Chimney Care Company's Blog
The Convenience and Savings of a Pellet Stove
You may have heard a lot lately about pellet stoves as they have become a top choice in heating systems for homes over the past few years. The first pellet stove came on the market in 1930, and since then pellet stoves have gone through many changes, going from a large, boxy, workhorse design to a smaller decorative heating appliance to be used in residential homes. Since the heating industry has moved towards heating systems based on efficient combustible and renewable resources in the past 10 years, pellet stoves have seen a great resurgence, and The Chimney Care Company has been asked many questions about these stoves. We’re here to provide you with some of the more commonly asked questions we receive and the answers we’ve supplied.
WHAT IS A PELET STOVE? WHAT ARE PELLETS?
Convenient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly, a pellet stove is a sophisticated electronic appliance that gives you an economic and eco-friendly heating option for your house. Pellet stoves are fueled by wood pellets, which are made from recycled sawdust, wood shavings, and the other scrap pieces that have been swept up off the floors of sawmills. Cheap and easy to manufacture, wood pellets are compact, resembling rabbit food, and environmentally friendly because they have a very low pollution rate.
HOW MANY TYPES OF PELLET STOVE ARE AVAILABLE?
There are two different types: freestanding and insert stoves. You can get an insert if you have an existing fireplace, and one of our expert technicians at The Chimney Care Company will install it into the firebox and vent it through your chimney. If you do not have a fireplace, you can go with a freestanding stove with its own exhaust pipe.
ARE DIFFERENT STYLES AND OPTIONS AVAILABLE?
Available in all sorts of sizes, shapes, styles and colors, you are sure to find the perfect pellet stove for your home, no matter your taste. As for options, you can go with the standard model or with the super deluxe version with a programmable, controlled feeder and a remote control thermostat. Our staff at The Chimney Care Company would love to show you our wide variety of pellet stoves available. Other options include the hopper location, heat output levels, and manual or automatic ignition.
WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF HAVING A PELLET STOVE?
The advantages and benefits of a pellet stove far outweigh the disadvantages of an open wood burning fireplace. Pellet stoves are easy to operate, convenient, environmentally friendly, and safer, as they give off less smoke and creosote. They give off far greater efficiency of heat allowing you to use your centralized heating unit less to heat your home. This lowers your heating bills and reduces harmful emissions. In addition, the fuel—the pellets—are inexpensive and easy to store and usually made from recycled materials, such as unused sawdust.
One disadvantage of a pellet stove is that it runs on electricity, so you will need to prepare for alternative heating sources in case of a power outage. Another disadvantage is that you might need to buy your fuel in advance for the season and keep it in a safe dry place as pellet fuel is not available everywhere. Pellet stoves and heating systems are becoming more popular and pellet fuel is becoming more available in more places everyday.
We hope you’ve found this information to be beneficial in your decision making process. If you have other pellet stove related questions, please don’t hesitate to come by the showroom and discuss your heating options with the professionals at The Chimney Care Company today. Our knowledgeable staff will be more than happy to answer your questions!
All About Pellet Stoves
Opt for a clean-burning, safer, and cheaper heating system — a pellet stove.
Looking for an economical way to burn wood? A pellet stove is recommended by the US Department of Energy as a cleaner-burning and more efficient way to heat your home. What exactly is a pellet stove? Our knowledgeable staff at Chimney Care Company., as well as the Department of Energy, are happy to explain exactly what a pellet stove is, its benefits, and how you can enjoy this environmentally-friendly and cost-conscious method of heating your house.
What is a pellet stove?
According to the US Department of Energy, a pellet stove is an appliance that burns compacted pellets made of wood or other organic materials, like nutshells, corn kernels, and small wood chips. More convenient to use than wood-burning stoves, pellet stoves are also the cleanest solid fuel heating appliance on the market, with EPA-certified units boasting efficiency ratings of 70 to 80% and heating capacities of a range between 8,000 to 90,000 BTUs an hour.
How do you operate a pellet stove?
Equipped with every pellet stove is a fuel hopper, which will hold about a day’s worth a fuel at a time. A feeder device drops a few pellets at a time into the burner, and the rate of speed the pellets are fed into the burner determines the heat output. Exhaust gases are vented through a small flue pipe out the roof or an exterior wall. At Chimney Care Company, we have pellet stove models with a small computer and thermostat that control the feed rate automatically.
Is the fuel inexpensive and easy to store?
Sold in 40-pound bags for three or four dollars a piece or a ton for about $180 to $250, most homeowners who use a pellet-fueled appliance as their main source of heat use two to three tons of pellet fuel a year, much cheaper than any electric, oil, or propane-fueled appliance. As for storage, two tons sounds like (and is) a lot, but you do not have to buy all of your pellet fuel at once. Also, the pellets are very compressed and do not take up a lot of space. Compare the space taken up by firewood or propane tanks.
What are the drawbacks to pellet stoves?
More complex with expensive components that can always break down, pellet stoves must be cleaned weekly by the homeowner and annually by a professional. Also, these stoves require electricity to operate fans, feeders, and controls, so if your power goes out in a winter storm, you will be without heat in your home, unless you have a back-up power supply. Under normal usage, pellet stoves consume approximately nine dollars of electricity per month.
If you are interested in a pellet stove, contact Chimney Care Company today to schedule an appointment to come in and look at all of the pellet stove options we have for you. We are happy to answer any more questions you might have about this economical, clean-burning heating system.