Winter comes back again, and it’s colder than ever before, isn’t it? Snowing, dry air, cold, sickness, and many more fatal diseases also arrive along with winter. So many of our readers ask us the question “What is the best pellet stove on the market today!” Finally, we are going to answer this question.
In this article, our experts will help the newbies to get the best information about a pellet stove so that they can buy the perfect pellet stove for their house/apartment like a pro. Our experts have invested countless hours to find the premium quality pellet stove for household use in order to assist our readers to choose the best one.
What Is Wood Pellet?
Wood Pellets are one kind of biomass fuel that was first used in the late 90, mainly for industrial use only. But now, the use of wood pellets in both residential and industries as fuel has increased tremendously. Now, it is considered one of the best alternatives to wood, coal, oil, and gas.
The raw components of pellets mainly come from furniture and industrial waste. That’s why it is considered one of the most reliable and finest sources of renewable energy. Quality Wood Pellets are basically produced from waste wood, grass, cornstalks and sawmill waste, etc.
Moreover, research shows that pellets are more energy-efficient than wood, burn cleaner than wood, and less costly. One of the main reasons why people are more likely to use wood pellets as they are more eco-friendly than any other fuel source available now. This means wood pellets will help us to reduce our carbon footprint.
The use of wood pellets has increased remarkably in North America and Europe. If you pay a visit to the remote state of North America, you will notice that many families are using pellet fuel instead of burning wood.
WHAT IS A PELLET STOVE?
Pellet stoves burn pellets or compressed wood to produce heat. In a pellet stove, the fuel (wood pellets) is stored in the hopper and a mechanical chain feeds these stored pellets to the burn pot where the actual combustion takes place. The casting of this type of stove is formed of cast iron, steel, or stainless steel so that heat can’t damage it.
Quick Look at Top 5 Best Pellet Stoves 2023
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TOP 6 Best Pellet Stove On The Market
NUMBER #1: COMFORTBILT HP22 PELLET STOVE
Key Features:
- Hopper Capacity: 55 lbs
- Heating Capacity: 50,000 BTU
- Ignition System: Automatic
- Thermal Efficiency: 86%
- EPA Certification: Approved
- Warranty: 1 year
Editors Ratings:
4.8 out of 5
Remarks:
- Best to use in a large size apartment since it has the highest heating capacity.
- Very Impressive Customer Support. Best in their business. Contact them if you encounter some problems with it.
- Wonderful looking stove at a great price.
One of the most innovative features of the Comfortbilt HP22 is that it has the highest heating capacity among our top 5 pellet stoves. With a heating capacity of 50,000 BTU, it can heat an apartment of 2600 sq. ft more effectively than any other wood pellet stove. We observe that most of the users of the stove place their stove in the basement or a place where nobody can see it since they are very bulky and doesn’t look attractive at all. But, it is not the case with this Comfortbilt Pellet Stove. It is a well-built, high-quality, and great-looking pellet stove, although a bit industrial in design, but not in a bad way. Perfect for placing inside our living room or dining room. It will enhance the view of your house and will look like a product of a million dollars.
Nevertheless, the performance of this stove is just awesome and more convenient than a wood stove. It will keep your home warm and toasty this fall & winter, although, costs less than one-third of what you should pay for a conventional heater. The stove is very simple and easy to use and it is completely automatic. You can set this stove on medium or low heat settings if your home or apartment is not too big (less than 2000 sq. ft). Rarely do you need to run it on high heating mode, unless, the weather is very extreme and the outside temperature dropped to -10°C or even lower.
It comes with a large glass door. So, you can see the best view of burning wood pellets although you are staying far away from the stove. Furthermore, the glass stays clean longer than any other stove because it has an air system that keeps the glass clean and cloud-free for more than 12 hours.
This pellet-burning stove is ideal as the main heating source, although, you are living in an extremely cold weather place. You can run it 24/7 for the entire winter season. It is built to last long. It provides consistent warmth, can run for a long time, and warm the room quickly.
Another benefit of the Comfortbilt HP22 is that it’s easy to clean. You only need an ash vacuum cleaner to keep the burn pot and ash drawer clean and ash-free. It will take half an hour to clean the stove. But, wait at least 3 hours to cool it before you start cleaning.
