The Drolet Eco 45 pellet stove is a popular choice for a moderately powerful freestanding unit. This particular model has a long track record. Drolet has been making the Eco-45 for almost a decade, so it’s easy to find feedback about how the stove performs.
The Eco-45 has the boxy, utilitarian look of early pellet stoves, although it is free of the usual bright brass trim. The unit has a big viewing window, a big ash drawer, a big warm air outlet, and a big hopper.
Like many pellet and wood stove manufacturers, Drolet is a Canadian company. They make a line of pellet stoves, wood stoves, fireplace inserts, and wood furnaces. Some of their furnaces have enormous capacities. The Drolet HeatPro wood furnace produces 180,000 BTUs, with an efficiency rating of nearly 80 percent. Their largest pellet stove, the Drolet Eco-65, produces 65,000 BTUs at just under 80 percent efficiency. If you need a lot of heat, a Drolet product can provide it.
The Drolet Eco 45 makes 45,000 BTUs of heat. That’s enough to heat up to 2,000 square feet of floor area. The layout of your house and your heating load can have a big effect on that, however.
The Drolet Eco 45 Wood Pellet Facts
- Automatic freestanding wood pellet stove
- Bottom feed
- EPA certified 78 percent efficiency
- Produces 1.2 grams/hour of particulates
- Maximum 45,000 BTUs per hour
- Minimum heat setting of 8,200 BTUs
- Hopper hold 60 pounds of pellets
- Runs 45 hours on lowest setting
- Electronic ignition
- Requires 3-inch or 4-inch exhaust flue
- Has built-in thermostat
- Can be run on manual mode
- Combustion air can be changed automatically or manually
- Convection blower produces 210 CFM
- Hopper extension available increases capacity to 140 pounds
- Six comfort settings
- Burns between 1.3 and 5.5 pounds of premium pellets per hour
- 25-1/2″ x 28″ x 33″ high
- Weighs 258 pounds
Drolet Eco 45 Features and Benefits
The Drolet Eco 45 puts out about the same amount of heat as a Vogelzang Slimline pellet stove, but it costs substantially more than a Vogelzang 5790 that produces up to 65,000 BTUs. There are a lot of good reasons to pay the extra money.
The Eco-45 is built much more robustly than less expensive competitors. The Drolet comes with a limited lifetime warranty on the welds in the combustion chamber and the heat exchanger, the auger and all the cast parts. The electrical parts are warranted for two years for parts and one for labor. That’s an important detail, because they are the likeliest parts to fail shortly after a pellet stove is delivered and set up.
Six heat settings are a real plus. The Drolet Eco-45 pellet stove is big enough to overheat a smaller room during shoulder seasons. The low settings makes it a better choice for people in mobile homes and other small homes. The lowest setting, around 8,200 BTUs, is one of the lowest on the market. The stove will run continuously on low for almost two full days when the hopper’s full.
The Eco-45 has a big, easy to empty ash pan that shortens cleaning time. The heat exchanger is made from stainless steel, another big plus. Unlike any pellet stove we’ve reviewed, the Drolet has an air filter for the convection blower, which cuts down on dust in the air.
Pros
- Well-constructed from premium materials
- Long run time on a full load
- Large air washed viewing glass is fun to watch
- Six settings make it easy to dial in the comfort level you desire
- Efficient combustion saves on fuel
- Somewhat industrial looking, but not ugly
- The combustion chamber door can be opened while the stove is in operation
- Included convection air filtration keeps room air cleaner
- Longer warranty than some competitors
- Available hopper extension more than doubles fuel capacity
Cons
- Some people find the fan noise too loud to watch television in the same room
- Costs substantially more than many comparably-sized competitors
- Customer service is friendly, but not always helpful
- Hopper doesn’t hold an even number of bags of pellets
Final Word on the Drolet Eco-45 Pellet Stove Review
If you’re tired of shelling out big money for oil, propane, or electric heat, the Drolet Eco-45 is an efficient and affordable way to have an alternate heating source. It’s nicely designed and well-built, and it has a long track record.
Reviews of the Drolet Eco 45 are overwhelmingly positive. The unit is easy to operate and clean, and the controls are easy to understand. It uses outside combustion air, so it’s safe for use in mobile homes. The unit is fairly small, and has small clearance requirements, making it easy to locate in your home.
The filtration on the convection air is an unusual and useful detail. Pellet stoves produce very dry air, and they blow dust around the room. That can be a challenging combination for allergy sufferers. Filtering the air from the blower should help, although some humidification might be in order as well.
