EcoPellets Tasmania began manufacturing wood pellets in 2019 after seeing the amount of timber waste being produced from plantation timber in Tasmania.

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How long will a 15kg bag of wood pellets burn?

candice By candice 2021-09-28

Wood pellets provide environmental and economic energy solutions for private and commercial real estate.

Wood pellets are the perfect choice for use as fuel because they are renewable and cost-effective. The dense particles provide high energy output, helping to provide renewable energy for homes and buildings.

An approximate guideline is that 1 tonne of wood pellets will produce 4,800kWh of heat. This assumes the wood pellets are being burnt efficiently. This means that a small house in the Australia may only need 2-3 tonnes of pellets per year.

The best way to work out how many wood pellets you’ll need is to look at how many kWh you are currently using from your energy bill per year.
The figures below provide some guidance:
  1.  Small House / Flat – gas usage of 8,000kWh and an electricity usage of 2,000kWh
  2. Medium House – gas usage of 12,500kWh and an electricity usage of 3,100kWh
  3. Large House – gas usage of 18,000kWh and an electricity usage of 4,600kWh

The average cost per unit of fuel energy of wood pellets is 4.2p / kWh. This is lower than that of both heating oil (6p / kWh) and bulk LPG (7.6 / kWh).

The operating costs of some major energy sources are shown below.

  • Wood Chips (30% Moisture Content) 2.9 pence per kWh
  • Wood Pellets 4.2 pence per kWh
  • Natural Gas 4.8 pence per kWh
  • Heating Oil 6 pence per kWh
  • LPG (bulk) 7.6 pence per kWh
  • Electricity 14.5 pence per kWh

Wood Pellets will burn at a rate set by the stove. Wood Pellet stoves can have different heat settings (e.g. 1-5), and this will impact how much heat is produced.

The weather, insulation and personal preferences will all impact how quickly you use wood pellets. The energy efficiency of your house will play a big part in how many wood pellets are needed to sufficiently heat a home.

Draft excluders and wall insulation are worthwhile investments and can help ensure the heat produced by the wood pellets goes further. Heat lost through poor insulation means you’ll need to produce more energy through burning wood pellets.

Most wood pellet stoves can also operate on a thermostat whereby you change the heat setting depending on the time of day. This can help ensure you are only heating your home when you need to.

According to the Pellet Fuels Institute, a 15kg bag of pellet fuel can provide up to between 15 to 24 hours of solid heat. A winter’s supply of wood pellets is about 150-200 bags—however,Dosage depending on climatic and lifestyle variations

15kg bags are a good size and if you prefer to buy in bulk, you can think about storage. Wood pellets will last indefinitely as long as they are well kept and don’t get wet.