Ash-pan is removable. Therefore, it can be cleaned either by emptying the pan or maybe using a shop vac. One has to do this thing at least twice in the whole season of winter since the ash pan has a very good ash-holding capacity.
This stove needs a 3-inch double-wall vent pipe for releasing residual and toxic gases produced by the stove. You can install this kind of pipe for exhausting the gases through the chimney if it already exists in your house.
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- It doesn’t produce irritating noise
- Easy to maintain
- Ash pan is removable and easy to clean
- Quick, easy, and simple to operate since it has user-friendly control panel and remote
- Very powerful heater
- Very good heating efficiency
- The stove also comes with a one year warranty. During this period, you will get 24/7 customer service and other maintenance services.
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- When we compare the price, this particular stove pellet is relatively expensive.
- It is so powerful that it is not suitable for a small apartment
- Hopper capacity is a little low
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Number #2: Pelpro Pellet Stove PP130-B
Key Features:
- Hopper capacity: 130 lb
- Heating capacity: 50,000 BTU
- Thermal Efficiency: 87%
- Ignition system: Automated
- EPA certification: Approved
- Warranty: 5 years
Editor’s rating:
4.6 out of 5
Remarks:
- Incredible capacity to warm up bigger apartments within the shortest time possible
- Can provides nearly 96 hours of continuous burning performance in the lowest setting
Pelpro is undoubtedly one of the best, if not the only best manufacturers with unprecedented hopper capacity. Their pellet stove PP130-B provides, by all means, the second best hopper capacity of 130 lb on our list. This gives the guarantee that with minimal time spent, you can get the maximum amount of heat.
It has up to 50,000 BTUs input every hour in the highest setting without performance drops. And incredibly enough, it can cover a 2500 square feet house to warm up within a short span of time.
This stove comes with EPA certification for 87.5% thermal efficiency. It takes less fuel, therefore ensuring clean burning of the pellets. The 22.8×24.5×36.5 inches HWD dimensions and 243 pounds of weight may seem a bit heavier to many. But for enough heat and warmth, this is somewhat perfect size.
Interestingly, the regulation process of the provided pellets in this Pelpro is done automatically, so that you don’t need to check the remaining fuel off and on. The ignition system is more than easy. Since the fuel can last up to four days, no extra pressure of fuel replacement and cleaning frequently will be on your shoulder. The ash removal and fuel installation are quite easy to operate.
In this pellet stove, there’s a little chance of overheating since it’s automated and you can control it manually. The warming capacity in it is admirable, for you shall get a convenient temperature in your apartment even at the coldest hour.
The fan of this stove gives a satisfactory performance, producing less noise than usual but providing enough fresh air. With a 5-year Pelpro authenticated warranty and mediocre price range and easy handling capacity, you cannot expect a more flexible stove than this one in the market.
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- Easily manageable, aesthetic looks
- Higher heating capacity, excellent for larger rooms
- Can provide 4 days of incessant warmth
- Fresh air intake and noiseless fan
- Can last longer than others.
- Affordable and at the same time, reliable
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- Have some complaints about vacuum switch
- The customer service has some flaws
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OUR NUMBER #3: CASTLE 12327 SERENITY WOOD PELLET STOVE
Key Features:
- Hopper Capacity: 40 lbs
- Heating Capacity: 31,000 BTU
- Ignition System: Automatic
- Thermal Efficiency: 70%
- EPA Certification: Approved
- Warranty: 1 year
Editors Rating:
4.2 out of 5
Remarks:
Best to use if your apartment is not too big
Looking for the best budget pellet stove for 1500 sq ft or a small/medium-sized apartment or room? Good to say, Castle 12327 will be the one you are looking for. It has the capacity to warm a room or apartment of 1500 Sq.ft. With a clean glass front, you can clearly see the radiant fire glowing inside the unit. Ashes produced by this stove are very easy to clean since the ash pan is very easy to remove.
The Castle 12327 Serenity is the only wood pellet burning stove in our roundup that comes with a smart controller. Although this stove doesn’t turn on and off automatically, its “smart control” allows you to set a timer for it to turn itself off based on your schedule. You can also program it to stop operating up to four times in a 24-hour period.
