How to Buy A Pellet Stove

No matter what it happening with the economy, home heating bills tend to keep going up. A pellet stove is an alternative way to heat your home. It looks like a fireplace insert or wood stove, but allows you to save quite a bit of money. Pellets will cost several hundred dollars over the course of a winter. Home heating oil can run you several thousand dollars.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Learn as much as you can about pellet stoves. They are comparable with wood burning stoves. Rather than burn logs, they burn pellets. The pellets are made from compacted bark, wood chips and sawdust.
2. Know the size of the space you need to heat. A pellet stove usually heats one room, with a size of about 1,600 square feet. Heating capacity ratings range from 8,000 to 90,000 BTU/hour. Ask the dealer which size is best for your home.
3. Choose between a top-fed or bottom-fed pellet stove. Depending on the model, a pellet stove can run you between $1,500 and $3,000 or more. Installation will also cost a few hundred extra.
4. Determine the type of pellets you need for the stove. Many top-fed models perform best with low-ash pellets of a higher grade.
5. Make sure there's an electrical outlet nearby. The motor needs 110 volts to run.
6. Buy enough pellets to get you through the winter. Purchase about 150 40-pound bags. The best bet is to get them at the beginning of the season, before demand increases.
7. Be ready to lug pellets around. If you plan to run your stove all day, you'll need to keep it full of pellets and clean out the ash when it builds up. Typically, once a week will do the trick.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want your pellet stove to look like a traditional fireplace, buy one that has a large viewing glass and appealing flame pattern. Sometimes you can even use ceramic logs to disperse the flames.
• Servicing a pellet stove can be quite an undertaking. Get a service contract with a repair expert.
• An ash access drawer will make cleaning the ashes much easier.
• Use your furnace to provide heat to the part of the house not affected by the pellet stove.
• If your home tends to lose power, get a backup generator for your pellet stove.
• Be careful when handling a hot stove.

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