements certain foods. Wood pellet flavors are generally classified in a range from mild to strong; with woods such as alder and maple on the mild end, and hickory and mesquite on the stronger side.

Some of the best wood pellet brands include Okanagan, Lignetics, New England, CleanFire, Hamer's Hot Ones, and Northern Warmth. When heating your home with wood pellets, it is important to maintain your stove and chimney regularly to ensure efficient and safe operation.

Many pellet stoves are designed to burn for several hours, and some models can even run continuously for up to 48 hours. This makes them an excellent choice for those chilly nights when you want to maintain a comfortable temperature without constantly refueling the stove.

Hardwood pellets are denser and tend to burn for a longer time as a result. Softwood pellets, by contrast, burn hotter, putting out more BTUs (British thermal units).

Losing power to your pellet stove is dangerous for several reasons— the least of which is that your home's temperature will drop. There are a few preventative measures you can take to reduce the risk of losing power to your stove, each with its own pros and cons.

The best pellets have a moisture content of 6.5% and below. Low Ash Content - This describes how much ash is left over in proportion to how much wood was burned. Minimal ash production ensures efficient stove operations; choose pellets with labels that contain "low ash content" of 0.6% or less.

They also require electricity to run fans, controls, and pellet feeders. Under normal usage, they consume about 100 kilowatt-hours (kWh) or about $9 worth of electricity per month. Unless the stove has a back-up power supply, the loss of electric power results in no heat and possibly some smoke in the house.

Pellets are slightly higher in price per year, though they burn longer than wood. In either case, according to the Department of Energy, you should expect to pay about $190 for a cord of wood or ton of pellets (at 6.5 cords or 7.5 tons of pellets per season, factoring in that a ton equals 1.5 cords).

What to look for when buying pellets? ›

The main factors to consider when selecting and purchasing pellets are type of wood, BTUs (the heat output), ash content, and of course, price. Typically, there will be two types of wood used in wood pellets: hardwood or softwood. Hardwood in its raw form burns for longer as it has a higher density.

Cooking appliances like smokers and grills can also use wood pellets, but you can't use regular pellets in a pellet grill.

Softwood pellets actually rate at about 10-15% higher in BTU (more heat) than hardwood pellets. This is because softwood contains resins that have a higher heat value than hardwood fibre. Softwood pellets generally have a lower percentage of ash (by weight) than hardwood pellets.

Q: How long does one bag of pellets last? A: According to the Pellet Fuels Institute, a 40-lb bag of pellet fuel can provide up to 24 hours of solid heat. A winter's supply of wood pellets is about 100-150 bags—depending on climatic and lifestyle variations.

Softwood pellets have a higher BTU output than hardwood pellets, meaning they burn hotter and longer than hardwood pellets. The increase and heat output is due to the higher concentration of lignins — natural polymers that hold wood together.

At lower temperatures (for smoking meat slow and low) under 275 degrees Farenheit, your pellets will last much longer. You can expect a 20 lb bag, in this case, to last for 16-24+ hours of run-time.

On average, an 18-20 pound page of wood pellets can last anywhere from 6-20 hours. If you're cooking at higher temperatures (like grilling), you might go through a bag in about 6 hours, while lower temperatures (like smoking) could last up to 20 hours.

A ton of wood pellet fuel burns much longer than a ton of wood logs, and generate more heat than logs. Wood pellets have uniform size, shape, and density, convenient to store and transport, and apply in automatic burning system.

Pellets can be purchased in 40 pound bags at stove retailers, nurseries, building supply stores, garden supplies and discount merchandisers. On average, a winter's supply of pellets is 100 to 150 bags (two to three tons). The amount used depends on climate, room square footage and how much you use your pellet stove.