pellet stoves

Pellet stoves are free-standing stoves designed primarily for home heating. Instead of burning firewood, these types of stoves burn wood pellets which are made from sawdust.  Since sawdust is a waste product from the timber industry they are in essence a very green solution to home heating.  In addition, they are emerging as an important home heating alternative for homeowners who heat their homes with fuel oil or propane.  In 2007 fuel oil prices rose by 97%.  Propane fuel rose by over 50%.  For those homeowners who don't have access to natural gas a pellet stove may be one of the few economic options left for home heating.  For a more detailed discussion of comparative fuel prices look at our section on Comparing Fuel Costs.  Suffice it to say that one of the primary advantages of pellet stoves is cost.

Another advantage of a pellet stove is the simplicity of the fuel.  It comes in 40 pound bags which can be obtained from most feed or hardware stores or can be delivered directly to your home.  There is no wood to chop or split, no need for a wood rack, you just poor the pellets into the hopper inside of the stove. The hopper then automatically feeds the appropriate amount of pellets into the combustion chamber to provide nice steady heating with very little ash or residue.  Because the hopper feeds the pellets into the combustion chamber there is no need to worry about tending the fire.  The fire pretty much tends itself.  And, if you have a fairly big hopper you do not need to put in the fuel that often.

Because the quantity of air to fuel can be easily controlled in a pellet stove these types of stoves tend to be extremely efficient. The ability to control the rate at which the pellets are fed into the combustion chamber also means that you can control the amount of heat the fire will generate.  If you want to increase the heat just adjust the stove's setting to feed the pellets faster.  Many of the higher end models of pellet stoves come with a thermostat to make this process even easier.

One of the nicest things about a pellet stove is that they can run long stretches of time without being tended.  This means you can go to bed at night knowing the stove will continue to provide heating all night long if you want it to.  If you have a large hopper many pellet stoves can operate a day or more without having to be reloaded.

Types of Pellet Stoves

Pellet stoves come in a wide range of models.  There are traditional cast iron models which look like traditional wood stoves and others which are taller and built more like a metal furnace. One of the more interesting innovations are versions of the stove which allow the burning of both wood pellets and corn kernels.  Burning corn is sometimes a great option for people in farm country.  Also, as the demand for wood pellet stoves has gone up so has the price of the pellets.  In some parts of the country corn is actually a cheaper fuel than wood pellets.

Most pellet stoves are designed with built-in fans which help circulate the air and heat throughout the room.  One thing to watch for though is the noise level of the fans.  Some can be pretty loud and this is something you will want to look at when you are purchasing a stove. 

Costs

In general, wood pellet stoves cost more than traditional wood stoves.  Typical models run from $1500 to as high as $3000.  Also, on a per pound bases the cost of pellets is greater than the cost of firewood.  To some extent this is made up for by the increased efficiency of the pellet heating but as a general rule the firewood is cheaper. 

There has been considerable controversy of late as the cost of pellets have risen with increasing demand. However, even with the increase in prices pellet stoves have a significant advantage over more conventional home heating fuels such as natural gas and fuel oil.  The average person needs about 3 tons of wood pellets a year to heat a typical home which only costs about $600 per year. Compare this to heating oil costs which are now starting to run from $400 to $1000 a month during winter and you can see the economic advantage of this approach to heating.