Castle wood 12327 is one of the most economical pellet stoves on the market. Running this stove on all day at medium heat setting option will expect to use only a 40lbs pellet bag per day. One thing to keep in mind is that the hopper can hold up to 40 pounds of pellets, so you’ll need to refill it every day if you use it daily.
One clear benefit is that it’s easy to maintain because there are mostly large areas inside the unit to vacuum. The lift-out ash pan only takes a few minutes to empty.
Castle 12327 does what it’s meant for. Purchase it if you want no-frills and a consistent stove.
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- The presence of the inbuilt fan makes it easy and possible to regulate the heat temperatures dispersed by the device.
- It has a high level of heat dispersal making it suitable for large rooms or rather any place that is around 15000 square feet.
- It is quite easy to maintain since all you need is to clean the burner and all the inner parts of the stove to avoid ash blockage.
- It is easy to maintain and clean since it is made of sturdy and waterproof materials that do not rust or corrode.
- The device is much better compared to propane stoves since it gives a warm and good spread of heat all through the room and several stairs as well.
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- The device requires a technician to connect it especially if you have no idea of how to go about it.
- The device does not have an auto-off button, and therefore it goes down, and the rated feed goes to the lowest setting in the case where the pellet runs out.
- The stove also sometimes overheats if it is used for long but it is manageable where you need to shut it off for a while.
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NUMBER # 4: PLEASANT HEARTH Pellet Stove
Key Features:
- Hopper Capacity: 120 lbs
- Heating Capacity: 50,000 BTU
- Ignition System: Automatic
- Thermal Efficiency: 82%
- EPA Certification: Approved
- Warranty: 5 Years
Editors Ratings:
4.5 out of 5
Remarks:
It has the highest hopper capacity and design of this stove is very attractive
Pleasant Hearth is a top-notch USA brand that manufactures quality stoves. This is one of the top-class masterpieces of Pleasant Hearth. The large hopper is the main feature of this pellet stove. It comes with 120 lbs hopper which means its hopper capacity is more than double our top pick pellet stove. So, it is able to run around 2-3 days before you replenish the hopper again with wood pellets.
It has an on build computer to control the settings and blower fans. The functionality of three blower fans is very crucial to warm a room most efficiently. We have listed the fans’ names and functionality in a nutshell.
- Exhaust fan. Which is located on exhaust flue.
- Combustion Fan. It uses to blow ambient air inside or around the burn pot for better burning of wood pellets.
- Starter Fan. This one just flows air to start the stove fire. It normally flows air around a glowing electrode.
Coming back to the performance, the Btu rating of the Pleasant Hearth Pellet stove is the same as our top-pick stove. But Pleasant Hearth can’t heat up large space like Comfortbilt as Pleasant Hearth cover only 2200 sq. ft whereas Comfortbilt can cover an area of 2800 sq. ft or even more than that. It is because the thermal efficiency and heat transferring efficiency of Comfortbit are more than Pleasant Hearth.
Pleasant Hearth is one of the best pellet stove brands nowadays. You will get an outside air kit with this pellet-burning stove for free which is worth 60$. So, one may use it in a mobile home also.
Pleasant Hearth is one of the most energy-efficient pellet stoves Which means this stove will save both utility bills and fuel costs. This is one of the main reasons why you should pick this one.
One buyer stated on his feedback on Amazon that he spent thousands of dollars annually when he uses a propane stove to heat up his apartment. One of his colleagues suggests he use a pellet-burning stove. After a week of research, he finally chooses this Pleasant Hearth and things started changing dramatically. He just saved more than $2,000 after switching to pellet stove from a propane stove. Another benefit he mentioned in his review is that he doesn’t need to run his stove at a high temp setting since the lowest setting produced heating up to 67 degrees Fahrenheit which will be enough for normal conditions. Rarely, he needs to use the high-temperature setting.
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- The device is easy to operate
- It is easy to assemble
- Very good blower and works perfectly to distribute the heat around the room
- It is easy to maintain and clean since it is made of sturdy and waterproof materials that do not rust or corrode.
- The presence of the large hopper lessens the number of trips you will need to load the stove hence making it easy to provide continuous heating.
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- The pellet stove requires regular cleaning and maintenance and if you fail to this properly on due time, it may show a negative effect on heating performance.
