best softwood pellets | Best Softwood Pellets for Pellet Stoves

If you’ve spent your whole pellet-burning life thinking hardwood automatically means better, softwood pellets may surprise you.

I’ve burned a lot of hardwood, blended and softwood pellets over the years, and some of the hottest, cleanest pellets I’ve ever put through a stove have been softwoods.

And then there are Douglas fir pellets.

I’ll just say it: the West Coast folks are totally spoiled.

They have access to some absolutely epic Douglas fir wood fiber out there in the Pacific Northwest, including material from older-growth Douglas fir that can be naturally very low in minerals. When that clean fiber gets turned into a quality pellet, you can end up with ridiculous heat and almost unbelievably low ash.

I’ve burned a bunch of them over the years and, in my book, a really good 100% Douglas fir pellet is about as good as pellet fuel gets.

My Favorite Softwood Pellets

These are some of the softwood pellets I’ve personally burned, tested or followed over the years:

My personal favorite has long been the CleanFire Douglas Fir family of pellets, but there are some seriously good softwoods on this list.

As always, pellet quality can change from year to year and batch to batch, so try a few bags in your own stove before buying a ton.

What Are Softwood Pellets?

Softwood pellets are made primarily or entirely from softwood species such as:

Douglas fir
Pine
Spruce
Fir
Eastern white pine
Hemlock

The wood fiber is dried, ground and compressed into pellets just like hardwood fuel. And this is where the old firewood rules start to fall apart. If we’re talking about logs in a wood stove, hardwood generally gets all the glory.

But we’re not burning logs. We’re taking wood fiber, grinding it up and compressing it into a dense little pellet. That’s a totally different fuel.

Are Softwood Pellets Better Than Hardwood Pellets?

They certainly can be.

In fact, some of the best-performing pellets I’ve ever burned have been softwood.

Softwoods naturally contain more lignin and resin than many hardwood species. In a properly manufactured pellet, that can contribute to excellent heat output.

But don’t take that to mean that every bag labeled softwood is automatically a premium pellet.

It’s not.

A great hardwood pellet can smoke a lousy softwood pellet any day of the week.

What matters is the finished product.

If you want to compare the other side, take a look at my best hardwood pellets as well.

Why Do Softwood Pellets Burn So Hot?

This question comes up constantly:

Do softwood pellets burn hotter than hardwood pellets?

Many of the really good ones do.

Softwoods contain natural lignin and resins that have high energy content, and premium softwood pellets can produce excellent BTUs per pound.

You don’t have to look very far to find premium Douglas fir pellets rated in the neighborhood of 8,500–9,000+ BTUs per pound, depending on the product and how the manufacturer reports the measurement.

That’s serious heat.

But here’s the important part:

Don’t shop by BTU number alone.

Heat output in your house depends on the pellet, your stove, feed rate, airflow, maintenance and a bunch of other things.

The only test I really trust is putting a few bags through the stove.

Douglas Fir Pellets — The Cream of the Crop

This deserves its own section.

I Love Douglas Fir Pellets

The Pacific Northwest has access to Douglas fir fiber that we just don’t have growing around here in New England.

And yeah — I’m jealous.

West Coast pellet burners are spoiled.

Douglas fir can naturally contain very low levels of the minerals that end up becoming ash. This can be especially true with clean older-growth Douglas fir fiber.

When manufacturers start with clean Douglas fir sawdust, keep bark and junk out of it, control the moisture and make a good pellet, the results can be phenomenal:

Serious heat
Extremely low ash
Very little burn-pot buildup
Cleaner glass
Less frequent stove cleaning
Very consistent burning

I’ve burned Douglas fir pellets that leave almost nothing behind in the ash pan.

That’s why if somebody asks me:

“Rob, what’s the best kind of wood pellet?”

I’m probably going to tell them:

Give me a killer 100% Douglas fir pellet and I’m a happy guy.

But Not Every Douglas Fir Pellet Is Perfect

Here’s the other side of it.

The words Douglas Fir printed on the bag don’t guarantee anything.

Bad storage, moisture, damaged bags, too many fines or a bad production batch can ruin even an expensive premium pellet.

We’ve had pellet owners report problems with brands that have otherwise performed incredibly well.

That’s another reason I keep saying:

Buy a few bags first.

Why Do Douglas Fir Pellets Produce So Little Ash?

Ash is basically the mineral material left behind after the combustible part of the wood burns.

Douglas fir can have relatively low mineral content, particularly when manufacturers are using clean fiber with very little bark or contamination.

Less mineral material going into the pellet means less material left sitting in your ash pan afterward.

Some premium Douglas fir pellets advertise ash levels down around 0.2% or even lower.

That’s crazy clean compared with some of the pellets I’ve burned over the years.

And if you burn several tons every winter, the difference isn’t academic.

You’re the guy standing there with the ash vacuum.

Less ash is awesome.

Benefits of Softwood Pellets

High Heat Output

This is the big one.

