Is it possible to make my own wood pellets?

[ProudFossil]

We live on 60 acres of forested land so I have plenty of wood available for heating. My question is it possible or practical for a homeowner to make wood pellets for the stove? We have to drive 70 miles to the nearest source to get them.

If you have any links or info on this I would appreciate them.

Thank you
Mike

[John Headstrong]

why do you want to pelletize the wood ? do you already have a wood burner that takes pellets ?

while you can pellet up your own wood it takes energy to do so and the equipment is not cheap, you are better off just burning the wood whole, with 60 acres you have plenty to use,take down a tree a year and use it the next.

this is one example http://www.navitron.org.uk/product_deta ... 0&catID=83

[ProudFossil]

Thank you for the reply John. My question is really is there an economical wood pelletizer available. I do chip up the small stuff now when I trim for fire prevention, etc. The one you gave the link to is 1,200 English Pounds which is about $1,600 plus freight. Way too much. I do think a pellet stove would be more efficient than a fireplace or wood stove. I don't know. Two of our children have pellet stoves and like them. However they live in town so travel is no big deal.

Anyway thank you.
Mike

[Big Al]

I've looked into many stoves recently and the stratford ecoburn is 90% efficient and costs £1400 ( $2500 US) I guess you will have to look locally to avoid the frieght and import charges etc but there are some fires that are well up on the efficiency scale these days..

hth

Alan

[Birdie Wife]

Hi there,

Actually, it goes against intuition I know, but wood pellets are actually less efficient in terms of heat output per gram than either logs or chips, provided they are the same moisture content. The energy expense required to turn logs into pellets makes it a no-brainer - go for logs, every time. People like pellets because they are cleaner but really the only feasible way to make them is for sawmills to gather up the dust from their wood processing and pelletise that, to make the most of what is otherwise a waste product.