I see some pellet stoves are only a few hundred dollars and others are a couple thousand dollars. Why is this? Are all pellet stoves the same?

The price of pellet stoves vary greatly, especially if you’re price comparing online or walking through the isles of a big box store. Like all items of value, pellet stoves vary greatly in price, quality, features, and longevity. If you are shopping for a pellet stove, it might seem a bit overwhelming. We hope to make it a easier to understand the difference in price and value when buying a pellet stove. Consider this, pellet stoves are a lot like comparing real diamonds to flashy costume jewelry. Diamonds are going to last forever, look great, and maintain their value. Costume jewelry looks appealing at first and serves an immediate, temporary purpose.

Help me understand why I’d want to pay more for a pellet stove

Consumers understand and often embrace the reality that shopping for clothes, jewelry, and other items at big box stores is not the same as shopping at specialty shops or brands that provide long-lasting quality. Whether people shop for high quality brands, American made, locally sourced, or a variety of other reasons, purchases in big box stores is easy to understand that the price might be right, but the quality simply isn’t there. The same applies to pellet and corn stoves.

How much is a cheap pellet stove?

While it may feel like you found an awesome bargain if you pick up a brand new pellet stove for less than $1500.00, it’s far from a great deal if you get home and have trouble with the appliance in a few months. What happens when the parts fail in an inexpensive stove? Well, costs have to be cut somewhere to sell an inexpensive stove. Will it be in cheap parts? Less attentive manufacturing process? Absence of customer service or return policy?

It’s at the point when your cheaper pellet stove isn’t working, you need help, or can’t find parts that you find out that you get what you paid for. A big box store that you purchased from will likely tell you to contact the manufacturer directly to get parts and/or service.  Do you know that the parts and shipping, if you can find them, could cost a fortune? Most likely, it will be difficult to find a heating expert to help you out.  If you are lucky enough to get your unit up and running (a good service tech will charge you around $650.00 to do that), a cheaper unit typically lasts for 1-2 years and then it is time to go buy another unit. These scenarios are very common. Go ahead and read through our list of hundreds of customer comments, some from people who tried a different brand of pellet stove first or were fed up with the lack of customer service until they switch to stoves manufactured by American Energy Systems.

How much does a quality pellet stove cost?

A typical high quality pellet stove will cost between $2400-3500 and will last  25+ years. Take a peek at our recent efforts to contact some of our very first pellet stove customers to find out how their stoves are still running. Most couldn’t believe a manufacturer cared enough to call and find out, and all were happy report how great their stoves were working 10 years, 20 years, and more later!

When you come home with a MagnuM or Country Flame wood pellet/corn/multi-fuel burning stove that will last a lifetime, you will enjoy dependable heat with higher efficiency and save money on fuel. You’ll have installation guides and a technical department to call with questions. The bonus is that it won’t sound like an old fashioned wash machine with the gears going out within a couple months.

Now you know why pellet stove prices vary and can make an informed buyer decision.