If you’re looking for a well-built pellet stove that is big enough to heat a large area but doesn’t take up a lot of room, the Drolet Eco-45 is a great choice.
Do you own a Drolet Eco-45 pellet stove? Tell us about it in the comments!
it’s ridiculous to go on an on about how great pellet stoves are (at least the drolet) for allergy sufferers; when your care instructions involve opening the door EVERY DAY to empty the burn pot (ash flies out, not to mention shutting the stove OFF) and cleaning it EVERY WEEK. You know what a mess the stuff is!! NOT GOOD AT ALL for allergy sufferers who have to CLEAN IT!
Hi Lori- Thanks for reading Wood Pellet Facts, and for leaving a comment.
During combustion, a pellet stove fire is essentially burning outdoors. The combustion chamber is sealed, and has a slight vacuum. If you have an outside air kit, your pellet stove draws in outside air, uses it to burn the pellets, and then exhausts it to the outdoors. That’s miles better than our experience with a firewood furnace.
However, as you’ve stated, sooner or later you have to turn it off and clean it out. If you’re sensitive to dust, that can be a real problem. Many users have good luck using a HEPA vac to clean their stoves. Regular shop vacs blow too much fine dust back into the room for sensitive noses.
Does anyone have any advice on moving the Drolet Eco 45.
It is heavy. Are there any easily removable parts?
Thanks
Hi Cheryl- Thanks for reading Wood Pellet Facts, and for leaving a comment.
While the Drolet Eco 45 isn’t exactly light, it’s not terribly heavy as appliances go. Many refrigerators weigh as much as pellet stoves, for instance. Taking off the door and removing the ash pan saves a little weight, but most of the stove is welded steel and can’t be disassembled.
If you’re unable to safely move the unit around with brute force, consider renting a dolly or motorized dolly to do the work. If you look at your local rental house, you’ll see equipment called escaleras, motorized dollies, and roll-a-lifts. If your Drolet Eco 45 is on a platform, make a ramp to the floor and “walk” it down instead of trying to lift it and place it on the floor. It’s not that hard to muscle a 250 pound appliance across a flat floor, but placing plywood down first will save your finish. If stairs are involved, it’s a lot harder.
I have an opportunity to get one of these that’s five years old for less than 200. They said the control board went . Are these worth fixing up, would you recommend buying used ? Thanks
Hello Jamie- Thanks for reading Wood Pellet Facts.
If you like tinkering with appliances, pellet stoves aren’t all that hard to keep running. However, many of the replacement parts can be expensive. For instance, a control board for this pellet stove could cost over $300. If you add the cost of the (used) pellet stove and the parts it needs, you can see how much you’re saving over purchasing a new one. There are many new models of pellet stoves hitting the market now that cost under $1,000, so a “fixer-upper” would have to be pretty cheap to be worth the trouble.
Of course, fixing a pellet stove you already have in place is always an attractive option, because of all the effort it takes to move them and install them in the first place.
We just bought a drolet eco55 pellet stove. The fan is very noisy
Hello Tim- Thanks for reading Wood Pellet Facts.
The specs for the Drolet Eco-55 are about the same as for the Eco-45, and like the older model, the newer version of this popular pellet stove is noisier than most people prefer.
Pellet stove design has a lot of challenges. Pellet stoves require two fans, one for combustion, and one to circulate warm air inside the house. If the stoves put out a lot of heat, the fans must run fast, which can produce a lot of wind noise in addition to the sound the equipment itself makes. I’ve often thought that the circulating fans in pellet stoves would perform better if they were inside a sheet metal box with an air filter, and with sound insulation on the outside, similar to a cold air return duct on a regular furnace. It would cut down on noise and dust.
Thanks again for reading and commenting.
My issue with the 45 drolet pellet stove, the basket is filling up too fast with the pellets so it’s not burning efficiently. So when I called the head office, Ron Geroux, he mentioned to me it sounds like that your pipes might be dirty. So I had a guy that came out twice in the last month that he recommended, and i am still having the same problem that cost me $250.00, with the problem not solved. I called Ron today, stated maybe I have a bad batch of pellets and to change the pellets but they are the same brand, Comfy Cozy, that I’ve had for the last 5 years.
Hello Brian- Thanks for visiting Wood Pellet Facts.
Comfy Cozy pellets are produced by the Marwood company. They’re 100 percent softwood, with low moisture, low ash, and few fines. If they’re stored properly (in a low-humidity environment), they should be fine. If you try another brand, you’ll only need to burn 3 or 4 bags to see a difference, so it’s worth a shot, but I’m skeptical that’s the problem.
