PFI, or the Pellet Fuels Institute, is a North American trade association that does a number of things, but the thing that is of primary interest to this website is rating home heating pellets. With the PFI system, pellets fall into three categories: premium, standard, and utility.
The problem is that most pellets you will find at your local store are all rated “premium.” There are huge variations in what the PFI considers a premium pellet. I have gotten pellets that are total junk that carry the PFI premium rating. It is an issue of the bar being too low for the premium rating. For years, I have been hearing chatter about an “ultra-premium” rating being established, but to the best of my knowledge, it has not happened.
This lack of meaningful ratings leaves consumers wondering what pellets are good and bad. One could break up the premium range into three distinct classes of pellets. As for the standard and utility-grade pellets, I have seen some rare standard-grade pellets around, and I have never seen utility-grade pellets sold for home heating. (keep in mind I go out of my way to look for this stuff)
I really enjoy the pellet fuel world and appreciate the PFI’s existence. As the biomass pellet industry has matured, the need for a third-party rating system that communicates information about pellet quality is more important now than ever.
The current delineations between premium, standard, and utility pellets are useless to the average pellet stove owner because the good, not-so-good, and really good pellets will carry a “premium” stamp. To the PFI, please rework the rating system. It would make us all smile. Even if the “ultra-premium” rating materialized, it would be super helpful.
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