Pellet stoves...anyone with advice?

babs31 · 10-11-2005

We are in the process of buying a pellet stove ...actually put money down but we have 3 days to change our minds. Just curious if someone out there is using one and what it has done for your heating bills. Worth it or not? just not sure about this. My biggest concerns are that we will need to put it in the basement and the heat to naturally drift up to the uppper level...will it truly help heat my house. And the other thing which we will most certainly need to solve ourselves is where to store all those pellets! Today news healine is that it will cost 70% more to heat our homes this winter... glad (I think) we decided on this yesterday. Thanks

Babaloo · 10-11-2005

I heat my home with wood (primarily). And it's very efficient.
But not nearly as efficient as a pellet stove.
And yes...they get hot but you can damp it down.
Just takes a little practice to learn how to control it.

I can't help you with pellet storage unless you send me blueprints of your house and pictures. Between the two of us, we can find some place to store those suckers.

roni · 10-11-2005

Yes, they have drawbacks, I am told

They require electricity - a small fan over the fire and an auger to feed the pellets. Buy and efficient wood stove - if you want heat if the electricity goes out. Some of the augers are noisy on an intermittent basis

This is not based on personal experience, but on the stories of friends. Does anyone here have personal experience with pellet stoves?

beer_dude · 10-11-2005

My mom used one to heat her entire house and she loved it. You can put them on a thermostat and control the temperature exactly. another nice thing is that you can use them on low air quality days as they are very efficient (we have fireplace ban days in Denver). I have ordered a pellet stove and should have it installed by next month. There is a huge backlog on pellet stoves as they are really getting popular especially in the eastern states as heating oil is going up more than natural gas.

babs31 · 10-11-2005

Like I said my biggest concern is we live on the main level and this thing has to go in the basement...should work right? I just dont trust salesman...they ( a generality I know) will tell you anything to make a sell! We own a little brick ranch 1064 sq feet...always wanted to sell it and get bigger ...husband didnt want to...final payment this month and at least with gas prices the way they are going to be ...if I had the bigger home it cost us alot more.

roni · 10-11-2005

I think it will do ok in the basement. My old uncle heated with wood like that for decades - might put some pass through registers in the floors

playawannabe · 10-11-2005

How are you currently heating? If you have a forced air furnace, you can use it on the fan only (summer) setting to circulate the air throughout the house... we do that in the summer with our AC and it works great!

roni · 10-11-2005

In the interest of full disclosure, we are having a wood burning fireplace insert installed at the end of the month.

MikeW · 10-11-2005

Advice? Rabbits lots and lots of rabbits. :p

babs31 · 10-11-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeW

Advice? Rabbits lots and lots of rabbits. :p

:p

babs31 · 10-11-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by playawannabe

How are you currently heating? If you have a forced air furnace, you can use it on the fan only (summer) setting to circulate the air throughout the house... we do that in the summer with our AC and it works great!

Gas with forced air....just wanted to be sure...gotta get that april aire added too....ever since I moved from AZ to this frozen tundra my sinuses give me garbage all winter long...and yeah you did read right...from az...that I should take up in the how did you meet thread,,,

trog · 10-12-2005

I have written permits for the installation of pellet stoves. when installed properly, they work fine. make sure you are buying a product that is tested and listed. some will also burn corn. you load the hopper in the morning and a hopperful should last all day. The pellets/corn must be stored in a dry place as moisture content affects the combustion. We are seeing quite a few corn stoves in Minnesota due to the abundance of corn and the high cost of fuel. good luck.

trog · 10-12-2005

Corn stoves can be operated for as little as $2 per day depending on the price of corn. I am not sure about pellets.

beer_dude · 10-12-2005

A pallet of pellets (say that 10 times really fast) is $185.00 right now in denver. I believe that is a ton of pellets.

Pipermurphy · 10-12-2005

How are you planning on venting it thru the first floor? We have a wood stove and are thinking of converting over to pellett, heard alot of good things, we put 2 cast iron pots with water on our wood for humidity here in Colorado.

