Running a pellet stove as a primary heat source costs roughly $1,000 to $1,750 a season in fuel, plus $15 to $30 in electricity and $150 to $300 in servicing if you do not do it yourself.
Those numbers move with pellet prices and with how hard you run the stove. Here is what makes them up, and how pellets compare with the alternatives.
Fuel cost, the part that dominates
A pellet stove burning as primary heat gets through three to five tons a season. At the reference price in our fuel table that is the great majority of the total running cost, and everything else is rounding.
| How you burn | Tons per season | Fuel cost at $350 a ton |
|---|---|---|
| Supplemental, one room | 1 to 2 | $350 to $700 |
| Primary, mild climate | 2 to 3 | $700 to $1,050 |
| Primary, moderate climate | 3 to 4 | $1,050 to $1,400 |
| Primary, cold climate | 4 to 5 | $1,400 to $1,750 |
To size your own figure from your actual feed rate and heating season, use the pellet consumption calculator. For what tons actually sell for, our regional pellet price index records observed listed prices from named suppliers with the date each was recorded.
How pellets compare with other fuels
Fuels are sold in units that cannot be compared directly. A ton, a gallon, a therm and a kilowatt hour are different quantities of different things. The only honest comparison is cost per million BTU of delivered heat, which accounts for both the energy content and how much of it the appliance actually puts into the room.
| Fuel | Reference price | Efficiency | Cost per MMBtu |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural gas | $1.50 / therm | 90% | $16.67 |
| Firewood, seasoned hardwood | $300 / cord | 70% | $21.43 |
| Wood pellets | $350 / ton | 80% | $26.68 |
| Heating oil | $3.60 / gallon | 85% | $30.58 |
| Propane | $2.60 / gallon | 85% | $33.43 |
| Electricity, resistance heat | $0.17 / kWh | 100% | $49.82 |
Two things are worth reading out of that table. Natural gas wins where it is available, and it usually is not the reason anyone installs a pellet stove. And electric resistance heat is the most expensive option despite being 100 percent efficient at the appliance, which is the clearest demonstration that efficiency alone tells you nothing about cost.
Run the same comparison against your own quoted prices with the heating cost comparison calculator. Fuel prices are regional and move seasonally, so a table published anywhere, including here, is a starting point rather than an answer.
Electricity
A pellet stove is not an off grid appliance. It needs power for the auger, the combustion blower, the room air fan and the igniter.
- Running draw: roughly 100 watts, comparable to a couple of old light bulbs.
- Ignition spike: 300 to 500 watts for a few minutes at each start.
- Season total: typically $15 to $30.
The cost is trivial. The dependency is not. A power cut stops a pellet stove dead, and unlike a wood stove it cannot be run without electricity. If you are buying a pellet stove as insurance against winter outages, it does not do that job without a battery backup or generator, which is the main practical argument for a wood stove instead.
Servicing and wear parts
This is the line most cost comparisons leave out, and over a stove’s life it is not small.
- Annual service: $150 to $300 if a technician does it. A thorough clean of the burn pot, heat exchanger, ash traps and venting, once a season.
- Weekly cleaning: free, but it is a real chore. Pellet stoves need the burn pot scraped and the ash pan emptied regularly through the season. A wood stove asks less of you here.
- Wear parts: igniters, door and glass gaskets, and combustion blowers all have finite lives. Budget for a part every few seasons rather than being surprised by one.
None of this appears in a cost per MMBtu table, and it is the difference between the fuel cost and the actual cost of heating with pellets.
Where the savings actually are
Buy in spring. Pellet demand peaks in January and bottoms out in June, and pricing follows. This is the largest saving available to a pellet burner, it is entirely within your control, and it costs nothing but storage space. A ton needs about 64 cubic feet, so plan the space before ordering the season.
Buy by the pallet, never by the bag. Single bags off a shelf always cost more per pound, and most in midwinter when stock is thin.
Get the delivered price. Most suppliers do not publish a delivery rate, and on a $300 ton a $90 fee is 30 percent. Freight per ton usually falls as the order grows, so ordering the season in one delivery beats topping up.
Run it hot rather than smouldering. A stove damped low to stretch the fuel burns less cleanly and puts less of the energy into the room.