Wood pellets are perfect to burn for your fires, and we usually use wood pellets as BBQ fuel or use them for the winter supply.

Unlike other fuels, wood pellets are made of wood waste and they are renewable & eco-friendly.

If you don’t know how much wood pellets you need, how long wood pellets will last and looking for a method to see if you have enough wood pellets, let’s get through it together.

#1. Do Wood Pellets Expire?

Wood pellets usually don’t expire. That is to say, no matter how long you keep, they will be fine to burn.

The wood pellets manufactured in 10 years ago, you can even use them in 2019, that would be totally fine.

Although there is not an expiration date for wood pellets, you should avoid a few things which will degrade your wood pellets or even will make them not flammable.

1. Moisture

You should always store your wood pellets in a dry place.

Too much moisture of a humid environment will make the wood gone rogue.

Besides, it will be also less efficient and more dangerous to burn wet wood.

2. Dirt

I’m not saying to keep your wood pellets 100% clean as a whistle.

But too much dirt or mud will have an odor when you burn the wood, and it’s fatal when you using them to grill a pretty nice steak.

That’s why we don’t recommend to store the pellets outdoor places like grass, yard.

3. Temperature

Normally the temperature won’t cause problems.

But still, try not to put the wood pellets in an extremely hot space.

Because there are several reported cases that spontaneous ignition was caused by wood pellets.

#2. How long Will Wood Pellets Burn?

Now we know there is not an expiration date for storing the wood pellets, but how long will they last in a stove or smoker?

Unfortunately, there is not a certain answer to it.

Common hardwood pellets burn at 8000 to 350,000 BTUs per cubic foot, that’s a wide range. To see different woods BTUs, please see here.

The lasting time will be also affected by external factors, like stove heat settings, weather, insulation. etc.

Usually, for a medium-size room to be warm, the cost should be 1.5 – 2.8 pounds per hour.

That means if you have 40 pounds of wood pellets, the time wood pellets last should be around 14 – 26 hours. (standard pellets stoves needs 75 pounds of wood pellets to get their best performance)