With winter almost here, heating your home is a concern that will become important sooner rather than later. As energy costs continue to soar higher and higher, finding an economical way to warm your house is essential.
The purchase of a new pellet stove is a terrific way to lower heating costs without lowering the temperature in your home.
Finding the best pellet stove for your needs can seem like an unending quest. There are hundreds of versions currently available with many different features.
Selecting the Best Pellet Stove in November, 2018
1. Castle 12327 Serenity Wood Pellet Stove : Best Luxury Pellet Stove Option
The Castle 12327 Serenity Wood Pellet Stove includes a smart controller to make warming up as simple as can be. The smart controller allows you to select an operational mode such as weekly, manual, or thermostat as well as five separate fire burning levels.
Our testing team loved how easy the Serenity Wood Pellet Stove is to operate thanks to its awesome smart controller.
The Serenity Stove is also a breeze to clean as opposed to many other models.
- Smart controller takes the guess work out of operating the stove
- Multiple settings and five fire burn levels
- Simple to clean and maintain
- Extremely attractive design
- Somewhat expensive but it will last a very long time and has some incredible extras
2. Comfortbilt Pellet Stove HP22 : Best Pellet Stove for Larger Homes
The Comfortbilt Pellet Stove features a beautiful design with a bay window that mixes both modern and industrial aesthetics. The stove is extremely sturdy and durable with a weight of around 300 pounds.
The stove’s hopper can safely accommodate 80 pounds of wood pellets so that it can warm up larger areas up to 2,800 square feet.
Our testing team really enjoyed using the Comfortbilt Pellet Stove and loved how easy it is to keep clean compared to similar models.
- Heavy-duty, sturdy option
- Heats up to 2,800 square feet
- Easy to use and clean
- Beautiful design
- Lacks some of the high-tech features of other versions, but still an excellent choice
3. Vogelzang VG5790 Pellet Stove : Terrific Option
The Vogelzang VG5790 Pellet Stove is a fully automatic option featuring a hopper with a maximum capacity of 120 pounds of pellets. The stove is extremely simple to use thanks to its electronic controls and is quickly hooked up to your thermostat.
Thanks to an extended burning time, this stove burns on one filled hopper for around 60 hours.
This offering from Vogelzang easily heats a home measuring up to 2,800 square feet.
- Durable, modern design
- 120-pound hopper capacity
- LED display
- Electronic controls
- This stove is somewhat loud when in use which may irritate some people
4. US Stove Wiseway Pellet Stove GW1949 : Best Design and Most Aesthetically Pleasing
The US Stove Wiseway Pellet Stove GW1949 earned top marks from our testing team for its unique design. This pellet stove relies on a natural gravity feed system which means less work for you.
With 40,000 BTUs, this pellet stove from US Stove comfortably heats up to 2,000 square feet.
The US Stove Wiseway Pellet Stove has been crafted with a 60-pound capacity hopper.
- EPA Certified choice for cleaner energy
- Beautiful and modern design
- Hopper holds 60 pounds of pellets
- Extremely quiet and runs up to 36 hours
- This pellet stove is somewhat pricey, but it is extremely well made so it would be a great investment to lower your current heating costs
5. US Stove 4840 Wall Mount Direct Vent Pellet Heater : Perfect for Smaller Spaces
The US Stove 4840 Wall Mount Direct Vent Pellet Heater is perfectly suited to warming up spaces up to 1,000 square feet. This pellet stove includes a hopper with a capacity of holding 28 pounds of pellets.
On the low heat setting, the Wall Mount Direct Vent Pellet Heater will run for 24 hours, and on the high setting, you will have around 6 hours of warmth.
This offering from US Stove features an automatic ignition for easy starting.
- Gorgeous, modern design
- Automatic ignition and five different heat settings
- Extremely easy to assemble and mount thanks to included kit for mounting and venting
- Terrific performance
- Expensive, but works and operates like a dream so the investment is worth it
6. Pleasant Hearth PH50CABPS Cabinet Pellet Stove : Best Traditional Design Pellet Stove
The Pleasant Hearth PH50CABPS Cabinet Pellet Stove was a favorite among our testing team thanks to its beautifully simplistic design. This model looks similar to the old-fashioned wood burning stoves you may expect to see in a colonial home.
We love drinking hot chocolate around it with our families.
The Pleasant Heath Cabinet Pellet Stove is EPA certified and features a hopper with a 120-pound capacity. The stove will provide up to 120 hours of warmth for you and your family.
