If you purchased the pellet stove in your home, you probably did a lot of research by reading reviews, comparing prices, learning about available features, and so on. How much do you look into pellets before you make a purchase? It’s a good idea to check out the brand’s heat and ash specifications before you buy. The higher the ash percentage, the more leftover ash you’ll experience – which correlates to how frequent your cleanings will be. Higher quality pellets have lower ash percentages, which means less maintenance for you. As for the heat output, the higher the BTU/lb number, the hotter the burn of course.
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Why Your Pellet Stove Won’t Ignite, Stay Lit, Feed Pellets, Etc.
There are many different brands and styles of wood pellet stoves – so the best way to start learning about your particular stove is to read the entire manual. If you’re a new pellet stove owner, or have switched to a different model – it could take some trial and error to learn the right process for your home.
You might be surprised to learn that many common issues pellet burners face with their stoves can be solved with making some adjustments. Again – start to troubleshoot and learn by reading your manual! It has the best stove-specific advice on operation, maintenance, recommendations and best practices.
Take a look at our quick cheat sheet below to review the pellet stove problems we hear about the most.
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Get Your Stove Ready for Fall
Aside from the usual ash removal and general maintenance, your wood pellet stove needs additional care in order to operate at optimal safety and efficiency. So when it was time to shut down your stove for the summer, did you take the time to do so properly? Instead of just pulling the plug and walking away, responsible pellet stove owners should have used a quick shut-down checklist:
- Turn off your stove and unplug it from the wall entirely
- Use an ammonia-free, heat-safe cleaning solvent to clean the glass
- Clean out the inside of the stove and hopper as best you can
- Remove all leftover pellets (burned and unburned)
Probably the most important part of shutting down for the summer is removing all leftover residue and pellets. If you have moisture inside your stove, the leftover pellets will absorb it. This can cause rust to form, which could lead to costly damage.
The 2016 Pellet Stove Design Challenge Winner
The 2016 Pellet Stove Design Challenge (which is organized by the
Alliance for Green Heat) was a three day international stove technology competition with a focus on spotlighting innovative and high performing pellet stoves and prototypes. The event also held extensive stove demonstrations/testing, presentations and round-table discussions with industry experts, researchers, scientists, policy-makers and students, among others. The main purpose of this competition is to promote innovation in wood and pellet heating, as well as help to reduce fossil fuel heating with the use of cleaner and more efficient stoves.
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