Are you familiar with pellet stoves and inserts? Pellet stoves provide a cost-effective heating solution for homeowners especially within cold climates, where more than one-third of the annual cost for utilities goes toward heating. These appliances are the result of smart innovation. They provide the look of a wood stove but perform much more like a modern furnace. Let’s learn a little bit more about this unknown appliance.
What is a Pellet Stove or Insert?
Pellet stoves and pellet inserts burn wood but in the form of small, highly compact pellets, made of milled wood byproducts, that burn with a great efficiency. Pellets are mechanically fed from a hopper into a burn pot area, keeping a constant flame going that requires almost no manual adjustments. The efficiency factor of a pellet stove can be as high as 85%, which is far superior to the efficiency of wood fireplaces, wood inserts, and EPA wood stoves.
Environmentally Friendly
For any homeowner who is interested in choosing heating methods that are environmentally friendly, there are no better appliances than pellet stoves and pellet inserts. The fuel is made from material that would otherwise be thrown out with the trash, if not used to make wood pellets. Wood pellets are 2 cm to 3 cm long and are made with sawdust as well as wood and bark chips. Very little ash is produced in a pellet stove. The pellets are a bit less efficient when too much bark is used in the making of the pellets, and you can recognize the presence of excess bark by higher production of ash from the flames.
The efficiency with which the pellets are burned is remarkable. A big part of the reason the pellets burn so completely is the overall design of pellet stoves and pellet inserts. These appliances are widely accepted because of the small amount of smoke they produce.
Cost-Cutting
Your utility costs will be cut considerably when using a pellet stove or insert to heat your home in the winter. How? What sets pellet stoves apart from traditional wood stoves and fireplaces is its heat convection feature. Air passes through heat exchangers tubes located on top of the combustion chamber and warms up rapidly before going into the room. The ventilation system then spreads the warm air into the room. This mechanism creates a more even heat which turns into lower heating needs.
Convenient
Unlike traditional wood requiring several steps in preparation including some inconveniences such as bugs, wood pellets are available in 40-pound bags which can be neatly stacked. They must be kept dry. Other than that, heating your home with a pellet stove is about as simple as pouring pellets into the hopper. Whereas fireplaces and wood stoves should be closely monitored, for safety reasons, pellet stoves require much less oversight and produces heat over long hours as long as you have pellets inside your hopper. Remember to order this fuel as early as April to avoid supply shortage.
Additional convenient features of pellet stoves:
- Pellet stoves don’t take up as much space as traditional wood stoves.
- Pellet stoves are easy to install, when compared to wood stoves.
For installation, a standard 3” diameter pellet chimney pipe works or, if your chimney has to go up over 12 feet, 4”diameter pipe is recommended.
Stylish
There are many beautiful styles of pellet stoves to choose from. Pellet inserts are made to fit into an existing wood-burning fireplace, and inserts also have aesthetic appeal. The only sacrifice, as far as appearance, with a pellet stove is that the flames are intense and nowhere near the lazy, relaxing crackling wood fire.
For more information, please contact your local WE LOVE FIRE dealer. Our FAQS section also contains several relevant information on the subject.
Auburn, ALTop Hat Chimney Sweeps 1280 Financial Ct. Auburn, AL 36830 |  | Visit Store Page |
Elk Grove, CACustom Fireside Shops 9097 Elk Grove Blvd. Elk Grove, CA 95624 |  | Visit Store Page |
Sacramento, CACustom Fireside Shops 5455 Auburn Blvd. Sacramento, CA 95841 |  | Visit Store Page |
Durango, CODurango Outdoor Living 140 Rock Point Drive Durango, CO 81301 |  | Visit Store Page |
Durango, COFour Corner Stoves & Spas 3001 Main Avenue Durango, CO 81301 |  | Visit Store Page |
