Pellet stoves for environmentally friendly heating

More and more households are choosing biomass heating systems for their homes, i.e. wood and pellet boilers, stoves, fireplaces and cookers, both to save money and to help the environment. In this article, we will focus on pellet stoves, starting with the basics, analysing their main advantages and delving into the sustainability aspect of these solutions. You will learn what a pellet stove is, why it is an environmentally friendly method of heating, and what factors to look out for.

Let us start with the basics. A pellet stove is an appliance that uses pellets as fuel to produce heat. Pellets are a derivative of wood, a waste product that is dried and then pressed into cylindrical kernels. It is an environmentally friendly, renewable and natural fuel, a material that when burned provides heating without polluting. It is generally purchased in sacks, which can vary in weight but are usually around 15 kilograms. 
In order to operate the pellet stove, unlike a wood-burning product, it requires a connection to the electricity grid and has the great advantage that it can be programmed and monitored to meet different heating needs. Furthermore, some models can also be managed remotely, easily and intuitively, thanks to an internet connection and specific applications to be installed on your device. 
There are many models of pellet stoves, which differ in appearance and heating mode. Ventilated ones spread heat into the room where the product is installed thanks to powerful and increasingly silent ventilation systems, which can be adjusted and excluded depending on the model. Ducted stoves, on the other hand, add the possibility of transporting heat to another room adjacent to the one where the appliance is located, thus heating several rooms in an efficient and functional manner by exploiting the power of a single product. Lastly, there are also thermo-stoves, solutions designed to connect to the thermo-hydraulic system of your home and to heat, if desired, even the radiators in place of the traditional boiler; in addition, the thermo-stove also heats the room in which it is positioned, decorating it with all the beauty of fire.

Woody biomass is the environmentally friendly alternative to traditional fuels for heating without warming the planet, providing natural warmth to your home with a low environmental impact. According to Legamabiente, an Italian environmental association, "The management of forests and the energy chain connected to them is fundamental in achieving the Europe 2030 renewable energy targets set by the EU. In fact, today in the Peninsula about 67% of thermal energy from renewable sources comes from solid agro-forestry biomass (dedicated crops and forest), and the consumption of woody biomass for thermal uses has been booming in Italy in the last 10 years'. Woody biomass, including pellets, as well as wood, are in fact among the main allies for the decarbonisation of the thermal sector and the achievement of a zero-emission energy system. 
To learn more about this topic, read our in-depth article here. 

Now that you have understood the environmental advantages of choosing biomass heating for your home, let us give you some final pointers on pellet stoves by talking about the importance of always purchasing certified quality fuel to ensure the product works properly and ensures optimal combustion, minimising environmental impact.

If you choose to heat your home with a pellet appliance, it is essential to purchase fuel of certified quality to ensure proper operation of the stove generator and clean combustion. But how do you recognise certified quality pellets? 
First of all, always check that the bag of pellets you are buying bears the ENPlus® quality mark, the only one checked throughout the entire supply chain. In addition, make sure that, in addition to the ENPlus® indication, you also see the identification code of the certified company, which is made up of the initials of the country and a progressive certification number, quality class A1 and the ISO 17225-2 standard.