The Benefits of Using a Pellet Stove
Pellet stoves were invented in the 1980s and have recently gained much popularity. These are electric stoves that use small pellets of recycled sawdust as their source of fuel. There are many advantages of using pellet stoves. Here is a short list:
- Pellet stoves are relatively safer for families with children compared to traditional wood stoves. They use convective heat so the outlet at the back or top of a unit stays cool to the touch. This also means that a masonry chimney is not necessary. If you have one, however, you can use it. If not, you can just install your pellet stove anywhere as long as a metal flue or liner can be placed out of the roof or through the wall.
- Pellet stoves pose a lower risk of damaging their surrounding environments and furniture compared to traditional wood stoves. They don’t require a big installation space like what you need with other types of stoves. Furthermore, they only need as little as a three-inch space from combustible surfaces, depending on the model that you have.
- Pellet stoves may be horizontally vented through walls or anywhere in your home. Since these stoves are power vented, they can be placed almost anywhere, be it through a wall, into a free masonry chimney, or through the ceiling. The only requirement is that the vertical chimney should be at least three feet.
- Pellet stoves are very convenient to use and maintain. Unlike in a traditional wood stove wherein you have to chop wood every now and then to feed to it, pellet stoves don’t require their pellets to be prepared in any way. Thus, by using a pellet stove, you’re making the process of heating up your homes less of a hassle.
- Pellet stoves use pellets as their primary source of fuel. These pellets can be made out of recycled materials, wood, peanut shells, corn, sawdust, and other sustainable and renewable materials. By recycling these materials, they are saved from being dumped in landfills to be left for no other use or from being incinerated in the burners of wood and sawmills. Furthermore, pellets are manufactured without the use of harmful chemicals. The raw materials are merely compressed at very high temperatures and no glue or any other type of chemicals binds them together.
- Pellet stoves burn fuel more efficiently compared to wood stoves. Most of the pellet stoves out in the market are rated with a high burning efficiency of 85 to 90 percent, making them more efficient than bigger and more expensive heaters. Because of their ability to manage the fuel-to-air ratio, an almost full combustion of the pellets happens. The pellets are burned in such a way that all of the heat in them is extracted. Furthermore, pellet stoves can release heat farther than it would normally go since they have negative pressure processes that further propel the warmed air outward.
- Pellet stoves produce fewer residues since the pellets are consumed at a steady rate. On the average, a 40-pound pack of pellets create less than one cup of ashes. This makes the cleaning process easier since you can go without emptying the ashes for several months.