Pellet stoves are a lot similar to wood stoves when you look at it from the outside, but inside they are sophisticated combustion appliances.  The device holding the pellets is called the “hopper,” while the device that transfers it to the next chamber is an “auger.”  To use it, you just need to load pellets into the hopper.  The size of the hopper varies for each stove, and obviously, the bigger the hopper the more pellets you can load. There are two types of pellet stove:

1. Top Feed – where the auger serves the pellets from the top.  This type lessens the risk that the fire will burn back to the hopper.  Although there is a chance that the ash gets caught up in its firebox grate, build up and cause the fire to die.
2. Bottom Feed – where the auger serves the pellets horizontally and its ash moves to the sides where there is an ash pan to make cleaning and maintenance easy and safe.

Some stoves are automatic while some will require you to manually light it.  There is usually an internal thermostat to determine the heat and signals you when you need to add more pellets.  The process of heating begins when the air in your room is sucked in with a built-in fan, and then transferred to the heating chamber.  The resulting hot air will then be brought back into the vent system of your room or house.

The first step in purchasing a pellet stove is to measure the dimensions of your home floor sketch plan.  If you have this information, you will help the manufacturer or supplier determine the best size or type of pellet stove to heat your house.

Make sure that you see two labels on the stove.  One label is from the Protection Agency to certify that the stove passed all tests of their emissions standard.  The other label is the heat output and efficiency range.

There are two kinds of pellet stoves...  

Fueling the pellet stove is very convenient.  Generally, you need to fill the hopper only in the morning and it will already provide heat for the whole day.  Loading the pellet is done simply by pulling the hopper out and pouring the bag of pellets into it.  These pellet stoves hardly produce any smoke, which means you will never worry about the nasty smell and dryness.

The exterior of this stove is also safe in the home.  There is practically no heat when you touch the surface, and you can position the stove from the wall as close as one inch away.  This also makes it very safe for your children or pets.

The biggest advantage of a pellet stove is your savings on the cost of fuel that you will use to heat your home.  This stove uses only wood pellets which costs an average of $3 for 40lbs.  This can last you for a period of two days.  If you compare this to the price of your fuel use for a month, you will immediately see the big difference.