The Bass 02 pellet heater sold by Bass Pellet Heaters in Launceston is an interesting model. It’s not the smallest pellet heater they sell nor is it the largest. But is the Bass 02 right for you? Will it work for the area you want to heat or should you buy something better? Below I look in detail at the Bass 02 to help you decide if its the pellet heater you should buy.
Here’s a quick overview of the specs for the Bass 02. You can see that it is a mid-range pellet heater which would be good for heating a large lounge room. Overall, there’s nothing terrible about the Bass 02 pellet heater specification wise but nothing that is outstanding, such as a huge hopper or high heat output etc. It’s a mid-range pellet heater:
- Price $3,100
- Heat Output: 3kw to 9kw
- Hopper Capacity: 16kg
- Burn Rate: 600 grams to 1.8Kg an hour
- Heating Area: 80m2
- Electricity Consumption: 70 – 380 watts
- Dimensions: 51.5cm x 96.5cm x 49cm
Please note you can only buy this pellet heater in Tasmania. If you live outside of Tasmania check out the where to buy a pellet heater post which lists retailers all around Australia.
Bass 02 Features
There’s two things that make the Bass 02 pellet heater stand out from more generic Chinese pellet heaters. That’s the “double door design” and the “reflective glass”.
Double Door Design
The double door design serves two purposes. First, with two glass doors it adds an air gap which, in theory, increases efficiency because heat that would normally escape through the glass door in single door model is kept in the heater. There’s definitely no denying that adding another glass door does add a layer of insulation to help keep heat in the fire box but I doubt you’d really notice the difference.
More important I think the double glass door design stops the glass door from being so hot, again due to the air gap, so it’s safer around children. However, I still wouldn’t recommend you touch the glass door to find out but if you have children then this might be something to consider. For this reason I think the most practical advantage of the double glass door design is the extra layer of safety.
Reflective Glass
This is common on a few pellet heater nowadays with glass on the pellet heater door being reflective. When the pellet heater isn’t running, it’s basically a mirror and you can’t see inside of the pellet heater. However, when the fire is burning you can see it. To me this obviously is purely aesthetic and doesn’t offer any real advantage other than you can’t see a boring burn box when the pellet heater isn’t running.
Bass 02 Heat Output
Running on high heat you’ll get 9kw of heat pumped out by this model. That’s not as much as the Bass 09, which is a 12kw heater, but unless you are looking to heat a massive area or house I really think this is enough for most people. Furthermore, the reality is pellet heaters, regardless of how big or small they are, rarely run on high heat for extended periods of time. So even if you did get a 12kw heater it would most likely be running in low mode because once your room reaches your desired temperature it should drop down to low heat to save pellets and maintain the room temperature.
As you can guess from the above I think 9kw is more than enough heat. Personally, I prefer as much heat as I can, I own a 12kw pellet heater, but if I’m honest with myself I know it rarely runs at 12kw. The Bass 02 should be able to heat up any room and warm any house quickly. However, if you do like the idea of having more heat, when needed even if that isn’t often, then the Bass 09 pellet heater may be a better choice as it offers up to 12kw of heat output.
Bass 02 Heating Area
It’s claimed the Bass 02 can heat an area of 80m2. That’s a room which is about 9 metres by 9 metres in size, so that could be a large living room. My house is just under 100m2, about 10 metres by 10 metres and my 12kw pellet heater which runs on low most of the time keeps me more than warm enough. The reality is most people will not put the Bass 02 in a room that is 80m2, most will be in a smaller lounge room, maybe 30m2 or so, which then connects to the rest of the house. So the Bass 02 is more than capable of heating most rooms.
However, if you have a very big house, like a multi-story house, then I’d be careful here. Pellet heaters, like heat pumps and wood heaters, are space heaters. However, wood heaters pump out a lot of uncontrollable heat and most definitely put out more than 9kw like the Bass 02. So, if you are looking to heat just a lounge room and warm the remainder of a medium sized house, I think the Bass 02 is fine. However, if you have a very large house or multi-story, the 80m2 heating area is going to be an issue.
