Fireplace Inserts: Wood vs. Pellets

These days, many people are turning to fireplacethese pellets aren't as cheap as wood, but they
inserts in an effort to reduce heating costs.will still save you money on your overall heating
Fireplaces can be great with their open, cracklingcosts.
flames, but they aren't very efficient. FireplaceOne potential problem with pellet-burning inserts is
inserts, whether they burn wood or pellets, canthat they require electricity to run properly, so if
keep an entire room or an entire home warm,you go through a power outage, you may have a
and they can better regulate the heat in an area.problem. You can, however, buy battery-powered
Around a wood fireplace, seats closest to the firebackup power sources to keep your stove
may be unbearably hot while seats across therunning during an electrical outage. A wood-burning
room will be cool.stove, on the other hand, doesn't take any
Using a fireplace insert can help circulate heatelectricity and will continue to work during a
around your entire home, but there are a couplepower outage.
of different types of fireplace inserts that youOne of the best parts about fireplace insert pellet
can use: wood-burning and pellet-burning.stoves is that they don't need complex ventilation
Each type of fireplace insert can help increase thesystems. You can usually just run a short length
efficiency of your home's heating system, butof pipe or pellet vent straight out the wall behind
there are pros and cons to each type.the stove. With a wood-burning stove, on the
If you get the right kind of fireplace insert, bothother hand, you'll have to have a more complex
wood-burning and pellet-burning inserts can bechimney, which can be really expensive.
very clean and efficient. Other than that, thoughAnother great thing about pellet-burning stoves is
there are things to consider on both sides of thethat it can regulate the heat in your home by
argument.turning on and off based on the temperature of
Wood-burning fireplace inserts burn one of theyour home; besides this, pellet stoves can have
cheapest available sorts of fuel, especially if youfans added to them, which can circulate heat
can find and chop your own wood or get it fromaround your entire home. Wood-burning stoves,
local landscaping companies who would otherwiseon the other hand, have to be stoked and
discard it.messed with in order to change the level of heat
Fireplace insert pellet stoves burn special pellets,in the room, and if you are gone overnight, your
which can be bought at local hardware stores;home is likely to be freezing when you get home.