HOLYOKE — Matt Abelli spends his weekends fixing the hearths of homes so he can support his own hearth, his family.
Matt’s Pellet Stove Service was born out of necessity, Abelli said. On Dec. 21, 2022, Abelli’s wife Jennifer gave birth to their first child, Grace. Abelli had recently finished his cancer treatment for a brain tumor that had weakened him significantly.
“It was a month out of chemo, and boom, now your a dad,” Abelli said. “Not much time to recover.”
But expenses kept piling up, so Abelli turned to his old passion of fixing pellet stoves to generate some extra income. Starting with only a Chevrolet Sonic, a vacuum cleaner and “guerrilla” marketing, Abelli has grown his business from 25 clients to more than 200 customers in under three years. He works hard for his wife and child, prioritizing safety and honesty with his clients as if they were part of his own family.
“It doesn’t matter what the house looks like, doesn’t matter what the people look like,” Abelli said. “You do the same job at a mansion that you would at a shack out in the woods. You respect people and you respect their homes.”
A graduate of Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School in the electrical field, Abelli has a long career in heating and cooling systems. He briefly worked for an electrical company before the Great Recession halted all new construction. Out of a job, Abelli visited a friend who cleaned pellet stoves near the Vermont border and instantly clicked with the trade.
“I love turning a turd to a diamond,” Abelli joked. “When you get to somebody’s house and the thing hasn’t been running for years, and you can really take your time and make sure it’s safe operationally, that’s really cool.”
Abelli transitioned into the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning field with a focus on pellet and wood stoves. After over a decade in the field, he worked several maintenance jobs until a major health scare during COVID forced him to slow down.
Headaches, pressure and momentary loss of vision became a regular occurrence at work. A CT scan revealed a blockage and build up of spinal fluid in Abelli’s head. He underwent surgery to help drain the fluid, leaving Abelli feeling much better than he had in years. Only, the surgery was just the beginning. A year later, an MRI showed the blockage behind his optic nerve had grown large enough to classify as a tumor.
After finishing chemotherapy, Abelli began a new job as an HVAC technician at Barnes Air National Guard Base. However, he and his wife decided she would stay home to spend those early, precious years with their first child. Suddenly, Abelli needed tap into his old expertise in pellet stoves.
A typical day
Sarah Yee thought her pellet stove was “on its last leg” before Abelli cleaned it two years ago. She first called Abelli when her regular cleaning company had booked up for the season. Not only did he give the stove a deep clean, but he scheduled a spring cleaning to prepare the stove for the next season.
“When fall came and everyone was buying pellets and trying to book a cleaning service, my stove was already cleaned,” Yee said. “I really like his forward thinking.”
Her 16-year-old pellet stove worked like new after the deep clean. She said that Allebi “brought it back to life.”
“I was just saying this morning as I dumped in another bag of pellets, this stove is working better than it has in 15 years,” Yee said.
When Abelli preforms routine cleaning, he also ensures the stove functions correctly. His full-time gig limits his availability for installation, but he does offer minor repair services. Abelli will source a part from McKenney Hearth & Home in Holyoke and fix any small maintenance issue. If they need a new stove, McKenney is the first store Abelli recommends.
“He’s super friendly, I get customers all the time who tell me how wonderful he is,” McKenney Hearth & Home Co-owner Nora Wine said. “I enjoy doing business with him and I’m happy to refer him whenever I can.”
Balancing a budding business, a full-time job and a new family remains a difficult challenge for Abelli. He initially started Matt’s Pellet Stove Service to allow his wife to spend those early, precious years with their toddler, and sometimes the business takes him away from those moments. But just as with his cancer treatment, his family remains his rock.
“She (Grace) tests us like most toddlers do, but she’s very special to me and my wife, Jen,” he said. “To put up with coming home late during the week and not being there on the weekends, it’s a lot for her, but she does a great job with Gracie, and that is invaluable to me.”
