When it comes to selecting a home appliance, energy efficiency is now the main factor most people consider. It’s the starting point for reducing your monthly electricity bills as well as enhancing a clean and comfortable living environment.
For such a case, pellet stoves come in as one of the best options for heating sources available on the market. This is because these heating appliances only need electricity to run the electrical and mechanical parts.
The idea of ditching electric fireplaces for pellet stoves is often appealing to many homeowners. That’s especially for those looking to spend fewer costs to heat their homes during long cold winter months.
Ideally, pellet stoves rely on pellets as the source of fuel. But, their electrical and mechanical parts require electricity to help them run and serve their purpose. So now, how much electricity does a pellet stove use?
The easiest answer is that a typical Magnum pellet stove uses about 2.5 to 3.0 amperes of electricity. This translates to about 303 watts of power in an hour. That’s the amount of electricity needed to run the fan, stirrer, and auger motors in the pellet stove.
With such a low amount of electricity, pellet stoves are incredibly very energy-efficient home appliances to buy. They typically use less electricity than other types of electric stoves or fireplaces. However, they only use relatively more electricity upon ignition. If you intend to perform multiple start-ups, then they’ll become less energy efficient.
This guide covers everything you need to know about how much electricity a pellet stove needs to operate. Be sure to read through and learn more about these incredible electricity-efficient home heating appliances.
How many watts does a pellet stove use?
Under normal use, pellet stoves may need an average amount of electricity of at least 100 watts. However, they may use up to 500 watts when igniting the fire.
Additionally, a standard pellet stove should use about 303 to 360 watts of power to run for an hour. But a typical stove can consume 1kwh on average in a day if left to run continuously for 8 hours.
Therefore, pellet stoves don’t often use plenty of electricity as compared to many other electrical home appliances. A pellet stove tends to have similar electricity consumption as a television set.
As stated earlier, most of these units will use a lot of energy only when you’re igniting the fire. It is worth reading the specifications stated by the manufacturer to understand how much electricity your pellet stove needs to ignite and run.
For instance, you may find most models with startup electricity consumption of 360 watts (3.0 amps). Plus, they run on 80 watts (0.7 amps) of electricity over time.
In some pellet stove models, the fan requires electricity ranging between 400 and 800 watts to start running. The fan helps in forcing the heat into your room and circulate heat all over your house, including the basements. It’s always good to learn how pellet stoves work!
Some of the mechanical and electrical parts that use electricity to operate a pellet stove include:
Hopper auger – this helps to deliver pellets to the fire for burning.
Combustion blower – used to control the flow of air in and out of the pellet stove.
Distribution blower – forces the heat from the stove into the room.
Control unit – manages all the functions of the stove.
Besides that, you’ll find the new motor and controller designs made to use cleaner power. This demands the usage of true sine wave inverters to serve as an emergency power backup.
Despite all these, pellet stoves electricity usage is still lower than their electrical fireplace stove counterparts. The pellet stoves use roughly 130 watts to run and up to 430 watts on ignition. On the other hand, electric fireplace stoves use the least amount of electricity of 925 and a maximum of 1850 watts.
Electricity isn’t typically used to provide the heat in the stove. Otherwise, the amount of electricity consumption and costs would be quite higher. This means that pellet stoves would be less efficient in energy usage.
Instead, pellet stoves burn pellets for fuel using real fire to provide the energy. The pellets for these stoves are usually made from recycled materials, mainly from wood by-products in the form of sawdust or chippings.
Costs for Running A Pellet Stove
When it comes to calculating the cost of running a pellet stove, you need to consider several factors.
They include:
Stove’s operating wattage
Every pellet stove comes with its operating wattage amount indicated by the manufacturer. That’s the amount of electricity the stove can comfortably run on. If the operating wattage is higher, there’s a chance that the costs will be relatively higher and vice versa.
Your supplier’s electricity rates
The electricity rates charged by your supplier also matters. If the costs are higher, you’ll end up paying quite higher operating costs for your pellet stove.
The average duration for running your stove in a day
The number of hours or days you want your pellet stove to run is also another significant determinant of the operating costs. You may expect to run your stove for much extended time during cold winters than in summers.
In such cases, you may find the costs for operating your pellet stove much lower. However, the costs may hike if you’re planning to run your stove more frequently.
So, how much will it cost you to run your best stove? The average price of electricity per kilowatt is about $0.08. So, the average cost for operating a pellet stove will be .303 by 0.08, amounting to $24.42 in an hour.
