Admitted Mistake I'm an Idiot

Woods not as bad as you think if you put a bit of forethought and planning into it. That being said you definitely have to enjoy the independence of it.
What will you do if you don't plan ahead and order enough pellets and they're sold out.
Wood is only a hassle if you make it a hassle and don't enjoy the work of it.

To each their own good luck with whatever you choose

You gotta think at least a year ahead to have decent, dry wood.
Two years ahead is a whole lot better.
I look at it as a challenge!

Grimlock13 said:

Just venting but all the work and hassle burning wood I realized I made a big costly mistake. I had my mind set on a pellet stove but somehow was hypnotized with the mystique of burning wood and seeing the flames. After experiencing all the issues with wood quality, tough supply, stacking, draft, smoke when the door opens I wish I would have just gotten a pellet stove. The time I'm wasting reloading and starting fires is just getting played out.

I'm getting anew roof in the spring was thinking about what kind of resale value I could get for a Neo 2.6 free standing stove and a double liner, I've had enough of it. It's hard to admit your an idiot but I've come to no other conclusion.

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Just say "no" to pellet stoves:
1. Often pellet supply problems, in VT, maybe other states.
2. You lose the joy of cutting your own fuel = exercise, skills, fun, buy equipment.
3. Like said, pellet stoves need power and maintenaince.
4. Noise ain't romantic.
5. Read the posts here ( my first here though wood burner for awhile) from those who know HOW to do firewood. It's easy.
6. No "mistake"-- give it time and learn.
"Hypnotized huh ?

You have my sympathies if you're not enjoying the wood stove thing. To each his own...

I feel blessed to be able to enjoy every single aspect of having a wood stove. The whole process gives me peace of mind, instant gratification, time to reflect, something to do in the middle of a Pennsylvania winter and confidence that no matter what happens, I can still heat my house for the next three or four years with no outside resources. Few things are as rewarding to me as some alone time with the Stihls.

So while you may feel like an idiot, I'm a bigger idiot... as my life is so dull that I look forward to cutting, splitting and schlepping firewood on a bone-chilling day. And a fine craft beer afterwards, of course.

Sat a week ago I spent 6 hours splitting and staking wood that will likely not be in the stove before 2018. It was fun while I was doing it but I was exhausted after. Really dry wood makes everything so much better. No soot on the glass, good hot fires, clean pipe! You just have to get far enough ahead. I would not beat yourself up. I have friends that legit work 60 - 70 hour weeks so I can see there is no way this would work in everyone's life. I have room to store the suff and it is normally pretty easy to scrounge around here too so it is always free. That makes it easier to justify the time I put into it too. Every btu I burn is one I don't have to pay the gas company for. I just look at it as a low paying part time job that I happen to enjoy

Free wood makes it even nicer. When you start to really look for it, it's amazing how many places you can find it.

I'll add that the nut doesn't fall far from the tree...... my son gets military leave, comes home, and of all things, grabs a splitting mull (when we have a gas powered splitter) and goes to it.

Grimlock13 said:

Just venting but all the work and hassle burning wood I realized I made a big costly mistake. I had my mind set on a pellet stove but somehow was hypnotized with the mystique of burning wood and seeing the flames. After experiencing all the issues with wood quality, tough supply, stacking, draft, smoke when the door opens I wish I would have just gotten a pellet stove. The time I'm wasting reloading and starting fires is just getting played out.

I'm getting anew roof in the spring was thinking about what kind of resale value I could get for a Neo 2.6 free standing stove and a double liner, I've had enough of it. It's hard to admit your an idiot but I've come to no other conclusion.

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I would argue the contrary. I had a house with a wood stove, bought a new house with pellet stove thinking I would like the convenience. I hated it! It was more expensive to run, no heat during power outages, always has to have the fan on, and I had to clean it weekly! It's all work, it just depends on where you want the work to be.

Oh, and the pellet stove didn't even heat great. We still had to supplement with the central heat.

Before you switch just try burning real kiln dried cordwood. It is expensive but if you see how good it can be maybe that would motivate you to get ahead on wood.

