A wood burning stove can help to dramatically cut heating bills, but would a pellet stove be a better fit for your home? Pellet stoves have more versatility than the average wood stove, runs on compressed pellets of wood or other materials, and can be set to a thermostat to ignite based on when you need to heat your home instead of stoking a fire. What could a pellet stove bring to your home today?
In order to find the perfect pellet stove for your home, you’ll want to be able to compare and contrast the best makes and models that are available on the market today. With this chart below, you’ll be able to quickly do that right now!
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What Does a Good Pellet Stove Look Like?
Each pellet stove brings a certain advantage with it that may work for your home. Some models are cost-effective for those with tight budgets, but require more work to maintain. Other models are virtually maintenance free and may only need to be tended once every three or four days. It all depends on what one distinct advantage that you want to bring into your home with this heating option.
The best pellet stoves have a large hopper that can contain a large amount of pellets. These pellets are fed into the fire bed as heating requirements are needed, so the larger the hopper, the longer you can have a hands-free operation. You’ll want to look for a hopper that can contain at least 50 pounds of pellets, however, because anything else may require filling the hopper twice per day or more.
You’ll also want to look for a pellet stove that can run on the fuel that you can find in your area. Although high efficiency hardwood pellets are relatively easy to find, they are also the most expensive pellets in most markets. You can use other materials, like garbage or sawdust, to limit costs, but make sure your pellet stove will accept this pellets without clogging up with ash and residue.
Some pellet stoves also offer options such as faux logs, automatic cleaning, and ceramic windows to help maximize the aesthetics and maintenance of the stove. Consider all of these options and you’ll be able to find the best pellet stove to meet your needs.
What Are the Advantages of Using the Best Pellet Stove?
The primary advantage that most homeowners get to see when using a pellet stove is a seasonal cost savings for their heating needs. With the installation of an energy efficient model, many see a heating cost reduction of up to 50% in the first year, with some homeowners saving 67% or more from their traditional forms of heating. This means many pellet stoves will pay for themselves in the first 24 months of operation.
A secondary advantage is the ability to use recycled items to heat a home. Although wood pellets are available, so are pellets that are from leftover wood used in other products and even compacted garbage. This allows for the preservation of existing forests and tree resources while home heating needs are met at the same time.
The final advantage of the best pellet stove is that they have the ability to run for a long time on one filling of their hopper. This allows you to easily heat your home for up to 72 hours on even the coldest of days without having to worry about the fire going out. Combine this with remote thermostat control and electronic ignition and you’ll have a cost-savings investment that will pay off for you in no time at all!
How Do You Find the Best Pellet Stove?
Find the best pellet stove is easy when you consider all of the features that the modern units are able to provide. With good energy efficiencies in EPA ratings, a purchase of a pellet stove today may even qualify you for a tax credit if you’re a US homeowner! Here are the best features to consider if you want the very best of the best.
- Bottom Fed: Pellet stoves come in two basic varieties. The pellets can either be fed into the stove from the top or from the bottom. In general, the bottom fed stoves perform better than the top fed stoves because the feeding action of the pellets helps to remove some of the ash and other deposits these stoves can leave in the firebox.
- Automation: You can purchase pellet stoves that are either manually or automatically operated. Manual stoves generally need some routine tinkering with them to make sure the air inlets are working properly. Automatic stoves, on the other hand, need a little attention paid to them regarding the temperature settings to make sure your output is consistent.
- Ease of Cleaning: All pellet stoves need to be cleaned routinely to ensure they perform properly. The best pellet stoves are designed to remove fly ash from the exhaust, so you’ll want to see how to clean the receptacle, the heat exchanger, and the ash traps to make sure you are comfortable doing so at least once per week.
- BTU Output: A stove with a higher BTU rating will generally heat a larger home. It’s better to have too much stove than not enough when it comes to heat output.
What Are the Best Pellet Stove Prices?
To make sure you’re finding the best pellet stove prices, you’ll want to consider the features you’re receiving when compared to the prices of the stove and your overall budget. Some pellet stoves can be found for around $1,500 and are very good models, but will require more overall maintenance than higher end models. At the top of the pricing scale on websites like Amazon, some pellet stoves are over $5,000 in price!
The average price point for the best pellet stoves is about $2,500. At this price point, you’ll get a good hopper size, automated thermostat features, and an insulated stove that can be placed virtually anywhere in your home, including as a fireplace insert in some specific models.
What Do Our Comprehensive Reviews Have To Say?
Castle Serenity Wood Pellet Stove
The nicest part about owning a Castle Serenity pellet stove is that it comes equipped with their new smart controlling mechanism. Through this controller, you can heat your home on a schedule that works for you. You can control it manually if you wish, set the thermostat, and even start a weekly operational mode so that you can make sure your home is heated when you’re there. Just one word of caution if you do decide to purchase this pellet stove. It contains several small parts that a young one may be tempted to put in their mouth if you’ve got helpers with the installation process. You might want to do this one on your own without the little sets of extra hands.
Click here to view prices on Amazon and get a great deal on this wood pellet stove.
BOSCA Spirit 500 Pellet Stove
The primary advantage that you get with this pellet stove is a variable output in the amount of heat it can produce. You can crank it up to 40k BTU if you need the additional heat for the rest of your home or keep it down to a baseline of 8,200 BTU to keep that one room nice and toasty warm. Although the cost of this stove is more of an investment than a purchase to make on a whim, it will easily pay for itself within a couple years. You’ll only need 1-2 tons of wood pellets to heat your home for the entire winter in most cases, saving over 75% on your heating bill each year you have this stove installed.
Click here to view prices on Amazon and get a great deal on this wood pellet stove.
Pleasant Hearth Cabinet Style Pellet Stove
What we really liked about this pellet stove is the fact that it has 5 unique heat settings incorporated into its design. You’ve got the option to run this stove continuously if you want as well on a minimum or maximum setting and there’s an exclusive system of comfort control that Pleasant Hearth has incorporated into this stove’s systems. Weighing in at less than 200 pounds, this pellet stove is a beast. The door is made from solid cast iron and it is fully approved for mobile home use. It even includes a 5 year warranty to protect you against defects in materials or craftsmanship!
Click here to view prices on Amazon and get a great deal on this wood pellet stove.
Comfortbilt Pellet Stove HP22
The best feature that you’ll find on this pellet stove is the digital thermostat controller. This allows you to be able to quickly adjust the warmth of your room and your home with one-touch ease. This is combined with an electric ignition process so you won’t have to worry about creating a bed of coals to keep your stove firing with strong heat either. You set the times and temperatures that you want for your home to be heated and it turns on. The blower is also automated so you’ll always receive the proper amount of heat for your home with this unit.
Click here to view prices on Amazon and get a great deal on this wood pellet stove.
US Stove 5660 Bay Front Pellet Stove
You’ll be able to load 55 pounds of pellets into the unit so you can get all day heating. You literally just need to fill the hopper once per day to get even heating throughout your home thanks to a circulation blower that utilizes temperature controls. The blower operates at 200 CFM and it will easily connect with almost any standard thermostat. It’s an efficient stove that will utilize most types of pellets that you’ll be able to find in your community. Wood pellets tend to work the best because the smoke from the pellets is minimized. Garbage pellets worked reasonably well, but the higher smoke output makes it difficult to fully vent the exhaust of the stove.
Click here to view prices on Amazon and get a great deal on this wood pellet stove.
The best pellet stoves will efficiently heat a home without compromising your budget or the environment. Select the best model today and you’ll save money over traditional heating options every time your new heater turns on!