A Layman’s Guide
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Before we tell you about the process of buying pellets for pellet stove, we would like to explain what pellets for pellet stove are and about the advantages of pellet stove. In the recent years, the cost of gas has hit an all time high and the prices are continuously skyrocketing. These days everyone faces high gas bills, electricity bills, credit cards bills etc. In this age of mounting expenses, you can get cost effective comfort and warmth through pellet stoves at the fraction of price when compared to other devices that use fossil fuels.
Pellet stoves use pellets made of sawdust, corn and other similar byproducts and help in running the stove to satisfy multiple purposes. The pellet stove pellets are byproducts of wood, corn or other environment friendly sources that makes them ecologically stable and non-polluting. The pellet stoves are quite similar in look and size to the wood stoves but the difference lies in the types of combustion appliances present inside.
Most of the pellet stoves have strong combustion mechanics and as a result, the pellets will burn very hot. This kind of burn provides the pellet stove a higher efficiency. This stove works on intense compression, which takes the moisture out of the pellets. It enhances the moisture content to drop as low as 8%, which is quite dry.
Advantages of Pellets for Pellet Stove
Pellet stove pellets are nothing but recycled sawdust, wood shavings, corn, and peanut shells. In scientific terms, they are biomass wastes and no trees are cut to make the pellets. The size of these pellets range from 3/8 inch to 1 inch in length and are generally sold in 40lb bags. Pellet stoves come in different varieties and can run on corn kernels, nutshells and wood chips too.
Now let us walk you through a cost comparison. As compared to wood, the pellets might look expensive, as they will cost anywhere from $130 to $200 per ton. One ton of pellets in actual terms equals to 1½ cords of wood. However, pellets have a distinct advantage when it comes to burning efficiently. Not only this, the pellets can be accommodated in the most compact manner. In simple words, a larger amount of pellets can be stored in the smallest corner.
Corn - The Cost Effective and Convenient Option
Most pellet stoves can use corn in place of wood or sawdust pellets. The advantages of corn over wood pellets are many. Corn is easier to procure and burns hotter than wood pellets. Shelled corn is easily available while the availability of wood-based pellets is scant. A 50-pound bag of shelled corn, which is marginally lower than a bushel, is priced at nearly $3.75. This is an economic alternative because the heat generated by same cots of wood-based pellets is much lower.
Certain people favoring wood based pellets for pellet stoves argue that corn leaves more ash than the wood-based pellets, but this is not a detriment enough to desist you from using this cost effective means for heating. Moreover, corn leaves a different smell when compared to wood pellets for pellet stoves and many people love the sweet smell of burning corn. This could be another reason to prefer shelled corn to pellets for pellet stoves.
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