When it comes to heating your home or workshop through the winter, one of the best alternatives to a full-fledged home heating system is a pellet stove. These stoves burn specially made pellets of compressed wood to produce heat. Although they are similar in many ways to a wood-burning stove, the best pellet stove is significantly more efficient, safer to use, and doesn’t require spending days outside chopping wood to heat your home. Another major advantage to pellet stoves is that they cost far less to run than an electricity- or gas-based heating system.
To help you find the right pellet stove to heat your home or shop, we considered a number of features that differentiate these heaters. The first is the size of the pellet stove – after all, these heaters will take up a significant amount of space within the room they are placed. We also considered the heating power and area, which affect if it’s an effective heater for a large room, a shop, or even an entire home heated. Finally, we considered things like the hopper capacity – how much pellet fuel the stove can hold before needed to be refilled – and the manufacturer’s warranty.
We spent tens of hours researching pellet stove models, reading technical specifications and customer reviews. The result is our list of the eight best pellet stoves, highlighted in the table below. Continue reading for detailed reviews of each pellet stove complete with pros and cons. Our Buying Guide covers everything you need to know about pellet stoves and how to choose the right stove for your needs. Finally, we recap our three favorite pellet stoves for on the market today.
More features: auto-ignition, intuitive dial thermostat, 96 hours of burning time, self-emptying fire pot, EPA certified
Pelpro Pellet Stove includes an automatic ignition and a dial thermostat. The stove produces 50,000 BTU input and 40,600 BTU output. With its easy controls, you can control the temperature easily, knowing that the output equals less heat loss. You can heat up to 2,500 square feet of your home and has over 96 hours of burning time.
We chose the Pelpro Pellet Stove because we loved its power and efficiency. You will be absolutely pleased with the amount of heat it provides your home quickly. You and your family will enjoy the warmth and the self-emptying firepot. It is super easy to clean, and you can enjoy hours of warmth between ash pan cleanings. The self-regulating temperature feature will keep your home safe and warm.
In comparison to similar models, the Pelpro Pellet Stove trumps their durability. The controls are much easier to use than most pellet stoves, and the capacity is much larger at a whopping 130 pounds. Pelpro guarantees their product with a 5-year warranty for the firebox and a 1-year electrical warranty for the pellet heater. The quality of steel to the ease of use makes this model the Editor’s Choice.
More features: auto ignition, ash pan, programmable thermostat, remote control included, EPA certified
Users can’t say enough good things about this massive pellet stove from Comfortbilt. First of all, the stove simply looks good enough to make it a welcome addition to any home – the front panels feature bay-style glass windows to provide a large viewing area similar to a traditional fireplace. The hexagonal shape also adds some style so that it can fit into the aesthetic of a wide variety of rooms.
In terms of performance, it’s hard to beat this 50,000 BTU stove. Comfortbilt claims – and users agree – that the stove is capable of heating a 2,800-square foot area even in cold conditions. Better yet, users report running it for several months straight in harsh winter temperatures with no issues.
The large ash pan and 55-pound hopper together mean that you don’t need to pay attention to this stove more frequently than once every day or two, and users report that the ash pan is easy to clean with a shop vac. Users also love the programmable thermostat on the top of the stove, which makes it easy to regulate the blower based on the temperature of your home, as well as appreciated the remote control so you can adjust the thermostat from another room. Another favorite thing about this stove is how quiet it is – one user reported not being able to hear it at all from just the opposite side of the same room!
Comfortbilt offers a one-year warranty on the parts of this stove and a lifetime warranty on the stove body, as well as very helpful technical assistance during the installation process and early phases of use.
More features: pedestal base
The Ashley Hearth AW1120E-P wood stove is black and nearly 32 inches long. The pedestal base gives the stove an upscale and classy look. The wood stove has a heavy cast iron door with a glass window view. The plate steel with nickel-trim finish stove can heat up to 1,200 square feet. The stove meets EPA guidelines and offers primary and secondary air inlets.
