Today, you have more options than ever before when you want a wood- or pellet-burning appliance to fill your home with warmth. Rather than traditional wood-burning stoves that require seasoned logs of firewood, pellet stoves burn small wood pellets an inch or less in length.
Pellet stoves certainly have their advantages, but are they the better choice when compared to a traditional woodstove?
The Advantages of Pellet Stoves
The first major advantage of using a pellet stove is the above average efficiency of using small pellets for combustion. In fact, pellet stoves use the cleanest solid fuel source available for heating. They don’t produce much creosote, which could lower your chances of a chimney fire.
It can also be cheaper to install than other wood-burning heating appliances. And when you don’t have a chimney or flue in place, direct venting may be possible. You may have either a freestanding stove or a fireplace insert that burns pellets.
A hopper that stores the wood pellets slowly feeds them into the stove, which is convenient since you won’t have to continue refueling it throughout the day. So why do people still choose to install traditional woodstoves, which continue to be the most popular solid fuel-burning installation?
Pellet Stoves Have Hidden Costs
Pellet stoves have a lot more moving parts than traditional woodstoves, which means there are more components that can break down and require repairs. They also have additional cleaning needs that make them a hassle.
And while the fuel efficiency of a pellet stove or insert may be quite high, your home’s efficiency may still be affected. Pellet stoves use extra electricity and could potentially add dozens to your electrical bill.
For these reasons, we often recommend traditional woodstoves. They are more efficient than ever before, and with proper maintenance, we think you’ll get a lot more out of it for years to come.
Ultimately, which new stove you purchase for your home is up to you. Learn about all of your options and the products we install for homes in Minneapolis, MN. Call 2nd Generation Chimneys, Inc. today!