how good are pellet stoves
Looking at a pellet stove. Got one? What's your experience'?
1. pellet cost? (versus wood)
2. good heat? (too much, too little, too dry)
3. maintenance (how much)
4. ease of cleaing
5. how often do you clean
6. heat disperson (how close to the bookshelves and video tapes????)
7. which brand, model do you recommend.
Have some bookshelves three feet away from the back corner so wood stove is basically out. Really don't want to put a deflector in if I don't have to. Also concerned about auger maintenace or other moving parts.
Sound pretty good except for the moving parts. I have done some research but would love to learn any lessons that HL owners might have to share.
mistergoogle Mistergoogle we have a pellet stove and I love it. My husband will have to respond to exact questions cause I have no idea other then it saves us a bunch of money.
The pellets are so convienent. We order 4 ton a year, the company holds on to them and we just go pick up 10 to 20 bags at a time.
We only have to fill our oil tanks up once a year, which is a huge savings. Even with the cost of the pellets we are not only spending less but our house it warmer. We have a 6 bedroom, 3 bath, two story home and it warm warm warm. That is with the pellet stove set at the lowest temp setting.
I'l try and see if my husband can come on and add more.
abbadabbadooooo 
1. pellet cost? I get them at $187 a ton and we go through about 3 tons a year. We have a ranch approx 1,200 sq ft
2. good heat? (too much, too little, too dry) We have ours on a thermostat, too little heat you shouldn't have to worry about unless you get too small of a unit for your home., never woke up with a bloody nose LOL like I used to with the wood stove
3. maintenance (how much) Not much and ours is 20 years old buying a new one this year. We had to replace the igniter since living here since Oct 2009 which only cost $49.00 and was east to install.
4. ease of cleaing- take the shop vac to it and then wet newspapers to clean the glass
5. how often do you clean- Every week to week and half
6. heat disperson (how close to the bookshelves and video tapes????)- Ours you can actually put paper if you wanted to on the top of the stove there is no heat. Our TV is right next to ours and no problems
7. which brand, model do you recommend.- We have a Quadra- Fire and the fact that ours is running on 20years I will be getting another Quadra fire. Again, we have only owned the house since 2009 the pellet stove came with the home
As you can see ours is an insert stove.
One thing I want different is a larger hopper I want more than 40lbs of fuel to be held at a time. Which I believe most hold more than that now.
We have electric heat but haven't turned it on since we lived here
Nosila We bought one of the first ones on the market 22 years ago and it served us well.
This year we bought a new pellet stove (Breckwell) with digitial settings from Lowes. When they have sales end of season you could probably get a really good one for about $1,500.00. One oil delivery anymore runs us as much as the cost of the new pellet stove. Obviously we love our pellet stove and also were able to use the purchase of a new one on this years income tax as a nice deduction. Another thing is a pellet stove only needs a small vent to the outside of the house similar to a dryer vent..versus a chimney for a woodburning stove enabling you to instgall it in any room of the house you desire.
joyful A pellet stove can be your best friend or your worst enemy!
You get what you pay for.
Personally I have a Harman Pellet stove, and it heats my entire home. I usally use about 3-4 tons of pellets, and clean the stove on a monthly basis (empty ash pan, clean glass, and remove fly ash) it takes all of 15 minutes. Once a year I have it professionally cleaned by SOS Stove, they clean the flu pipe and entire stove, also check for proper operation while they are here.
As far as pellets go they range widely in price and I have tried all brands, I have came to the conclusion that if the price is to good to be true it usally is!
Anyways I would strongly suggest stopping by SOS in port Murray and talking to them, they can steer you in the right direction they did for me.
h-dryder Looking at a pellet stove. Got one? What's your experience'?
We have been using a pellet stove for three years now. it replaced a wood stove that we had used for 20 years. We should have replaced the wood stove sooner. We've found the pellet stove much cleaner and easier to use. Our stove is a harman which we bought from SOS. Harman stoves are not cheap but my experience and the general consensus is that they are very reliable.