In comparison to previous models, the Ashley Hearth AW1120E-P wood stove includes a much easier cleaning system. The dual inlets also create the perfect environment for the fire to burn at the stove’s top and bottom. The wood stove promotes maximum energy-efficient burning. However, the time it takes for the wood to burn is also greatly dependent on the type of wood you are burning.
The Ashley Hearth AW1120E-P wood stove made our list because it is the best wood stove for the price. It puts out 68,000 BTU and can fit logs up to 18 inches. One of the most common problems, when customers are purchasing a wood-burning stove online is not knowing if wood can easily fit. When the stove can only fit up to 12-inch wood pieces, they find themselves having to go back and cut them all shorter. The Ashley Hearth AW1120E-P wood stove holds larger logs and provides longer burn times.
More features: built-in WiFi, digital control panel, fresh air supply kit included
The Cleveland Iron Works PS20W-CIW Mini Pellet Stove has built-in WiFi and smart home technology. It includes a remote and digital control panel making it super easy to control and ignite. You can heat up to 800 square feet of your home with its large 18lb capacity hopper. The blower is extremely quiet and includes a fresh air supply kit.
We love the sleek look of the Cleveland Iron Works PS20W-CIW Mini Pellet Stove. We love the features it includes, and it is extremely affordable. Plus it is highly energy efficient. It weighs approximately 143 lbs and is composed of iron. The weight contributes to the stability of the mini pellet stove. It is sturdy, yet you can still easily move it into different rooms in your home.
The Cleveland Iron Works PS20W-CIW Mini Pellet Stove is a quality product and affordable. It makes our list because it includes so many features on a budget. Its advanced technology and classic style look great in any space. The service tray makes clean-up easy. The Cleveland Iron Works PS20W-CIW Mini Pellet Stove is more affordable compared to similar models.
More features: EPA certified, 3-inch pellet venting, gravity feed system
If winter storms knocking out power are a frequent occurrence in your area or you’re in the market for a pellet stove for an off-grid home, this fully non-electric pellet stove from US Stove is a great option. The stove uses a gravity feed system rather than a mechanical auger to deliver pellets from the hopper to the combustion chamber, which users found works extremely well – as long as you clean out the system every two to three days.
Although the stove is rated to 40,000 BTU and is described as being large enough to heat a 2,000-square foot home, users warn that these ratings are optimistic and this stove is best used for heating only a few central rooms. Although the 60-pound hopper is quite large, users find that the stove burns through pellets quickly when operating at full heat and the hopper must be refilled every 12-20 hours. In addition, users note that the ash pan must be cleaned out every day in order to keep the stove running at high efficiency.
The stove uses a direct venting system, which is another advantage for those looking to go off-grid but requires some forethought about where you will place the stove since it requires putting a ventilation pipe through your roof. That said, users appreciated the relatively small footprint of this stove as well as the modern aesthetic – although the viewing pane to see the fire is also relatively small.
US Stove offers a limited lifetime warranty on the body of the stove, although users reported few issues since there are no electrical parts.
More features: Smart Controller, easy to clean, 69.8% thermal efficiency
The Castle Serenity Stove 12327 is another top-tier pellet stove option that deserves praise. One reason for this is the high heat output that makes it suitable for larger rooms and houses. After all, its heating area is up to 1,500 sq. ft.
Notably, the hopper in this machine can hold a maximum of 40 lbs of pellets. When put to use, these pellets will generally last 12 hours in the high heat setting and 24 hours when you set the temperature slightly lower.
Speaking of setting the heat, you can choose between the weekly operational, manual, or thermostat modes of the device. For the weekly modes, you can set the machine to turn on and off depending on whether you’re in the house or not. After all, it would be a waste to warm the house when you’re not home.
The manual mode is there when you want to select or change the burn level you’re using. There are up to five burn levels, and you can easily choose which one you want with the push of a button.
