How Much Does a Pellet Stove or Pellet Fireplace Insert Installation Cost?
The average all-in cost for a high-quality pellet stove or pellet fireplace insert installation ranges from $6,800 to $9,800. This price range includes the pellet appliance, installation labor, chimney inspection, chimney cleaning, electric labor, old unit removal and venting. (The price disparity is largely determined by what pellet hearth appliance you select. The unit price alone can account for 70% – 80% of the total project cost in a pellet fireplace insert or pellet stove installation.)
Why Choose Pellet Heating?
Heating your home with pellet is simple to use and gives a powerful heat output. Pellet stoves are the best option for keeping your cold finished basement warm through the winter. Pellet creates incredible heat where you live for much lower cost than oil or electricity. Pellet is our preferred stove for homes that have cold basements. The cost to get your living space up to a comfortable temperature make pellet an incredible choice for functional, real-world home heating.
If you want to set it and forget it, pellet is the best option. Wood has to be refilled frequently and a gas fireplace is not meant to be run for 24 hours per day. Pellet fireplace inserts can fill that cold fireplace in your living room and actually produce meaningful warmth. Like we said, the major sacrifice is a beautiful wood flame. The pellet flame looks like a furnace and the major con of pellet aside from the need to vacuum pellet dust frequently.
Have a backup for your electricity to use your pellet stove through power outages. Pellet stoves and pellet fireplace inserts require power to operate. We recommend purchasing the battery backup, as a pellet stove can be a valuable ally during winter power outages and spring rain storms.
What is the Average Installation Cost of a Pellet Stove or Pellet Fireplace Insert?
Pellet stoves and pellet fireplace inserts are separate products for different scenarios. You need a pellet fireplace insert for an existing masonry fireplace. Pellet stoves are freestanding and are often installed on an empty wall. (We often have folks ask for a pellet stove fireplace, which is not really a thing. You either want a pellet stove or a pellet fireplace insert. A pellet stove in a masonry fireplace IS possible, but much less common than a pellet insert in a masonry fireplace.)
Average price for either a pellet stove or pellet fireplace insert installation all in is $6,800 – $9,800.
Stay Warm and Save Money with Pellet Heat
Our goal is to help you stay warm and save money. Pellet stoves and pellet fireplace inserts absolutely help you stay warm. Pellet heat can also help you save money on an inefficient, underwhelming electric heat pump. Direct heat is life changing!
How to Spend Less on Home Heating with a Pellet Stove or a Pellet Fireplace?
- Buy once, cry once. Don’t compromise on quality. Buy good stuff that works for decades. Harman makes the best pellet stoves in our experience and they are worth the price.
- Turn down your thermostat. Save money on electric heat or the oil bill. Let your bedroom get cold and enjoy heat where you live with pellet.
- Follow the service plan and clean your unit. Scrape that burn pot HARD. Get all the gunk out. Vacuum the unit regularly and treat your pellet heating appliance with love to get the most out of it.
- Use quality pellet fuel with low ash. Don’t buy low quality pellets from big box stores. (We love Hamer’s Hot Ones, if you are on the east coast of the United States.) Prepare early and store your pellets in a dry space. Do not compromise on pellet fuel quality, we recommend having more pellet fuel on hand than you need. Three tons ($1200) per year of pellets stored nearby your home for the cold season is our recommendation for homeowners serious about using a pellet stove for home heat.
- Service your pellet stove yearly with an NFI certified pellet technician. We recommend getting familiar with cleaning out your venting. Use your t-caps for easy cleaning with a Cougar Ash Vac.
Why Buy a High Quality Pellet Stove?
The average estimated price is based on our time as an authorized dealer for Harman & Quadra-Fire pellet products. There are a variety of pellet stove and pellet fireplace insert brands available. In our nearly 50 years of experience, Harman makes the best pellet stove and pellet fireplace inserts in the United States. Harman pellet stoves are not cheap, but they are quality. The unique pellet feed mechanism, easy controls and high quality finish make Harman worth every cent.
Learn more about the best pellet fireplace inserts and stoves here!
“I can just buy a pellet stove from Home Depot and install it myself…”
Yes, you definitely can. You can do anything you set your mind to in life.
Make sure you have a competent pellet service professional who is willing to service that unit if it ever breaks. Most of those big box pellet stoves do not last very long. The low-quality electrical boards often fry after a few years from what we have seen during our years in the hearth industry. Buying an American-made, high quality product is the right choice when purchasing a pellet stove based our experience. (Even if it costs a little more on the front end. Think about yourself five years from today if your $1000 pellet stove has constant service issues and eventually stops working all together. In the dead of winter, a broken pellet stove is as useless as a heat pump.)
Quick pellet installation guide: cut a hole in the wall, hook up electric, lay the hearth pad, bring in the stove, run the venting and burn some pellets. (This is not a plan for how to install a pellet stove yourself, but an acknowledgement that installing a pellet stove is more straightforward compared to other fuels like gas or wood.)
You can install your own pellet stove or pellet fireplace insert, but the real question is, should you? For most folks, the risks of doing it wrong outweigh the savings. Getting an NFI professional to install your pellet stove protects your family and your home while making sure the stove runs smoothly for years. If you’re set on doing it yourself, consider warranty and service for the future when purchasing from big box retail stores.
Pellet Stoves vs. Wood Stoves in Finished Basements
Why are pellet stoves better than wood stoves in basements? Pellet stoves are power-vented, so you will not get a backdraft like you often do with a wood stove installation in most basements. The negative pressure plane of your home determines whether there will be a venting issue, but we frequently find that wood stoves in basements will draw smoke back into the home. Pellet stoves also use less venting than wood. You do not need to go all the way up and over the roof line with a pellet stove installation in your basement. This saves significant money on venting cost for your pellet stove project.
>>Learn more about installing a pellet stove in your basement.
Who are The Stove Shop Fireplace Experts?
The Stove Shop sells Harman brand pellet stoves. We clearly have a horse in this race. We are a local, Pennsylvania family-owned business that can install only a limited number of pellet stoves each year. If you are reading this in California or Minnesota, we want you to buy a quality fireplace product so you can love what you purchase. We use pellet stoves and pellet fireplaces in our own homes. We love these home heating products and believe they are a way to preserve your family’s safety into the future.
Take Control of Your Home’s Heat with a Pellet Stove
People are losing the ability to choose if their home even has a fireplace anymore. Home builders are not including gas fireplaces, hearths, or masonry chimneys in their new homes nearly as often to save money. This removes an important asset for many future homeowners and diminishes the value of the fireplace in the American home.
At The Stove Shop, we believe if you have a wonderful experience with your fireplace, then you will come to love the heat and choice available to your family. Fireplaces are a decision that we want families to make for themselves. If you buy a low quality pellet stove from a big box store, it will only further the story for your family that stoves and fireplaces are just a thing of the past. We believe the freedom afforded by having individual heating fuel choice is worth taking the time to make this information available without any advertisements or distractions. It will be a cold world if a majority of American homes are limping along with electric heat as their only option.
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