When I encounter an overflowing burnpot, I always look first for an obstruction in the airway inside the stove. Stoves don’t usually speed up or slow down their pellet feed. What’s usually the case is that the pellets burn too slowly because they’re not getting enough air for a clean burn, and they’re not consumed fast enough to make room for more. In my stove, it’s usually a blockage inside the combustion fan housing, but it could be anywhere from the outside air intake to the exhaust flue. It must be frustrating for you to pay a great deal for professional cleaning and still not get good performance.
if the pellets are damp it will not burn fast enough (don’t keep the pellets in a bin in a damp room ) fill the stove directly from the bag. I had the same problem. My stove is in a damp basement.
Hello Brian- Thanks for reading and leaving a comment at Wood Pellet Facts.
That’s good advice for storing and handling wood pellets.
Hi i currently own a eco 45 and ha e had great luck with it going o year 6 now. Looking at another for my garage for temp heat when i need it. My question is what kind of power draw i need to run the fan and auger. If i was lookong to install one at my cabin instead and looking for an alternative then my generator. Idea would be use generator for a while shut down generator and keep it running o either turbine or battery back up. Thanks!
Hello Sheldon-Welcome to Wood Pellet Facts.
We run a similarly sized pellet stove off an inverter (800 watts max) during power outages. We’ve measured a current draw of approximately 3-4 amps (at 120 VAC) when it’s running. I hope this helps.
Can the eco-45 be run without electricity. I’m looking for and alternate heat souse if my power goes out. ( we are all electric). Also does it need a chimney that goes up the side of the house or can it be vented through the wall
Hello Carol- Welcome to Wood Pellet Facts.
The Drolet Eco 45 pellet stove requires electricity to operate. It doesn’t draw a lot of current, however, so you can run the stove with a small power inverter, or off a small generator.
Like most pellet stoves, the Drolet can be vented through a wall. Pellet stoves use double-wall piping for their flues, which can go straight out of the wall. Most pellet stoves work best if the exhaust flue turns vertically outside and extends upward for about 5 feet, with a “candy cane” bend and a hood on the end of the pipe.
I had one Eco 45 for almost 9 year there certain up keep you got do like cleaning filter checking them every couple of months. Cleaning burn pot once a week.-and dry pellet .beside that one of best stove on market got the years to prove it
A friend of mine has a Drolet Eco 45 and uninstalled it and is offering it to me. He said it “some sensors are shot” or maths the control board is gone. At any rate he said the fan would quit on him and the room would fill up with smoke. My question to you.. If I get it for free, unknown diagnosis, can you point me to a place that lists all available parts with prices so I can decide whether it is worth it?
We have an eco-45 drolet and the “P” code keeps coming up. We have talked with Drolet and it is still shutting off usually twice a day with the p code. We are beyond frustrated with our drolet and are almost to the point that we are going back to electric heat. We are cleaning it daily. And we have done all recommended options. We have the 4 inch exhaust flue. The air is open to half as recommended, we are using hardwood premium pellets, we have the five foot candy cane shaped flue outside, we have the air pipe going directly outside, and we are to our wits end! Any information would be amazing!!!!
hoo can i call about my pellet stove it a drolet model eco 45 i live in halifax
Hello Perry- Thanks for visiting Wood Pellet Facts.
Drolet uses the same phone number for both customer support and technical support: 1-877-356-6663. They only answer this line from 8AM to 5PM (EST). In my experience, it can be quite difficult to get through to a live person on consumer help lines from pellet stove manufacturers, so be prepared to be put on hold for long periods. Drolet has an online form for support as well, and promise responses within 24-48 hours: Drolet Technical Support.
Hi Nicole- That sounds frustrating. From your comment, it sounds like you’ve tried all the suggested cleaning methods described in the Drolet ECO 45 Owner’s Manual. Most pellet stove owner’s manuals are written very poorly in my experience. I can’t help but notice that the word “manual” is misspelled in the name of the file, for instance. You must be very frustrated trying to figure out your problem.
In my experience, it’s never the control board, although it’s mentioned a lot in your owner’s manual. When control boards fail, they generally don’t work at all. It’s unlikely that the stove works OK for a while, and then throws error messages from time to time.
A “P” code on a Drolet pellet stove is indicating an air flow problem. Air must pass unimpeded from outside, through the burn pot, and back out through the chimney without any obstruction. This flow of air causes a slight vacuum to build up inside the stove. If the vacuum is lost, the pressure switch tells the stove to shut off (“P” code).
