What is the difference between 'OEM' and 'AMP' replacement parts?

       Your pellet stove is made from many parts that are assembled together by its manufacturer. You can find all of the parts that make up your pellet stove in the parts list which is usually some kind of exploded view of the whole stove unassembled. It doesn’t really matter where the entirety of the stoves’ parts come from. Be it “in-house” or supplied from other manufacturers, all of these parts that make up the stove are considered “OEM” or Original Equipment Manufacturer. When you order replacement parts for your pellet stove directly from a manufacturer or it’s retailers you can be certain that these parts will be “OEM."

       AMP is an acronym that stands for “After Market Parts”. AMP parts are usually cheaper than OEM parts because the supply chain that brings the parts to the consumer are shorter. It’s not uncommon for OEM parts to pass through 4 or 5 distributors before the part is finally sold to the manufacturer which ultimately adds a significant cost to the parts, especially if the parts then have to leave the manufacturer to a distributor to a retailer again before it lands in consumers’ hands.

    Aftermarket parts are much more available in today’s market for pellet stoves than they were 10 years ago. For the most part AMP equipment is exactly the same as its OEM counterpart, especially when you’re looking at blowers, igniters, fire bricks, switches, gaskets, and controls. Quite often they are made by the same exact factory that supplied the OEM parts. You will see this with many “Fasco” blowers and “Gleason Avery” auger motors. Many parts that are found inside pellet stoves are also common parts used in other industries and for a long time the stove manufacturers have gotten away with overcharging incredibly for these parts.

OEM parts that are made exclusively by the manufacturer usually consist of welded or fabricated metal parts such as ash bins, doors, brackets etc…, and are less prone to failure due to the heavy-duty nature of their construction. Because these parts do not fail often there is usually no AMP equivalent. 

 A common question regarding AMP parts is, “Are the parts safe and are they going to last?” For the most part, the answer to both of these questions is yes. However, be wary of purchasing AMP parts from vendors that sell through third party websites such as Amazon and eBay.  These third party websites are awash with vendors that hide behind names of Amazon and eBay. They may have the lowest prices but these types of vendors often do not have direct access to the AMP vendors that have actually tested their parts to verify that they work and are safe. It is best to buy your stove parts from a company that has been in the business for a long time and knows how these machines operate inside and out. Stove Parts 4 Less has been in the business for over 15 years and services and installs replacement parts for all makes and models of stoves and guarantees all of the products they sell.