It's important your pellet fire is cleaned regularly so you can get the most out of your pellet fuel.
A correctly burning pellet fire should have an active, bright, yellow/orange flame with no smoke. If the flame is lazy, deep orange in colour and has smokey black tips it isn't burning correctly.One of the best things you can do to ensure your fire is burning at its best is to clean it regularly. We also recommend getting your fire professionally serviced once a year or after every ton of pellet fuel burnt.
Why clean your pellet fire regularly?
- It keeps your fire working at its highest efficiency.
- It's less of a risk and safer to run when it is clean.
- It prolongs the life of your pellet fire when looked after.
Turn off your pellet fire - Before cleaning your pellet fire, let it cool down completely and then unplug from the wall.
*Never turn the power off until the fire has cooled down and shut off. If done too early it can cause the safety switches to trip and may require a professional to reset it.
Remove all wood pellets from your burner - Whether they are burnt or unburnt, pellets absorb moisture and if they are left there all summer, could cause rusting in your pellet fire.
Remove ash - It is not essential to remove the ash but it will make it easier to clean if it isn’t left all summer and means when you get one of those surprise cold snaps, your pellet fire will be ready to go.
“When it comes to ash, of interest to gardeners - wood ash is a great source of potassium as wood doesn’t burn hot enough to burn it off so it concentrates in your ashes.” - Pellet fire owner.
Thoroughly clean - When cleaning your pellet fire, start by using a stiff brush to sweep away the ash build-up on the inner walls, the heat exchanger, and within all the nooks and crannies. Sweep the ash inside your stove down towards the bottom. If you have an ash collection tray in your fire, you can then carefully dump the rest of the debris you cleaned out of your stove. For the stubborn residue in the burn pot, use a metal scraper.
Vacuum - To remove all the remaining residues and dust. Be sure to use cleaning tools that are specific for cleaning ash. You can buy special filters for this.
“Don’t use your good vacuum to do it! I blew up my vacuum that way. Get a cheap crappy old one and use that.” - Pellet fire owner.
Clean Glass - With everything reattached and the inside of your stove clean, you can brush loose ash from the inside and outside of your stove’s glass, then simply wipe the surface with water and a cloth. Cleaning the glass regularly makes it a lot easier to manage.
Book an annual service - Like our cars, we need to look after our pellet fires to get the most life out of them. Summer is a great time to get your pellet fire serviced since it won’t be in use. Getting regular service checks helps prevent damage and any hidden maintenance issues that could cost you more money if left unattended.
Burn quality certified fuel - We recommend using ENplus® A1 certified pellets whenever possible. They will burn more efficiently and produce less ash than low-grade pellets, meaning you’ll need to clean your fire less often.
“We had a pellet fire installed last year and have tried pretty much every brand of pellet fuel available. Once we tried the Azwood pellets we never went back. We have found that the Azwood pellets burn hotter, last longer and don’t make as much ash. I would only recommend using Azwood pellets for your pellet fire.” - Pellet fire owner.