One often overlooked way that vacuum can be lost in a pellet stove is the door gasket. If the exhaust fan can pull air in through the door seal instead of through the burn pot, it will. That makes a lazy fire that throws a lot of soot, which gunks up the stove and chimney even faster, which makes an error message even more likely. If you haven’t changed out the door gasket recently, I’d try that. I recently had a pellet stove that was burning very poorly, and sooting up in a matter of minutes. Changing out the door gasket and adjusting the door hinge got it working like new again.
Good luck!
I have an Eco-45 for about 12 y and is still working fine. Lately it started to have trouble to ignit and the P code appear on the control panel. Yesterday, I talked to a guy who does maintenance and repair and he said it is the pipe that bring air to the ignater that needs to be clean which I never cleaned. I believe it will solve the problem. Also, I never replaced any parts since I bought it. The only thing is that it started being a litlle bit noisyer. I installed it myself in the basement and followed the installation instructions carefully. After the first winter of operation, I had used a lot of pellet. The exaust is connected to the bottom of a 9 in (o/d) stainless cheminy with a reducer 7 in (i/ d) to 5 in (o/d) of the exaust of the stove . I put a tee up in the attic and the other tee near the floor in the kichen of the old house that I live in. I bought enough 5 in hot air furnace conduct to go all the way up to the top of the 9 in cheminey and sealead very carefully all the joints with aluminium heat tape. Sealling all the joint in extremly important to avoid bringing Deadly gaz in your living erea.Then I installed a bathroom fan at the bottom tee with the appropriate reducer and recovered a lot of heat that would be lost from the cheminey. The air comes out of it at 90° F, and reduced the use of pellet by more then 60 % for the same time of operation. Please forgive my mistakes in my writing, I’m french speaking from Québec.
Hello G. Blais- Thanks for reading and leaving a comment at Wood Pellet Facts.
My eco-45 starts to burn ok but when it heats up and trys to start the fan moters it blows the fuse what should i look for?
Hi Bill- Welcome to Wood Pellet Facts. It sounds like you either have a short in the wiring to a fan, or the fan itself is shorted out or seized up. I’d check the wiring harnesses carefully first, then try removing the fan and applying voltage to it on a workbench to see if it’s operational. Good luck!
My fan on the 65 eco kicks in when hot then kicks out right away. When I turn it off the fan kicks back in to blow the heat out. Sensor? We changed the control board still same problem. Trying to find someone to fix hard to talk to someone at the Drolet company. Anybody ever have this problem?
I purchased a home two years ago that has an ECO-45. I have been battling with it ever since. The 3 times I’ve turned it on, smoke fills my house. The chimney in clean and I’ve attached and inspected the duct connections countless times. Any advice on how to prevent the smoke and ash build up? Any service providers I can contact? It’d be a nice addition to the house!
Hello Brad- Welcome to Wood Pellet Facts. Smoke released into your house is a sign of a serious problem that should be addressed before you operate the stove. If you’re not comfortable troubleshooting the pellet stove yourself, it might be worth your while to hire a pellet stove technician to come and take a look at it. Since you inherited the stove from the previous owner, it will be hard for you to figure out what kind of maintenance has been done on the pellet stove over time. A pellet stove tech would should know immediately where to look for an internal blockage that would cause smoke to back up.
Also, another thing that comes to mind is that the gaskets on your stove might have been neglected. The gaskets that seal the door can be worn out without really looking that bad. If they’re not blocking air from entering the burn chamber, the pellets smolder, and produce a lot of black soot and ash. If air can get in through the gasket, then smoke can get out, too. Replacing the door gasket is a fairly easy and inexpensive operation you might try first. Good luck!
Great information in these posts. Thanks very much!
Having an E code coming up. Checked everything but thermistor and the F-160 temp sensor.
Where is it at?
How can I test it?
The thermistor I know where it’s at but how can I test it.
There isn’t a service man anywhere in Alberta that I’ve been able to track down.
Hi Ken- Thanks for visiting Wood Pellet Facts.
If you’re not familiar with the thermistor, you can find out where it is located by using the owner’s manual. You can get a free copy as a pdf here at Drolet.
Once you’ve located it, you have to disconnect it. Then you’ll need a multimeter. Set it for ohms, and connect the thermistor’s terminals to the multimeter probes. A thermistor’s readings on the ohm meter should change with heat. You can change the temp of the thermistor by warming it in your hand, while watching the meter to see if the reading changes with temperature changes. These thermistors have different specific readings at different temps. It’s likely that they’re in the user’s manual. If you don’t get a change in readings when you change the temp, the thermistor should be replaced.
Remember to disconnect your pellet stove before touching anything inside the stove. Good luck!