My answers in line below.
1. pellet cost? (versus wood)
If you have a source of wood that is free than the wood stove has an obvious advantage there. I can't comment on the price of wood now but I have been paying around $240 per ton for pellets over the last 3 years. There was a point during this past heating season where Home Depot had pellets for $187 a ton. I don't have my calculations readily avaialble but I beleive that Oil vs. pellets break even at my $240 a ton cost when oil is $3.25 a gallon. There are a number of internet sites where you can do this comparison. I buy my pellets in August or September. I have used 2.5 tons consistently over the last 3 years, I currently have six bags left out of the 125 bags that I bought in September. One thing to consider that buying in bulk like I do generally saves a few bucks but you need a place to store the pellets. I have a 2 1/2 car garage and the pellets take up a considerable amount of space.
2. good heat? (too much, too little, too dry)
The heat is much more consistent than that of a wood stove. I could never really get good control over the heat generated by the wood stove to maintain an even temperature. I have a 3,000 square foot house with an open floor plan and the pellet stove can maintain 70-80% of it at 68 degrees without a problem even in the middle of winter. We have ours on a thermostat and it just runs like a big space heater, which it is.
3. maintenance (how much)
There is a little more maintenance with the pellet stove We shut ours down about once a week and I clean the glass and the firebox. Pellets have impurities and when they burn they leave behind a residue call "clinkers". This is a hard plastic like substance that accumulates in the firebox that I have to literally chisel out. I've gotten pretty good at this and it takes me less then 30 minutes to do it. I use a shop VAC to clean up fine ash that accumulates but I am considering buying an ash vac. Even though I let the stove shut down and sit for 3-4 hours I am still concerned that there might be something "hot" that I vacuum up with shop vac. Harman also recommends that a more extensive cleaning be performed on a periodic basis. It involves breaking down some of the stove components and cleaning out some air baffles and other things. I do this after burning about a ton of pellets. I will do this extensive cleaning one more time over the next week or so. This takes me about 1.5 hours to do. You also asked about the auger. I have not had to do anything to it in 3 years. We did have the igniter replaced at the end of february. It jus stopped working. This was covered under warranty. The Harman stove that we have has a 6 year warranty so we are 1/2 way through it.
4. ease of cleaing
I am not a DIY person and cleaning the stove has never been a problem.
5. how often do you clean
See above.
6. heat disperson (how close to the bookshelves and video tapes????)
I have a computer workstation within 6 feet of it and don't worry about it. You do need to be careful about parts of the stove as far as how hot it gets. I would not touch the glass or the ash bucket while the stove is running. I surmise that they get pretty hot. There are other parts of the stove that get warm but not hot. I can touch the top of the stove with a bare hand and not get burned.
7. which brand, model do you recommend.
I researched and bought a harman. I would buy another harman. Just do your research. Check out http://www.hearth.com There is a tremendous amount of good information on all kinds of wood and pellet stoves available there.
Mansfield ResI just bought a house that has an old pellet stove. It seems to be pretty run down though. I need to find some Breckwell pellet stove parts so I can try to restore it. I would love to get it working!
http://www.breckwellpelletstoveparts.com/breckwell-pellet-stove-parts/
khernau We owned a Breckwell pellet stove for about 20 years and it started to have problems..we tried everywhere to get parts for it so it could be repaired or even a serviceman that would tackle the older model stoves...so, we invested in a new one last year....another Breckwell but this time a digital model. So much easier to start and use..just load the pellets, press a button and it is up and running. This year we see even more savings in our winter heating bill.
Have a Breckwell P23. Just the right size for our house 1100 sq ft rancher. Heats house evenly as long as interior doors are open. What ever,don't buy a stove that is too large. If you have to burn it on low too often you will have a greater amount of soot buildup. Total cost of stove was approx 1 years worth of oil. will burn about 21/2 tons this year.(avg cost $220. per ton) Did have to put an extension on burn pot as some pellets were missing. All fine now.
