Let’s be honest. Buying a new heater, doesn’t matter if it is a pellet heater or something else, is a big decision. You know it’s going to cost you more money then you’d like but then there’s the ongoing costs. I’ve written this article to help you understand what it’s going to cost you to own a pellet heater over a five year period. This will help you understand what’s involved and hopefully help you decide if a pellet heater is right for you. However, I will say if all you are worried about is cost and don’t care about the type of heater, then get a heat pump. My article on pellet heaters vs wood heaters vs heat pumps explains this in detail why.
Here’s a quick breakdown on what you are looking at after five years with a pellet heater. I’ve made some assumptions here which I explain below:
| Cost Component | 6kw Model Estimate | 12kw Model Estimate | European Model Estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upfront Cost (Year 0) | $3,500 | $5,500 | $9,000 |
| 5-Year Fuel Cost | $4,200 | $4,200 | $4,200 |
| 5-Year Electricity Cost | $140 | $140 | $140 |
| 5-Year Servicing | $1300 | $1300 | $1300 |
| TOTAL 5-YEAR COST | $9,140 | $11,140 | $13,640 |
| Average Per Year | $1,718 | $2,228 | $2,728 |
| Avg. Per Year (Excl. Heater) | $1,128 | $1,128 | $1,128 |
Pellet Heater Cost
The biggest cost, obviously, is going to be the heater. As I touched on elsewhere you shouldn’t focus on “brand” when purchasing a new heater. What I would focus on is features and retailer support. Just because a pellet heater costs you more does not mean it will cost you less to run. However, you will pay less for smaller pellet heaters that put out less heat. So, if you want to keep costs down then pick a smaller heat output pellet heater. This applies to European models as well. 13kw European pellet heaters will cost more than 6kw ones.
Getting it Installed
Installation costs for a pellet heater will vary depending on if you go through the wall behind the pellet heater, also called direct venting, or go through the roof of your house. Generally speaking going through the roof is more expensive. However, it is safe to say expect to pay around $1000 for installation. There’s a good chance it’ll cost you less than this but it also depends on the type of flue you get installed.
Next, you’ve got the hearth. Like wood heaters, pellet heaters must sit on a non-combustible surface. For many people who install pellet heaters in the lounge room, this means you’ll need a hearth as the floor is typically carpet or wood. Again, like getting the pellet heater installed, expect to pay around $500 depending on the type and size of hearth you get. I would recommend keeping an eye on Facebook or Gumtree as people often sell used hearths for cheap, which are perfectly fine to use for your pellet heater despite many of them being from old wood heaters.
Yearly Running Costs
This what you’ll spend every year on your pellet heater. Just like wood heaters, which need the flue cleaned and the cost of buying firewood, you need to get your pellet heater serviced and also have the cost of buying wood pellets. Like some wood heaters with a fan, pellet heaters need electricity and do use a little power, so you need to add this into the running costs. Let’s look at each cost and break it down.
The Wood Pellets
This is your main running cost. When I first looked, I thought I’d be running it 24/7 like my wood heater and burning through bags like there was no tomorrow. But you don’t use a pellet heater that way. You can reduce the cost of running your pellet heater by learning about the timers and WiFi. I can set it to turn off when I go to bed and switch on an hour before I wake up. I’m not burning pellets all night while I’m asleep, but I still wake up to a warm house. I personally burn about 80 bags a year and at $10.50 a bag, so that costs me about $850 a year but you might spend less or more depending.
The Power Bill
Pellet heaters need electricity to run. The don’t use much power but without power they don’t work. As I mentioned in another post it’ll cost you about one or two cents an hour in electricity to run. So even if you ran your pellet heater all day it really doesn’t make much difference. I run my pellet heater about six months a year and about ten hours a day, so for me it costs about $30 a year or so in electricity, which is nothing. Again, if you use your heater less then obviously you’ll spend less on your power bill.
Servicing
This comes as a bit of a shock to some people but pellet heaters need to be serviced. Just like a wood heater needs the flue cleaned every year, pellet heaters need the flue cleaned, but more importantly, you should service the pellet heater to keep it clean and running well.. If you don’t do this then the pellet heater won’t heat as efficiently and eventually may stop working all together. You can DIY service a pellet heater yourself, but I don’t recommend it for everyone, so that’s why I’ve included it in the running costs table above. If it is something you can do, then obviously you’ll save yourself a bit of money each year.
Spare Parts
Pellet heaters have parts that need to be replaced. It isn’t every year but something will eventually need to be swapped out. It could be the igniter which lights the fire or bearings that keep the auger spinning, and how often things need to be replaced depends on how often you use your pellet heater. More often than not these new parts will be replaced when your pellet heater is serviced. It’s hard to put an exact number on this but $10 a year would be a safe estimate.
The Final Verdict
So all up after five years you can see in the table above that it is going to cost you about $1200 per year, which includes wood pellet fuel, servicing and electricity costs. I was spending that on firewood when I had a wood heater, so for me it’s no more expensive than the wood heater. But for me, the real value isn’t just in the dollars and cents. It’s in getting my weekends back. It’s in having a clean backyard with no spiders hiding in the woodpile. It’s the simple joy of pushing a button and getting that beautiful, bone-warming heat without the mess and effort.
I hope this breakdown, based on my own journey from a tired wood-heater-owner to a happy pellet-heater-nerd, helps you see the bigger picture. It’s a fantastic way to heat your home, and I wouldn’t go back for anything.