Additionally, this house warming tool has a thermal efficiency of about 69.8%, which is just on the edge of what is expected for EPA-certified pellet stoves. The machine is also ETL and Mobile Home certified, meaning it’s also a good fit for your RV if you have one.
Another thing to look forward to if you end up with this stove is how easy it is to clean. All it takes is to sweep out the exhaust pipe after dumping the contents of the easy access firepot and ashpan.
Lastly, the safety features don’t disappoint either. There is also the safety shutoff, thermal overload protection, and heat shields to keep you and your family safe.
More features: 4 heat settings, 120 CFM blower,LED display, digital control board
This inexpensive pellet stove from US Stove was designed with simplicity and ease of use in mind. Compared to other pellet stoves, everything from the shape of this stove to the digital controller is designed to let you worry about anything but your stove.
The stove features a 40-pound hopper, which means you don’t need to refill it more than once a day. It has a relatively modest heat output of just under 34,000 BTU, which makes it more suitable for mild climates or for heating not a very big number of rooms – the stove is rated to heat an area of 1,800 square feet.
Also, this tool has fully automatic functions, including ignition and circulation. Concerning the latter, you are assured that heat will be evenly distributed so long as the machine is in good condition. This is also a result of the 120 CFM blower incorporated into the design.
The stove has an LED display to make sure you can see the settings you are incorporating. Another display provided is that of the burning pellets. For some, this is just as important as the heat the device offers.
As well, the fact that you have four heat settings removes much of the guesswork from the equation. Unfortunately, this also limits your options when it comes to fine-tuning temperatures.
More features: 110V, programmable heat settings, auto-ignition
The Comfortbilt HP22i Pellet Stove Insert Carbon Black is a heavy-duty pellet stove. It includes programmable heat settings and an auto-ignition, making starting a fire extremely easy. The hopper can hold up to 47 pounds of pellets and produce a whopping 42,000 BTU. The Comfortbilt HP22i Pellet Stove Insert Carbon Black can heat up to 2,000 square feet. It has an easy-to-clean ash pan and a one-year warranty available.
Pellet stoves can be frustrating to start and maintain heat in your home. The auto-ignition system makes keeping your family warm easy. The programmable heat settings give you more control and help the pellets to burn more efficiently. We loved it once we tested the Comfortbilt HP22i Pellet Stove Insert Carbon Black.
In comparison to like-models, the Comfortbilt HP22i Pellet Stove Insert Carbon Black has a huge bay window viewing area. The bay window is stylish and elegant. We also found that the Comfortbilt HP22i Pellet Stove Insert Carbon Black has more value for your dollar. Other pellet stoves that have the same capacity are much more expensive.
Now that you’ve learned more about our eight favorite pellet stoves on the market today, how do you choose between them to find the pellet stove that’s right for you? Pellet stoves differ widely in their performance and efficiency, so it’s important to know about how these heaters work and how you plan to use yours before investing in one. In our Buying Guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about pellet stoves and the features that set them apart from one another.
While many people may be reluctant to switch away from traditional gas-powered or electrical home heating systems, pellet stoves offer a huge number of advantages over these heating systems.
First, pellet stoves are one of the least expensive ways to heat your home. This is, for many people, what gets them interested in switching over to heating with a pellet stove in the first place. Compared to gasoline and electricity, wood pellets are significantly cheaper and do not experience the wild price fluctuations of these other fuels. A cord of wood pellets is also typically cheaper than a cord of pre-cut wood – and doesn’t require the effort of splitting lumber from uncut wood rounds that you would have to put in to make operating a wood stove cheaper than a pellet stove.
Pellet stoves are also significantly more environmentally friendly than other forms of heating fuels since the pellets being burned are made of wood – a renewable resource. Most wood pellets are sourced from trees downed as collateral in construction or other large-scale industries, so producing this fuel doesn’t even require additional logging of forests.
