For Southern Vermont homeowners that are interested in switching from oil or natural gas, pellet and wood burning stoves are a great option. But which one is more efficient and which one has the fewest emissions? At HB Energy we specialize in alternative fuels for homeowners that are seriously interested in reducing the amount of energy that their homes use. We wanted to put together quick comparison to give homeowners a good starting place as they start thinking about switching fuel sources.

What Are Wood Pellets?

So what exactly are wood pellets? Sawmills and other wood working businesses produce a huge amount of waste wood shavings and saw dust. Normally, those would be thrown away in a landfill. Wood pellets are made from that waste material by compacting them under high pressure. The wood shavings are pressed into a small, pill-shaped mass that can then be used to fuel wood pellet stoves.

Pellet Stoves: Pros and Cons

Wood pellet stoves offer extremely high efficiency and BTU output when compared to wood burning stoves. In almost every instance, the pellet stoves provide greater efficiency and higher head output per unit of fuel consumed. However, pellet stoves require electricity, though, not a lot of it. But if the power goes out then you can’t use your pellet stove. Additionally, wood pellets are not available in all places and in the event of a natural disaster if you can’t acquire any pellets then you can’t heat your home.

Wood Burning Stoves: Pros and Cons

One of the best pros for wood burning stoves is that its fuel source is readily available. You can find wood pretty much anywhere and if you have trees on your property they can be used to for fuel as well. However, wood burning stoves are much less efficient than pellet stoves and they also require more fuel to produce a similar amount of heat. But wood burning stoves don’t require any electricity to run so if the power goes out your home will still be comfortable.

If you have any questions about wood burning stoves or pellet burning stoves in Southern Vermont, call the experts at HB Energy.