Pellet Stove

[sawjunky23]

Maybe it's taboo, but I have been kicking around the idea of installing a pellet heater in my basement. I still enjoy cutting wood, but it's not as easy for me to come by as it once was. Anybody have any advice on what to look for in a unit or had good luck with one? I am looking for one that can burn corn/pellets. Thanks

 

[amberg]

Not sure about a taboo, but I have 2 englander pdvc pellet stoves and I like them, they run 24 hours a day every day, the main problem with them is that you have to clean them twice a week to keep them at peak performance. I think most pellet stoves require some cleaning. I also go through about 7 or 8 tons of pellets a winter in my old non insulated house. I would shy away from corn if possible IMO. I also like to cut wood but my legs don't seem to want to do it anymore. ( spend your money wisely)

 

[sawjunky23]

Not sure about a taboo, but I have 2 englander pdvc pellet stoves and I like them, they run 24 hours a day every day, the main problem with them is that you have to clean them twice a week to keep them at peak performance. I think most pellet stoves require some cleaning. I also go through about 7 or 8 tons of pellets a winter in my old non insulated house. I would shy away from corn if possible IMO. I also like to cut wood but my legs don't seem to want to do it anymore. ( spend your money wisely)

What kinda coin does the 7 or 8 tons of pellets run? If you don't mind my asking of course!

 

[amberg]

$250.00 a ton x 8 = $2000.00, that is give or take $10 more or less, which was much cheaper for me a few years ago when I was paying $369.59 per gallon for propane. which with my three propane stoves = about $760.00 a month. Plus I was still cold! I am now less than $120.00 per year in propane.

propane here is still $199.99 my price, (which is on the low side)

 

[esshup]

I think Mom & Dad paid a hair under $200/ton before Fall started. The stove place had a sale going on. Low ash, hardwood pellets.

 

[amberg]

I think that the cheapest that I ever paid was $239.00 a ton here, that was at tractor supply two years ago with a coupon. and the pellets were not that good. I would like to see $200.00 a ton, I could store 25 or 30 tons.

 

[Adam BERARD]

I also like to cut wood but my legs don't seem to want to do it anymore.

 

[CentaurG2]

I have lost a lot of wood customers to pellet stoves over the years. The name most often kicked around is Harmon/Quadfire. I don’t know too much about them other than they are expensive to buy and require electricity to run. Most people I have talked to about them like the “set it and forget it” nature of these stoves.

There are a number of choices when it comes to pellets and you get what you pay for. Douglas fir are reported to be the best. They burn hotter with less ash (clinkers) but are the most expensive. Pine and softwoods are the next step down followed by softwood/hardwood blends and just hardwood. Real low end pellets are reported to have a percentage of building debris and plastics in them but I don’t know if I believe that.

You might also want to consider a coal stove. Anthracite (hard) coal comes cleaned/bagged and is sold by the ton at prices comparable with mid or high end pellets. It is 100% USA mined stuff and mostly carbon. Older hand fired coal stoves usually were also capable of running on wood but I don’t know if a modern coal stoves can also do this.


Cant comment on corn.

Good luck with your choice.

 

[flotek]

They require electricity to run 3 motors
The units are expensive
The pellets are expensive
Potential pellet shortages
The fire doesn't resemble a wood stove
They are LOUD
Sometimes need repaired parts aren't cheap
Need cleaned frequently

 

[sawjunky23]

They require electricity to run 3 motors
The units are expensive
The pellets are expensive
Potential pellet shortages
The fire doesn't resemble a wood stove
They are LOUD
Sometimes need repaired parts aren't cheap
Need cleaned frequently

Jeez you are just a lil ray of sunshine..........lol........All joking aside, thanks for the honest advice!

 

[sawjunky23]

I also like to cut wood but my legs don't seem to want to do it anymore.

