Common Wood Pellet Stove FAQs

What is a pellet stove?

Wood pellet stoves burn compressed wood pellets to create a source of heat for residential spaces. They are fully automatic from a press of a button to ignite the stove, feed pellets and control to maintain the temperature of your house.

What are wood pellets made of?

Wood pellets are a renewable fuel made from virgin forestry residues (the parts of the tree that are too small to make useful timber). To create wood pellets, bark is removed and the clean timber is chipped and dried to less than 10 percent moisture and compressed to form small cylinder-shaped pieces of wood around 6mm diameter and 25mm long.

Is a wood pellet stove less maintenance than a log stove?

Wood pellets contain no bark and therefore when they are efficiently burnt in an automatic pellet stove very little ash is produced – this means maintenance for chores such as ash removal is far lesser than a traditrional log stove. Filling the stove with fuel And when used in combination with our wood pellet stoves all you need is the pull of a lever and ash is removed from the grate. It’s so simple!  For more information about weekly and quarterly cleans, click here.

How often should I refill my stove?

A 10 Kg bag of pellets will typically last between 1 and 3 days depending on whether your stove is running all day or just for few hours per evening.  Unlike log stoves, you certainly don’t have to get up and down during the course of an evening to refuel your stove. Also, as the pellets are filled into a hopper and the stove feeds them into the fire there is no need to open the stove door.

Can a wood pellet stove fit in a UK fireplace?

Most imported European pellet stoves are too tall to fit in a fire place, however our Lundy stove range are 600mm high and 600mm wide so they fit into a standard fireplace opening. The flue exits the top just like a log stove so can be fitted to chimney flues. The Lundy stove does not have to be in a fire place so can also be free standing in a room.

What is the best way to store wood pellets?

Pellets for use in a stove are best purchase in 10kg or 15kg bags. The bags are recyclable plastic bags which keep the pellets dry, however, to ensure that your wood pellets kept in in good burning condition, we suggest you store them in a cool and dry place like a garage or garden shed. Pellets are purchased   You can store your pellets in our pellet scuttle, available here.

Are pellet stoves noisy?

It is a known fact that pellet stoves run fans to blow the warm air into the room and these fans make a little noise. We spent much effort developing our Lundy 5 and Lundy 8 stoves so that do not have convection fans and are designed for quiet operation. With the Lundy you’ll hear pellets softly ‘tinkle’ as the drop into the grate other than that, operation is very quiet.

Do I need a balanced flue?

If your property doesn’t have a masonry chimney, a balanced flue will be necessary. Our stoves are fitted with a concentric flue that allows the stove to be fully sealed such that all air is drawn in from the top of the chimney. Our unique stove design allows lower flue termination heights or even horizontal wall exits. This means that you are no longer restricted to a chimney or outside wall. You can have your stove wherever you want it!  To find out more about our balanced flue option, click here.

If you have a question that is not listed above, please get in touch with Island Pellet Stoves today. We’d be happy to answer any queries you may have. Call us on 0330 111 4747 or email us at info@islandpelletstoves.co.uk