A common concern that people who are new to pellet stoves have is that these heaters will either produce too much heat, or not enough. However, pellet stoves are highly efficient and larger units can produce just as much heat as an electrical or gas-powered heater. Pellet stoves are also controllable, with adjustable fans and heat settings so you can turn the heat down when you’re in the same room as the stove or turn the heat up to warm adjacent rooms.
Lastly, pellet stoves are a terrific option for warming your home if you’d like to take it off the grid, or at least reduce your dependability on the electrical or natural gas grid. Wood pellets are available year-round from most hardware stores and can be stockpiled ahead of the winter since they last for years.
The pellets burned in pellet stoves are typically made from the waste wood of other industries, which is in part what makes pellet stoves so environmentally friendly – they burn wood that would otherwise go to a landfill. Many wood pellets are made of compressed saw dust from lumber mills, from excess wood discarded by the furniture and logging industries, or from unusable lumber like trees killed by pine beetle. More and more, pellets are also being produced from agricultural waste such as cornstalks to make the most of agricultural byproducts.
Pellet stoves look relatively simple on the outside, but the inside actually houses a few separate chambers. Typically, to start your pellet stove running you’ll load pellets into a hopper, where they’ll be stored temporarily. An auger feeds pellets to the combustion chamber, with the feed rate determining in part how much heat your pellet stove will put out – this is usually one of the things that the thermostat on the exterior of the pellet stove controls. Although many pellet stoves automatically ignite the pellets in the combustion chamber when you first turn the stove on, some pellet stoves require you to manually ignite the pellets – after this, however, the fire will keep burning as new pellets are added. The pellets are burned in the combustion chamber to produce heat, and a heat exchanger blows air from the room past the combustion chamber back out into the room to deliver the heat safely.
Unlike a wood-burning stove, a pellet stove has several moving parts that can break over time if not maintained properly. Therefore, you’ll want to make stove maintenance a regular part of your winter heating routine.
The first and most important thing that you need to do to maintain your pellet stove is to clean out the ash tray so that it does not clog the air intake to the combustion chamber. A good method for cleaning this is to simply vacuum up the ash. Expect to vacuum the tray at least every few days during the winter months when you are using your stove heavily.
You’ll also want to keep the glass door of the stove clean so that you can look inside to make sure the fire is burning properly. Specifically, you want to keep an eye out for clinkers – hardened balls of pellet ash – that can clog up the air intake in the combustion chamber. These can be removed or broken up with a fireplace poker whenever you find them.
Every now and then, you’ll want to allow the hopper and auger to empty completely as well. The reason for this is that debris from the pellets – which are often made from sawdust and other crumbly materials – can build up in the hopper and auger and clog the feeding mechanism if they are not cleaned out. Allowing the hopper and auger to completely empty will typically clean them out, although you can also clean them by hand.
Finally, it is a good idea to have your pellet stove inspected by a professional once a year – typically before cold weather starts! There are a number of companies that provide subscription services so that you don’t have to worry about this and so that the price is relatively modest.
Installing a pellet stove is relatively straightforward, but there are a number of things to consider before you actually get to the point of placing a stove inside your house.
First, you need to figure out exactly where you are going to put a pellet stove. You may have a specific room where you want the stove, or alternatively where you want to put the stove may be dictated by the size of the stove model you like. In general, it’s a good idea to put the stove in a central room within your house so that the heat it produces can be distributed evenly and effectively to the surrounding rooms.
You need to consider how you are going to protect the floor from catching on fire when operating a pellet stove. Most manufacturers will provide recommended options for types of flooring material that can be put beneath their pellet stove to protect your floor. Alternatively, if you already have a hearth installed in one room, that may dictate the size and placement of your stove.
Ventilation is also extremely important when choosing where and how to set up your new pellet stove. Relatively free air movement is needed both to keep the stove burning at the highest possible efficiency and to distribute the hot air produced by the stove around the house. Most pellet stoves use a mechanical venting system, in which a fan assists in the movement of air. Typically, these stoves will require a double-walled PL vent pipe to meet building code requirements. Alternatively, some high-end pellet stove models offer direct ventilation, in which air is vented directly to the exterior of your home through a wall or roof vent. In this case, you’ll need a chimney on the outside of your home that clears all roof overhangs and that is fully sealed to prevent smoke from leaking back into your house.
