Indecision over pellet or wood, insert or stove

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granJean

granJean

New Member
May 10, 2013
16
high desert AZ
Too many choices! I'm trying to decide between wood or pellet, stove or insert.

I'm a 60+ woman of zero mechanical aptitude(not that age matters I'm more impatience than ever). I can follow directions and I've read through pellet manuals online. I would do the cleaning after spending the bucks. Manuals seem well documented but if directions are missing a step it could take a couple days for my mind to bridge the gap. If theres no directions for my problem I gottta call the dealer. Many of the pellet posts seem to be mechanical issues. My dealer says most of their installs are pellet and in my climate that makes sense. I live in high desert AZ and while it gets cold at night, most every day is 45-55 unless a storm is passing thru. 2-5 storms every winter. Without heat my house is in low 60's by midafternoon so stove would probably be on a low feed most of the time.

My main concern with pellet is reliability and ease of diagnosing and repair. There is one dealer within 150 miles of me. They sell Quad, Enviro, Lennox and Vermont Castings. Choosing between Enviro and Quad I like the Santa Fe,Milan and Mini and think size is correct. Santa Fe stove seems like a good choice based on remarks at this forum, but the insert gets low reviews.

My next concern is pellets. There are many posts on pellet types good and bad. But theres no choice here. Its Home Depot, Walmart or True Value. I could drive to the forest in the summer and stock up on better pellets in the off season. I have a truck and many stove stores 2.5 hours away. But for simplicity I'd prefer a pellet insert/stove that is not a picky pellet eater.

I have a masonry inside fireplace and a location on an outside wall for a pellet stove and I am undecided which way to go. I may let cost determine that decision.

So, of the brands my dealer offers which unit is one I should stay away or look at for simplicity of operation and repair. Which is going to be easiest for me to see interior with my old eyes. Thanks in advance for advice and opinions, Jean
 
One of the nice things about pellet stoves is their ability to ramp up quickly and shutdown quickly, i.e turn on and off. I think this is something you need to consider in your case given your temps. Its hard to turn on and off a wood stove.
 
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If it were me and I were in your situation, I would lean toward a free standing stove. The maintenance will be easier on you and you still have full use of the fireplace should you have technical issues. Considering how far the nearest dealer is from you, I would really encourage you to leave the existing fireplace in tact. This way you would have the best of both worlds. The other nice thing is the free standing stoves generally have larger hoppers which is also a nice feature. There are several stoves that would be a excellent choice for you.
 
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Thanks for the quick responses. I should have mentioned my house is block so I think pellet is better for even heat. My house doesn't do anything quick. If the stove is easier to work on than the insert, I'll head that direction. And I still have my wood burner. There is one dealer 5 miles away, but no others for 150+ miles. Jean
 
He carries Enviro, Quadrafire, Vermont Castings and Lennox. My reading leads me to Enviro and
Quad. I think the Santa Fe looks good for me for a stove.
 
Vermont Castings has not made a pellet stove in years, quad and enviro are good choices, quad makes a great insert a step up from their Santa Fe but I am bias to free standing.:cool:
 
Yeah go with the free stander. Easier maintenance. Enviro or Quad will be a good choice whichever one you go with.

Pellets from HD and WM will keep ya warm. These guys here are like the wine snobs you know. Looking for the tiniest difference between brands and vintages. Not enough difference to make up for the gas and strain of going long distances for a Grand Cru when what you want to do is wash the steak and taters down.
 
You guys say a Harman would burn Thunderbird.
 
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Hello

Santa Fe is a good choice. Simple to operate and not fussy on pellets. Also they are reliable and easy to clean.

I have worked on many stoves and have owned and rebuilt quite a few.

Right now I have 2 Santa Fe's and a pie warmer (The older Santa Fe called the Contour - it has a pie warming compartment in the top. :)

One Santa Fe heats my garage and one heats my shed/workshop.

Below is a pic of my recently aquirred Contour!

Good luck with your choice.
 

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granJean said:
Too many choices! I'm trying to decide between wood or pellet, stove or insert.

I'm a 60+ woman of zero mechanical aptitude(not that age matters I'm more impatience than ever). I can follow directions and I've read through pellet manuals online. I would do the cleaning after spending the bucks. Manuals seem well documented but if directions are missing a step it could take a couple days for my mind to bridge the gap. If theres no directions for my problem I gottta call the dealer. Many of the pellet posts seem to be mechanical issues. My dealer says most of their installs are pellet and in my climate that makes sense. I live in high desert AZ and while it gets cold at night, most every day is 45-55 unless a storm is passing thru. 2-5 storms every winter. Without heat my house is in low 60's by midafternoon so stove would probably be on a low feed most of the time.

My main concern with pellet is reliability and ease of diagnosing and repair. There is one dealer within 150 miles of me. They sell Quad, Enviro, Lennox and Vermont Castings. Choosing between Enviro and Quad I like the Santa Fe,Milan and Mini and think size is correct. Santa Fe stove seems like a good choice based on remarks at this forum, but the insert gets low reviews.

My next concern is pellets. There are many posts on pellet types good and bad. But theres no choice here. Its Home Depot, Walmart or True Value. I could drive to the forest in the summer and stock up on better pellets in the off season. I have a truck and many stove stores 2.5 hours away. But for simplicity I'd prefer a pellet insert/stove that is not a picky pellet eater.

I have a masonry inside fireplace and a location on an outside wall for a pellet stove and I am undecided which way to go. I may let cost determine that decision.

So, of the brands my dealer offers which unit is one I should stay away or look at for simplicity of operation and repair. Which is going to be easiest for me to see interior with my old eyes. Thanks in advance for advice and opinions, Jean
Click to expand...
 
