If you looking to save money off winter fuel cost, purchasing a quality used pellet stove can be a very good decision. If you do your homework, you can save up to half the cost off the prices of new pellet stoves. With the money saved from purchasing a new one, you should have more than enough money left over to purchase an entire season's worth of pellet fuel.
Once you start looking, you'll find that it takes no more time to find good used pellet stoves than it does to one of the best pellet stoves brand new. Although your choices may be a bit more limited, this may actually make the decision easier. Fewer choices doesn't necessarily mean less quality.
Any owner looking to sell his or her stove is likely to say the pellet stove they are selling was the best on the market at the time. So, if you are just beginning your search for new or used pellet stoves, the following suggestions should help you to make better informed decision that you can be comfortable with.
Consult The Building Department in Your Home
A permit is usually required to install a wood or pellet stove. So, check with your local building department before making your purchase. If a permit is required, you should also ask if any addition documentation will be required, as may be the case when installing a pellet stove in a modular or mobile home.
Some building departments may want to see the brochure for your particular stove to look over venting and clearing information. This kind of information is easily obtained by visiting the website of your stove manufacturer. From there, you can download the owner's manual and print it out.
Select Stove Size and Type of Fuel
The first thing you need to do is select the type of pellet fuel you want to use. Now, if you live in an area where corn is easily and inexpensively available, you'll probably want to choose a corn pellet stove.
Likewise, if you live in the Northeast part of the country, wood pellets will be most common choice. More and more home improvement stores are also starting to carry wood pellet fuel as the the popularity of wood pellet stoves increases.
A big stove isn't required to save a lot of money. Most used wood and corn pellets stoves produce 35-45,000 btu. This is enough to heat roughly 1,200square feet or the main lower living area of a two story house.
That doesn't mean you can't also find good deals on larger stoves that produce 50-60,000 btu. These models usually feature 5 or more heat output settings.
Features To Look For In a Good Used Pellet Stoves
Electric Ignition
An electric ignition is almost a complete necessity.
Large Hopper
A large hopper capacity is something you'll come to appreciate more the longer you own your stove. The less you have to refill the hopper, the better.
A normal size hopper maxes out at 40 pounds of pellet fuel. This amount of fuel is enough to heat your house or room for 20-30 hours.
So, the larger the capacity of the hopper, the longer it will heat your house or room and the less you'll have to refill the hopper.
Heat Output Controls
There are times when don't need or want your pellet stove to be running at full heating capacity. Early Fall and early Spring are such times. If you have a heat output control, you'll be able to provide a comfortable room temperature while efficiently using the fuel.
Type of heat output controls for pellet stoves include a hi/lo blower, thermostat, or variable speed auger that controls how quickly pellets are fed into the burn pot.
Air Washing System
This is a very important factor to consider because the primary complaint of pellet stove owners is viewing glass that becomes dirty. To rectify this, air washing systems have become standard features on many new pellet stoves. This gets rid of the need for frequent cleaning by removing ash from the viewing window.
Pellet Stove Accessories
A heart pad, pellet stove pipe, log set, and left over pellet fuel are just a few of the extras many used pellet stove stove owners will include in the sale.
Having these pellet stove accessories included in the purchase price can save quite a bit of additional money from having to buy these accessories new with the purchase of a new pellet stove.
Where to Buy Used Pellet Stoves
A great place to start looking for your used stove is on Craigslist. Searching Craiglist allows you to find a local seller, which is the most convenient way to buy your stove because most sellers won't deliver. This will save you plenty of time and money.
You can also check Ebay, but there probably won't be as many local sellers on this site. But, if you enter your local address, Ebay can notify you when a stove becomes available for sale in your area. If you use an Ebay credit card, you can choose also to delay payment for 3 months.
If you are not used to searching for products online, try these tips. When you search on either Ebay or Craigslist, search using the term "pellet stove" instead of "used pellet stove" because that term will more than likely produce more results for used pellet stoves. You can also try searching by brand name such as "Harman", or just enter generic terms like "pellet" or "corn pellet".
How Much Money Can You Save By Buying Used Pellet Stoves?
The higher the original cost of the pellet stove, the more you should expect to save percentage wise on a used stove. So, if a stove originally retailed for $3200, you should expect to save anywhere from 50-70% off that cost.
Less expensive stoves don't depreciate as much.
Delivery
If you have to have your stove delivered to you, makes sure to use a professional courier service.
If you arrange to purchase your stove from a seller off Ebay that has also agreed to ship your stove, your sales page will include a freight shipping calculator.
Keep in mind that most pellet stoves weigh in excess of 300 pounds. So, however your stove is shipped, make sure the truck your stove is delivered in has a lift gate.
Uses Pellet Stove Installation
Many towns and cities require that a licensed technician take care of pellet stove installation. Fortunately, finding such a pro is pretty easy to find. Just look in your local yellow pages for local contractors that are pre-screened.
Stay in Touch With The Seller
If you have a question after the purchase of your stove, don't be reluctant to get them on the phone or shoot them an email. The seller may be able to provide useful information about the warranty or details on how your particular used pellet stove works.
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