- You need to spend extra money purchasing and installing a vent pipe
- The stove is not made with a fan for controlling the heat disperse, and therefore you are required to either minimize the temperature set at minimal if it is too high.
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NUMBER #5: Pleasant Hearth Medium Pellet Stove
Key Features:
- Hopper Capacity: 40 lbs
- Heating Capacity: 35,000 BTU
- Ignition System: Automatic
- Efficiency: 80%
- EPA Certification: Approved
Looking for a real wood-burning stove that is affordable but top-notch in quality? You can go for this medium stove of Pleasant Hearth as it is the best small pellet stove for money. The Pleasant Hearth Medium Pellet Stove heats up a 1750 square feet area. This quiet-running stove heats up very well even when it’s on a low setting. This saves energy because you can turn the temperature control setting a quarter of the way up and feel the heat coming from this stove. To raise the heat level, adjust the exhaust air intake. Allow more or less air to facilitate high or low heat. The Pleasant Hearth is visually attractive as well. Its modern and clean design fits in with any decor including traditional interiors.
The main benefit of the Pleasant Hearth is that it automatically turns on and off to keep the room temperature constant and comfortable. You’ll likely save on pellets because the stove runs only when needed.
If you live in high altitude area where the temperature dropped dramatically below zero, a pellet stove that heats up fast like the Pleasant Hearth will always be a good choice.
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- Easy to assemble and use
- You can easily recycle the pellets
- No risk of fire that can be caused by the ash leftovers
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- It will occupy substantial space in your sitting room
- Time-consuming, as they require constant checkup and maintenance
- It is a heavy model
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NUMBER #6: US Stove 4840 Wall Mount Direct Vent Pellet Stove
US Stove 4840 small pellet stove heats up to 1,000 square feet. That means it is only suitable for small size apartments or a big size room. Its most notable feature is that it’s mountable. The US Stove 4840 is very sleek and modern. It resembles a heating furnace more than a fireplace and this makes it perfect for smaller spaces.
Not having to clean the pellet stove on a daily basis is a definite benefit. One buyer stated one can clean ash pot every two days if it’s set on the lowest setting. Another buyer reported they only clean the stove every week.
The lower the setting, the slower the pellets will burn; hence, the time to clean will be more sporadic.
The US Stove 4840 is perfect for a garage, shed, or small home. It’s also a good choice for people living in high altitudes such as 9,000 feet above sea level.
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- Features an excellent and unique design
- It heats or warms a lot of space
- Features a long burn time span
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- Uses a blower, hence increasing the threat of fire
- It is not secure and safe to be used as a floor heater
- Requires constant maintenance
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How to Decide Which Pellet Stove is Best Among Our Top 6 Picks
Installation Ease
Not all pellet stoves are easy to install. Some are very easy to install, and others don’t. Keep in mind if your newly purchased pellet stove is not installed incorrectly, it may not work perfectly and may show many weird problems. In the worst-case scenario, your stove may create tragic accidents and deadly fire hazards because of faulty connection and installation. If you are not experienced in installing a pellet stove and its venting system, you shouldn’t have to take any kind of risk installing it. Rather, it’s a good idea to hire an HVAC expert.
It’s not unusual to have an issue setting up a new pellet stove. There are many customer reviews complaining about either a missing part or issues with tweaking an adjustment on the machine. Don’t panic if you also face such kind of situation. Just contact the dealer/manufacturer via customer care and they will handle this issue.
Heating Capacity
You have to choose a perfect heating appliance that has enough heating capacity to warm your home. To calculate the required heating capacity of your house or apartment, one can use an online BTU calculator. BTU is a very important parameter for choosing the correct pellet stove. We always recommend purchasing a stove that has more heating capacity than your needs.
The Comfortbilt HP22 can heat a home up to 2,800 square feet. The Pleasant Hearth pellet stove heats up areas up to 2,000 square feet. Both this top-class pellet stove is the best for large to medium size apartments.
For smaller and medium-sized spaces, US Stove’s 4840 Wall Mount Direct Vent pellet heater is a great choice. It heats areas up to 1,000 square feet. The Castle 12327 Serenity and Pleasant Hearth Medium are also a great options for small-medium size rooms. They can heat space up to 1,200 square feet.