I think a freestanding Quad Sante Fe will be your best choice of the ones you listed. Freestanding because easier maintenence, it holds more fuel and if you loose power you can still use your fireplace to burn wood. A freestanding stove will give you more choices for placement versus the fireplace , it will be cheaper to install and will be easier to do maintaintence work such as cleaning as compared to a insert.
The sante fe has been around a long time and has a proven record. i have a friend who is a tech for Quad products and has had a sante fe in his house for several years. he can probably walk you through any problem you might have with it via e-mail.
I think a santa fe will burn most any pellet. Some pellets produce more ash then others but dumping a ash bucket is simple enough. You will enjoy the even heat of a pellet stove versus a wood fire of to hot then to cold to soon.
Getting used to a pellet stove is pretty easy basically know when to clean it and how to clean it. I find the best way for my customers to learn is after installing it I show them step by step how to clean it before it is used. Then have them do it in front of me so if there is any questions I can help right away. Then try to anticipate how often to clean it and suggest that time line. With the temps you say it probably will be idling or on low most of the time This may mean cleaning more often.
 
I would suggest a free-standing pellet stove also. Nice having the fireplace back-up if you have power outages due to storms (had outage again today along with some snow:(). With a block house, I would suggest you have an OAK (outside air kit) installed for it. Pellets are far easier to handle than wood and less mess. Make sure the dealer walks you through regular maintenance cleaning and a deep cleaning from the start so you can handle those on your own.

With pellet supply dependant on big box stores, do you have ample storage for pellets? Stock-up at the start of the year with enough to last you the heating season... Don't think you'll need enough to be a pellet pig like some of the folks here (3 tons along with a few other "rules"):)
Good luck and welcome to the forum!
 
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If you are considering a Quad then you should consider a Quad Mt. Vernon AE. I know it is more... BUT.... since it auto-cleans (which I believe the Santa-Fe does not--I may be wrong). On a Mt. Vernon AE I just empty the ash pan every 2 to 5 bags (depending on the ASH content on what your burning). The first few years with my Quad I babied the thing and wasted WAY too much time cleaning it once a week. Now, I do a "good" cleaning ~every ton... between that I just empty the ash pan. I've been running a Mt. Vernon AE for 5 years now. The only thing I've replaced so far was a couple baffles (under warranty--they cracked), a couple igniters, and the clips that secure the ash pan (which cracked last year). It looks like I might need to replace my ceramic burn pot in the next year or so since its starting to break apart! However, it has withstood ~5 years of high-temp abuse.

No disrespect (by all means) but at your age are you willing and able to do the maintenance required on a stove. Not that it is a lot but... hadas... I HURT from kneeling and reaching (etc) after a big cleaning of the stove and I'm ~half your age.
 
pellets are 40lb not that wood is easier if you have to stack it yourself
 
In Europe they have 20 lbs bags of pellets for the ladies and people who cannot lift 40 lb bags. I suspect they may do that here sometime?
 
I am a 60+ YO woman myself, but grew up in a mans world and worked in mens type jobs all my life as a mechanic, machinist, welder etc.

Now this said, if it were me, I would keep my fireplace as a backup and install a pellet stove on an outside wall with a direct vent (horizontal through the wall) This will keep vent cleaning simple as well as a simple install.

I have 3 pellet stoves in my home that allow for warmer weather, cool weather and COLD weather. I just use 1, 2 or 3 depending on the weather.

Size your stove to handle the worst possible scenario weather wise and you will be set.

I prefer a manual lite stove, but the autos work well.

My only worries with all the high tech wizardry in a stove, is that its just more to go wrong, and it wont quit in July when you don't need it.

Depending on the size of your house, possibly one medium sized stove and one little tiny one might be an option.

The tiny stove can handle the moderate weather times and the medium can deal with colder weather.
Having two always leaves you a backup.

Your fireplace can be a fall back if the power fails, and is also great to all the junk mail and other crap that always seems to accumulate.

The pellets from the depot are ok
Soft wood is fine.
There are many brands available.

Some are real good and others are so so.

I have tried every brand available here in NW Oregon and the only difference is that some are a tad cleaner burning and some cost a lot more.

We have Golden Fire, Bear Mt, Blue Mt, and a few others that pop up from time to time.
These are all soft wood pellets.

Good luck with your decision

Snowy
 
Thanks for the suggestions. If I go pellet I will get a stove. But I think it has to vent straight up as stove will back onto my carport. That's what pushed me back to wood insert, as the price goes up I might as well save that space.

I can carry 31lbs of dog food but find at the end of the day I can drag it also! I like the idea of the MtVernon cleaning and diagnosing itself but agree with Snowy on wanting to be able to turn it off. I have a dog, a heeler and have said numerous times "Thats the last time I'm getting a dog smarter than me". Well I think I can apply that logic to stoves also.

Dealer appointment this week. I'll be somewhat knowledgeable when he calls and probably agree with him that I need to go pellet. Thanks all
 
granJean said:
Dealer appointment this week. I'll be somewhat knowledgeable when he calls and probably agree with him that I need to go pellet. Thanks all
Click to expand...
Ask lots of ?? Does he have parts in stock ?,If you have an issue what's his normal response time? Which stove has the least amount of problems?
See the stoves working listen to them. Good luck and welcome to the forum:)
 
I bought a pellet stove and it was the really good money spent from a comfort point. As for the 40Lb bags you don't have to carry them just get a small bucket or 2. I picked up 2 plastic oval shaped buckets at Dollar General for about 4 bucks each, a bag is a little over 2 buckets.
 
Welcome to the forum. I'm a wood burner, but in your situation sounds like pellet is the better fit. As far as bringing pellets to the stove, would a small rolling cart work for you?
 
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