Though most home heating systems rely on natural gas as a fuel source, there are still many that use older fuels. Oil-burning heaters still have their adherents across the country. However, oil is not the most efficient of fuels, and must be carefully stored and used to avoid a fire. With that in mind, many oil heating system owners are starting to convert their systems to use wood pellets instead. Let’s take a look at how wood pellet conversion works.
Anatomy of a Wood Pellet System
Most wood-pellet systems are comprised of a burner, a storage unit, a conveyor, and a controller. The storage unit stores anywhere from a week to a few months’ worth of pellets. The conveyor is responsible for moving the pellets from the storage unit to the burner. The burner is self-explanatory, and the controller automates all the other systems.
The rest of the heating system works more or less the same way as any other heating system of the same type that uses other fuel types.
Converting to a Wood Pellet System
The great thing about converting your heater into a wood pellet burning system is that it doesn’t require any permanent or involved modifications. All that needs to be done is the original oil burner needs to be taken out, to make room for the wood pellet system. If you decide later on that you’d prefer to switch back, you can switch the mechanisms again with ease.
Advantages of a Wood Pellet System
There are a few different reasons to switch to a wood pellet system. For one thing, it’s cheap. Wood pellets are just about the cheapest fuel source available for heating systems. For another, it’s a green fuel. Wood pellets are made from trees often grown locally, and supported by their local community for having a small environmental footprint. If you’re worried about the impact your heating is having on the environment, wood pellets are a great way to ease those fears.
If you’d like to know more about wood pellet heaters, call HB Energy Solutions. We install wood pellet furnaces throughout New Hampshire.
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