Pellet Stoves vs. Wood-Burning Stoves: What You Should Know

Indoor heating systems are pretty popular these days because they’re great for providing extra heat during the long winter nights. If you’ve done some research on various heating systems, you’ll find out that burning stoves are very popular among homeowners as they act like fireplaces but with more heating efficiency.

Pellet Stoves Vs. Wood-Burning Stoves

Further research will tell you that there are two types of stoves to choose from. These are the pellet stoves and the wood-burning stoves. Each of them has their own specific pros and cons which is why it’s hard to say which of the two is better.

The choice you make is going to be based on your own preference and needs. In this Pellet Stoves Vs. Wood-Burning Stoves guide, we’re going to break down the pros and cons of each and show you how to use this information to make your choice.

Let’s begin with the pros and cons:

Pellet Stove

Wood-Burning Stove

Burning Stove Buying Guide

Now that you’re aware of the pros and cons of each type, how can you use this information to make your choice? First, you need to know the various factors involved when choosing. You’ll be able to see that through this short buying guide.

Below are the factors that you need to take into consideration:

Installation

As mentioned in the pros and cons section, pellet stoves only require direct ventilation. Wood-burning stoves, on the other hand, require you to install a chimney. So, if we were to talk about ease of installation (and cost), a pellet stove is the cheaper and more convenient option.

Storage

Pellet stoves can only burn specific pellets. This is why you need to stock up on them during the winter. Pellet bags are pretty big and require you to store them in dry areas. Thus, if you think you’ll be stuck in your house during most of the winter, you’ll need to buy a lot of bags.

On the other hand, you don’t need to buy so much wood for wood-burning stoves. If you live near trees, then you can just chop down firewood. That said, you don’t need to store so much firewood since there is a good supply of free wood outside. So, when it comes to storage, we’d say that wood-burning stoves are better.

Time Period

Time period refers to how long the heating of your stove lasts before you need to add more fuel. For large hopper pellet stoves, you can expect 65 hours of straight heating without having to refuel.

Wood burning stoves require you to refuel with new wood from time to time since wood burns pretty fast. If you don’t mind refueling, then you should be okay with a wood-burning stove. If not, the pellet stove is the way to go.

Price

When we talk about price, we don’t only refer to cost of buying the stove. We also take into consideration installation cost, energy cost, and cost of fuel.

While pellet stoves can help you save on installation costs, there are other costs that will pile up on that. There’s the cost of buying pellets and the cost of electricity you need to use to power up your stove.

For wood-burning stoves, you might spend a bit more on installing a chimney, but you get to save on fuel. Since there are so many ways to acquire firewood, fuel won’t be an issue here. Also, your electricity bill won’t go up when you use a wood-burning stove.

When considering this factor, we recommend that you don’t just look at the numbers. Look at the value for money. Even if pellet stoves are more expensive, they may offer other intangible benefits that trump wood-burning stoves when it comes to value for money.

Conclusion

As you can see, only you can decide which stove is best for you (with the help of our guide, of course). That is because each type caters to different needs. With that in mind, always keep this guide with you when you’re choosing between Pellet Stoves Vs. Wood-Burning Stoves.