Most pellet stoves can be vented to the outside through a short horizontal pipe that goes through an exterior wall of the home, or through a longer vertical pipe that exits the roof or snakes up an existing fireplace chimney. Some pellet stoves have electronic ignition systems, and many can be controlled from a wall-mounted thermostat. Pellet fuel, which commonly comes in 40-pound bags, is poured into a hopper. A screw auger transfers a few pellets at a time from the hopper into the fire pot. A combustion fan pulls outside air into the fire pot and pushes exhaust gases from the burning pellets to the flue pipe.
Residual ash drops through the fire pot grate to an ash pan below.
Settings on a control panel allow the user to increase or decrease the rate at which pellets drop into the fire pit, which determines how hot the fire gets. A damper setting allows the user to adjust the amount of combustion air that enters the fire pot. As the pellets burn, a series of hollow tubes directly above the fire pot acts as a heat exchanger. A convection fan, usually with variable speed settings, blows air through the heated tubes and out into the room. She now has what many people dream about, wood heat without the hassle of wood.