Obviously, safety is paramount whenever lighting a fire inside your home. The most important thing you can do to prevent a fire in the room around your stove is to make sure there is nothing combustible in the vicinity of the stove – including the floor surface and walls. Most pellet manufacturers will provide a list of materials that are safe to use under your new pellet stove. Manufacturers will also provide instructions on the types of pellets that are safe to burn with your stove – be sure to stick with the recommended pellets to prevent any gas buildup, smoke, or flames.
It is also important to keep an eye on the stove from time to time. Don’t let children or pets play alone in the room with the stove when it is on since the stove surface and front glass can be extremely hot. In addition, you’ll want to install a carbon monoxide monitor and smoke detector in the room with the stove.
Although a pellet stove is a large expense, you’ll want to plan on a few additional items to make sure that your home and family are safe when your pellet stove is running. These include carbon monoxide and smoke detectors, both of which can be placed in the same room as the pellet stove to alert you if dangerous gases or smoke is building up in your home. A carbon monoxide detector is especially important as this gas cannot be seen or smelled. Although fires from pellet stoves are rare, it is also a good idea to stash a fire extinguisher in the same room as the pellet stove.
Depending on the model of pellet stove you opt for, you may also need to invest in a blower fan. Many higher-end pellet stoves come with a fan to circulate the hot air they produce, but when purchasing a budget stove there may be no built-in mechanism to distribute heat away from the stove itself. While a ceiling fan might do the trick if you are only heating a single small room, if you need the heat circulated throughout several rooms a blower fan will work significantly better.
How do you differentiate between pellet stoves to get one that’s the right fit for your home? In this section, we’ll take a look at the most important features to consider when choosing a pellet stove and explain how they can affect performance.
Pellet stoves simply aren’t small – they take up a decent amount of space in a room of your home. For this reason, the size of different pellet stoves is a major factor for many homeowners. The pellet stove you choose needs to fit comfortably within a central room of your home, with enough space from any surrounding walls to prevent the walls from overheating. For many people, a taller stove with a smaller footprint – like the model from US Stoves – is a good option for small rooms.
In addition, size is important because it affects heat output – larger pellet stoves will be able to put out more heat than smaller pellet stoves. In general, you’ll want to choose a pellet stove that offers enough heating power to heat your entire home but without providing too much excess heat that will leave you sweltering.
The material that the pellet stove you choose is made from can have an effect on its heat transfer and durability. Nearly all pellet stoves will get hot on the outside when operating, so it’s important to keep your body and children and pets away from the stove when it is on. That said, the exterior of every pellet stove is designed with cast metals so that they are flame-retardant even at extremely high temperature and durable under these same temperatures.
One of the major differences between pellet stoves is whether they are top-fed or bottom-fed.
Top-fed stoves feature an auger that is placed near the top of the combustion chamber and uses an inclines surface to transfer pellets from the hopper to the chamber. Because of this design, there is little chance of the auger catching fire and spreading flame to pellets in the hopper. However, top-fed stoves are also at risk of developing clinkers – masses of clumped, hardened ash – that can impede ventilation to the combustion chamber if they are not cleaned out with a fire poker. As a result, most top-fed pellet stoves require premium, low-ash pellets that can be somewhat more expensive over time.
Bottom-fed stoves have a horizontal auger that doubles as a cleaning mechanism to move ash and clinkers into the ash pan. These stoves are somewhat more expensive up front than top-fed stoves, but because they automatically remove clinkers they don’t require premium pellets.
The capacity of the pellet hopper, where pellets are stored before they are delivered to the combustion chamber, can vary widely – from the 18-pound hopper on the Cleveland Iron Works PS20W-CIW to the 130-pound hopper on the PelPro PP130-B. A small hopper in the 22-pound range will require you to refill the hopper frequently – up to twice a day during the winter – so this can be problematic if you are out of the house frequently and need to keep it warm. On the other hand, a massive hopper can enable you to only worry about adding pellets to the hopper every other day.
