Pellet Stoves

Pellet Stoves

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Story Published: Sep 29, 2009 at 5:56 PM PST

By Jackie Watanabe

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Pellet stoves make heat by burning pellets made of compressed sawdust or other renewable resources.

"They burn more cleanly and are easier to handle than the logs you'd use in a wood stove," said Bob Markovich of Consumer Reports.

Consumer Reports tested 6 pellet stoves ranging from $1,300 to nearly $4,000.

"Pellet stoves produce a lot less ash, meaning they may not need to be cleaned as frequently as a wood stove. So, for example, a 40 pound bag like this in this stove produces only this much ash," said Emilio Gonzalez of Consumer Reports.

That may be convenient, but refilling the stove with heavy bags can be a downside. Consumer Reports found a problem with the Lopi Leyden Pellet stove. Two units jammed when burning longer pellets. That not only put out the fire but made it hard to unjam the stove chute.

Shorter pellets like those on the right worked fine, but you usually can't find the pellet size marked on the bag.

"We also found that pellet stoves aren't a surefire money saver. If you use natural gas, burning pellets will actually cost you over 20 percent more at current energy prices," Markovich said .

But if you heat with oil, you could cut your costs by about 15 percent. Even then, it could take years to break even.

"No matter what you normally heat with, a pellet stove could take years to pay for itself, even after the tax credits, when you factor in purchase and installation costs," Markovich said.

If you still want a pellet stove, Consumer Reports recommends this Harman Stove P68 for $3,900. It even has a big hopper, which means you don't have to fill it as often.

Most pellet stoves qualify for a federal tax credit of up to $1,500 if you install them by the end of next year.

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