The Wood Fireplace Insert Blog

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For those who depend on a fireplace to supplement their home heating a pellet burning fireplace insert should be a serious consideration. Pellet burning fireplace inserts are much like pellet stoves in the way they work and in their heating performance, but they are built so that they can be installed right into the firebox area of an existing fireplace.

Pellet inserts burn wood pellets that are made from wood waste materials that are left over from other manufacturing processes using wood.  These wood chips, saw dust, etc. are compressed to the point that they will stay in the pellet form. 

Compressing the material into pellets makes for a very handy way to deal with this fuel source because they can be easily poured into the pellet insert and they are easy to package and transport.  Pellets can be transported in bulk trucks or in bags that are convenient for home owners to purchase and transport.  They can also be easily stacked for storage.

Pellet inserts are among the cleanest burning heating fixtures on the market.  They are extremely efficient and very environmentally friendly.  Regular wood burning inserts have to be designed to meet EPA standards to be certified but because pellet inserts create such minimal pollution they do not even require EPA certification.  You may see EPA certifications on some model because the manufacturer voluntarily applied for it, but it is not required for pellet burning inserts.

Other differences between pellet burning inserts and regular wood inserts are that most pellet burning inserts require electrical power to run the pellet feeder mechanism and the fan(s).  Another difference is the way they can be vented.  Regular wood burning inserts usually need a chimney to vent smoke and gases whereas many pellet inserts can be vented right through a wall. 

Another feature that is often included in a pellet insert is a thermostat control that monitors the heat coming from the insert and adjusts air flow and pellet feeding to raise and lower temperatures as needed to maintain the desired room temperature.

There are many models and designs of pellet inserts on the market to choose from so you may want to compare features as well as appearance when it comes to installing a pellet burning fireplace insert.

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Many of the new fireplace inserts are designed to burn fireplace pellets.  But what is a fireplace pellet?  A fireplace pellet is a wood pellet that is typically made from waste materials such as chips, wood pieces and sawdust. These materials are ground up and compressed until they make a pellet of highly compact material.  A fireplace pellet is more dense then typical wood and therefore burns longer and gives off more heat.  Because they are manufactured under controlled conditions the moisture content in a wood pellet can also be kept very low which improves their burning efficiency and reduces emissions.

At the pellet manufacturing facilities the wood debris and sawdust are milled into dough that is pressed through the holes of a die.  The pressure raises the heat of the material to the point that the lignin in the wood forms natural glue that holds the pellet together.

Another advantage of using pellets is their consistent size makes them flow well and makes it easy to control an automatic feeding system which will feed the pellets into the fireplace as they are needed.  That way you can load up the holding area of the fireplace and let it feed the pellets as needed.  It also makes things easier for the manufacturer to package them and haul them in bags or other containers.  Some people even set up a holding bin next to their house that can be loaded by a truck and have an auger or belt system that moves the pellets automatically into the fireplace or stove to be burned.

The use of a fireplace pellet system is becoming more wide spread.  Even in Europe the popularity is growing as using wood pellets for heating homes is quickly becoming a way to save money on heating costs.  In the U.K. it is estimated that customers are reducing heating costs by as much as 50%.  

It is no wonder that their popularity has increased.  They are less expensive, easy to transport and use and create a highly controllable heat source that has very low emissions.  One must applaud the person who came up with the idea for the wood pellet.

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