10-11-2005	#1 (permalink)
babs31 life=playa Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: south of Green Bay Posts: 849	Pellet stoves...anyone with advice? We are in the process of buying a pellet stove ...actually put money down but we have 3 days to change our minds. Just curious if someone out there is using one and what it has done for your heating bills. Worth it or not? just not sure about this. My biggest concerns are that we will need to put it in the basement and the heat to naturally drift up to the uppper level...will it truly help heat my house. And the other thing which we will most certainly need to solve ourselves is where to store all those pellets! Today news healine is that it will cost 70% more to heat our homes this winter... glad (I think) we decided on this yesterday. Thanks

10-11-2005	#2 (permalink)
Babaloo añejo Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Playa del Carmen Posts: 11,015	I heat my home with wood (primarily). And it's very efficient. But not nearly as efficient as a pellet stove. And yes...they get hot but you can damp it down. Just takes a little practice to learn how to control it. I can't help you with pellet storage unless you send me blueprints of your house and pictures. Between the two of us, we can find some place to store those suckers.

10-11-2005	#3 (permalink)
roni Happy Curmudgeon Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Oregon Posts: 29,037	Yes, they have drawbacks, I am told They require electricity - a small fan over the fire and an auger to feed the pellets. Buy and efficient wood stove - if you want heat if the electricity goes out. Some of the augers are noisy on an intermittent basis This is not based on personal experience, but on the stories of friends. Does anyone here have personal experience with pellet stoves?

10-11-2005	#4 (permalink)
beer_dude reposado Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 1,202	My mom used one to heat her entire house and she loved it. You can put them on a thermostat and control the temperature exactly. another nice thing is that you can use them on low air quality days as they are very efficient (we have fireplace ban days in Denver). I have ordered a pellet stove and should have it installed by next month. There is a huge backlog on pellet stoves as they are really getting popular especially in the eastern states as heating oil is going up more than natural gas.

10-11-2005	#5 (permalink)
babs31 life=playa Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: south of Green Bay Posts: 849	Like I said my biggest concern is we live on the main level and this thing has to go in the basement...should work right? I just dont trust salesman...they ( a generality I know) will tell you anything to make a sell! We own a little brick ranch 1064 sq feet...always wanted to sell it and get bigger ...husband didnt want to...final payment this month and at least with gas prices the way they are going to be ...if I had the bigger home it cost us alot more.

10-11-2005	#6 (permalink)
roni Happy Curmudgeon Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Oregon Posts: 29,037	I think it will do ok in the basement. My old uncle heated with wood like that for decades - might put some pass through registers in the floors

10-11-2005	#7 (permalink)
playawannabe reposado Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Southern AB Posts: 1,442	How are you currently heating? If you have a forced air furnace, you can use it on the fan only (summer) setting to circulate the air throughout the house... we do that in the summer with our AC and it works great!

10-11-2005	#8 (permalink)
roni Happy Curmudgeon Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Oregon Posts: 29,037	In the interest of full disclosure, we are having a wood burning fireplace insert installed at the end of the month.

10-11-2005	#9 (permalink)
MikeW añejo Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Moorpark, CA Posts: 9,749	Advice? Rabbits lots and lots of rabbits. :p

10-12-2005	#12 (permalink)
trog bonehead Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: minnesota Posts: 169	I have written permits for the installation of pellet stoves. when installed properly, they work fine. make sure you are buying a product that is tested and listed. some will also burn corn. you load the hopper in the morning and a hopperful should last all day. The pellets/corn must be stored in a dry place as moisture content affects the combustion. We are seeing quite a few corn stoves in Minnesota due to the abundance of corn and the high cost of fuel. good luck.

10-12-2005	#13 (permalink)
trog bonehead Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: minnesota Posts: 169	Corn stoves can be operated for as little as $2 per day depending on the price of corn. I am not sure about pellets.

register to remove these adverts

10-12-2005	#14 (permalink)
beer_dude reposado Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 1,202	A pallet of pellets (say that 10 times really fast) is $185.00 right now in denver. I believe that is a ton of pellets.

10-12-2005	#15 (permalink)
Pipermurphy beachaholic Join Date: May 2005 Location: SW of Denver@9000ft Posts: 386	How are you planning on venting it thru the first floor? We have a wood stove and are thinking of converting over to pellett, heard alot of good things, we put 2 cast iron pots with water on our wood for humidity here in Colorado.