Pellet stoves have been growing in popularity as a home-heating option, and there’s good reason for it. Pellet stoves offer the same look and comfort as a traditional wood fire, but they require less work than a woodstove or wood-burning fireplace, are incredibly energy efficient and environmentally friendly. If you’re considering a pellet stove or a pellet fireplace insert for your home, here’s what you need to know.
Fueling a pellet stove
Pellet stoves burn various biofuels. Most often, pellet stoves burn pellets made from compressed dehydrated wood pellets. Some models of pellet stoves burn corn, cherry pits, wheat hulls or other organic matter. Here is where pellet stoves have a convenience advantage over traditional woodstoves: Pellets can be purchased in 40-pound bags from most hardware or big-box stores. That means they can be picked up as needed. You can fuel your wood fire without the need for chopping, stacking, storing and hauling firewood.
Tending a pellet stove
Another major advantage to pellet stoves is that they are incredibly easy and convenient to tend. To fuel a pellet stove, a hopper is filled with pellets. From the hopper, an automatic auger feeds the pellets into the fire. One hopper full of pellets can fuel a fire for up to 24 hours. There’s no tending to the fire, and the fire heats your home consistently while you sleep or while you’re away.
Heating your home with a pellet stove
Pellet stoves are incredibly efficient at heating homes. EPA-certified pellet stoves return between 73 and 80 percent of a fire’s heat to your home, providing between 8,000 to 90,000 BTU per hour, depending on the model. Because the fire in a pellet burns so hot, most of the gases and fine particles produced by the fires combust, as well. The efficient, hot fire releases very little air pollution.
Maintaining a pellet stove
Pellet stoves do require some simply weekly maintenance. Each week, the ash drawer needs to be emptied and checked for any hard deposits that can form when ash melts. Any soot needs to be cleaned away with a wire brush, and the heat exchanger should be cleaned per the manufacturer’s instructions. Of course, as with any heating appliance, the pellet stove and its chimney will need to be cleaned and inspected at least once per year to remove any creosote and inspect for any damaged or malfunctioning parts.
Choosing a pellet stove
If you’re in the market for a pellet stove, the stove experts at FireSide Hearth & Home can help! We can show you your options for both freestanding pellet stoves and pellet stove fireplace inserts. We’ll help you choose the right size and the right model to fit your home’s heating needs and your home’s style. Pellet stoves have been growing in popularity as a home-heating option, and there’s good reason for it. Pellet stoves offer the same look and comfort as a traditional wood fire, but they require less work than a woodstove or wood-burning fireplace, are incredibly energy efficient and environmentally friendly. If you’re considering a pellet stove or a pellet fireplace insert for your home, here’s what you need to know.
