Steady heat for Westmorland winters, without splitting a woodpile.

Most pellet installs in this part of Westmorland run $6,000 to $10,000, generally less than the $6,000-$12,000 typical for a wood system since pellet venting is smaller-diameter and simpler to route through a wall. The bigger cost driver is whether you need a dedicated electrical circuit for the auger and blower motor—pellet stoves need power to run, unlike a wood stove—and whether your hearth pad and clearances are already in place or need to be built from scratch.

It depends on how much time and physical work you want to put in. A full household cutting permit through New Brunswick Natural Resources runs about $85 for 14 cubic metres, which is hard to beat on raw fuel cost, and that's part of why wood heat stays so common around McEwen. Pellet stoves cost more per unit of heat—Groupe Savoie and Shaw Resources pellets typically run $400 to $575 a ton—but you're paying for convenience: no splitting, no stacking, no seasoning wood for a year before you can burn it. A lot of local households end up with one of each: a wood stove for the deep cold and a pellet stove for the shoulder season or when nobody has time to feed a firebox.

Yes. You'll need a permit through the municipal building department, and the installation has to meet the CSA B365 code that governs solid-fuel appliances in Canada. Most insurers in New Brunswick also want a WETT inspection on file for any wood or pellet appliance before they'll cover it, so it's worth booking that alongside your install rather than scrambling later when you switch insurance providers.

Groupe Savoie and Shaw Resources are the two regional producers most local dealers stock, with pricing typically running $400 to $575 a ton depending on the season and how early you order. Buying in late summer or early fall, before the first cold snap sends everyone to the same suppliers, is the standard local advice—it also gives you time to store a full season's supply in a dry spot before New Brunswick's wetter fall weather sets in.

It stops working. The auger that feeds pellets into the firebox and the blower that pushes heat into the room both run on electricity, so a pellet stove goes cold the moment NB Power lines go down—a real consideration in a forested, rural stretch of Westmorland where ice storms and wind can knock out power for a day or more. Some households run a small battery backup or generator just for the stove's circuit; others keep a wood stove or fireplace as the outage backup and use pellet for daily convenience.

With winter lows averaging -13.1°C and older rural homes around McEwen often carrying less insulation than newer builds, most local dealers size toward the higher end of a stove's rated range rather than the low end. A stove rated for 1,200 to 1,800 square feet is typical for a main living area here, but your dealer should size it against your home's actual insulation and layout, not just square footage, since a two-storey farmhouse and a single-level bungalow with the same footprint heat very differently.

Not reliably. Liberty Utilities operates Gas NB's distribution network, but it serves specific corridors of the province rather than blanket coverage, and rural communities like McEwen often sit outside the service area. That's part of why pellet and wood remain the two realistic heating choices for most homeowners here, alongside electric baseboard heat through NB Power at roughly 14.6 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Plan on emptying the ash pan every few days to weekly depending on how much you're burning, and a deeper cleaning of the burn pot, hopper, and exhaust vent every one to two months during a full New Brunswick heating season. An annual professional service, checking the auger motor, blower, and venting, is worth scheduling in late summer, ahead of the rush when everyone else remembers their stove right before the first frost.

Wood wins on raw fuel cost and keeps burning through a power outage, which matters given how forested and rural this stretch of Westmorland is. Pellet wins on convenience and burn consistency: no splitting, no seasoning, and a thermostat that holds a steady temperature overnight. Install costs run close ($6,000-$10,000 for pellet versus $6,000-$12,000 for wood), so the decision usually comes down to whether you want to spend a few hours a week processing wood or want to load a hopper and let the stove do the work.

Because a fireplace is an iceberg—there's more behind the wall than in front of it. A low quote often covers only the unit; the full scope includes vent pipe, gas line or electrical, framing, and the tile or stone that has to come off and go back on. Make every bidder price the whole job. If a dealer can't speak to the full scope with confidence, that's your signal to keep looking.

Ask three questions: Is it ugly? Is it drafty? Does it actually work? Most old fireplaces fail at least two. Beyond looks, an old unit leaks air around the damper year-round and—if it's gas with a standing pilot—quietly burns a couple hundred dollars a year. A modern replacement seals the wall, heats the room, and changes how the whole space gets used.

Three things separate the field: how easy the burn pot is to clean (trapdoor designs let the ash drop straight into the pan), how the auger moves pellets (top-mounted augers that pull instead of push jam less and wear slower), and diagnostics (self-diagnosing control boards tell you exactly which part needs attention instead of leaving you guessing). Heat output is table stakes—livability is in these details.

In most jurisdictions, yes—fireplace and stove installations involve venting, clearances, and often gas or electrical work that gets permitted and inspected. That's a feature, not a hassle: the inspection protects your family and your homeowner's insurance. A professional installer pulls the permit, installs to code, and stands behind the inspection. If someone suggests skipping it, keep looking.