Jérémie Geelen shares why he chose to heat his home with wood pellets

Today, we decided to talk with our colleague Jérémie Geelen – not in his capacity as a Market Intelligence Director at Bioenergy Europe, but as a pellet consumer. Find out all about his experience with wood pellets in the following lines.

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Why did you decide to start using wood pellets as a heating solution?

I decided to go for wood pellets as a heating method for several reasons like comfort, finances and efficiency! I live in an apartment without any fossil-based heating, but with a heat pump. I really thought that this solution would be enough for my apartment, but I quickly realized that even though heat pump can be very efficient, the type of heat they provide is really not comparable to the warmth that the pellet stove delivers. Also, unfortunately heat pumps don’t perform well in a poorly insulated building which is what I live in currently.

Do you use a pellet boiler or a pellet stove? How did you choose your pellet appliance?

I use a 9kW pellet stove from Haas and Sohn (an Austrian brand), as for me this is a complementary system to the heat pump and since I don’t have an existing boiler that I could have replaced with a pellet one, I went for a local space heater (stove). I went to a retailer that is close to where I live to purchase it.

How expensive it is if you have to compare it to gas and electricity?

It’s definitely cheaper than my electricity-based heating system (heat pump). This is also one of the reasons that pushed me to seek an alternative to electricity is the bill that came in at the end of last winter. One of the big advantages of using pellets for me is that you’re fully aware of the costs of your heating! Indeed, if you put one pellet bag in your stove, you know that it cost you the value of the one bag. When it comes to electricity, you don’t actually know how much you’re going to pay in total before the end of the year, and the bill can be quite salty (speaking from experience!).

When buying pellets, what are the most important factors you take into account?

The only factor I consider when purchasing pellets is if the bag is certified by a quality scheme like ENplus^®. Indeed, I know how poor-quality fuel can degrade the appliance, and on the long run the few additional cents per bag from the certification are much better then having to replace the appliance.

Any advice you want to share with the people who are not yet convinced to switch to wood pellets?

Wood pellets appliances have all the advantages of a traditional open fire, but they are packed with modern technology to make it more convenient for the end user like being able to control it through an app remotely. They’re also much better for the environment thanks to the filters, combustion control, and quality wood pellets from recognized certification schemes like ENplus^®!