Quality softwood pellets can put out tremendous heat.

Pine, spruce, fir and especially Douglas fir can all make excellent heating fuel.

Very Low Ash

Some premium softwoods produce amazingly little ash.

That means:

Less cleaning
Less burn-pot buildup
Better airflow
Less mess
More time between stove cleanings

You still need to clean your stove, though.

Softwoods aren’t magic.

Check out my pellet stove cleaning guide if you’re getting into the heating season and haven’t given the stove a good cleaning yet.

Clean Burning

Good softwood pellets tend to produce a really nice active flame with very little junk left behind.

When I’ve got a pellet burning hot, keeping the glass relatively clean and barely filling the ash pan, that’s exactly what I’m looking for.

Fewer Clinkers

A really clean, low-mineral pellet can also help reduce those hard deposits that sometimes form in the burn pot.

Anybody who’s had to chisel one of those things out knows why I care about this.

Softwood Pellets vs Hardwood Pellets

Forget the old idea that:

Hardwood = good
Softwood = cheap

That’s firewood thinking.

With pellets, I’ve burned premium softwoods that outperform plenty of hardwood pellets in both heat and ash.

I’ve also burned great hardwoods.

The important measurements are things like:

Heat output
Ash
Moisture
Fines
Pellet durability
Consistency
How the pellet performs in your stove

The species matters.

But quality matters more.

Softwood Pellets vs Blended Pellets

A blended wood pellet combines hardwood and softwood fibers.

There are some fantastic blends out there too.

If a blend gives you great heat, low ash and a good price, burn it.

I’m not loyal to a label.

I’m loyal to whatever pellet keeps my house warm without making me clean the stove every five minutes.

Do Softwood Pellets Burn Faster?

Not necessarily in a way that makes the word “faster” useful by itself.

How quickly you go through pellets depends heavily on:

Stove feed rate
Heat setting
Thermostat demand
Outside temperature
Pellet density
Stove efficiency
Heat output of the fuel

If a hotter pellet lets your stove satisfy the thermostat sooner, that can change your overall pellet consumption too.

So I wouldn’t reject a softwood pellet because somebody says softwood “burns faster.”

Test it in your stove.

Do Softwood Pellets Create More Creosote?

A properly operating pellet stove burning quality pellets should have a very different combustion environment than a traditional wood stove.

The bigger things I watch are proper combustion air, venting and regular cleaning.

If you’re getting black glass, a lazy orange flame or a ton of buildup, something isn’t right.

Before blaming the pellets, take a look at My Pellets Suck — Now What?.

Sometimes it’s the pellet.

Sometimes the stove just needs some love.

Are Pine Pellets Good?

Yes.

Don’t turn your nose up at pine.

A clean premium pine pellet can burn extremely hot and produce very little ash.

Eastern white pine has produced some excellent pellets here in the Northeast, while western softwoods give the Pacific Northwest its own group of killer options.

Again:

Judge the pellet, not the lumber.

Are Spruce Pellets Good?

Absolutely.

Spruce is another softwood that can make excellent pellet fuel.

I’ve seen high-quality spruce pellets with excellent heat and low ash.

A good spruce pellet is absolutely worth trying if you can find one locally.

What Should You Look for in a Good Softwood Pellet?

When I grab a new bag of pellets, here’s what I’m watching.

Heat

Is the stove putting out serious usable heat?

Ash

How much is left behind after several bags?

Fines

Turn the bag over.

If you’ve got a ridiculous amount of sawdust sitting in the bottom, that’s not a great start.

Pellet Condition

Are they firm and consistent, or broken into a million little pieces?

Glass

How quickly does the glass get dirty?

Burn Pot

Am I getting fluffy ash that blows away easily or hard deposits that I have to scrape out?

Consistency

Most importantly:

Does bag number 30 burn like bag number three?

Try Before You Buy a Ton

Same advice I give on every pellet page:

Don’t buy a ton of something you’ve never burned.

I don’t care how many five-star reviews it has.

I don’t care if I loved it.

I don’t care if your neighbor says it’s the greatest pellet ever made.

Buy three or four bags.

Run them through your stove.

Watch the heat, ash, glass, burn pot and pellet consumption.

Then decide whether you want 50 bags of them sitting in your basement.

Every stove has its favorites.

So, What Are the Best Softwood Pellets?

If I had my choice?

Give me a premium Douglas fir pellet.

CleanFire Ultra, Northern Warmth, Okanagan, Golden Fire and other good Douglas fir pellets have shown just how hot and clean softwood fuel can be.

But there are also excellent pine, spruce and other softwood pellets out there.

You can compare these with my overall picks for the best wood pellets, or check the individual reviews above to see what I’ve experienced and what other pellet stove owners are saying.

At the end of the day, I’m still looking for the same three things:

Lots of heat. Almost no ash. And a pellet I don’t have to babysit all winter.

And when a really good bag of Douglas fir delivers all three?

That’s tough to beat.

Best Softwood Pellets for Pellet Stoves