Price
Pellet stoves are not inexpensive at all. Bring this heating machine at home, one must need to have a good budget (between 1500$-3000$). So, it is not an easy task to find a pellet stove that perfectly matches your budget.
Among our top-pick pellet stoves, Comfortbilt HP22 is the most expensive one since it has the best heating capacity. It will cost around 2000$ to buy a brand new Comfortbilt Pellet Stove.
If you want a cheaper alternative to Comfortbit HP22 then you should go for the Pleasant Hearth. Because they are also a top-notch stove manufacturing brand. They come up at an attractive price tag of around 1300$.
Castle 12327 Serenity is the cheapest of all. It will cost around 1000$ only.
US Stove’s 4840 pellet stove is a perfect example of a pellet stove that is very expensive and comes up with top-notch build quality. The steep $2,000 cost is likely due to the fact that the unit is thin and can be wall-mounted to save space.
Pellet Stove Buying Guides for Beginners and Newbies
How To Choose A Quality Pellet Stove
- Availability of Fuel
First of all, check online or shop whether wood pellets are available in your area or not. If wood pellets are not available in your area or state, the cost of fuel will increase because either you have to import the fuel or you have to buy it at a high price from the importer.
- The Efficiency of the Stove
While purchasing a pellet stove, carefully check the BTU rating of the stove. Usually, the expected BTU output rating of a good quality stove is between 30000 to 50000 BTU. The efficiency rating is approximately 75% to 90%, and it will depend on the manufacturer or brands.
- Size of the Stove
Although the size of a pellet stove is smaller than a wood stove, it needs a considerable amount of space in your house. So before going to buy, make sure you have enough room at the home. The larger the stove the more heat it will produce.
However, for a big size stove, you need a bigger space at home, and also you need to install a vent pipe. So, you have to choose a place where you can place it with a vent pipe.
- The Capacity of Hopper
Purchasing a pellet stove that has limited hopper capacity is always a huge pullback if you need to use the stove more frequently. In that case, one has to fill the hopper more and more repeatedly.
You will find a pellet burning stove with a hopper capacity ranging between 20-50 pounds.
A large hopper can hold 50 pounds of pellets. A small pellet stove can store 20-28 pounds of pellets. So you have to refill the hopper twice a day if your hopper size is small.
- The Capacity of the Ash Pan
A significant ash pan will make it easy to clean the ashes pretty quickly.
- Transparent and Self Cleaning Glass
It is hard to clean the glass of the pellet stove as the glass becomes clouded with carbon. Therefore, you must choose one that has a self-cleaning glass feature.
- With or Without Temperature Control
It will be good for you if you choose a pellet stove that comes with a variable temperature control system. So, you can use it in both mild and freezing temperatures.
- Pellet Stove vs. Pellet Stove Insert
If your house or apartment already has a built-in fireplace then you have to go for pellet stove insert. Otherwise, always go for the pellet stove.
- Outside Air Kit
The experimental result shows that an outside air kit improves the efficiency of the pellet stove. This air kit uses the air or outside of the house. This also reduces the draft and pollution of air in the room.
- Is Your Area Pollution Free Zone?
If so, we suggest you buy an electric fireplace. Although the amount is little, pellet stove emits carbon dioxide. In some areas, it is extremely prohibited to use something that produces carbon. Check it out if your area has a kind of restriction on carbon footprint.
- Consider BTU Rating
You can’t choose a perfect pellet stove that can heat your whole room without knowing the appropriate BTU you need to warm your home or apartment. You can use an online BTU calculator if you don’t have any knowledge of how to calculate the BTU.
- Automatic vs. Manual Ignition Stove
You don’t need to light wood pellets to start a pellet stove if your pellet stove has an automatic ignition feature. Otherwise, you need to light the pellet to start it.
- Location of the Pellet Stove
The placement of a pellet stove is crucial. It is better to place a pellet stove where you need warm most or expend most of the time.
If you bought a pellet stove that has a high heating capacity to warm a large area, you have to buy the best wood stove fan to circulate the hot air more effectively.
