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How to Light a Wood Pellet Stove

How to Light a Wood Pellet Stove. When you first start using a wood pellet stove to heat your home, it can seem tricky to light it. However, once you get the swing of it, you will find that is really is quite easy and can be accomplished with a few simple steps.

  1. Fill the hopper of the wood pellet stove with pellets.

  2. Place a handful of wood pellets in the burn pot of the stove.

  3. Turn the wood pellet stove auger on and allow it to run until you see pellets start to drop from the delivery chute. After pellets begin dropping, turn the auger back off.

  4. Pour a small amount of accelerant onto the wood pellets in the burn pot. You can purchase wood pellet lighting fluid or you can use liquid sterno or kerosene.

  5. Strike a match and hold it to the wood pellets in the burn pot until they ignite.

  6. Allow the pellets to burn for a few minutes until the fire is burning well. You will see that the pellets are turning red around the edges and the fire looks ready to be fed.

  7. Turn on the wood pellet stove's auger and blower motor. Watch the fire for a few minutes to make sure that it is burning the new pellets which are dropping from the chute and they do not smother your flame.

Tip

Solid sterno or fire staring blocks which are sold for fireplaces do not work well with wood pellet stoves. To get a wood pellet stove to light you need to use a liquid accelerant that will mix in with the pellets.

Warning

Never use gasoline as an accelerant to light a wood pellet stove. Gasoline is highly flammable and will explode. Never put any accelerant into a hot burn pot with active coals. If your fire goes out, allow it to cool before re-lighting it.