Wood is perhaps the most efficient fuel to use for heating as it decreases the use of fossil fuels while providing an accommodating and comfortable heat source. With the growing popularity of fire place inserts, one of the most popular trends in this environmentally conscientious time is the pellet fireplace insert.
The pellet fire place insert works differently from other inserts in that it is automatic, with wood pellets fed from a storage hopper to feed the fire. Heat is circulated, and the output can be controlled to suit your needs. You also have the option of using a hands-free thermostat. By heating your home with a wood pellet insert, you are also cutting your carbon footprint significantly because you reduce CO2 emissions when you burn wood.
The wood pellets used in a pellet fire place insert are composed of compressed sawdust, with nothing else added to make the pellets. When it’s compressed, the wood’s natural lignin (an organic cellulose substance which forms the chief part of woody tissue) behaves like glue to bind the sawdust particles together and form pellets.
Pellet Insert Fuels
Although the pellets that feed a fire place insert are largely made from wood, researchers are working on a fast-growing type of switchgrass to replace wood pellets as a perfect renewable energy crop. The energy turnaround on switchgrass pellet fuel can reach as high as 14 units of heat energy produced per one unit of energy expended to grow, harvest and compress the switchgrass into pellets.
Skyrocketing energy prices have left Americans with no other choice but to seek less expensive, fuel-efficient options to heat their houses. Already, more than one million Americans are using pellet fuel in freestanding stoves and pellet inserts. While some people are managing to heat their entire home with the energy generated from a pellet insert stove more often they are used as a supplemental heating device.
By using a pellet fire place insert in the room you’re currently using, you are able to turn down the heat in the rest of the house and save money. When you turn the wood waste into energy-dense fuel, you alleviate the amount of waste going into landfills. Additionally, wood pellets, like all wood products, provide an environmentally friendly option to replace nonrenewable fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, and oil.
There are drawbacks to utilizing a pellet fire place insert in home heating. Since most homes depend on one centralized thermostat, the heat from the pellet fire place insert can possibly cause a nearby thermostat to register the temperature throughout its area at the set level, resulting in nearby rooms becoming cold. Once you move on to those rooms, you’ll probably want to hike the thermostat, which unravels the savings gleaned from the pellet fire place insert. The cost savings you get depend upon the thermostat remaining at a low level.
Additionally, any fuel cost savings are dependent on the cost of fuel in your location, and since wood and wood pellets do not burn as cleanly as oil or natural gas, there may be a problem for anyone in your home with respiratory disorders. Keep in mind that pellet fire place inserts need ongoing attention in the form of lighting, tending, loading, and cleaning, unlike oil- and gas-powered options, which require no attention after you turn them on.