- Top Feed Hopper Vs Bottom Feed Hopper
Criteria of Discussion | Top Feed Hopper | Bottom Feed Hopper |
Chances of catching fire in the hopper | very little chance as the pellets are fed from the top of the stove | The chances of finding fire are very high |
The grade of pellets needed | Premium grade pellets | Lower-grade pellets can be used. |
Efficiency | Greater efficiency | Lower than the top feed hopper pellet stove |
BENEFITS OF WOOD PELLETS
Eco-Friendly
Wood pellets emit lesser carbon compared to other fuels. A report by the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) stated that the combustion per ton of pellets reduces 1.5 tons of CO2 emission, compared to burning the same quantity of oil.
Cost-Efficient
A typical four-person family burns 3 tons of pellets in the winter season. The value of this amount of wood pellets is around $825. That indicates it will cost only $69 per month.
On the other hand, the average price of a gallon of oil and propane is around $2.05 and $3.00 respectively. With one gallon of propane maximum, you can run a fireplace for an hour. So, if you run your propane fireplace for 6 hours, it will cost 18$ in a single day that’s really expensive.
High Combustion Efficiency
The direct thermal conversion efficiency of pellets is approximately 80%.
Energy Information Administration (EIA) substantiated that direct thermal conversion of 3 million tons of pellets is equivalent to 356 million gallons of oil.
The energy of one-ton wood pellets is equilibrium to 2.8 barrels of fuel oil.
The ratio of net energy output and fossil energy used is called the fossil energy ratio. An experiment of the University of Wisconsin Green Bay calculates that the fossil energy ratio of wood pellets is equal to 12:1.
Easy to Use
Pellets are easy to use. You don’t have to cut them like wood as they are very tiny like bullets. Furthermore, they are dustless and barkless, so the home will not become dirty.
Convenient/Easy to Store
You can easily store wood pellets in your house. There is no risk of insects and rats attacking. So it’s safe to store it in an apartment and outside.
Renewable
Pellets are mainly composed of waste wood materials. Thus, this is an excellent source of renewable energy, and many countries including the USA are promoting the use of pellets for residential and industrial purposes.
Safe
Pellets are produced from biomass without using any chemicals. In that sense, there is no chance of blast or leak or poisoning.
Sustainability
The ash that produces from pellets can be reused as fertilizer to grow the plants.
PROS OF WOOD PELLET STOVE
Easy to Use
The Pellet stove is very easy to use, and the control is effortless. You can control the temperature by remote control or by using the control system manually. Some models can be controlled with a mobile app via a simple text code.
High Efficiency
The efficiency of a pellet stove is more than a traditional fireplace. The efficiency is 80%-90% and sometimes more than that.
Environment-Friendly
This stove is environment-friendly. It produces less carbon dioxide and less ash than any other fireplace available.
Infrequent Stocking
Wood pellets burn slowly. So, if the size of the hopper is big enough then you need to refill the hopper every two days.
Fuel Cost is Low
You don’t have to expend a huge amount on wood pellets as we said earlier they are not costly like oil or gas.
Easy to Place
Pellet stoves are small in size, and they are compact. So you can decorate and place a pellet stove anywhere in your house.
DRAWBACK OF PELLETS STOVE
- The price of a pellet stove is a little bit more costly than an electric or infrared heater. However, if you think about the kind qualities like eco-friendly, low fuel cost, etc., it will be worth the price.
- The maintenance of a pellet-burning stove is a little bit hard. You have to clean the ash box and refill the hopper regularly.
- It creates ash if you use low-quality pellets on your stove.
- Pellets are not available in some areas. So they have to buy it at a little high price.
- The pellet burning stove is a little bit noisy. It is not a very big deal for anyone who buys it.
WOOD STOVE VS. PELLET STOVE: WHICH IS THE BEST
Price Comparison
A standard model of wood pellet stove can cost around 3000$-4000$ including free professional installation. If you buy a premium model, it will cut 5000$ from your pocket.
On the other hand, pellet stove reviews show that they can cost 1500$-3000$, and if you buy installation and other safety equipment, it can expend an extra 1000$-2000$ from your bank.
Energy Consumption
The wood stove needs only wood as fuel. It doesn’t require any electricity to operate.
Pellet stove consumes both fuel energy and electrical energy to work it properly. You have to pay extra electricity bills to operate both the auger system and blower fan.