Longhorn How doe the heat get dispersed in the house? Is there a fan? Obviously I know nothing about pellet stoves but they sure do sound cheaper than my propane.
It blows it out from where-ever it is located and covers a good distance but you need fans to get farther and there might be cold spots. Went farther that I imagined.
Redwing- You buy a pellet stove large enough for your house and it heats the whole house. I love ours if you couldn't tell already.
We actually didn't buy an expensive one as we didn't have the funds to do so. However, this one gets our house to 80+, quiet, and only have to dump the burn pot every couple days.
I'm not sure what cold spots Mistergoogle is talking about.
I love having a pellet stove - and especially saving on oil. I have ceiling fans in the living room and kitchen and they help disperse the heat throughout the house. Ours does not have a thermostat but instead the heat levels advance 1 thru 5. Keeping it on level 2, the house stays a comfortable 72 degrees. If I bump it up to level 3, the heat tops out at 78 degrees. Fine with me, but everyone else thinks that is too hot. We use about 1 bag of pellets per day and the prices paid this season were $189/ton to $215/ton. The cost of pellets is more if you purchase less than a ton.
I've found the burn pot needs to be emptied about every 36 hours burning at level 2 and every 48 hours burning at level 3. The interior cleaning only takes 10-15 minutes and is very easy with the ash vac.
The heat blowing from the stove is a very dry heat and I find that I need to water my plants more often. I keep a teapot of water on top of the stove to provide a little extra moisture in the air.
Slade We have a fireplace in our small living room which is open to the kitchen. I'd like to NOT loose the floor space if possible. Is there any negative in placing the pellet stove WITHIN the fireplace?
Deb This may be a dumb question, but does a pellet stove rely on electricity, in any way,to work?
Yes! Electricity needed to run the worm which feeds the pellets in at a specific rate, along with the fan which blows the heat out. They make a battery back up unit which will keep it running for a hours. We have a generator which provides enough electric for running all heating/cooling equip. in case of power outage. Pellet stove is the best thing we have ever had for heating, and we have had... coal stove, wood stove, fireplace and now pellet. Stay away from corn stoves.
ccbw Spring Fever...We so agree with ccbw as well. We love our pellet stove. Had one for 20 years and last year invested in a new digital pellet stove. It saves us a lot on gas bills as well and does not require having a chimney...only a vent similar to a dryer vent on the outside of your home.
I have a new, rebuilt fireplace with a new stainless steel vent coming off my furnace.
Can a pellet stove work off of a stainless steel vent connected to the furnace,
or do I need a new pellet stove vent? I have to make a decision, do I use the fireplace this year as a wood burning source of heat or do I buy a new pellet stove insert and all the paraphernalia that goes with a pellet stove. We have a free source of unlimited downed tree wood that "we" (my son) can chop up if used as a wood fireplace. But that is a lot of work...pellet stove sounds so much easier in all respects.
Thank you ahead of time to anyone who can add some clarity to my decision..
It depends.
I have a pellet in the fireplace, works just fine but be sure to get direct vent on input air side so you don't suck air out of the house. They get it from the chimney.
Pellets vs. wood. Like ccbw said, pellet needs power, wood does not. Pellet is cleaner, easier, but not that much. However, pellet is heat friendly, you can touch the stove. So, I too have free wood but went with pellet since stove was to be in high traffic area.
One thing I have not figured out is how to "rate" pellets. I understand that if you select the highest "rating," there still can be a large difference in btu output (= burn time and how much you have to carry) and cinders between brands. Anyone else run into that?
I "third" the pellet stove option.
We had one givin to us a few years ago and love it.
I don't know all the ins and outs of installation but I feel it's worth looking into for sure.
Maybe a trip to that stove place on 57, (I can't think of the name) would be helpful. I'm sure they can tell you all you need to know.
