Lauren Thomas of Edgartown won a free green heat contest from Harman Stoves and WoodPellets.com.

The prize, valued at $5,500, includes a Harman Accentra pellet stove and a year’s worth of wood pellets. Nearly 7,000 people entered the online contest.

After woodpellets.com delivered the three tons of pellets to the Thomas’s home in January, Harman shipped the stove to Pyewackets in Vineyard Haven, who worked with Nelson Mechanical to have the stove installed.

Ms. Thomas said in a press release that her family replaced their older pellet stove with the new Harman, which used about a third less fuel each day. Today’s pellet stoves have high heating efficiencies and low emissions. They are easy to operate, burn cleaner than cordwood, gas or oil, and have very low outside air particulate emissions. Generally made from recycled wood byproducts, pellets are a cost-stable, low-carbon fuel.

The federal government offers consumers who make the switch to clean, green heat a tax credit of 10 percent of the cost of the product, up to $500. For a complete listing of products that qualify and to find a hearth dealer, see fireplaces.com.