Emission of Gases
Wood stoves produce a high level of smoke and gases than pellet stoves. If the wood is burned, it emits 0.00612 pounds per kilowatt-hour of carbon dioxide.
Statistics show that pellets are much greener than wood as it emits a lesser amount of smoke (0.0035 pounds per kilowatt-hour) compared to wood.
Safety
Poking the woods burning in a wood stove creates spark fire which is very dangerous. Because there is a huge chance of fire hazard if the spark comes out from the stove all of a sudden.
On the other side, wood pellets burn clean and don’t create dangerous fire sparks like a wood stove. Furthermore, the fire-rated glass door works as a fire shield.
Maintenance
Both stoves need regular maintenance like cleaning the stove, hopper, and ash pan. You need to clean these things at least 2 times a week.
In the case of a wood stove, this maintenance is extremely hard as wood doesn’t burn clean like pellets. They produce ashes to a great extent. So, you need to clean it more frequently.
Another crucial part of a stove that needs constant maintenance is known as the chimney. Luckily, the pellet stove doesn’t need a big chimney system like a wood stove. So, the venting system needs less maintenance.
But, for a wood stove, sometimes you have to inspect the chimney and catalytic combustor 3-5 times a year during the winter season. If you face some problems, you have to hire a professional in this field.
Major Components Of Pellet Stove
- Hopper:
Hopper is the mechanical part of a pellet stove; it uses to store pellet fuels for the stove. Typically, hoppers of a classic pellet stove are made of cast iron or steel material.
- Mechanical Auger
A long spiral leased with tube metal and that spiral connected with a motor. This total motorized chain system works to pass the pellets in the burn pot automatically. Obviously, this system utilizes electric power.
Some pellet stove doesn’t have a built-in auger system. One needs to replenish wood pellets in the burn pot with your hand if your stove missing an auger system. It is quite tough to refill the burn pot at midnight. You will probably sleep at that time.
- Blower Fan
Usually, two blower fans are employed in a pellet stove. They are used for different purposes. One is known as a combustion fan which accelerates the lighting process of pellets.
Another type of fan known as a convection fan works to convey the heat outside of the burn pot.
- Fire Box
It consists of two components: burn pot and ash collection system. Fire Box is a crucial element of the pellet stove.
- Controller
Several electrical types of equipment are used like vacuum switches, heat sensors, and igniters in a pellet stove.
- Burn Pot
The actual combustion of pellets takes place in this burn pot.
- Ash Collector
A small size drawer in the bottom of the burn pot is used to accumulate the ash produced in the burn pot.
ADDITIONAL PARTS YOU MAY NEED FOR SAFETY AND HIGH PERFORMANCE
- CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTOR
Sometimes the venting system of pellet stove stopped working and you didn’t notice it either. This will create a deadly situation as deadly gas like carbon monoxide starts gathering in your home or apartment. You can purchase a carbon monoxide detector to avoid this kind of circumstance. It will alert you whenever carbon level starts increasing. It will cost only 20$-30$.
- FIRE EXTINGUISHER
It will help you to turn out the fire if the fire of the stove becomes out of control.
- SMOKE DETECTOR
This device will alert you to some sound if any heavy smoke is detected in the room.
Hot air usually tends to stick on the ceiling. So, the heat produced in a wood pellet stove is not distributed equally all around. To ensure fast and equal distribution of heat across the whole room, you should use a heat powered wood stove fan.
You can use a quality air circulator fan if you don’t want to buy a stove fan. But it will not work as effectively as a stove fan and they will increase your utility bill. Wood stove fan doesn’t need electricity to run as they generate mechanical power to rotate the blades utilizing the heat produced by stove.
We suggest you first examine your home without a stove fan and check out carefully it circulates the hot air with an oscillating fan available at your house. After that, make a decision about whether you have to buy a stove fan or not.
FAQs
1. Do I Need Electricity to Run a Pellet Stove?
Seeing a wood pellet stove for the first time you may think they run on only pellets. But, actually, it requires very little electricity to operate some of the necessary parts of the stove.
- Hopper needs electricity to move the pellets to the combustion chamber. The power is actually consumed by the spiral delivery chute.
