It has been estimated that pellet stoves make around ten per cent of all pellets installations in Germany and this amount will grow till the end of this year. Italy – is another country where pellet stoves are increasingly used today, it has been already installed around 700,000 stoves.
Pellets stoves are increasingly used in Germany because of their attractive look and simplicity in exploitation. Such stoves are capable to heat domestic water and to heat the entire building during spring and fall. Today fireplaces and stoves could be easily replaced by air duct pellets stoves. Their principle of operation is not complicated, wood pellets are transported by the fully automated conveyor to the combustion chamber where they are ignited electrically. The pellet stoves of high quality have a digital-electronic monitoring system by means of which it is possible to control the pellets volume and operating temperature.
Pellet stoves with a “water jacket” can be used both – to heat the building and to heat the water for domestic purposes. Such system of heating meets the requirements for renovated buildings and passive houses and does not need a separate heating room. This system can be perfectly combined with the solar installation, because such combination gives an opportunity to use the excess heat.
The largest market for pellets heaters is the Italian heating market. Today more than 700,000 heaters have been installed in many residential buildings in Italy. The heating period in Italy is much shorter than in other countries and that is why pellets production in this country is directed to meet the requirements of home owners who use small 15kg bags. The consumption of pellets has considerably grown and now their production does not cover the demand that is why wood pellets are imported from other countries.
The Federal Office of Economics and Export Control in Germany funds the special program that makes investments in the development of large pellets boilers and pellet stoves. The sum of the subsidy makes from 500 € for air duct pellets heaters between 5 and 100kW to 1,000 € for pellets heaters with water jackets, but the subsidy must not be more than 20% of the net investment costs.
