Why should you buy a stove instead of an electric heater to heat your home? Stoves are pretty powerful and have an extensive capacity range. They’re ideal for temperatures below the freezing point or icy weather, yet people can be stumped about which sort of stove to buy.
Which stoves are the most cost-effective, money-saving, and environmentally friendly? In today’s economic world, the debate between a pellet stove and a propane stove has become a hot topic.
The wars between the two most popular stoves, the pellet and gas stove, are about to begin. In our guide, you can learn more about a pellet stove vs. propane fireplace and best for your heating needs.
By the end, you’ll see if propane heating stoves come out on top, or you can be better off using a pellet-burning stovetop keep you warm. (Learn How To Clean Stove Top Drip Pans)
Is It Cheaper To Heat With Pellets Or Propane?
Both types of heaters have advantages and disadvantages. Propane heaters are inexpensive to purchase and require, but they are costly to operate. Pellet stoves are more expensive to build and must be refueled regularly, but they are incredibly cost-effective heaters.
Wood Pellet stoves come in two types:
- Freestanding.
- It fits against a wall.
Pellet stoves can be placed where they remain or moved to any location as they don’t need any permanent connections. They’re space heaters made to warm the room and the entire heating for homes should you choose the suitable unit.
Propane heaters come in two styles:
- Wall bracket mounts to a wall.
- Semi-portable units
Because mobile and outdoor variants are available, the best propane heating stoves may be a little more versatile. They can also be set up as a central heating system to heat a complete house efficiently.
Is A Pellet Stove Cheaper Than Gas?
Pellet stoves tend to cost less than gas fireplaces and cost less to operate. However, while less efficient, natural gas and propane are more expensive than wood pellets.
Pros Of Gas Stove Vs. Wood Stoves
Here you can see the good and bad for gas stoves versus wood pellet burning stoves.
Propane Stove Pros
Plenty of choices
You can choose from various propane fireplace models, including direct vent, vent-free, and natural vent. Such models ensure that there is always an acceptable kind for your house regardless of your budget or space constraints. (Learn How To Get Burnt Smell Out Of Microwave)
Venting is required for all wood-burning fireplaces, and you would need a chimney and flue for air circulation.
Less Effort
Making a fire with a pellet stove takes effort. First, you need to light the kindling, then light the pellets. A propane fireplace only takes one click, and then you can turn it off when not needed. Radiant or convection heating systems can heat your home quickly, and with new models, you can control them remotely.
Adjustability
Adjusting the heat in a propane fireplace is simple. You don’t need a damper that you often find in wood-burning stoves. Besides this, propane heating has a 92 percent efficiency rating, compared to 60 percent for most pellet stoves.
Easy to Maintain
Compared to pellet stoves, a propane fireplace is easier to clean and only requires occasional maintenance as there are no ashes or wood debris. However, an annual inspection will be required for your gas heater, as is required for all gas stoves.
Clean Burning
Natural gas burners are cleaner than wood pellets, thus resulting in less pollution and soot.
Installation
Portable propane stoves differ from a propane fireplace stove as they don’t require any installation. As a result, they may not offer as much heat over your home, yet they are a great alternative source of heat you can place anywhere.
Cons of a Propane Heater
Fuel source
Propane is not renewable energy because it is derived from fossil sources. Therefore, it is controlled since it is not renewable. As a result, the cost of propane gas fluctuates from time to time.
Pellet stoves rely on wood, which is inexpensive and renewable. Even if you can’t get your regular premium wood pellets, you can generate heat using any dry wood or other pellets made from wood shavings.
Costs
The cost of a propane fireplace is usually relatively high, as can the running costs compared to the wood pellet stoves cost.
Not a Real Fire
Propane fireplaces use artistic brick logs to emit heat and create the aesthetic vibe of traditional fires. But, unfortunately, a propane heater lacks the logs’ cracking and aromatic smoke authenticity.
Pellet Stoves
Wood pellets are eco-friendly since they make them from waste products from the lumber industry. The wood pellets are compressed into shape and to reduce water content. Because dry fuel generates more heat than wood, pellets burn cleaner and hotter than wood in your wood stove.
