Drolet Pellet Stoves: The ECO-65R and ECO-55 Compared

Drolet is best known for wood stoves, so their pellet line surprises people. The ECO series is built by SBI in Quebec — the same factory as the Drolet wood stoves — and it goes after the two things pellet stove owners complain about most: refilling the hopper, and cleaning the thing.

Two models, both EPA 2020 certified, both made in Canada with a limited lifetime warranty. Here's how they differ and which one fits.

Drolet ECO-65R — the long-burn flagship

The ECO-65R ($4,129) is built around a 125 lb hopper that runs up to 105 hours per fill. That's four days of continuous heat between refills — among the longest in the category, and the reason to look at this stove.

• Heats 800–2,600 sq ft, up to 50,800 BTU/h
• 0.77 g/h emissions — EPA 2020 certified, the cleanest-burning stove we carry
• Up to 84.4% optimum efficiency (Drolet's figure — best-case at the favorable burn rate, not the certified weighted average)
• 500 CFM blower included — enough air movement to push heat well past the stove room
• Automatic ignition, electronic controls, manual or thermostatic mode
• 4" pellet vent · mobile home approved with a fresh air intake
• Tool-free cleaning with an oversized ash drawer

There's an optional Hot Air Plenum Kit (AC01225) that ducts heat into up to two additional rooms — worth knowing about if you're trying to heat a whole floor from one appliance.

Drolet ECO-55 — the practical one

The ECO-55 ($2,799) covers most homes for considerably less money:

• Heats 500–2,000 sq ft, up to 39,260 BTU/h
• 0.96 g/h emissions — EPA 2020 certified
• Up to 78.4% optimum efficiency (Drolet's figure)
• 60 lb hopper — up to 51 hours per fill, and up to 120 hours with the optional hopper extension
• 176 CFM blower included · 3" pellet vent
• Mobile home and alcove approved (fresh air intake required for mobile home)
• Tool-free cleaning — key components come out without tools · Glass Airwash keeps the ceramic glass clear

That hopper extension is worth a thought at purchase time: it takes the ECO-55 from a two-day stove to a five-day stove, which closes most of the practical gap to the 65R for a fraction of the price difference.

Which one

Go ECO-65R if you're heating toward the top of its range, you want the lowest emissions available, or four-day refill intervals genuinely change your winter. The 500 CFM blower and the plenum kit option also make it the better choice for pushing heat into other rooms.

Go ECO-55 for most homes under 2,000 sq ft. It's alcove approved, which the 65R isn't, and it vents with standard 3" pipe rather than 4" — both of which make it easier to place and cheaper to install. Our pellet stove installation guide covers the parts, cost and steps.

Want the ECO-55 platform with a bigger hopper? The Ventis ECO-55 ST ($3,979) is its step-top version, built by SBI in the same Quebec factory: the same burner, the same 500–2,000 sq ft and up to 39,260 BTU/h, the same 3" vent and the same mobile-home and alcove approvals, with a bigger 80 lb hopper good for up to 70 hours per fill. It's currently sold out (No confirmed date), so if you need a pellet stove now, the in-stock ECO-65R is the one to buy.

Whichever you choose, both stoves are built to be repaired rather than replaced, and we carry the factory SBI parts for each: see Drolet ECO-65R parts and Drolet ECO-55 parts. The two you are most likely to need over the years are the ECO-65R burn pot, which eventually warps from daily heat, and on the ECO-55 the control board, sold as the ECO-55 control board on its own or as the complete ECO-55 control board box assembly.

The venting bundles

Every pellet stove needs venting, and matching components yourself is where installs go sideways. Drolet packages factory-matched kits with the ECO-55 for the two common situations:

ECO-55 + Ground Floor Venting Kit ($3,299) — for a ground-floor install venting straight out through an exterior wall. The 3" Vortex kit includes the stove adapter, tee with clean-out cap, three pipe lengths (12", 18", 36"), a 9" adjustable slip section, 90° elbow, wall pass-thru, two wall supports, and a jet cap.

ECO-55 + Basement Venting Kit ($3,579) — for basement installs, where the vent has to rise before exiting. The 4" Vortex kit adds a 3"-to-4" increaser, a second tee, a fourth pipe length, and a second 90° elbow to handle the vertical run.

All components are stainless steel and UL/ULC listed. Both bundles include the Drolet Ash Vacuum. If you'd rather build the vent run yourself, the pellet stove venting guide covers how equivalent vent length works and what each fitting costs you in draft.

How the ECO line compares to ComfortBilt

Fair question, since we carry both. The short version: the ECO stoves win decisively on emissions (0.77 and 0.96 g/h vs 1.01–1.73 across the ComfortBilt line) and on hopper capacity — 105 hours on the 65R against 22 hours on ComfortBilt's flagship. ComfortBilt wins on price at the entry end, with the HP50S at $1,899 and the HP22 at $2,399 before this month's pellet stove deals, and publishes EPA-certified HHV efficiency figures where Drolet publishes optimum — two different metrics, so those percentages aren't directly comparable.

We unpack that measurement problem properly in how to read pellet stove efficiency numbers, and compare the ComfortBilt models against each other in the ComfortBilt roundup.

Bottom line

The ECO-65R is the long-burn, low-emissions choice for larger homes; the ECO-55 is the practical pick for most, especially bundled with its matching vent kit. Both are Canadian-built with a limited lifetime warranty, and both ship with No Sales Tax in any state and free shipping.

See the full pellet stove lineup, or email info@stovesource.com or text 1-888-866-8206 with your square footage and where the vent needs to run — we'll tell you which stove and which kit before you order.