Suppose your stove ran for 24 hours; the costs would be about $58 every day (24 hours by 2.42 cents). If it runs for 12 hours a day, the electrical cost will amount to about 29 cents.
In real life, you may barely operate your stove for the whole day or even 30 days. Therefore, the actual number of hours for using the stove will depend on your choice. This influences the average cost of electricity needed to run the stove.
Cost per British Thermal Units (BTU)
But, how much is the fuel cost for running a pellet stove? A pellet stove uses wood for fuel which costs about $250 per ton.
With an energy efficiency rate of about 85%, a pellet stove fuel costs up to $18 per million BTU. If the energy efficiency rate drops to 75%, the fuel cost increases to over $20 per million BTU.
How Many Pellets Can Burn In An Hour?
The number of pellets that can burn per hour depending on your stove’s efficiency and the settings. If you’re planning to run the stove constantly, you’ll need to feed the pellets continuously.
This means that you’ll use more fuel in an hour. However, a thermostat could help regulate the firing, resulting in a reduced number of pellets used.
On average, pellet consumption in a day may range between 1.5 to 3.0 lbs. of pellets or even more per hour. For instance, if you use two pellets every hour and you keep your stove running for 24 hours a day, the day’s pellet consumption will amount to 48 lbs.
Pellets are often offered for sale in 40 lb. bags, each costing around $6. This translates the costs to around $7.2 in fuel.
Are Pellet Stoves Energy-Efficient?
Pellet stoves are incredibly energy-efficient heating appliances you can find in modern homes. They provide sufficient heat from each piece of pellet used. Plus, the overall electricity used while operating is also low.
You should not confuse your stove’s energy efficiency with the heating efficiency rating. In other words, a pellet stove that is 87% energy efficient can deliver heat from the fuel with very little wastage in the form of emissions or ash.
Moreover, a pellet stove with an energy efficiency rating of A+ tends to be exceptionally energy efficient.
Are Pellet Stoves Cost-Effective?
Pellet stoves are incredibly cost-effective due to the following reasons:
Affordable to run
An average homeowner can spend about $600 on heating a home during the winter months. To reduce these costs, you can regulate your main thermostat to spend about $25 to $35 every month.
Therefore, you’ll find it very cost-saving to run a pellet stove.
Reduces your heating bill
Pellet stoves require fewer wood pellets to produce sufficient heating energy for your whole home. Besides, these units rely on electricity to power their mechanical and electrical parts but not for the production of heating. This ultimately reduces your heating bills without compromising comfort.
Efficient
Pellet stoves often outshine fireplace and wood stoves both in terms of cost and energy efficiency. The pellet fuel is also cheaper, burns without emissions, and demands less attention to operating than other heating methods.
Can You Operate a Pellet Stove Without Electricity?
There are times with electricity outages due to mostly winter months where storms, winds, or snow are adverse. This often affects the supply of heat in your home required to keep you comfortable during cold winters.
But, what will you do in such a case? Well, you should get yourself a backup battery and inverter. An emergency battery can serve as a power source for running your pellet stove in case of a power outage. You’ll need to have a 12-volt battery and an inverter to change the 12 volts direct current to 120 volts AC.
When you’re looking for a battery for your pellet stove, ensure you go for one that has sufficient capacity. This will help your unit to run for a significant period and keep your home comfortable.
FAQs
Do pellet stoves use a lot of electricity?
No. pellet stoves use electric energy from as low as 100W per hour under normal usage to as high as 500W when firing up. Besides that, it can use about 1kwh of energy in a day when used for 8 hours nonstop.
For these reasons, pellet stoves don’t use a lot of electricity to run like most electrical home appliances. However, they tend to use a relatively higher amount of electricity during ignition.
How much does it cost to run a pellet stove per month?
While it costs you between $1040 and $3090 to buy a pellet stove, the cost of running it per month is only about $35 to $45. Other than that, maintenance costs are lower as it only takes annually.
In terms of electricity, you can expect to spend about nine dollars every month. That’s because a pellet stove requires electricity to run its thermostat and fans.
How much power does a pellet stove use?
Basing on electricity usage by the Magnum Pellet Stove, the average amount of electricity needed by a pellet stove ranges from 2.5 amps to 3.0 amps. In terms of wattage usage per hour, the value is approximately about 303 watts.
Are pellet stoves expensive to run?
The answer is no. Running a pellet stove isn’t expensive as the unit depends on wood pellet for the fuel source. The average cost of a wood pellet is about $250 per ton. Since less electricity is needed to run the stove’s controls, fans, and fuel feeder, the typical electric bill per month is around $9.
