Wood Pellet Stoves: Great Heat And Easy Maintenance

As many people become aware of energy considerations, they are looking at alternative forms of heating as backup to the traditional one of oil and gas or even as a compete replacement to these sources of energy. Among the alternative forms of heating is the wood pellet stove. Due to the fact that they use a renewable energy source, make little or no smoke, and can run automatically with very little need for maintenance, these appliances have surged in popularity in recent years. This article will look at the pros and cons of buying a wood pellet stove and what you need to think about before buying one.

The stoves, as the name suggests, use wood pellets, but the pellets are not like wood chips, but are actually made from sawdust. This means they are a material which mostly would have been discarded by sawmills, and so using them for heating is a plus point with environmentalists. The pellets are easy to buy, being available from most hardware stores. They leave very little ash after burning, and so makes a wood pellet stove very easy to keep clean.

Pellet Stove Vent

One of the big advantages is that a pellet stove makes very little smoke, since almost all the material is completely burned. This provides the added advantage that the chimney of a wood pellet stove does not become particularly hot, and so there is no need for the flue to be placed inside a traditional masonry or stone chimney. A pellet stove can be installed in most rooms, and needs just a narrow vent to remove the small amount of smoke produced.

For people who dislike maintenance, a pellet stove is great on two counts. One is that there is very little ash to clean away since most of the combustible material is burned away, though the amount of ash depends on the grade of the pellets. The other plus point is that most pellet stoves can be fully automated. All that is needed is to press the start button and then leave the stove to do its work.

Pellet Stove Hopper

A hopper will automatically feed pellets into the stove when fuel is running low, and stoves fitted with a thermostat will keep the room at a preset temperature, burning just enough pellets to achieve that.

A downside to a pellet stove is that it does need electricity to function. If there is a power cut the stove will simply stop working. However, this can be avoided by having a backup electricity generator, usually of a 1000W, and there are tests taking place to produce battery packs to fulfill the same function.

All in all, as an alternative form of heating wood pellet stoves have a lot going for them. With their clean combustion, lack of smoke, lack of ash to be cleaned and fully automatic working, they are worth consideration for someone who wants to cut down on their reliance on other sources of heat.