Compared to other traditional fireplaces, wood pellet stove emits fewer pollutants. In addition, this type of stove is deemed carbon neutral by many environmentalists.
The pellet is cheap and may be purchased in small quantities as needed and can be far smaller than ordering large firewood cords. (Learn How To Get Bacon Grease Out Of Clothes)
Pellet Stove Pros
Lower Expenses
Pellet stoves tend to be cheaper than a gas fireplace, and while being less efficient, the average cost of running a pellet stove is less than the fuel cost of propane.
Heat
At the same size, a pellet stove produces far more heat and hot air than a propane fireplace. Therefore, this is preferable if you want to heat a huge portion of your house or the entire house, rather than just a single room.
Renewable Fuel
Wood pellets are more environmentally beneficial than fossil fuels like propane, natural gas and heating oil, or electricity power source since they are renewable.
Eco-Friendly
Pellet stoves emit nearly no smoke, and some can even be vented into a room. You can have a pellet heater indoor for condos, apartments, and compact homes. Using pellets also helps keep wood waste out of landfills because they are made from wood waste.
Pellet Stove Cons
High Maintenance
A pellet stove requires regular attention to load, ignite, and maintain. It can go out if too much air enters the burn pot, and it takes regular cleaning of ash. Propane gas has less maintenance, yet, you lose out on authenticity.
Not Clean Burning
Wood pellet burns less clean than natural gas; therefore, it may not suit anyone with respiratory problems to use a pellet stove.
Do Pellet Stoves Really Save Money?
The cost of pellet heating, according to the US Energy Information Administration, is somewhere between coal and natural gas, and far less than oil, propane, or electricity. This indicates that pellet heating is cost-effective in terms of BTUs per dollar.
Propane heaters are more versatile because they come in portable and outdoor varieties. They can also be used as a central heating unit to heat an entire house successfully. The difference in heating performance between the two heater types is mainly determined by the propane heater’s design.
Pellet stoves vs. propane produce more heat and cover a more extensive area. However, a pellet stove cannot compete with a central heating system that can heat an entire house.
Both heater types are similar in terms of space heating, and pellet stoves vs. propane heaters have high efficiency, wasting very little fuel throughout the burning process.
Installation Costs
Heater installation costs are one of the most challenging things to estimate. The cost varies considerably based on your location, house style, type of current heater, and other costs.
As you can see, propane heaters are far less expensive when compared to electric heaters. This is because the actual heater is less expensive; however, labor costs to install a propane heater are more than that of a pellet stove.
Maintenance
Pellet stoves are more complex devices than propane heaters, and as a result, they require more maintenance.
However, keep in mind that a gas-fueled heater has the potential to be more dangerous than a pellet-fueled stove, so you should be extra cautious when performing maintenance on a propane heater.
Other things to consider:
A few other things to consider before deciding which heater type is best for you:
Propane heaters may be indoor-safe or outdoor only. Outdoor models produce dangerous carbon monoxide released into the indoor environment, which is very dangerous and even deadly.
Pellet stoves require constant refueling. This may or may not be suitable for your situation as a bag of pellets can be heavy. You’ll also need somewhere to store a considerable amount of pellet fuel if you use your heater often.
Propane heaters are cheap and require little maintenance but have high heating costs.
Pellet stoves require more to install, yet a pellet stove vs. propane offers very cost-effective heaters even with constant refueling.
But for our pellet stove vs. propane stove comparison. While pellet stoves cost more to get up and going, they will save you money in the long run, and the radiant heat output is comforting on those cold winter days compared to propane, oil, or heaters that need a gas line or are powered by electricity.
How Long Does a 40 lbs Bag of Wood Pellets Last?
According to the Pellet Fuels Institute, Pellet Fuels Institute, a 40-pound bag of pellet fuel can give up to 24 hours of solid heat for a pellet burning stove.
Depending on climate and lifestyle variables, a winter’s supply of wood pellets can range from 100 to 150 bags to keep a home warm using a stove vs. propane heater that costs considerably more to provide heat to the same level.
