How Do You Use a Pellet Heater?
Investing in a pellet heater is a great way to warm your home during the winter months. Freestanding pellet stoves are efficient and easy to use and come in a wide range of sizes to ensure you can find the perfect size for the space you need heated. There are even insert pellet stoves that can fit perfectly into your fireplace at home. You can be confident that your home will receive the best care and powerful heat with a pellet stove.
How Pellet Heaters Work
Pellet heaters are easy to use for homeowners. To turn it on and off, all you have to do is press the designated buttons on the outside of the heater. This action will trigger the inner mechanisms of the device, which function on their own without the need for intervention.
When you turn on your pellet stove, it will trigger an electric screw auger, which carries pellets from the storage hopper to the burn pot. A thermostat and sensor will monitor and decide when to move pellets from the hopper to the burn pot based on the temperature of the room you are heating and available space within the pot.
After burning in the pot, a convection fan pulls cold air from your home and blows heat through the piping back out to your home. A second fan pushes burn fumes outside your home via a chimney or ventilation hole, and the ash from pellets falls beneath the burn pot and into the ash pan to make room for new pellets.
Benefits of a Pellet Heater
Several benefits accompany using a pellet heater in your home:
- Pellet heaters are better for the environment. Because pellets use recycled materials that would otherwise rot in landfills, pellets are a neutral-carbon resource, meaning they do not add or decrease the amount of carbon dioxide added into the atmosphere. Further, using a pellet stove can filter pollutants released into the environment and have a cleaner impact on the air quality than regular wood-burning stoves.
- They require minimal cleaning. Most cleaning depends on how often you use your stove, and cleaning is simple with an easy-to-access ash pan that collects all debris while you heat your home. Further, many of the cleaning functions are things that you can do yourself with instructions included in your owner’s manual.
- The supplies are easy to store. Because of the small uniform size of wood pellets, materials for your wood pellet stove are easy to store and take up less space than woodpiles. You can keep them indoors or somewhere close to your house to keep you in the warmth of your home for longer. When you want to use your stove, all you have to do is add pellets to the hopper so that you will save time otherwise spent on chopping or collecting wood.
- You can use your pellet heater after the power goes out. Pellet heaters require minimal power, so they can work if you have a generator or another kind of supplementary battery. With this capability, you will never have to worry about trying to stay warm during a rough winter storm ever again.
- Pellet stoves are very safe to use in your home. Compared to other heaters, they produce less creosote, a substance that builds up in stove vents and poses the risk of fires. Other stoves can require a lot of maintenance to prevent creosote buildup, but with less development from pellet heaters, you can rest easy while enjoying the heat.
Maintaining Your Pellet Stove
Because of the automatic nature of a pellet stove, they are straightforward to maintain and clean. The first step in caring for your stove is to always check the pellet levels in the hopper before turning it on and refilling as necessary.
It’s important to regularly empty your ash pan, primarily if you use your stove frequently. Try to clean your ash pan at least once a week, though larger sizes can go longer before filling up.
You should also annually clean the venting with a chimney brush to rid them of any buildup. You should check the conditions of your burn pot daily and make sure that everything is clean. By clearing any leftover debris in your burn pot, you can ensure a more efficient and cleaner burn the next time that you use it.
Finding the proper routine and schedule for cleaning and maintaining your pellet stove is essential for lengthening the life and maintaining the function of your stove.
Are Pellet Heaters Efficient?
Pellet heaters are incredibly efficient. Pellet heaters have efficiency rates that can reach up to 83%. They will heat your home well and keep them warm throughout the winter.
Because of their high functionality, pellet heaters have a variety of uses that can fit all of your needs. Whether you need a primary or secondary heat source, the variety in sizes and the consistent efficiency will ensure that you can find a pellet heater that will satisfy all of your needs. Pellet heaters work for both large and small spaces — with a pellet heater, you can heat an individual room, an apartment or an entire house.
You can further increase your heater’s function to provide you with an efficient burn by adding a ceiling fan into the same room as the heater. Because heat rises, the fan will help further circulate air through the space by pushing the hot air back down. Just be sure that you have your fan spinning counterclockwise if you want to try this method.
Choosing the Right Materials for Your Pellet Stove
What sets pellet stoves apart from other wood-burning stoves is that they use condensed wooden pellets rather than wood logs. In order to maintain the life of your pellet stove, invest in quality wood pellets that the Pellet Fuels Institute approves. At Energex, we provide top-quality wood pellets in a wide selection of options to provide you with the best care for your pellet heater.
Once you find the best choice for your stove, the next thing you need to determine is how much you need to buy. While the amount of pellets depends on size and frequency, most people need around 100 to 250 40-pound-bags to last the whole winter.
Buy Wood Pellets for Your Pellet Heater With Energex
Finding top-of-the-line wood pellets is essential for getting the most heat and life from your pellet stove. Explore our options of Pellet Fuels Institute-approved wood pellets online and begin your journey to a well-heated home.
