Pellet Stove

Pellet stoves have come a long way in design and functionality. The first pellet stove design was a bit clumsy and required manual feeding of pellets into the burn pot area. Today the design allows for automatic feeding into the combustion chamber. Pellet stoves can burn either wooden or biomass pellets to produce heat and can be extremely efficient.

The way the stove works is that fuel must be slowly fed through a storage container or hopper into the burn pot area which creates a constant flame needing very little adjustment. Oil drums, braziers and barreled stoves were used extensively during the times of the Great Depression and sawdust wooden stoves have also played a vital role in this century. It was in 1930 that the presto log (artificial fuel for wood burning which was used to recycle sawdust from sawmills) was introduced and from it evolved the pellet stove. The pellet stove first emerged in Washington State in the early 1980’s.

Since then the pellet stove has advanced to a great extent and today they are automated and more efficient in their functioning than wooden stoves. A typical pellet stove today can hold up to 60 lbs of pellets with the pellets being automatically fed into the combustion chamber whenever desired.

Another advantage of a pellet stove is the fact that most pellet stoves can be easily installed through a wall and offer more installation options because they contain smaller venting pipes. Also, since pellet stoves use the principle of convection in their heating, a room heated by a pellet stove will be much more comfortable compared to an over-heating wooden stove.

There are so many other benefits of using pellet stoves. Pellet stoves are self-ignitable and cycle automatically in relation to their thermostats. Today, the most modern pellet stoves have computer chips installed within them so that any internal fault can be easily detected. The percentage of ash a pellet stove releases is almost negligible for pellets burn cleanly. Even though pellet stoves are meant to burn pelletized wood, they also burn corn, grain and wood chips efficiently. Amazingly, even waste paper can be used in pellet stoves.

With all their great benefits, caution must be exercised in their use. Proper venting is advised and precautions with regards to the possibility of smoke leakage must be taken. Getting an expert’s advise in installing a pellet stove is a good idea and is sure to make it a safer heating mechanism for you.