Grades of Pellet Fuel

Premium Fuels

The PFI has designated fuels as Premium for years, and most product sold in the US bears the PFI premium designation, which requires <1% ash content and other test requirements.

However, many participants in the Pellet Fuels Institute recognize that this standard is insufficient. It does not require regular third party testing of frequent samples from production, so though one bag tested may meet the standard, the next may not. In addition, the Pellet Fuels Institute does not own the word “Premium” so if you see a fuel labeled as a “Premium” fuel, unless it actually has the PFI logo on the bag, you cannot be sure that the manufacturer is even testing to the same standard.

New Pellet Fuels Standards Are Emerging

WoodPellets.com is working with others in the industry to improve this situation. The industry as a whole, through the Pellet Fuels Institute, has established a testing protocol which requires frequent quality checks and independent verification of product quality. These new standards also have created separate grades of pellets with the following ash requirements (and other requirements):

Premium - <1% Ash
Standard - <2% Ash
Utility - <6% Ash

But in the meantime, we thought you might want to know…

Though the Pellet Fuels Institute standards-setting and testing protocol will take years to roll out, we felt you had a right to know the ash content of fuels you are buying today. Accordingly, we are independently testing the ash content of all fuels we purchase on a regular basis. We’ve always done this to assure that we were getting you quality fuels; now we’re just letting you know the results.