Pellet stoves are an excellent choice for those looking for an efficient and cost-effective way to heat their homes. On average, a pellet stove will generate enough heat to warm a 3 bedroom house for 25% less than a conventional wood stove, making it a great option for those looking to save money on their heating costs.
Essential factors while choosing the best pellet stove
Understanding how much heat is produced by the pellet stove and ventilation requirements are the key to buying the best stove for the home. Learn more about this and other essential attributes of the pellet stove in front.
Pellet stove type
Three types of pellet stoves are free-standing, wall installation, and insert.
• Freestanding: So far is the most common type of pellet stove. A stainless pellet stove consists of solid steel and cast boxes on a base or four legs. Because it stands free, this type of pellet stove can be placed anywhere in a room and requires only a few inches from adjacent walls. In addition to providing heat, the stove standing freely adds to the rural charm of the room decoration.
• Mountable: wall pellets stoves, much less than standing free, functioning as additional heaters for houses in a cooler climate. The wall mount pellet stove sticks to the wall, saving floor space. While the stable pellet stove has a rustic appearance, more mounting models are helpful, with plain front panels and only small windows to see flames.
• Insert: Pellet stove inserts into the existing fireplace, converting wood fireplace into an efficient pellet combustion unit.
BTU ranking
The heat output of the pellet stove is expressed in BTU (British Thermal Unit), which measures the heat and thermal effect generated by the stove. Most pellet stoves have between 20,000 and 48,000 BTU, enough to heat between 1,500 and 2,400 square feet.
Type of pellets and hopper capacity
The pellet stove burns hardwood pellets, which are put into the stove’s firebox through a motorized hopper. The hopper capacity determines how long the pellet stove can burn before it requires a refill. The most hopper holds between 30 and 50 pounds of hardwood pellets, which can supply up to about 35 hours of burning time at low regulation. Barefoot Pellets are a combination of 100% hardwoods that are made from 100% natural, recycled, renewable sawmill residue, and made in the maximum quality control levels, leading to premium-grade pellets. A stove with a large hopper can hold 100 pounds or more and run for days before it requires more fuel.
Pellets come in two classes: premium levels with ash content below 1 percent; and standard levels with higher ash content between 1 and 3 percent. Premium-level pellets burn longer and produce less ash than standard-level varieties.
Energy efficiency
Pellet stoves are certified and approved by the Environmental Protection Environment (EPA) – the most recommended purchases – usually have an efficiency between 70 percent and 83 percent. The percentage illustrates the heat created by the stove that provides warmth to a room versus the amount lost through a chimney. For example, a 75 percent efficient pellet stove will lose 25 percent of its heat through combustion, usually through stove ventilation.
Temperature regulator
The stove thermostat pellet collects air from the room, then adjusts the airflow to the stove and the amount of fuel the hopper sends to the firebox.
The temperature control on the pellet stove varies. The upper-class model has a digital control that allows users to set a specific temperature; some are even equipped with remote control. The lower class model has an analog button with low and high settings rather than particular settings.
Electric or non-electric
The electric pellet stove uses a mechanical hopper powered by electricity to produce a constant fuel supply to the firebox, which means you have to be near an electric connection. Non-electric pellet stoves use gravitational feeders to send pellets to the firebox or ask users to load the pellets to the stove firebox.
Ventilation requirements
The pellet stove produces emissions that the stove must release out of the house through a chimney equipped with a 3 -inch exhaust port and 2 -inch air intake for the proper ventilation. Follow this guideline when venting discharge:
• The flow must extend from the stove outside the house through a stone or external chimney on the outer wall.
• Flow must maintain a distance of at least 3 inches from flammable materials when moving through the house.
• After leaving the house, the chimney must extend far enough above the roof line so that the muffler does not float back to the house.
In addition to exhaust ventilation, the pellet stove has air intake ventilation that supplies the combustion chamber with sufficient oxygen. This case requires additional components to connect ventilation out of the house. Suppose the intake ventilation takes perspective directly from the surrounding room. In that case, the space may require ventilation of external wall air to prevent the stove from reducing oxygen levels in the room.
Easy to clean
The pellet stove produces less ash and chaos than the fireplace that burns wood, but they still need cleaning. A Pellet stove that is easy to clean has a fireplace and ash pan to be removed and discarded, making it simpler to clean than this model without this feature. Some pellet stoves have an air washing system that continues to attract air over the window to help keep the smoke and gas from glass.
