The Wood Fireplace Insert Blog

According to energy management experts, heating a single area of the home to a comfortable temperature and keeping the rest of the home cooler may reduce heating costs.  The main methods of alternative heating are wood-burning, electric and gas.

Gas and wood stoves appeal to different customers for various reasons.  Those who prefer gas like the instant heat, the fact that their is no mess and the ability to control the temperature. Those who prefer burning wood like the ambiance of a real fireplace and typically have access to firewood, a way to haul it and time to gather it.  Some customers will opt for both.

If you want a wood burning insert but are concerned about wood sources, consider getting a pellet stove.

Pellet stoves burn a wood pellets (a renewable fuel made of saw dust and wood chips that are pressed into pellets). Pellet fireplaces are some of the cleanest-burning appliances available and are extremely efficient. Most pellet stoves require a power source to operate the fan and pellet feeder.

Pellets burn longer than wood. You can load the pellets in the morning and the stove will automatically feed itself throughout the day maintaining a set temperature.

Pellet stoves can be vented straight out of a wall the same way as a gas fireplace.

Like wood burning stoves, pellet stoves require a buildup of heat before the temperature will change in the room. But the pellet stove works better for maintaining a consistent temperature then a wood burning stove because the combustion process is controlled by a thermostat.

If you want instant heat at the flip of a switch you should probably go with a gas fireplace.

Pellet stoves do create ash, which will need to be removed, sometimes daily depending on the size and usage level of the stove.

If you have a source for fuel, wood burning stoves or fireplaces can provide the least expensive alternative heat source.

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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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