We also get our pellets from them. We buy a couple of tons, getting a better price and they hold onto it for us. We just pick up what we can handle in one trip.
Springfever, we used NO heat from our oil furnace all winter.
abbadabbadoooo Thank you mg and abba...I will stop at the store you mentioned this week.
Happy Independence Day/ 4th of July to everyone reading this post!
SOS is the place on 57. Pellet stoves are a very quick install and an efficient source of heat. Just shop around for pellet prices and get a good quality. Look for "premium" pellets. Now is the time to get them.
Wild Angel I buy used pellet stoves and repair them. I currently own and use a Quadrature. an old Whitfield quest and a newer Whitfield profile 30. I have also owned two englanders. The newer the stove the more control you have over its operation and the more complex the controls. Older Whitefield's are true workhorses. Quadrafires are elegant and provide excellent heat but the repairs are a little more expensive. Newer Whitefield's are a little more complicated but use the same motors as the older ones so parts are pretty cheap. Englanders are great buys for the money but are harder to clean.
jimDD We have had nothing but problems with out Englander stove...They are actually sending us a brand new stover
Lol, I love how out of the blue somebody decides to answer a nearly 2 year old question.
Bruin Last year I cut my total fuel bill for heat and hot water by over 30% with pellet. Not to say it is without problem. Many moving parts and a "brain" that does not recover well to power fluctuations, fat fingers, etc. Also, not sure that even 30% savings is worth hauling tons of pellets each winter, plus the cleaning, etc. And you need electric to make it work unlike wood which just keeps going and going...
On the plus side, have little issue firing it up and leaving. Wouldn't dare do that with wood. Also, we are very, very, warm. No more set the thermostat to 67. We bask at 70+.
All in all, we love it but might taper back to more of a secondary heat versus primary.
Good point and certainly one worth considering. However, cutting is a younger man's game.
Nothing is free. At my age, even free wood is not free...... Not to mention that after 4 decades of cutting and a number of near misses, sooner or later, I will have to pay the accident piper. One of the reasons we went will pellet was less risk during burning and no risk for cutting...
If I was younger, perhaps.
Cutting and splitting is a lot of work. I have it delivered, but we still have to stack it and cart it to the front porch as needed, which is every 2-3 days in this cold. I figured out I am saving about 4 gallons of oil per day in the heart of winter. Considering what I am paying for firewood deliveries, I calculated I am saving about 6 bucks a day during the heating season. That's about a thousand bucks saved over the heating season. If I cut and split myself, my savings would add up to 1600 bucks over the heating season. You really have to be committed to the woodburning lifestyle to see these savings, keeping the stove going 24/7. Not like bumping up the thermostat. But when you go outside on a frosty morning and see a little smoke curling out of the chimney after you just stoked the stove, it is somehow worth it, more than just monetarily.
Bruin: I agree. I am not sure monetarily the pellet train that I engineer is worth it. But at 72+ dry degrees; I love the quality of life. (ps --- pellet stoves --- no smoke....)
I cut and split but it does not bother me,and yes it is work but somehow feels worth it when sitting next to a real fire watching the game or the smell of maple burning on a cold morning.The pellets don't get inside by themselves and that bill comes back again and again.You can just buy oil instead of pellets.
If wood is free, give me an address so I can cut down a hundred of your trees. Me and a dozen of my best friends with a log splitter are fresh out. ;-)
GC per btu pellets are about 50% of the cost of oil and fairly equivalent to wood, if purchased.
I pay 600 for 4 cords, or the equivalent of 150 per cord. How much is the pellet equivalent of one cord?
Thanks to the power of the internet, I found out the weight of the species of wood I usually have delivered is at least 3k lb per cord. So I'm paying about 100 per ton vs. whatever you are paying per ton in pellets.
Bruin...not sure you can compare but I would be impressed if you could bc I know I don't know if I want to try and figure that out
I pay $179 for a ton of pellets....40lbs bag last me a day and there are 50 bags per ton...ready set go!