- To distribute the hot air produced by the wood pellet stove, a fan is integrated into a pellet stove. This fan runs on electricity.
These are the main parts of the pellet stove that consume power. The good news is the amount of consumption of power is not huge. You can expect a good quality pellet stove to use 2-3 watts.
2. What is BTU?
BTU stands for British Thermal Unit, and it is one of the classic units of heat. At present, this unit is also a part of the United States Customary Unit. BTU is defined as how much heat is required to increase the temperature of one pone of normal water by 1°F. Heat is considered as energy and we know the SI unit of energy is Joule. One BTU is equal to 1055 Joule.
3. How to Maintain a Pellet Stove?
The maintenance task of a pellet stove can be classified into the four-time period – daily, weekly, periodic, and annual. Let take a look at the details:
Daily Maintenance Tasks:
- Check if dust and bark are accumulated in the hopper.
- Monitor inside the burn pot to ensure that the air inlets are clean or not.
Weekly Maintenance Tasks:
- Check the ash drawer and clean it using an ash vacuum cleaner. You may need to check it twice not once in a week.
Periodic Maintenance Tasks:
- Clean the burn pot whenever you notice ash and soot build up in it.
- Clean the glass whenever it becomes dirty and cloudy
- Cleaning a heat exchanger is very difficult because some models offer easy access to it and others don’t. If you can’t check it easily then you should hire a professional.
Annual Maintenance Tasks:
- Hire a professional and check the whole pellet stove once in a year to ensure the entire system is operating properly or not.
4. Are Pellet Stoves Safe?
We have compared pellet stoves with other types of stoves and finally come to a decision that they are the safest of them all. Here are some reasons why we are saying this:
- A good quality pellet stove comes up with automatic shutdown features which help to shut it down if the burn rate and temperature of the stove are raised to the usual value.
- The most pellet stove has a pressure switch that shuts down feeding pellets if the front door is open.
- The exhaust sensing probe is the most important safety part of the pellet stove. It detects the temperature and shut down the stove when the temp reaches an abnormal value.
So, we can say that the best wood pellet stove offers more sensors and devices to ensure safety.
5. How Does Pellet Stove Works?
Pellet stoves convert electrical energy into heat energy. When the pellet stove is connected to a standard electrical outlet, the stove starts to operate. All you have to keep pellets in the hopper. Hopper is specially made to store wood pellet that you wanna burn in the pellet stove.
Auger is also a part of the hopper and connected to it. Auger is actually nothing but a long spiral chain that works to feed the pellets in the hopper to the combustion chamber mechanically. The slower the auger speed, lower the heat output will be.
The combustion chamber holds a fire pot where the actual burning of the pellet stove takes place. A blower fan supplies air into the firepot to maintain fire constantly. This fan is normally found at the bottom of the combustion chamber.
The hot air produced by the burning of pellet fuels in the pellet stove transfer to the heat exchanger which is connected to the combustion chamber. Here you may find two different fans. One helps to force the exhaust gasses to pass through the chimney and another helps to distribute hot air in the room from the heat exchanger.
6. How to Clean a Pellet Stove?
Cleaning a pellet stove is not very easy. Because it has many parts and you need to clean almost every part as most of the parts have to deal with ash and heat. You have to clean the hopper, ash pot, burn pot, heat exchanger, venting pipe, and many more. We have discussed the cleaning procedure in detail in another article. You can read it here.
Final Thought
It is very difficult to find the best pellet stove for your home if you don’t have any knowledge about it. Because there is only a few top-notch pellet-burning stove available in an online marketplace like Amazon, eBay, and Home Depot. Since this type of heating device is very costly, you can’t though your money away on experimenting. You must have to buy the top-quality pellet stove that is available. After years of experiment and the use of different pellet stove models, you finally come to a decision that Comfortbilt HP22 Pellet Stove is the best comparing overall features like heating capacity, build quality, price, and heat transfer capacity. So, you can definitely purchase it if you are looking beautiful and elegant-looking real fire stove at your place.
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I’ve been wanting to get some good pellet stove options for my dad. He’s wanted to get a pellet stove, and getting one for him would be nice. I’m going to have to check out some of the pellet stoves you mentioned and see what we can find!