Pellet stoves are a popular choice for homeowners looking for an alternative to traditional wood-burning stoves. But how do they work? And what are the benefits of using one? In this blog post, I’ll explain how pellet stoves work and outline some of the key reasons why they’re such a popular option.
As with anything you might want to install and operate in your home, it’s very important to conduct thorough research.
Pellet stoves are a classic choice for home heating. They’re practical, simple, and provide efficient heat – so what’s not to love?
In addition to how they work, below are the advantages and and disadvantages of opting for a pellet stove in your home.
What is a Pellet Stove?
One can compare pellet stoves to the traditional wood-burning stoves in the way both heat homes. The main difference is instead of wood logs, pellet stoves use and burn wood pellets. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a pellet stove is the cleanest solid fuel and residential heating system out there right now.
Pellet stoves are safe, effective, and eco-friendly heating systems. It’s capable of heating only a room in your home or the entirety of your home.
Pellet fuel is normally made from wood but there are other pellet fuels made from different biomass or organic materials like small wood chips and sawdust.
Pellet Stoves: The Good
Pellet stoves are becoming a more popular heating method across many households to accompany them through the cold winter months. You might be wondering why, exactly. To answer this question, we have below all the good pellet stoves have to offer:
Convenient and requires minimal effort
Pellet stoves are very easy and convenient to operate, in fact, much easier to use than your regular wood stove.
With a wood-burning stove, you would have to add in a few fire logs every few hours. With a pellet stove, fill in the hopper with pellet fuel, hit the button, and let it run all day. Of course, you’d still need to refill the hopper if you operate it continuously the entire day, but it would be significantly less as you would with a wood stove and you wouldn’t have to regularly tend to it.
Clean fuel and eco-friendly
As we’ve mentioned above, pellet stoves are the cleanest solid fuel and residential heating system available on the market right now! They’re efficient and effective yet clean and good for the environment.
Though many pellet fuels are usually made from wood, there are other options made from organic materials. Burning pellet fuel also results in far less air pollution you put out into the environment.
Effective heating system
Pellet stoves are a very effective heating system. Most pellet stoves have the capacity to heat in a range of 8,000 to 90,000 Btu per hour.
The Department of Energy explains that EPA-certified pellet stoves are about 70-83% efficient. Any home, no matter how big or small, can use a pellet stove to heat their space efficiently, given they get the right size they would need.
Cheap and cost-effective
Pellet stove units and installing them are both very affordable. Even the pellet fuels you need to feed into the stove come relatively cheap!
Pellet Stoves: The Bad
This guide wouldn’t be complete if we don’t also lay down the disadvantages of pellet stoves:
Requires electricity
Unlike wood stoves, pellet stoves actually do require electricity to power up and operate.
Needs backup power and battery
When power goes out, pellet stoves would also stop working as it relies on electricity. To prevent such instances on especially cold nights, you would need a backup battery to power up the heater until power goes back up.
Not aesthetic-looking
While it does the job, pellet stoves aren’t the most aesthetically-looking heaters to get your hands on.
Can be loud
While up and running, pellet stoves can produce slightly loud mechanical noises so be prepared for that.
Essential Parts of a Pellet Stove You Need to Know
To know how exactly a pellet stove works, it’s important to know first its essential parts:
Hopper: This is where pellet fuel is fed into. This is located either on the top or bottom of the stove. How much a hopper holds would depend on the specific unit. This would need to be refilled at least once a day, depending on usage.
Auger: This is a screw-like device responsible for transporting pellets from the hopper to the burn pot. How fast the auger operates would dictate how hot the heat output is.
Burn pot: This is where the pellets ignite and are actually burned.
Ash pot: Though pellet stoves produce less ash, it still does. The ash pot handles collecting the ash produced. This is located below the burn pot.
Convection blower: As it burns pellets inside, this sucks in the cold air in the house, heats it up, and blows it back into the house.
Exhaust blower: This handles pushing the byproduct gasses out of your living space through chimneys or exhaust pipes.
Thermostat: A thermostat on the pellet stove controls the speed at which the auger operates. This effectively controls the unit’s heat output according to current environment temperatures.
How Does a Pellet Stove Work?
Now that we’ve got the basics of pellet stoves out of the way, let’s deep dive on how exactly they work:
- Turn power on
As with anything that needs power, a pellet stove must be turned on before anything else. How to turn on a unit would depend and vary according to specific models.
- Fill in hopper
To get the stove started, fill in the hopper with pellets. How much you pour into it would again depend on the specific model you have. Generally, pour pellets in according to how long you’re planning on running it and your unit’s hopper capacity.
- Auger gets to work
As mentioned above, the auger transports the pellets to the burn pot. The speed at which this component operates would depend on your set thermostat and other sensors. Depending on the current temperature in your home, the auger can turn fast or slow, essentially dictating your stove’s heat output.
- Ignite and burn
Once there is now pellet fuel on the burn pot, the unit will ignite a fire and start burning them. This is where the heat and warmth is created for you to enjoy.
Many pellet stoves have a big window where you can watch the cozy fire in action.
Of course, burning the pellets would result in ash, no matter how little. The ash pot is the one responsible for collecting them.
- Warm cold air
To warm up the space or a house, the convection blower will suck up the cold air, warm it up inside with its fire and heat, and blow it back out into the space with the help of the heat exchanger. Now, your family can enjoy the warmth and stay cozy.
- Expel gasses
Burning pellets also result in gaseous byproducts. Of course, these wouldn’t be blown back into the living space. These go outdoors through a flue, exhaust pipe, or chimney. This would depend on how yours was installed.
- Refill as needed
Though you wouldn’t need to refill and tend to a pellet stove as much as you would with a wood stove, you would still need to refill the hopper if needed. This would depend on your set temperature and how long you have the stove up and running.
How to Maintain a Pellet Stove
Pellet stoves are indeed low-maintenance heating units. This doesn’t mean you won’t ever do it though!
- Check and empty ash pot: After each use, always check the ash pot and see if it needs cleaning.
- Clean stove window: It’s unavoidable that the stove’s window or glass door gets dirty after some time. Make sure to regularly wipe them down to clean.
- Regularly clean off dust and soot: Brush, vacuum, and clean off dust and soot build up inside the stove at least once a week. This will ensure it keeps working properly without a hitch.
Conclusion
Pellet stoves are one of the more popular heating systems available right now. They’re pretty similar to the traditional wood-burning stoves everyone knows but definitely a huge step up from those!
Pellet stoves are popular and it doesn’t come as a surprise. They’re very convenient to use, clean and eco-friendly, and cheap yet effective!
To understand how a pellet stove works, it’s important to first get to know the essential components that make them work: hopper, auger, burn pot, ash pot, convection blower, exhaust blower, and thermostat.
A pellet stove works in very simple terms:
- Fill in the hopper according to its capacity and how long you’re planning on using it.
- Press the start button and let the auger get to work. Depending on your set temperature, the auger can work fast or slow. This will affect the unit’s heat output.
- Now with the pellet on the burn pot, this will start the fire and will start heating up.
- The stove will heat up the home by sucking up the cold air, warming it up, and then blowing it back out for you to enjoy.
- Refill the hopper in as needed.
And that has been our guide on pellet stoves including how one works!