Grand Junction, COStove Depot and Chimney Works 330 North Ave. Grand Junction, CO 81501 |  | Visit Store Page |
New London, CTFamily Hearth and Patio LLC 571 Broad Street New London, CT 06320 |  | Visit Store Page |
Ridgefield, CTYankee Doodle, Inc. 71 Ethan Allen Highway Ridgefield, CT 06877 |  | Visit Store Page |
Dover, DEByler's Stove Shoppe Inc. 1368b Rose Valley School Rd. Dover, DE 19904 |  | Visit Store Page |
Destin, FLDoodlebuggers Service Network 36054 Emerald Coast Parkway Destin, FL 32541 | | |
Bettendorf, IAFireplaces Plus, Inc. 1745 State Street Bettendorf, IA 52722 |  | Visit Store Page |
Post Falls, IDQuality Stoves & Home Furnishings 569 N Syringa St Post Falls, ID 83854 | | |
Rockford, ILAdvanced Chimney Systems, Inc. 3486 Lonergan Drive Rockford, IL 61109 |  | Visit Store Page |
Wauconda, ILGrass Roots Energy, Inc. 28751 N Route 12 Wauconda, IL 60084 |  | Visit Store Page |
Evansville, INFiremaster, Inc. 5300 E Morgan Avenue Evansville, IN 47715 | | |
Jeffersonville, INOlde Towne Chimney & Fireplace Sales 915 Nachand Ln Jeffersonville, IN 47130 |  | Visit Store Page |
Overland Park, KSKansas City Fireplace Center 10470 Metcalf Avenue Overland Park, KS 66212 |  | Visit Store Page |
Erlanger, KYTateBuilder's Supply, LLC 3511 Dixie Highway Erlanger, KY 41018 |  | Visit Store Page |
Littleton, MAWoodstove, Fireplace and Patio Shop, Inc. 60 White Street Littleton, MA 01460 |  | Visit Store Page |
Seekonk, MAThe Fireplace Showcase 775 Fall River Ave Seekonk, MA 02771 |  | Visit Store Page |
Sudbury, MAWoodstove, Fireplace and Patio Shop, Inc. 348 Boston Post Road Sudbury, MA 01776 |  | Visit Store Page |
Duluth, MNDuluth Stove & Fireplace 2431 W Superior Street Duluth, MN 55806 |  | Visit Store Page |
Minneapolis, MNWoodland Stoves & Fireplaces 2901 Franklin Ave. South Minneapolis, MN 55406 | | |
Oakdale, MNEnergy Savers of Minnesota 6298 Highway 36 Blvd N Oakdale, MN 55128 |  | Visit Store Page |
Rochester, MNBrekke Fireplace Shoppe 1904 S. Broadway Rochester, MN 55904 |  | Visit Store Page |
Walker, MNWilkening Fireplace Company 9608 State 371 NW Walker, MN 56484 |  | Visit Store Page |
Fargo, NDHome Heating, Plumbing & A/C Inc. 701 28th Street South Fargo, ND 58103 | | |
Omaha, NEFireplace By Design 13913 R Plaza Omaha, NE 68137 | | |
Epping, NHThe Stove Shoppe 285, Calef Highway Rte. 125 Epping, NH 03042 | | |
Windham, NHThe Stove Shoppe 25 Indian Rock Road Windham, NH 03087 | | |
Hamilton, NJBowden's Fireside - Hearth & Home 1731 Nottingham Way Hamilton, NJ 08619 |  | Visit Store Page |
Voorhees, NJRettinger Fireplace Systems, Inc. 476 Centennial Blvd Voorhees, NJ 08043 |  | Visit Store Page |
St. Henry, OHBuschur's Refrigeration, Inc. 541 N Eastern Avenue St. Henry, OH 45883 |  | Visit Store Page |
Media, PAChimney Cricket 101 State Road Media, PA 19063 |  | Visit Store Page |
Rapid City, SDHebron Brick Company 1543 Deadwood Ave Rapid City, SD 57709 |  | Visit Store Page |
Sioux Falls, SDHebron Brick Company 2211 W. 50th Street Sioux Falls, SD 57105-6525 |  | Visit Store Page |
Vermillion, SDKalin's Indoor Comfort Inc. 710 Cottage Avenue Vermillion, SD 57069 |  | Visit Store Page |
Manassas, VAWinston's Chimney Service 11301 Industrial Road Manassas, VA 20109 |  | Visit Store Page |
Barre, VTChimney Sweep Fireplace Shop 1284 US Rte, 302 Ste 10 Barre, VT 05641-2317 |  | Visit Store Page |
Bennington, VTFriends of The Sun 126 Hicks Avenue Bennington, VT 05201 |  | Visit Store Page |
Manchester, VTFriends of The Sun 159 Depot Street Manchester, VT 05255 |  | Visit Store Page |
Shelburne, VTChimney Sweep Fireplace Shop 3113 Shelburne Road Shelburne, VT 05482 |  | Visit Store Page |
White River Jnct, VTHome Comfort of New England 1255 VA Cut Off Road White River Jnct, VT 05001 |  | Visit Store Page |
Burlington, WIBurlington Fireplace & Heating LLC 857 Milwaukee Ave. Burlington, WI 53105 |  | Visit Store Page |
Madison, WITop Hat 5117 Verona Rd Madison, WI 53711 |  | Visit Store Page |
Morgantown, WVRustic By Design 709 Beechurst Ave. Suite 15 Morgantown, WV 26505 | | |
Laramie, WYHigh Country Stoves & Fireplaces 860 N. 3rd Street Laramie, WY 82072 | | |
7 Responses