All about wood pellets

About wood pellets

Wood pellets are manufactured using recycled wood paste from sawmills and furniture factories.

Wood pellets are a renewable source of energy for your home and are sold in 40-pound bags. 50 such bags will equal one ton. A homeowner in New England will use about 3 tons of wood pellets to heat their home for the entire year. When you consider that the average cost of a ton of wood pellet fuel is between $175.00 and $200.00, you begin to see just how efficient and cost effective using a pellet stove for heating can be. Wood pellets are available in either standard or premium grades. Standard grade will provide between 8,200-9,200 BTUs of heat, while premium grade provides more than 8,400 BTUs. High-grade pellets have another significant advantage in that they produce much less ash than lesser grades, virtually eliminating most maintenance problems.

Lower grade pellets made from pine waste will produce what is known as “clinkers” or pellets that are not consumed fully, often creating maintenance concerns. If your pellet stove will not cycle properly, do this simple check. First, do the obvious and make sure your stove is plugged in, and that there is a supply of fuel pellets in the hopper. If these two steps fail, open the door on the stove and check and see if there are any clinkers. If there are, take a regular head screwdriver and break them up. Make extra sure that all air holes in the firepot are clear.                                                                                                                         If you hear a whistling sound when you first start the stove, it usually means that a clinker blocks an air hole in the firepot. Once you have cleared the firepot of all the clinkers, close and latch the door. Pull the lever and release the waste ash in the ash drawer. Press the recycle button on the back of your stove. 99% of the time, this quick fix will solve your problems and you will be back to enjoying your pellet stove in no time.
                                                                                                                               Compared to other heating systems, the cost of installing a pellet stove is about 70% less than the installation fees associated with any other type of heating system. You can’t beat the fact that installing completely a pellet stove takes, on average, around two hours. It is advisable that if you install a pellet stove to be your primary heating system in your home that you leave your existing heating system in place as a back-up. Make sure you run your old system for about an hour a month to keep it in good working order.
                                                                                                                                   After the winter heating season is a good time to do a more thorough cleaning of your stove. Check the owner’s manual and follow the directions. Usually, you will need to remove the access panel covering the heat exchanger and vacuuming out any dust and ash that has collected here.

Take the time to clean the air intake fan of any dust or pet fur that may have collected there, and vacuum the space behind the stove and all the open space around the intake fan.

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