Today, many of us are searching for ways to live a more sustainable life. Our environmental impact and the health of our families has become a major topic of discussion around the dinner table. One area to explore that can lessen our environmental impact is the way we heat our homes. Oil and natural gas are efficient, but can do damage to the environment both during mining and extraction, as well as when we burn them for fuel. Today, an efficient method for home heating is the use of wood pellet as a heat source.
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For many of us, we think of pellet stoves as a “rustic” system to be found in a cabin in the wilderness or as “a stove thing”. The truth is, wood pellet heating technology has matured. In fact, many home and business owners have converted to wood pellet systems to heat their residences and businesses. Wood pellet boilers provide all of the comfort and security of other heating methods at a much lower cost than other traditional heating methods. In fact, there are over one million systems in use throughout Europe and many of us here at home are considering making the switch to wood pellets.
Pellet boilers are suitable for radiant systems including hydro, and forced hot air systems pretty much every heating alternative. Pellet systems work in the same way as traditional oil or propane burners including automatic operation, hot water heating and zoned temperature control.
The Differences Between Wood and Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels are efficient but they come at an environmental cost. Extraction and use creates tremendous amounts of carbon and once they are depleted, they are gone. Wood pellets are a renewable and affordable alternative that is carbon neutral. They also cost as much as 60% less than traditional fossil fuels. Today’s technology makes heating with wood pellets a great alternative (or backup) for heating your home.
A wood pellet boiler is a viable and affordable system either as a stand-alone heat source, or as a primary source along with a secondary boiler as a back-up or supplemental heat source. Many states including MA, NH, ME, NY and VT offer residents grants and rebates that can bring retrofit costs down. Let’s examine a few of the many other advantages of converting to wood pellet heat.
- Boilers can help to lower heating costs for both residences and businesses.
- Traditional fuel sources like oil and propane are more volatile than wood pellets literally, and in terms of cost per unit of energy.
- By some conservative efforts investing in a pellet boiler can provide a return on investment (ROI) of as much as 49% a year over 15 years.
- Wood pellets are readily locally available throughout the country and help sustain your local economy.
- Cost savings over the lifetime of your system can amount to tens of thousands of dollars.
The fact is that heating with a carbon-neutral fuel like wood pellets is a sustainable solution that is better for the environment than non-renewable fuels like oil, propane, natural gas and most electrical power. Wood pellets production also helps the local economy as all material necessary to produce pellets is a bi-product of local sawmills.
Old Station Offers
At Old Station Outdoor and Landscape Supply we offer Corinth Premium Grade Wood Pellets. They’re manufactured in a state-of-the-art facility in Corinth, Maine and are a fuel efficient blend of both hard and soft woods with a low ash content (.57%). They are available in 40-pound bags making them easy to store. Give us a call for all of your wood pellet needs. Our premium pellets are a great value and we also offer affordable delivery.
