The 10 Best Pellet Stoves to Help Save Money on Heating

The novelty of a wood burning fireplace wears off when you have to trudge outside to grab a bundle of logs. Installing a wood burning stove can be expensive, and once it’s running, it produces ash that needs to be cleaned out. Pellet stoves, however, are an efficient, convenient option for heating a room while appreciating the glow of a live fire.

Powered by compressed hardwood pellets stored in a hopper that can hold over 100 pounds, pellet stoves can provide a fire that burns for dozens of hours without needing to be tended. Those pellets drop into a combustion chamber where they are burned to produce heat. Exhaust is then vented through a flue pipe out a sidewall or your roof.

A pellet stove offers consistent, reliable heat without a lot of fuss. More expensive models will cost several thousand dollars, but often come with programmable digital thermostats and larger hoppers that allow a fire to burn longer without the need for additional pellets being added.

Wood stoves require a bit more effort and knowledge—you’ll have to learn about the different burn rates of wood and clean out ash more regularly. Still, wood burning stoves are typically quieter and may last longer than pellet stoves because they don’t have electronic components.

As for installation, freestanding pellet stoves need an available outlet with an open plug and a vent to the outside, which may require the installer to cut a hole in the wall. If your power goes out often during storms, that means your pellet stove won’t work without a generator or separate power source. Pellet stoves that insert into your fireplace require a chimney liner, a pipe that vents gas outside.

Pellet stoves are designed to warm up everything from your patio to your rec room. Different models can stand on their own, be mounted to the wall, or inserted into a fireplace. Here are the 10 best pellet stoves to buy now that bring the heat.

Best Pellet Stoves

• Best Overall: Comfortbilt HP22 Pellet Stove
• Best Budget: PelPro Pellet Stove
• Best Wi-Fi Pellet Stove: Cleveland Iron Works PSBF66W-CIW Bayfront Pellet Stove
• Best for Small Spaces: Cleveland Iron Works PS20W-CIW Mini Pellet Stove
• Best Non-Electric Pellet Stove: US Stove Company GW1949 Wiseway Non-Electric Pellet Stove

The Expert: I’ve been a product tester and reviewer for 8 years. In that time, I’ve learned to critically evaluate appliances and home goods to check their performance in relation to their price tag and advertised features. I have cooked with hardwood pellets—see my guide for pellet grills— and appreciate the convenience wood pellets offer as a readily available fuel source. And, since you didn’t ask, one vision for retirement is a cozy cabin with a pellet stove.

What to Look for in a Pellet Stove

A pellet stove can be a big investment—multiple thousands of dollars to cover the stove and installation—so it’s important that you find one that fits your room and heats it efficiently.

Types

Pellet stoves come in three main styles: freestanding, wall mounted, and insert. A freestanding stove—which can be larger or more powerful than the other options—evokes a classic cabin feel and sits on the ground or on feet. A wall-mounted stove hangs free of the floor and kicks out heat like the heads of a mini split. Inserts are meant to slot inside your fireplace and could take a non-functioning fireplace and make it a focal point of your room once again.

More Cozy Options to Consider: Best Electric Fireplaces • Best Space Heaters • Best Heated Blankets

Efficiency

Pellet stoves are efficient, producing less creosote (the tarry byproduct of burning wood) and ash than wood stoves. The compact pellets—thanks to their small size and low moisture content—burn hot and quickly. Pellet stoves that receive certification from the United States Environmental Protection Agency typically offer between 70 and 83 percent fuel efficiency. In some cases, certification comes with a tax credit so check before you purchase a given model.

Burn Time

Pellet stoves often have multiple settings. Higher settings release more pellets so the stove can burn hotter, whereas the lowest setting will enable you pellets to last longer, but you might not get as much heat. A stove with a smaller hopper running outdoors may only last 6 hours per full hopper, like the Even Embers Pellet Stove, which is fine if you’re looking to gather in the backyard at night. Larger pellet stoves can burn unattended for more than a day, like the PelPro Pellet Stove which can run for 40 hours.

Hopper Capacity

The larger the hopper, the longer the burn time, and the longer you can go between pellet refills. Most hoppers will need to be refilled once a day. But larger hoppers (60 pounds and up) typically mean bigger stoves, so you’ll have to consider whether or not it will fit your space. Likewise, it can be cumbersome to pour heavier bags—50 pounds at a time—into the hopper.

BTUs

The heating ability of pellet stoves is measured in British Thermal Units (BTUs) per hour. The higher the BTUs, the easier it will be for a stove to heat a room or multiple rooms. If you’re considering heating multiple rooms or a whole home, a pellet stove rated at 60,000 BTUs can heat approximately 2,000 square feet.

How We Selected Pellet Stoves

I’ve worked with pellet grills and wood stoves to get through Midwest winters, so I know the differences and potential benefits of different stoves. To discover popular pellet stoves, I dived into articles on Field & Stream, The Spruce, and Wirecutter. I considered which models did well in tests and cross referenced them with reviews on Amazon. Also, I delved into message boards and talked with pellet stove owners to understand what was frustrating and what was delightful about owning one.

I also weighed the cost and size of each model, as well as the warranty. Finally, I relied on some of the previous research done for this article by writer Camryn Rabideau. Here are the 10 pellet stoves that will warm your heart and your living room.