You’ve Got a Choice (if you’re buying a pellet stove)

[mountaingirl]

Mountain Hearth & Patio
a Division of Mountain Man Fireplace and Chimney, Inc.

You’ve Got a Choice (if you’re buying a pellet stove)

By, Jake T. Johnson
NFI/CSIA/FIRE

Last month we talked about the large variety of woodstoves that are available to homeowners in the mountain community. This month, let’s take a look at a more modern invention - pellet stoves. While there are not as many models to choose from as there are for wood or gas units, pellet stoves offer unique features that make them the ideal choice for many situations.

Pellet fuel is really nothing more than compressed sawdust. Right now there are three mills operating right here in Colorado that are producing pellets from beetle-killed pine trees. So burning pellets for heat is certainly an environmentally conscious way to add supplemental heat to your home.

One big advantage that pellet-fired appliances have over woodstoves is that they are thermostatically controlled - so they can turn themselves off and on to keep an area within a set range of temperatures. They also burn with remarkable efficiency – models such as the Harman P43 approach a 90% efficiency rating. An electronic circuit board carefully mixes the correct ratio of air-to-fuel, leaving nothing behind but a light, gray ash.

Pellet stoves are particularly popular for heating basements since they can terminate horizontally instead of needing a vent system to rise up above the roof. Another useful feature is the large fuel capacity. Most models will hold considerably more than a 40-lb bag of fuel and some much more. For example, at a medium heat output, the Enviro M55 with a hopper extension will hold nearly 160 lbs of pellets – enough to heat for over 3 days without refueling.

With all these great features, you might ask ‘why doesn’t everyone have a pellet stove’? The biggest drawback to pellet-fired appliances is that they need a continual source of electricity to operate. If the power is out, they won’t work. You also need to have the ability to lift and empty 40-lb bags of pellets; not always as easy as it sounds. Other than that, pellet stoves can be terrific at providing zone heating for areas as large as 2400 square feet.
Choices of pellet stove models do not vary as much in size or style as they do for woodstoves. A key reason is that, regardless of the composition of the pellet stove, they heat primarily through convection – heating air and blowing it into the room. Changes in the materials used to make the stove will make them look different from other stoves, but won’t do much to change the way it operates. So it comes down to how you want your pellet stove to look. Some have elegant cast iron bodies and others have basic steel plates. But they will all heat and heat and heat.


For more information about your choices of pellet stoves, we invite you to drop by our newly remodeled showroom at 7001 Highway 73 in Marshdale or call us today at Mountain Hearth & Patio - (303) 670-0658, or electronically at sales@MtnHP.com.
Semper Fi!

[blackonyx]

Great information - What are the routine things that I need to do to keep my stove working correctly and what electrical requirements should be checked, since a continual source is required?

[Mountain Hearth + Patio]

thank you for your question!

It's pretty simple, the main things you need to do are;

1. Empty the ash pan

2. Keep the firepot clean - use something like a putty knife to scrape out the debris

3. Run the hopper out of pellets and vacuum out the base of the hopper every two or three months


That's it
Most pellet stoves use about 40watts of power during continuous operation