Are you considering buying a pellet stove that can heat the water of your heating system and your domestic hot water as well? When talking about central heating stoves there are a few important technical aspects you should consider: find out from this quick guide what you should ask your dealer to determine which product is right for you.
1. The difference between rated power and water heat power
Rated power is all the heat transferred from the stove to the environment, both by water and by radiation or natural convection. On the other hand, water heat power is all the heat that the stove transmits to the heating system.
The difference between these two data is often underestimated, yet it is very important to consider when choosing a central heating stove. If the rated power and the water heat power differ greatly, the following two situations may occur:
- to heat the domestic hot water or the water of the heating system sufficiently, the stove may produce more heat making the room it is installed in too hot;
- to reach the right room temperature the stove may produce less heat with consequently decreases the water temperature.
This doesn’t happen when these two parameters are very close. Rather, greater and more constant comfort is achieved and there is no waste of pellets, optimising consumptions to boot. An excellent example? Our Jackie stove which transmits 90% of its heat to the water.
2. Standard supplied hydronic connection accessories
Some accessories are required to connect our fan-assisted hydronic stove to the hydronic system, such as a feed valve, a manometer and an anti-condensation valve. These elements are indispensable for the product to function correctly.
When buying a stove, ask the dealer what is included in your purchase. This will prevent unpleasant surprises in terms of installation costs or – worse still – of creosote deposits on the heat exchanger!
3. How often will you need to clean the various parts of the stove?
To function at its best, your stove must be cleaned regularly. This may seem obvious but it is a very important point to remember when buying a stove.
How often will you have to empty and clean the ash pan? How often will you have to clean the heat exchanger, the compartment below the burn pot and the flue gas path compartment? Must heat exchanger tubes be cleaned by hand or is there an automatic cleaning system?
All this information, which can be found in the product handbook, is an excellent way to start establishing how long it will take you to perform weekly routine maintenance on your pellet stove.
Don’t stop at what’s written on the summary tables because this often differs from the information in the User’s Manual!
4. Easy access for cleaning purposes
When purchasing a stove, asking for information on cleaning ease is just as important as knowing how often you need to clean a central heating – or any other pellet or wood – stove.
Ask for information about everything you need to do in terms of routine cleaning (how to reach the flue gas path compartment, for instance) so you know exactly how much time you will have to spend on daily, weekly and monthly maintenance. This information can be found in the product booklet too.
Easy access makes you save time!
5. Environmental performance rating
This last – but not least – point is important for any pellet or wood product. The Environmental Performance certificate, classified using a 1 to 5-star rating, specifies the stove’s efficiency (heat efficiency and harmful emissions) and – consequently – its impact on the surrounding environment.
Asking for a stove’s performance rating before buying it isn’t just an ethical choice, it is also a practical one: for instance, as anti-smog measures, many Italian regions apply restrictions to using stoves and fireplaces with a lower than 4-star rating at certain times of the year. Would you like to choose the perfect water/air-heating stove that respects all the regulations in force? Find your nearest Palazzetti dealer and choose your perfect product!
