Pellet Stove Vs. Wood Stove Cost & Efficiency

Cost of Pellets Vs. Wood

• Wood pellets are created from wood byproducts such as sawdust and wood chips. They can be difficult to find and costly in some parts of the country. Be sure wood pellets are available in your area before you consider the installation of a pellet stove. If available, pellets are sold in 40 lb. bags that cost, in 2010, an average of $5.50 a bag, or $275 per ton. The cost of a cord of wood varies widely. It can be free in heavily wooded areas if you chop it yourself, or it can cost over $300, in 2010, per cord for a desirable wood such as redwood cut small enough to fit in a wood stove. A cord is a stack of wood 4feet by 4 feet by 8 feet high. Generally, one ton of pellets emits the equivalent heat of 1 1/2 cords of wood.

Cost of Stoves

• For the size of the stove and the amount of heat produced, pellet stoves are more expensive than wood-burning ones because of the motors and complexities of the systems. In 2010 prices, pellet stoves cost from $1,500 to over $3,500 for the largest, most elaborate systems. Less expensive stoves exist, but may not work well or will need repairs often. Wood stoves tend to cost about $700 to $3,000. Installation costs for both are similar.

Efficiency and Ease of Operation

• To operate a wood stove, stack the wood inside it, light it, and as the stove heats up, warmth radiates from it through the room. More expensive wood-burning stoves may also have blowers to help warm the room. Ash quickly accumulates inside the stove and must be cleaned out often. The stove can become hot to the touch. The stove needs to be watched and refilled with wood every few hours, depending on the size of the firebox and the hardness of the wood used.

  To operate a pellet stove, fill the hopper with pellets every one to two days, depending on the size of the hopper. Some have electronic ignitions, so lighting them requires the push of a button or two. A blower is used to send warmed air into the house and the stoves generally remain cool to the touch.

Bans on Wood Burning

• Older wood burning stoves produce upwards of 40g of smoke per hour. Newer ones are EPA certified to produce no more than 7.5g. Because wood burning releases particulates into the air, some communities ban wood-burning stoves on occasion when the air quality is bad, and some prohibit them altogether. Pellet stove emissions are minimal. Many communities do not restrict their use at all, although some will do so.

Alternatives to Wood as Pellet Fuel

• Some pellet stoves are manufactured that will burn biomass pellets made from corn, beans, grains, and even nutshells. Such fuels create more ash than wood pellets. Also, because they are much lighter than wood pellets, more are needed to produce an equivalent amount of heat, and so the hopper must be refilled much more often. The extra expense and rarity of stoves that can handle such fuels make this an expensive alternative unless the homeowner has ready and inexpensive access to several tons of biomass pellets.