Pellet Fireplaces & Stoves

Want powerful heating performance for your home with environmentally friendly technology, and save money, too? Then you may want to consider a stylish pellet stove or pellet fireplace insert. Available in steel and cast iron models, pellet burning stoves let you turn down the household thermostat while warming your rooms, providing ambience, and reducing your energy bills, too. Pellet stoves and fireplaces provide effective, efficient heating using the most environmentally sustainable technology in the marketplace today.

So how do they work?

Compressed wood or biomass pellets are placed into a hopper which is then fed into a burn pot where they are ignited.   The convection fan circulates outside air through heat-exchange tubes and moves the heated air out into the room for consistent, comfortable warmth. The remains of the unburned pellets are collected in an ashpan for easy disposal. Since pellet stoves and fireplaces create only a tiny fraction of the ash produced by older wood-burning stoves and fireplaces, cleaning is needed much less frequently. According to This Old House, if used daily, you’ll only need to empty the ashpan once a week. And best of all, the whole process requires no tending. Just add pellets as needed.

How do they measure up against traditional woodstoves?

The biggest difference between a pellet stove and the traditional woodstove, is technology. On the inside the pellet stove is a high-tech device with a circuit board, a thermostat, and fans. These all work together to provide efficient heating of your living space while complementing your décor.

Here are some other distinctive differences between the two, courtesy of This Old House.

Efficiency

Pellet: 60 to 80 percent of fuel is converted to heat for your home.

Wood: 30 to 80 percent (high end is for EPA-certified stoves made after 1990).

Maintenance

Pellet:

• Use high-quality pellets to limit ashpan cleaning to about once a week or less.
• Scrape the burn pot weekly to remove combustion residue and any unburned pellets.
• Clean and inspect all vents at the outset of heating season.

Wood:

• Dispose of ashes every one to three days.
  Clean the chimney and inspect the stove and the door gasket at outset of heating season.

Venting options

Pellet: Produces very little smoke; all exhaust is drafted outside the home with a fan through a horizontal or vertical vent pipe.
Wood: Uses a passive system requiring a vertical chimney so that smoke can rise and flow outside.

[Source: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20654453_21251502,00.html]

How is this Green?

In addition to the high efficiency of the pellet stoves (60-80% conversion of fuel to heat), the pellets themselves are made of recycled wood waste, mostly sawdust. Pellets have a very low moisture content of 5 to 10 percent, compared with 20 percent for seasoned hardwood logs, adding to their efficiency.

Want to know more about saving on your winter heating bills while helping the environment, too? Visit the Tevis Home store and check out the Breckwell line of free-standing pellet stoves and pellet fireplace inserts. The Tevis Home professionals have all your answers!

Tevis Home Fireplace, Pellet and Grill Store is your “one-stop comfort shop” for gas fireplaces, gas logs, pellet stoves, wood fireplaces, patio heaters, fire pits, grills, and more!  Tevis Home is an authorized dealer of quality Mendota, Napoleon, Primo, Real Fyrei, Vermont Castings, and White Mountain Hearth products. Serving Adams, Baltimore, Carroll, Howard, Frederick, and York Counties.