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Pellet Stoves.

I just installed a comfortbilt pellet stove last weekend (50k btu). I still have to do some finishing work around the window I ran the exhaust out of but so far, so good.
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Nice. I was going with pellet as well but leaning more towards propane now. 2 fireplace shops have suggested them over the pellets.
 
I have always thought of a wood as a cheap source of heat, and more importantly heat when there is no power.

I remember many nights as a kid camped out in front of the stove keeping warm when the power was out. Cooking on it was neat too
It operates off of fuel that is literally laying around on the ground (free)

A pellet stove does not have these properties
unless you have to access to make your own pellets, but that looks like a bunch of work too
then you have to have power to run it

never understood it
I never understood the gas fire place people too, but I guess some just like the ambiance of the flame
 
SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
I have always thought of a wood as a cheap source of heat, and more importantly heat when there is no power.

I remember many nights as a kid camped out in front of the stove keeping warm when the power was out. Cooking on it was neat too
It operates off of fuel that is literally laying around on the ground (free)

A pellet stove does not have these properties
unless you have to access to make your own pellets, but that looks like a bunch of work too
then you have to have power to run it

never understood it
I never understood the gas fire place people too, but I guess some just like the ambiance of the flame
Click to expand...

From an interior perspective, running a chimney sometimes just isn’t feasable in these newer homes. So I opted for pellets. But probably going with an outdoor boiler next year.
 
SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
I have always thought of a wood as a cheap source of heat, and more importantly heat when there is no power.

I remember many nights as a kid camped out in front of the stove keeping warm when the power was out. Cooking on it was neat too
It operates off of fuel that is literally laying around on the ground (free)

A pellet stove does not have these properties
unless you have to access to make your own pellets, but that looks like a bunch of work too
then you have to have power to run it

never understood it
I never understood the gas fire place people too, but I guess some just like the ambiance of the flame
Click to expand...

I’ve been running pellets as my primary heat source for 17 years.

I have electric central heat and ac, two pellet stoves.

Pellets are made locally from scrap from the mill. I burn 3.5-4 tons of pellets a year. The last 16 years that averaged $700-$800 a winter. This year it will be a $1000+ . I usually fill the stoves once a day.

Firewood would be about 7-8 cords a winter and constant filling. If I bought wood it would cost more than pellets but I could get it for the cost of gas myself.

My neighbor with a similar size house burns 1000 gallons of propane a winter.

Cost wise it works out for me. I can also run my stoves off a small generator when the power goes out. I grew up using a wood stove, and I don’t miss the work.
 
After having a pellet stove for 14 years I can sum it’s 1 benefit. It turns out consistent btu’s as long as there is fuel in it. That’s if everything is right, no air leaks, fan inlets are clean etc. From now on a large wood stove will be my source of heat.
 
I have a pellet stove in my shop I'm removing in favor of a mini split. I want the real estate on the floor for stuff, and a 3 zone mini split will do a better job of keeping my office at a consistent temp. Plus they're damn near silent. My pellet stove fan is pretty loud.

The pellet stove does a fine job of heating the place up, but its a bitch to have to go get and store bags of pellets.

If this is in your house, and you have consistent power (no seasonal outages due to storms and such) I'd opt for a mini split.
 
Pellets turn back to saw dust if they get wet. The bags are also perforated to prevent inflating. I've lost several bags of pellets to windy rainfall. You gotta have a way to store them inside or you'll end up with some really expensive saw dust.
 
Cir20 said:
Pellets turn back to saw dust if they get wet. The bags are also perforated to prevent inflating. I've lost several bags of pellets to windy rainfall. You gotta have a way to store them inside or you'll end up with some really expensive saw dust.
Click to expand...
I have an enclosed porch I keep them in
 
Pellet stoves are great for the fast warm up and self feeding, kicks the shit out of a wood stove in ease of use. My dad switched their house 20+ years ago for that. Now that he's gone my mom would be SOL with a normal wood stove. If you've got a generator the power thing is a non issue. The cleaning is a little more intensive but it's not bad if kept up. It did suck the other night when it wouldn't light and I had to burn an evening driving out there and back to fix it but a non-issue for someone who can fix stuff themself.

Cir20 said:
Pellets turn back to saw dust if they get wet. The bags are also perforated to prevent inflating. I've lost several bags of pellets to windy rainfall. You gotta have a way to store them inside or you'll end up with some really expensive saw dust.
Click to expand...
Regular ol' enclosed wood shed has been good enough at my folks' place for years, and it's wet enough that everything there turns green and grows moss. Never noticed any perforation in the CleanBurn brand bags they use though.
 
In talking with my dad on the Pellet he said the costs have gone up every year and have not gone down. Propane goes up and down. Propane works with out power but pellets don't. Propane has more radiant heat. Aparently the newer "approved" or "rated" woodstoves are very picky on wood quality? I had 3 insurance shops drop coverage from just having a wood stove chimney in the roof, no stove PO removed it. I won't be onsite to maintain the pellet supply all the time yet.

Anyway I wasn't on the propane route but for the cabin but it has several aspects thar are appealing. Rental usage is another.
 
Weasel said:
Propane has more radiant heat.
Click to expand...
yeah that 1200 watts of microwave heat sure doesn't compare to that 1200 watts of electric stove heat which sore doesn't compare to that 1200 watts of propane stove heat
 
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