If you are thinking of converting your fireplace to a stove, pellet stove inserts are an option you'll want to consider carefully. These inserts are made specifically to fit into an existing fireplace space, so very little alteration of the existing fireplace structure in your home is needed to install one.
Advantages of Pellet Stove Inserts
There are several reasons pellet stoves have an advantage over other types of inserts. First is the convenience of the pellet fuel. The fuel is made of pressure compacted sawdust, corn or other biomass. Sawdust is the most common pellet ingredient.
Some stoves can burn only wood-based pellets, some corn only, and some corn, wood, and other pellets.
These pellets are very clean, unlike loads of wood that often leave bark, leaves, and shavings behind. They come in bags, and can be easily stacked and stored indoors or in a shed or garage. They take up less space than wood also.
The stoves are environmentally friendly, since the pellets burn very clean with very few emissions, and because the fuel pellets utilize waste matter that would otherwise be put into a landfill. They also create less ash, therefore less mess and waste as an afterproduct.
There is no concern about transferring insect pests when using wood pellets unlike with firewood where insect invaders are a constant worry.
The controlled moisture content of the pellets means a clean-burning flame, a predictable heat output, and very low emissions from the use of the stove.
The pellets are easily loaded into the self-feeding hoppers, and generally require loading only once a day.
Because of this regulated feeding of fuel, the temperature and the burn rate can be controlled with a simple adjustment to a thermostat. They generally start with a simple push of a button.
The inserts use convection to move warm air through the home rather than radiant heat. This means the stoves do not get hot to the touch in the same way that a wood stove does. For families, this can be an important consideration, since children seem to be drawn to fire.
Features to Consider in Pellet Stove Inserts
The inserts are generally divided between top feed and bottom feed stoves. The advantages of a top feed insert are that they burn efficiently and use fuel completely. The bottom feed models keep ash away from the burn box, meaning it doesn't have to be cleaned as often.
Electronic ignition is a popular feature with many users of pellet stove inserts. This allows you to start the stove with a simple push of a button-no matches required.
Programmable thermostats are an important feature to some users. These allow you to set the temperatures so that the stove uses the lowest feed rate at night when most people in the home are asleep and a higher rate during the morning, for example.
Other considerations when buying pellet stove inserts are size, appearance, automatic burn adjustments, ease of cleaning, remote thermostat control, quietness of the blower, backup battery for fans, and and size of ash drawer.
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