Bass 02 Hopper Capacity
The 16kg hopper you get with the Bass 02 pellet heater is nothing to write home about. It’s not bad but it’s not great. Wood pellets are sold in 15kg bags, so you can see that it holds just over one bag of pellets. To be fair, most pellet heaters, regardless of model, that are 9kw in size all come with about a 15kg hopper, give or take a few kilograms. So, it’s pretty much standard with what you’ll find in other models of pellet heaters on the market today.
Again, this isn’t a bad thing but a smaller hopper means you’ll be refilling it more often, especially if you run your heater on high a lot. A bag of pellets, that’s 15kg of pellets, will last about 8 hours to 23 hours depending on how hard you run your pellet heater. So a 16kg hopper will mean you are refilling it probably every 6 hours on high heat, which as above isn’t normal, or about 20 hours on low heat. So, I’d say you probably will have to refill the hopper once a day in the middle of winter. That’s not terrible but keep it in mind if hopper size is important to you.
Bass 02 Design
The main thing the Bass 02 has going for it in terms of design are the colours it comes in. You can get it in black, red and white, which while it doesn’t sound like much, is actually pretty good. Most Chinese made pellet heaters come in black or some other boring, dull colour, like grey. It’s nice to see some different colours as not everyone wants a boring, black pellet heater in their lounge. However, other than that you have the same standard squarish edges or as some people call it a “vending machine” design. Regardless, the design and nice colours are nothing compared to Piazzetta pellet heaters or Palazzetti pellet heaters.
Bass 02 Burn Rate
Going hand in hand with hopper size is the burn rate. Burn rate is basically how many pellets are fed into the burn pot as the pellet heater runs. The more pellets fed in the more heat but the quicker you’ll go through pellets. The Bass 02 pellet heater has a burn rate of 600 grams to 1.8kg per hour. When compared with other pellet heaters of similar size this is totally normal, meaning it’s neither good nor bad, just expected.
As most pellet heaters run on low you can see the Bass 02 burns about 600 grams an hour. That means a 16kg hopper would last about 26 hours on low heat. However, it’s difficult to run a hopper empty and that’s why I said you’d be refilling once every day or maybe once every two days. Again, nothing good or bad here about the burn rate. Finally burn rate is important because it allows you to figure out how much you’ll spend on pellets.
You can buy wood pellets in Tasmania for much lower prices than the rest of Australia, so it’s probably not as important in Tassie where pellets cost $10 a bag but on the mainland it’s around $20 a bag. However, you can see that running on high a bag of pellets would last about 9 hours of non-stop burning. That should help give you some idea of what it would cost to run the Bass 02 pellet heater.
Bass 02 Electricity Consumption
The electricity consumption and ignition wattage of the Bass 02 is about the same as most other pellet heaters on the market today. During startup the igniter uses the most power, hence the 380 watts. This only lasts for a few minutes and then the igniter switches off once the fire starts. Two fans run which draw very little power, so it would be around 70 watts an hour once the fire is going. Again, this is common across most pellet heaters today and is neither good or bad.
Bass 02 Size
The Bass 02 is roughly 51.5 cm wide, 96.5cm high and 49cm deep. The only thing to keep in mind here would be the height. At just under 1 metre high it means you have to life a bag of pellets higher than some other models which can be as low as 70cm. This isn’t a problem but something you may want to keep in mind. If lifting pellets is a problem, then another option is to put them in a bucket or use a scoop, meaning you won’t have to life an entire bag but it will take slightly longer to refill the hopper.
Bass 02 Pellet Heater Summary
Overall I think the Bass 02 is a nice middle ground of a pellet heater and is definitely one of the better value pellet heaters sold by Bass Pellet Heaters. It’s got more than enough heat for most people and the hopper size is also adequate. I think this would be a suitable heater for anyone looking to heat a large lounge room or warm up a small house. Also, price wise it is very reasonable. So, it’s not a terrible heater, nor is it great. However, it ticks most boxes and would definitely provide adequate heat for most people.
Resources:
Bass Pellet Heaters (website)
