1. Purchasing: Buy from a reputable, local dealer who can service your stove. If you buy from a big box store, be prepared to do more of your own troubleshooting. There is also value in buying a popular stove that has been on the market for a number of years, which helps to ensure that the local dealers are really familiar with it. If a stove dealer near you does not service the stove you buy, it may be very hard to get service and repairs. The Englander that we tested is an example of an excellent value stove sold in chain hardware stores that do not service the stoves they sell. One reason Englander is such a popular brand is that the company offers good phone tech support to its customers, although wait times can be longer during the peak months of the heating season. Unlike wood stoves, most pellet stoves need repairs periodically during the first 5 years of their life and they also need annual professional cleaning, unless you are “handy” and prepared to undertake a substantial cleaning effort.
 

2. Pellets: Be prepared to buy pellets early, store them properly and make sure the pellet works well in your stove. We used a medium priced PFI certified pellet sold in big box stores in New England. We paid $250 a ton in the middle of the summer for four tons and bought more in the fall. It’s important to buy a few bags of a brand before buying several tons, to ensure that the pellet is a high enough quality to work in your stove. We recommend sticking to pellets that are PFI certified if you are buying less expensive pellets in big box outlets. Most pellets that sell for $300 and over are likely to be a better quality pellet that will not clog up your burn pot too quickly. Recent years have seen pellet shortages in the middle of the winter, partially because more and more people are buying pellets early in the season, depleting supplies. If you can, take advantage of lower prices in the summer and early fall, and store them off the ground in a dry, covered space.