If you have landed on this page, you probably have a beautiful wood stove and are wondering if you can burn pellets in your wood stove. The answer is short and clear: no. In this article, we will explain why wood pellets are not a good idea for a wood stove.
Wood pellets are blocks produced from compressed wood. They are made from sawdust, wood chips, and other wood waste products. These are compressed under high pressure. One advantage of wood pellets is that they have a high energy value of about 5 kWh/kg.
We sometimes get questions from customers asking if they can burn pellets in a wood stove. Some websites also claim that this is possible. However, we strongly advise against it.
Burning wood pellets requires different ventilation, which necessitates a completely different technology in the stove.
In a wood stove, it is important to get the heat to the top of the combustion chamber. With wood pellets, however, the heat is created at the bottom of the stove. This causes more smoke formation, which you do not want in your wood stove. Additionally, your wood stove can overheat, or incomplete combustion may occur. Burning pellets in a wood stove can also cause blockages in the flue. There is even a risk that burning wood pellets in a modern high-efficiency wood stove could lead to an explosion of released gas inside the stove.
The technology in a wood stove differs from that in a pellet stove. Burning pellets in a wood stove is comparable to fueling a diesel car with gasoline. Obviously, you don’t want to do this.
Would you like to know which wood is suitable for burning in a Leenders wood stove? Then read our article about the best wood for a wood stove.