- Extremely sturdy and durable
- Beautiful and traditional design
- Heats up to 2,200 square feet
- EPA certified and approved for mobile homes
- One member of our team did need to replace the control board after heavy use but we still really love this option
7. Pleasant Hearth WS-3029 2200 Square Foot Large Wood Burning Stove : Best for Roasting Marshmallows
The Pleasant Hearth WS-3029 2200 Square Foot Large Wood Burning Stove heats up to 2,200 square feet thanks to 77,000 BTUs. This stove is EPA certified so you will not need to worry about harmful emissions or particulates.
Our testing team was astounded at how easy this model is to assemble and operate thanks to an included DVD.
This offering from Pleasant Hearth features an easy access ash drawer for speedy cleaning.
- Extremely sturdy and durable
- Ceramic glass window
- Burns wood or pellets
- Very heavy-duty option
- May not be appropriate for families with very young children that might try to open the glass ceramic door on their own
8. Pleasant Hearth Medium 35000 BTU’s Pellet Stove : Best All-Around Pellet Stove Pick
The Pleasant Hearth Medium 35000 BTU’s Pellet Stove is our top pick for pellet stoves. Our testing team loved how easy to use and clean this option is.
With an automatic ignition system and a ceramic glass window, the stove starts perfectly and looks amazing, every time.
This offering from Pleasant Hearth includes an outside air kit and is high-efficiency EPA approved.
- Terrific price point
- Beautiful, classic design
- Air wash system
- Mobile home approved and includes an outside air kit
- We found no negative points during our testing process making this our favorite pellet stove option
9. Pelpro Pellet Stove : Wonderful Budget Pick
The Pelpro Pellet Stove has become our favorite budget pick. The stove is much less expensive than similar versions but works wonderfully. This option easily warms up homes of up to 2,200 square feet.
This offering from Pelpro features a hopper with a capacity of 130 pounds of pellets.
The stove is marked as being 85% efficient, so emissions and particulates are greatly reduced compared to similar models.
- Great budget pricing
- Heats up to 2,200 square feet
- Up to 80 hours of warmth
- Three settings
- This pellet stove can be tad bit noisy at times
10. Pleasant Hearth 1,200 Square Foot Mobile Home Stove : Best for Mobile Homes, Condos, or Apartments
The Pleasant Hearth 1,200 Square Foot Mobile Home Stove is our favorite choice for folks living in a mobile home, condo, or apartment thanks to its smaller size. This pellet stove warms homes up to 1,200 square feet.
This is an EPA certified choice as well.
This offering from Pleasant Hearth runs for 6 to 8 hours on a single filling. The stove includes a pellet base and a blower with variable speeds.
- Great for smaller spaces such as apartments, mobile homes, condos, or offices
- Easy to set up and learn to use
- Great price point
- Beautiful design
- Does not include an intake air kit which will need to be purchased separately
Best Pellet Stove Buyer’s Guide
Pellet stoves are a wonderful way to add warmth to your home, apartment, or business. It can be extremely expensive to heat your place during the frigid months of winter. A pellet stove can help you to cut back on heating costs without sacrificing warm, cozy temperatures.
The purchase of a pellet stove, similarly to any other appliance, will require a bit of research. There are a plethora of considerations to mull over while selecting the best pellet stove for your needs. While reviewing and researching our top ten pellet stoves, we created this guide to help demystify the stove purchasing process by clueing you into all the features you’ll need to understand.
What is a Pellet Stove?
A pellet stove looks similar to a wood stove or a fireplace insert. Instead of burning traditional wood logs, a pellet stove burns pellets. Pellets are most often created from bio-sources such as sawdust, corn, or recycled wood shavings.
Do I Need a Pellet Stove?
Pellet stoves are a sophisticated combustion appliance. They offer an extremely efficient way to heat up your home. A pellet stove is inexpensive to run thanks to its use of pellets. Pellet stoves are a terrific choice for low-cost yet efficient heating making them a smart choice for anyone interested in saving money on winter heating bills.
Pellet Stove Advantages
Thanks to the anatomy of a pellet stove, the pellets burn very hotly. The pellets will burn in a way that is more efficient and cleaner than burning traditional wood. There will also be fewer particulates circulation through the air in your home.
The pellets undergo an intense compression process which eliminates any moisture from the pellet. The moisture content in a pellet is less than eight percent. Traditional cordwood has a moisture content has 30 percent more moisture, on average. Since the pellets are drier, they can produce more heat while giving off fewer particulates than wood.