It's funny how that works! I still am somewhat young, but with a young family, time is always a pretty rare thing

 

[sawjunky23]

$250.00 a ton x 8 = $2000.00, that is give or take $10 more or less, which was much cheaper for me a few years ago when I was paying $369.59 per gallon for propane. which with my three propane stoves = about $760.00 a month. Plus I was still cold! I am now less than $120.00 per year in propane.

propane here is still $199.99 my price, (which is on the low side)

My house is very well insulated, so I hope I could get by with less pellets. I only spent about a grand for LP this year. So if I went through as many pellets as you did, I guess I would be a lot better off just burning LP. I always liked burning wood due to the low cost aspect, but the flip side is if you run out you are screwed!

 

[amberg]

sawjunky23, I think that you could get by with a( LOT) less pellet s, as my old house was built in the late 1880,s with zero insulation, it also has 3 chimneys and 1 of them had 4 thimbles in which 2 tin heaters and a southern comfort cook stove where all on one old 6" flue, plus a hot water heater which meant that we had to have fire year around,( massive heat in the summer time) plus a giant rock chimney with a fire place in the living room and a smaller fire place in the bed room above, which as a young child in the very early 60's my brother and I had to carry more wood than most people can even can dream of. the other chimney only had one stove on it, but it also had two thimbles on the same chimney. ( a total of 8 fires in 1 house ) now I have 3 propane stoves that( CAN) suck up to as much as over 300 gallons a month and I am still cold. my 2 pellet stoves help me to stay warm with a 10,000 btu propane heater in the bathroom. ( I can also turn on the other 2 big propane stoves with blowers if electric goes out and run with the generator if needed. which I hope is not needed! ( I guess that is why I used to like to cut log's ) also fire wood. ( birthdays have and will catch up with every one, my self included )
I forgot to mention that I also have 4 electric heaters, and 3 portable propane heaters.
that is why I like pellets!!

 

[Fred Wright]

The set-and-forget aspect is what draws many folks to pellet burners. I've looked over a few at the local stove shop; pellet stoves seem to use a smaller, less expensive flue design.

Before you commit your hard-earned dough ensure pellet availability near you. Prices vary and delivery costs can vary as well. Best to buy in the spring during clearance sales.

We decided against a pellet burner due to the fact that you can only get so much heat from pellets. Unlike traditional wood burners where you simply add more wood to get more heat, this isn't the case with pellets.

 

[babybart]

You might also want to consider a coal stove. Anthracite (hard) coal comes cleaned/bagged and is sold by the ton at prices comparable with mid or high end pellets. It is 100% USA mined stuff and mostly carbon. Older hand fired coal stoves usually were also capable of running on wood but I don’t know if a modern coal stoves can also do this.

You can run wood in a modern coal stove. You might also be able to get coal delivered by the dump truck, we can around here. It's alright for it to sit outside uncovered.. .
As for the pellet stove, we took one out to put in a wood stove. Same location and the wood does put out more heat, a lot more heat. The pellets were $300 a month, if we could find them, plus electric baseboard heaters were costing us $4-500 a month! Now we only burn wood, electric is around $150 a month and I'm in better shape because I CSS about 10 cord a year. Hopefully when the years catch up I can buy the wood and still make out.

 

[Marine5068]

They require electricity to run 3 motors
The units are expensive
The pellets are expensive
Potential pellet shortages
The fire doesn't resemble a wood stove
They are LOUD
Sometimes need repaired parts aren't cheap
Need cleaned frequently

I have one for over 12 years now and am amazed at how well it performs. They may be expensive and you need electricity to run the auger and fans, but they are the cheapest and easiest heat around. If you know anything about pellet heat then you'll know they run VERY efficiently. Mine is about 83%. Flame is beautiful and has plenty of heat. Blower is a bit noisy but not bad. And our pay-back period was one year. ONE YEAR. I pay about $600 for my whole heating season, as opposed to about $2600 if I had oil, electric, propane or natural gas.
Best thing I ever added to my house. In ten years its already saved me enough to buy a new Jeep($25,000).
Or a whole bunch of new saws...lol.

 

[jgoodhart]

All I can add is don't go cheap on the stove you get what you pay for. I have one that I use when it's really cold and spring and fall. My Dad bought one at a local farm store and it's a total pain in the butt it needs constant cleaning or cake builds up in the ash pan and it wont burn right.