Pellet stoves work much like traditional wood burning stoves in that they burn solid fuel for a home, but the major difference is that pellet stoves need electricity in order to work.
Pellet stoves use a range of electronic components including sensors to automatically optimize and regulate a fire to provide the hottest and cleanest burn, and so does this mean that pellet stoves have thermostats to allow this to occur?
Many modern pellet stoves have built-in thermostatic control using temperature sensors to regulate heat output. A temperature sensor within a pellet stove will continuously measure room temperature to ensure that the stove brings it up to the set temperature and not exceed it.
Our own pellet stove has a built-in thermostat allowing us to choose the desired room temperature for each fire without having to worry about the room getting too hot if the stove is left on too long.
We’ve explained in more detail below using our own pellet stove as an example:
- Whether all pellet stoves have thermostats.
- Whether a pellet stove needs a thermostat.
- How a thermostat works on a pellet stove.
Do Pellet Stoves Have Thermostats?
In the majority of cases a pellet stove will have its own built-in thermostat in order to be able to regulate the heat output to the user’s preference.
Unlike other forms of stove including wood burning and multi fuel, pellet stoves are primarily electric appliances and need a source of electricity in order to operate.
Using a range of electronic components, a pellet stove provides a more automated burning process meaning that less user input is required. These automated processes include the controlling of both the fuel and air delivery to the fire to deliver the best fuel to air ratio and therefore the hottest, cleanest and most efficient burn.
Digital displays can be found on many models of pellet stove, which serve as the central control unit for the whole stove controlling all of the different processes to help provide the cleanest burn possible.
As part of this central control unit will be a digital thermostatic control.
This allows a pellet stove to also automatically adjust the stove’s temperature output to bring the room up to the desired temperature as set on the stove, and keep the temperature there.
Our own pellet stove is able to do this thanks to a temperature sensor within the stove that feeds room temperature information back to the control unit, which is displayed on the screen.
The manual for our pellet stove explains:
‘The room temperature is measured by a temperature sensor installed within the stove. The system analyzes the collected data from the burning and automatically controls and optimizes it.’
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There are a small number of non-electrical models of pellet stoves available. These forms of pellet stove typically won’t have any form of thermostat.
Furthermore, some models of pellet stove may not come with a thermostat and an external one may need to be purchased as an additional extra.
You’ll need to confirm with the manufacturer of a specific model of pellet stove:
- Whether a pellet stove has an integrated thermostat.
- Whether external thermostats can be used with that pellet stove.
- What models of thermostat would work.
Does A Pellet Stoves Need A Thermostat?
Pellet stoves typically have a thermostat integrated into them to allow the automated processes of keeping a room at a constant set temperature to occur. Pellet stoves may therefore not require any form of external thermostat.
Without a thermostat, a pellet stove is unable to regulate the temperature of the room to the desired temperature.
For example, our own pellet stove has a built-in thermometer that measures the current room temperature at any one point. This live information is displayed on the screen of the control panel.
We can also set the desired room temperature within the settings on the touch screen control panel. This set room temperature is shown within the smaller circle to the right of the current room temperature shown in the box.
If there was no thermostatic control then the stove would not be able to:
- Bring the temperature of the room up to our desired room temperature that has been set on the stove.
- Keep the room at this temperature, without exceeding it or letting it fall back down.
There is no mention within the manual of our own particular model of pellet stove whether an external thermostat can be used with the stove, but it already has one integrated.
The control unit on our pellet stoves also allows us to programme specific times on specific days in which to turn on.
This will work with the information on the current and desired room temperatures to keep our living room at the right temperature within these times.
How Does A Thermostat Work On A Pellet Stove?
A pellet stove thermostat collects current room temperature and adjusts the heat output from the stove to bring the room up to the desired temperature. The control unit will then adjust the fuel and air to the fire to keep the room at the set temperature.
A thermostat integrated within a pellet stove works by:
- Collecting ongoing current room temperature using a temperature sensor and feeding it back to the control unit.
- Allowing the stove to continue burning to bring the room temperature up the temperature set on the stove’s settings.
- Keeping the room at this set temperature until the pellet stove is turned off.
- Preventing the room temperature from exceeding this amount or falling back down when on.
As a pellet stove is an automated form of solid fuel burning appliance, it will automatically adjust the amount of fuel and air getting to the fire in order to change the heat output required to maintain the desired room temperature.
Based on the current and desired room temperatures, a pellet stove will use this information to:
- Set the amount of air getting into the stove by adjusting the amount of air leaving the stove using the blower within the fume extractor.
- Set the delivery times and amounts of the pellet fuel from the hopper to the combustion chamber by adjusting the rotation of the auger.