Pellet Stove Primer
There are many different types and brands of pellet stoves to choose from.
Most pellet stoves contain a hopper that you can pour the pellets into. The hoppers are sized to hold at least 1.5 bags(60 lbs) of pellets. This way you can just load up the hopper once or twice a day.
The pellets are fed from the hopper to the burn pot. There are two different methods of feeding the pellets to the burn pot, top feed and bottom feed. You may hear people debate which is better. The bottom line is that both can work equally well in a quality stove.
The heat output is controlled by how fast the pellets are fed into the burn pot. Some stoves have a dial to control the feed rate. Some stoves have a thermostat to control the feed rate by temperature. There is a small fan to that blows air through the stove and then exhausts to the outside.
Because pellet stoves are forced ventilation devices there is no need to have a chimney. Most pellet stoves can be direct vented straight out the wall to the outside.
What if I lose power ?
Pellet stoves need electricity to run the feeder and the blower. Fortunately it does not require a lot of electric power to run the stove. A small generator can easily handle the task. I have also heard of people using a deep cycle battery and an inverter to run the stove for short periods of time in an emergency.
In addition to stand alone stoves you can also buy a fireplace insert. An insert is great if you don’t want to have a stove in the middle of your living room.
Maintenance
Typical maintenance is minimal for a pellet stove. You typically need to load the hopper once a day. Every week or so you will need to empty out the ash tray. Every 2-4 weeks you may need to clean off the heat exchangers with a brush. Because there are so many moving parts it’s wise to have the stove inspected and thoroughly cleaned by a professional once a year.
6 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post · TrackBack URI
Hi, hey i have bought a quadra fire 1200 pellet stov a month ago, knowing is not that cold no more….sorry I live in Wisconsin it gets pretty cold up here.
Anyway, I’m so happy with it…what do you think about this brand name?
Quadrafire is a good brand. A couple of years ago the two best stoves were Harman’s and Quadrafires.
Does anyone have a John Deere Stove? We are have a whistling sound. I’m thinking it is the automatic ash cleaner. Reallly grates on the nerves - like fingernails on a chalk board. Thanks
I have a Harman. Sometimes the trap door between the hopper and the auger squeeks but will go away. Any other weird noises I hear seem to correct themselves.
I installed a Quadra-Fire Mt Vernon model pellet stove in Oct. 2008. It has worked very well so far and the fan is extremely quiet. I am still experimenting with pellet types and using LG and Boreal. I think the Boreal pellets produce a little more ash. I installed my stove in the basement hoping that I would get a good flow of convection heat in the upstairs living portion of mr ranch house, but that has not been the case. I also installed a floor register and used a fan to help circulate the air but that didn’t help much. The basement is very comfortable and the floors are now much better but I want more heat upstairs. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience with this?
thanks
is anyone burning a us stove 6220 corn/pellet furnace.??