A great way to heat your home for less.
For thousands of years, people have burned wood for heat. From campfires to fireplaces, people love the idea of a wood fire heating their house. Maybe it’s the roar of the flames, the smell of burning wood, or the pops and crackles of the fire, but wood burning has always held a place in our hearts. With recent advancements in heating technology, wood heating seemed to have lost it’s place, but has since rebounded with a newer method of wood heating; pellet burning. Heating your house with a pellet stove using environment friendly Lignetics Wood Pellets from Koopman Lumber is a great way to create a warm atmosphere in your house, and save some serious money in the years to come. If you already have a wood pellet stove, we’d love to be your neighborhood supplier of wood pellets for this winter. If you don’t already use this method, here are some reasons why you should consider using wood pellet heating for your house.
What are pellet stoves?
Pellet stoves are similar to traditional wood burning stoves, with the difference being the fuel. A traditional wood burning stove will burn split logs, while a pellet stove uses thousands of tiny wood pellets as fuel. These stoves are kept burning all winter long and have control knobs on the side. The knobs regulate the blower rate, and the pellet feed rate. The pellets are deposited into a loader (usually found on the top of the machine) and fed by an auger into the fire. With the fire raging, the blower will blow the hot air out of your stove and into your home.
What does a pellet stove offer me?
Pellet burning has a lot that it can offer a home owner as an alternative to oil heating. Besides providing a very practical method of heat, a pellet stove can be a great aesthetic piece in your home. Going back to the practical side, there are many benefits to pellet burning; here are a few:
● Ease of use. A pellet stove is easy to load, and easy to maintain. Most stoves will take about 2 bags of pellets a day (which is about 80 pounds). The pellets are loaded into the machine and automatically fed through an auger into the flames. This allows for a smooth, consistent burn all day, with very minimal involvement.
● Environment friendly. EPA certified stoves will boast an impressive 7885% efficiency rating. This means more of your dollars are being converted to heat, which is what you’re looking for! Since we’re burning the pellets, we’re also burning off a lot less of a chemical called creosote. Creosote is used to treat wood to keep it from drying out. Since the pellets we use are dried to begin with and tightly packed, a lot less creosote is used, and subsequently released.
● Money saving. No matter which way you slice it, pellet burning is going to come out cheaper than oil. The upfront investment of a pellet stove may seem hefty, but the long term investment is going to save you money in the winters to come. The energy cost from running the machine is also very minimal, and guaranteed not to put a dent in your electric bill.
How can I get the most out of my stove?
There are many things you can do to maximize your stoves efficiency. The biggest thing to consider with your stove is placement. Each model of stove has an efficiency rating which will tell you the approximate square footage that a single stove can heat. It is best to set your stove up in a centralized location, encouraging the heat to spread evenly throughout the house. Here are a few more quick tips to getting the most out of your stove this winter:
● Close the doors to the side rooms in your house when you’re not home. This lets you turn the heater down while maintaining the warmth in the common areas of your house.
● Heat rises! A pellet stove placed on the main floor will be able to sufficiently rise one story to heat the house. Adding vents in the ceiling between floors is a great way to heat upper levels.
● Make sure your windows are all closed and none of them need any fixing. Even small drafts can mean more work for your stove, which is money being burned.
● Clean your ash pot regularly. Excess ash can suffocate the fire, meaning wasted energy and wasted pellets. A small cleaning is recommended at least once a week and a thorough cleaning at least once a month.
● Make sure you use pure pellets. This means no bark, no added paper, and no cardboard. 100% wood pellets give you the best burn, and the most heat.
● If you can’t find a pellet stove that covers the sq. footage of your house, look into getting two smaller pellet stoves. This will allow you to cover a larger square footage than the biggest home-use stoves on the market. Two stoves also means running both on a lower power setting, which is less pellets burned.
These are just a few of the many great reasons to think about using a pellet stove this winter. If you are looking for more information about wood pellets, come down to any one of our Koopman stores and ask our in-house experts. We have the answers to get you started this winter, and the pellets you need to fill your stove for years to come!
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