Found this pros/cons for pellet vs wood
http://www.customfireplacesandmore.com/hearth-articles/wood-pellet-heat.html
Wow, then I have gone through the equivalent of 150 bags of pellets in the last 45 days trying to keep a 2300 sq ft colonial heated! I heard pellets were about 20% more efficient, but that's even higher.
OKdoky and, of course, you can load your own numbers......www.eia.gov/neic/experts/heatcalc.xls Just take it out of protect mode.
On a price level, what it all boils (ha ha) down to is price per btu since that's what you're paying for --- heat. According to the EIA:
At $4 per gal, 87 efficiency, oil costs $33.14 per btu
At $1.15 nat gas = $13.19
At $250 per ton, pellet = $17.43
At $179 per ton = $12.47
At $200 per cord, wood = $10.45
At $150 per cord = 7.84
However, that's at 87% efficiency --- if wood at $150 and the national average efficiency of 72%, then $9.42; $200 - $12.63. And keeping a woodstove at 87% is a bit harder than keeping a pellet stove efficiency up.
Now that's the price comparison, and since pellet is oil alternative for me; close to 50% savings btu to btu looked pretty good to me.
Plus it's cleaner, safer, and more consistent burn. For me, the only downside is the electric component and even with a whole-house generator, the power fail is dicey at best. I can make it work, but need to be careful when the water pump hits.
The extra savings in wood is just not worth the extra risk to me. My stove is dead center in a travel path; wood would leave someone branded. I don't want to burn that hot, watch for flu fires, and chase creosote in the off season. Nor do I want to be hauling wood, wearing stove gloves, etc. etc. etc.
Even at 50% savings over oil per btu, I question pellet 24x7 usage versus the manpower needed to make it go. I mean I have dropped my energy consumption a lot, have buttoned up the home (Mom's basement :>) pretty well, and even use fresh air kits to avoid drafts from stove and boiler. I still am doing pellets 24x7 but not sure how long I will continue versus more sporadic usage. And no way would I want to take on the extra work and risk of wood at this point in my life, especially on a 24x7 basis. Like I said, a younger man's game. In my youth, pre kids, yes we were on wood and did our own cutting for the most part right off our own land. Gotta love those Locusts; farmer's friends!
So Bruin et al, more power to you, but think there are reasons for both. And even with the wood stove, I would highly recommend the fresh air kits ---- you will be down to buring only 2 logs at a time !
Ya, i'm piping in fresh combustion air through vent in the fireplace. Also, I think my stove efficiency is only 77%
Was just bragging about our great pellet stove and today the stove does not seem to want to ignite..(It is a digital stove) .Pretty sure the pellets might have become damp from being outside. This happened once before and when we tried again it started right up. The old stove we used to have to ignite ourselves. Wondering if it would be safe to try ignite this stove the old fashioned way too??
Should be a switch you turn to manual to light it the old fashioned way Otherwise the igniter will continue to heat up and combined with starter gel, that might be explosive..
Also, if it has a "cinder trap" by the igniter, you remove the trap door, should be a couple of screws or wing nuts, r and brush or finger out the cinders and the igniter should work again.
Thank you so much, mistergoogle, for the tip. Trying to find our instruction manual last night without success to figure out what to do so this is a great suggestion. Thank you again... Will give it a try.
Try going online to the stove manufacturer site. Most have the owner's manual downloadable in pdf format, if you can't find your manual. I keep all our stove paperwork in a cabinet drawer in the same room so I don't have to hunt for it if needed.
Wahoo!!! Found the instruction manual this morning also to the pellet stove....After breakfast....we are going to get this stove going.. Thanks again, Mistergoogle for your help...
