Pellets are a form of fuel that heats up a home in a more practical and cost-effective way. It costs about 25% less than wood and two times less than diesel oil used for heating purposes. Moreover, its price has been fairly stable over time, with a slight increase due to growing demand, but nothing comparable to the drastic increases and price swings of fossil fuels. But what are the most cost-effective pellet solutions to heat our homes?
There are various alternatives that must be carefully evaluated depending on your initial situation and the investment you want to make.
AIR EXCHANGE PELLET STOVES
In some cases, all you need is an air pellet stove to ensure more comfortable and uniform heat and save on your heating bill. 6-8 or 10 kW product may be enough to heat part of the home, for instance where you spend most of the day, leaving the onus of heating the rest of the rooms and domestic water to the traditional boiler.
The initial cost will be slightly higher, also considering that the installation will be a bit more expensive, but actual heating will cost less.With this kind of stove, you can calculate savings of over Euro 220 per year if the pellet stove is used to replace a wood system and under Euro 600 per year if it replaces a diesel fuel system; and over Euro 1000 per year if it replaces an Electric heating system.
HYDRO STOVES AND BOILERS FOR ENTIRE HOUSE
Compared to a more challenging initial investment, a pellet hydro stove is the way to go for affordable heating. Indeed, you can use it to heat the entire system – traditional with radiators or underfloor heating – with pellets. The hydro stove is indeed designed to exchange heat with the water in the system and ensure even and comfortable heating throughout the home.This means even higher savings. For instance, in a 160 m2 home with energy class E, by choosing a hydro stove instead of a wood fuel boiler, the overall heating cost would drop by 30%, saving about Euro 300 – 600 a year. Bear in mind that more powerful hydro stoves, combined with the designated kit, can also produce domestic hot water, thereby fully replacing a electric heating boiler. A further step to avoid using the boiler even in summer is the installation of solar collectors, which in summer guarantee plenty of hot water and during sunny winter days still help the stove to maintain the temperature of the heating system.