The maximum amount of heat that a pellet stove is capable of putting out is measured in BTUs – British thermal units – per hour. In general, the amount of heat that you will need from a stove depends on the climate you live in and the size of your home. If you have relatively mild winters, you can get away with about 40 BTU per hour per square foot. However, if you live in colder locales, you will want to budget 60 BTUs per hour per foot or more. Remember that the heating power ratings are given by manufacturers typically recommend the maximum output when burning the optimal (and sometimes most expensive) type of pellet – so you will want to budget for a stove that offers slightly more heating power than you think you will need.
Thankfully, pellet stoves are available in a huge range of heating powers so that you have a lot of choices based on the calculation of heating power that you need. The stoves we reviewed range from as little as 20,475 BTU per hour on the Cleveland Iron Works PS20W-CIW– great for small homes or if you only need to heat several rooms – to as much as 50,000 BTU per hour on the Comfortbilt Pellet Stove – perfect for extremely cold climates and large homes.
Ventilation is extremely important both to provide air to the combustion chamber of the stove and to vent away noxious gases and smoke to the outside of your home. The majority of stoves are installed with draft fans in order to provide mechanical venting. Another option for ventilation is direct ventilation, in which smoke is shunted vertically through a pipe to a chimney on the outside of your home. However, this type of ventilation system will typically shut down in the event of a power outage – such as during a winter storm.
Automatic features can be a big benefit if you like to take a hands-off approach to operating your pellet stove. Potential automatic features include automatic pellet ignition, such as is found on the Comfortbilt and Summers Heat stoves among others, and thermostat control that automatically adjusts the blower speed to modulate the heat coming out of your pellet stove.
Not all pellet stoves burn the same type of pellets – and this can lead to major differences in the cost of operating your stove over time. In general, top-fed pellet stoves are more likely to require expensive low-ash pellets since these are less likely to produce clinkers that can block ventilation to the combustion chamber.
Pellet stoves aren’t silent, and some models – especially those with large mechanical ventilation fans – can be downright noisy. The best way to evaluate whether a particular stove model makes a lot of noise is to check customer reviews since complaints of noise are common on noisy pellet stoves.
A pellet stove is a major investment, so you want to be sure that your purchase is protected with a manufacturer’s warranty. Warranties on pellet stoves range from as little as one year for the Castle Pellet Stoves model to lifetime warranties on the Comfortbilt, US Stove Company, and Summers Heat pellet stove models.
Our three overall favorite pellet stoves on the market today are the Comfortbilt Pellet Stove HP22, the Comfortbilt HP22i Pellet Stove Insert Carbon Black, and the US Stove Company 5520.
Easy-to-use and highly functional, the Comfortbilt Pellet Stove HP2 is a must-have for all families, and it’s unbeatable when it comes to value for money and comfort. Its high-quality unit, reliability, affordability, and safety provision make it an option you can’t miss out on and a worthwhile investment.
The US Stove Company model has an enormous 120-pound hopper that allows users to ignore the stove for several days at a time, as well as a handy LED digital thermostat controller that makes it easy to use.
We feel that the Comfortbilt stove is the overall best pellet stove for the majority of homeowners because it puts out a whopping 50,000 BTUs of heat – enough to cover a 2,800-square foot home – features huge bay windows for viewing the fire, and comes with a number of helpful features like automatic ignition, a digital thermostat, and a remote controller.
Thank you for your help. My girlfriend who is very poor and her house has no real means of supplying her wood stove, so I would like to upgrade to a pellet stove. I’m going to try and get help with buying the number one item on your list and get all the piping and pad for the unit.
Hi, Len!
We are glad that our article has helped you make the right pellet stove for your girlfriend’s house. We advise you to carefully learn the instructions and manuals to install the device properly.