Pellets also produce far less ash. Corded wood can produce a lot of ash which can be a pain to clean up and can be harmful if breathed in. Traditional wood fires can also produce creosote, the substance responsible for blackening glass doors and chimneys. With a pellet stove, far less creosote is produced keeping you safer from potential chimney fires.
Pellet Stove Efficiency
When examining the overall combustion efficiency of an appliance, we look at how much fuel becomes converted to energy. On average, pellet stoves have a combustion efficiency at a rate of 75 percent to 90 percent. A typical pellet stove will produce a small, concentrated fire in the center of the stove, which is still lovely to gaze at like a traditional fireplace.
How Do Pellets Feed into Pellet Stoves?
Pellet stoves include an internal hopper which stores the pellets that the stove will burn. On average, pellet stove hoppers usually hold between 35 and 130 pounds of pellets. Larger hoppers will require less frequent filling and will burn longer.
The pellet stove may be top fed or bottom fed. Bottom feeding pellet stoves will not need premium pellets since the clinkers (deposits that are created from reheated ash), and ash will be pushed into the stove’s ash pan. You will need to remove the ashes about one time each week depending on how often and how long it is used.
A top feeding pellet stove comes with a decreased risk of a fire burning back into the unit’s hopper due to the way it delivers pellets. On the downside, due to the set up the stove is more likely to become obstructed with ash or clinkers. For these reasons, top feeding stoves should only be used with premium pellets.
Pellet Stove Mechanics
A pellet stove requires electricity to run. The pellets are channeled from the storing hopper into the burn gate or burn pot through the help of a screw-like auger which runs on electricity. The heat produced by the pellets then travels through heat exchanging tubes from the pellet stove to the area you wish to heat up thanks to a convection fan. A drawer underneath the stove will collect the ashes from the burned pellets.
Hook Ups for Pellet Stoves
Pellet stoves operate by motors. The motor will require electricity, although some pellet stoves will include a backup battery unit. The stove will most likely need to be placed near a 110-volt outlet, so plan ahead on where you will place it and take any necessary measurements.
Pellet Stove Heating Capacity
Your new pellet stove will be measured in terms of heating output range. This phrase is sometimes referred to as heating capacity. Pellet stoves are rated in British Thermal Units or BTUs. Typically, pellet stoves have ratings of 8,000 BTUs to 90,000 BTUs. The higher the BTU, the larger area the pellet stove is capable of heating.
Key Considerations for Choosing the Best Pellet Stove
Let’s take a closer look at the important features and considerations to keep in mind while selecting a new pellet stove.
Insulation
When shopping for a pellet stove, it is imperative to understand how well your home is insulated. A home that is poorly insulated will require the use of a more powerful pellet stove with a higher BTU rating. Well, insulated homes can do with a less powerful model.
Windows
Note the number of windows and their condition. If you have a lot of windows or ones that leak air, you will want to choose a more heavy-duty pellet stove with a higher BTU rating.
Ceiling height
Does your home have high cathedral ceilings? If so, you will need a pellet stove with a higher BTU rating. Homes with lower ceilings have less space to heat. They will require a less powerful option since hot air rises.
Occasional Use or Heavy Use
When determining the right size and BTU rating to select, you will need to think about how often the pellet stove will be used. If the stove will be utilized often or will be your primary source of heat, you should purchase a more powerful version with a higher BTU rating. If it will be used rarely, a less powerful option may be your best bet.
Pellet Stove Operation and Safety Tips
- Fuel: Read through your instructional manual to ascertain what size pellets your stove needs. Some pellet stoves can also burn wood chips, corn kernels, nutshells, cherry pits, or even small logs. Always follow manufacturer instructions for what you place into the stove as fuel.
- Ventilation: Ensuring that your new pellet stove is properly vented is the most important thing you can do to keep yourself and your family safe. Only buy a stove that meets venting and building requirements for efficient use. Clean vents at least once per year with the use of a chimney brush.
- Maintenance: While it may seem tempting to blow off cleaning and maintenance, don’t. Proper cleaning and performing regular maintenance may be the difference between a warm, cozy evening and an unspeakable tragedy.
Pellet stoves are a wonderful option for heating your home without a hefty energy bill. They come in all shapes and sizes, so finding one to fit perfectly in your home is easy now that you have an understanding of the basic features. Just keep your heating needs, size of your home, and safety requirements in mind.
We hope you enjoyed reading about our top pellet stove reviews today and learned a few new things from our pellet stove buying guide. We love learning about our readers! Please drop us a quick note below with your favorite pellet stoves or any tips and tricks for keeping warm this winter.
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