The relative rigors of maintaining a pellet stove often come down to finding the pellets that work best for your stove. (For more information, see Pellet Stoves: Advantages of Burning Pellets and Pellet Stove Energy Cost Comparisons.)

Not all pellets are created equal; generally speaking, high-priced pellets burn more cleanly and hotter than low-cost pellets. Your stove supplier will likely recommend a certain brand, but do a bit of experimenting.

Buy just a few bags of one brand and try it, then try another brand, until you find pellets that heat satisfactorily and don’t leave too much ash and clinker residue. In general, top-fed stoves require high-quality pellets while bottom-fed stoves can use pellets of lesser quality.

How often you must add pellets depends on the size of the hopper and how hot you run the stove. A pellet stove with a small hopper may need to be filled twice a day while stoves with large-capacity hoppers can run hot for four or five days before they need to be refilled.

Maintenance is mostly a matter of cleaning. If you use your stove on a regular basis, you will likely need to clean it about once a week. Cleaning tools include a bucket, a wire brush and a large whiskbroom, a plastic scoop, a vacuum cleaner, a screwdriver, glass cleaner made for heated glass, and paper towels.

Cleaning will take about 15 minutes. Turn the stove off and allow about 20 minutes for it to cool down. Fill the hopper with pellets to jar loose some of the ash. Open the door to the burn pot.

Place the bucket under the door and brush the accumulated ashes into the bucket. Brush the ashes from around the burn pot into the pot, remove the burn pot, and then brush those ashes into the bucket. Use a screwdriver to scrape any ashes and clinkers that are stuck.

Use the plastic scoop to remove the ashes from the stove itself. On some units, there is a rod that moves back and forth to dislodge ashes from the heat tubes. Pull out the ash pan, located at the bottom of the unit, and dump the collected ashes into the bucket. Use a vacuum cleaner to clean out the cavity where the burn pot rests. Replace the burn pot.

Clean the glass on the door with the paper towels and glass cleaner made for heated glass.

Once a month or so, remove the vent pipe’s cleanout (located outside the house) and brush out the ashes. Tap the vent pipe to dislodge any remaining ashes, and then brush the cleanout again. At the end of every heating season, have a professional come out and clean the vent pipe.

Check your owner’s manual for other maintenance procedures such as lubricating the motor and various other moving parts.