Joyful yes it is safe...you just have to turn the stove on high/low mode and then put some pellets in the burn pot and light with a torch...this is what we have been doing for weeks until our replacement stove arrives
So you are all sleeping with your bedroom doors open to get heat? Or am I missing something?
maja Pellet stove just needed a good vacuuming and we are up and operating as usual. Will plan in the future to keep a few bags of pellets inside for future use. Despite being in plastic bags, obviously moisture is getting in some how or maybe just dampness...really think that was the problem more than anything. Maja....it is just the two of us in our home...so our bedroom door stays open all the time anyway..
SOS sells starter gell; it's cheap.
Yeah, doors open unless you cut vents. And even if you cut vents, you might still need the doors open. Frankly, my house is like two connected floors, each in a crazy eight pattern. I am constantly opening and shutting different doors depending on time of day, sunny or cloudy, warm or cold. One of the pains.
I am looking to put a fan in a vent I cut between floors. Here's a tough one ---- anyone know where I can get a small fan I can hardwire into house that can be operated automatically by thermostat but also includes a remote control that can be used to at least turn on and off, but maybe set the thermostat too?
I find that a mere vent does not do the job, and that a on/off fan can be a pain in that hard to adjust temp. and if you need to turn off while sleeping for example, you want that to be ez to do.
So far, have not come up with this fan anyway.
Also looking for a thermostat that I can use that I can program by interval, not time of day. In other words, I want it to kick on ever 45 minutes for 7 minutes. I have some hot water heat pipes that might freeze on really cold, really windy days and like to cycle a little heat every once in awhile.
We have our furnace in the basement which is the whole length of the house(sectioned off for family room and laundry room so that room has a separate thermostat ...upstairs living level(another thermostat) is where the pellet stove is most beneficial as these are the rooms we are in most of the day. Upper upstairs (two more rooms and full bath) most of the rooms are closed off in both summer and winter so we don't worry much about heating or cooling them only what is needed. The Pellet stove has really cut down on our winter heating bills. In fact, the Oil company that services us is kidding us about "Putting them out of business...Never happen!!
"Also looking for a thermostat that I can use that I can program by interval, not time of day. In other words, I want it to kick on ever 45 minutes for 7 minutes. I have some hot water heat pipes that might freeze on really cold, really windy days and like to cycle a little heat every once in awhile."
You are going to go through Ignitor like crazy with it going on and off every 45 min for 7 minutes. You are better off getting a thermostat with a swing so when it gets above 60 degrees it shuts off and then kicks back on at 56 degrees.
maja- Yes, we sleep with the bedroom door open...
Yep, doors open. Unless the room is not being used, then closed to save heating rooms not in use. I tell guests if they want it warmer, keep their door cracked. If they want it cooler, just close the door. I have a floor fan aimed at my stove at the opening between the living room (stove room) and the adjoining dining room. I have another little fan that mounts in the upper corner of the doorway on the other side of the living room, this sucks the warm air out. Between the two fans going, the air circulates around the bottom floor, and enough of it goes up the stairway to keep the 2nd floor warm.
Joyful --- the pellets in the bag create their own "condensation" so I wrap the bags in the garage in an overwrap plastic too on the more humid days. This last rainstorm really kicked up the condensation. So yeah, a few inside would get you through the moist days while you wait for the condensation to wick off.
Nosila, the special thermostat would be for my oil hot water baseboard --- that's what I need to kick on every once in awhile, but not often. Although my pellet is getting "touchier" on the warmer days since my room is pretty buttoned up now. If it's 35 or higher, if I run pellet on thermostat, it's hard to not have it cut out if I turn the stove or oven on. I have to start opening doors, sometimes even to an unheated porch, just to keep it running. Think I am getting a little too efficient...... I think I have to build this thermostat myself from different parts. Was hoping I might find a little more elegant solution for this as well as the auto/thermostatically controlled fan with a remote control solution. Still looking.
Thanks for the reminder, Bruin...I forgot to add that we have ceiling fans in at least half of the rooms in our home helping to circulate the air and heat.
Good deal. Heat trapped up at the ceiling never did nobody no good. Ain't nobody got time fo' dat!
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