What's The Best Pellet Stove For You?

The best pellet stove choice for you depends on a number of factors, probably the most important being the climate zone you live in, how well your home is insulated, how large the area you want to heat is, and what you want the internal temperature set at. Stoves are arranged by heat output lower on this page to allow easy pellet stove comparison.

If you already know the heat output you need, go to Pellet Stove Comparison to choose a pellet stove based on style and design.

If you would prefer not to be dependent on one sort of fuel, you could consider a multi fuel corn pellet stove.

For comprehensive listings of pellet stove manufacturers, please follow these links. U.S.A. : Canada : Europe :

Or perhaps you're in the market for a used pellet stove.

If space is a problem, and you're not sure if you have enough room for a pellet stove, have a look at these examples of the smallest pellet stove.

US Heat Zones

In warmer areas such as the southern United States, 16 btu. (British Thermal Units) per square foot of heating area is adequate in a house with good insulation. In colder areas, if your house is not well insulated, you will need as much as fifty btu. per square foot. Check the maps for an idea of the winter temperature zone for your area.

Btu.'s required for a well insulated house in a warm area: 16 btu./ sq.ft.
Btu.'s required for an averagely insulated house in a warm area: 20btu./sq.ft.
Btu.'s required for a poorly insulated house in a warm area: 23btu./sq.ft.

Virginia, for instance, would be classed as a warm area.
For a cold area such as Michigan, multiply your result by 1.3.
For an even colder area, (Canada), multiply your result by 1.7.

Now do a small calculation. Work out the area in square feet that you need to heat and multiply that by the btu. per square foot you need for your area and standard of insulation. For example, if you want to to heat a 1,000 square foot house in Virginia with average insulation.

Virginia is in the higher temperature range and you will need a heat output of 20 btu. per square foot. 20 btu times 1000 square feet comes to 20,000 btu. per hour stove output. If you live in a colder area such as Michigan, you will need 20,000 multiplied by 1.3 btu. which is 26,000 btu.

Remember, you'll save more money in the long run if you insulate your home well and buy a smaller pellet stove, than if you buy a larger pellet stove to make up for poor insulation.

The btu. outputs that manufacturers provide relate to the efficiency of the stove in burning fuel. There are no figures for the efficiency of the heat exchangers in transferring this heat to the home. Pellet stove manufacturers will give a heating area for their stoves, but this tends to be optimized. Some are more optimistic than others.

If the low heat output on a stove is too high for milder conditions, check if it can be controlled by a thermostat to switch it on and off.

To change BTU. to Watts, divide btu. by 3.4.

Pellet stoves, being to some extent mechanical, don't like to be run flat out all the time just as you wouldn't rev your car everywhere in low gear. It's best to choose a stove that's more than adequate for your needs and run it at a medium setting.

EU Heat Zones

Fuel Efficiency And Supply

All E.P.A. certified pellet stoves are rated at over 78%. Some are much more efficient than that. See the stove pages under the REVIEWS button on the left for efficiency ratings. You should make sure that there is a reliable supply in your area of the correct standard of pellets for the stove you're considering.

Choosing The Best Pellet Stove For Reliability

See the comments section on the individual stove pages. If there's a problem with a particular stove, it will be mentioned there.

If things do go wrong, which can always happen with mechanical devices, make sure that a local service agent is available unless you are very confident of being able to sort things out yourself. Best pellet stove manufacturers have manuals available for download online. A manual should come with the stove anyway.

All the stoves in these pages have been produced in thousands of units. Be a little wary of a new line which may not have all the bugs worked out unless you are very confident in your service agent.

The main thing that causes problems with pellet stoves is lack of thorough cleaning. Even the best pellet stove and best pellet stove insert needs regular maintenance.