It will still be a few years before you reap the benefits but if you can experience the good first hand I would bet you might reconsider.

I have been looking at pellet stoves myself. Decided to go for the wood burning option. For all the reasons mentioned above. I purchased my first wood stove 4 years ago and the second 3 years ago (replaced that one -it was too small- last year). Could not be happier. After researching this forum, read a lot, had some direct email contact with other members I learned the do's and dont's.

It is a matter of careful planning and being patient. And ask more and more questions; the experts are on this forum and here to help. (I am not one of the experts BTW).
Getting good (seasoned) wood is a matter of building a relationship with a supplier you learn to trust, for non seasoned wood check CL and check about local cutting by power companies etc. Before you know it you have for 2-3 years supply. Then you need the right tools: chainsaw, axe, (or maul) and a place to store all the wood to season for 2+ years. It is fun, a lot of work yes, but with careful planning, the work is not that bad at all.

Give your self some time to get used to the stove and what comes along with it and a season or 2 later, you don't want anything else.

Berner said:

Before you switch just try burning real kiln dried cordwood.

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There is one kiln dried supplier that will deliver to that area of LI. Used him once and was happy. Came in bags, very convenient but availability is hit and miss and as you said it ain't cheap.

Grim has been looking for a dealer for a while but as we all know trying to buy dry firewood is mostly miss. Buying wood on LI can be cheaper than a lot of places I see and even if you get shorted it's still cheap in comparison to how much work goes into splitting a cord of wood. But the only ways to ensure a good supply of dry wood is to do it yourself or buy several years ahead. I like the whole process so I don't buy but it's not necessarily everyone's cup of tea.

I think it's a personal choice. IMO wood stove produce better heat. A pellet stove is more like a localized furnace. Always have to run the fan etc. I still enjoy cutting and splitting wood. That being said my dad has had enough years of cutting, splitting, stacking etc. He pulled the wood stove and put a pellet in and loves it. I may reach that point someday but not not just yet. Where he lives the cost of a cord vs a ton of pellets is comparable and his burn rate is similar.

Agreed, it's a lot of work to heat full time with wood. Add in the new to burning issues your having, being discouraged is understandable. If you can figure out you will love the heat and rolling ball of fireview.

Gas company pfft wish I had that choice sometimes. You just gotta Knuckle down and man up If you wanna heat with any kind of biomass. Trust me don't necessarily love cleaning chimney in winter or stackin wood sometime but thems the breaks!

If I could do it all over I would have put a coal burner in the basement and have kept the stove upstairs.

BrotherBart said:

But before you do, take a trip over to the pellet room on this forum and read about power failures, pellet quality problems, pellet prices, control board failures, auger failures, cleaning and on and on and on.

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And weigh that against; chainsaw breaking, truck won't run, tire flat, need new chain, fuel etc. Your gonna have maintenance either way, just depends on which side of the process you want it on.

my buddy has both woodstove downstairs, and pellet upstairs......he said he's disappointed with the pellet stove. Myself....I struggle with seasoned wood every year....this year is no different. My work schedule doesn't allow the time to get everything C/ S/ S in a timely manner....wood supply is sometimes a problem also....as a matter of fact, I fell into a scrounge of Ash (5 P/U trucks full), and I'm picking up some Maple this morning, but no time to split, and I've got Black Birch and Cherry thats been waiting to get worked on....all free, and this is the big difference, never see a pallet of pellets on the side of the road for free

I have 2 small kids. Some large property projects. Management position. House getting remodeled (a great deal of it by me). I maintain all my own vehicles.
I had a pellet stove for 2 years. I didn't really like it. I hated the blower noise. It always felt like I had a hair dryer blowing all the time. It didn't really radiate heat...just from the air vent.
My wife, from NC, loves the woodstove. Loves it. This is our first year with it and I'm not burning the dryest wood, but it is still cranking out the heat and keeping a pretty clear glass. Don't obsess over dry wood.
I'm going to process a tuckload of logs this spring and get years ahead in the course of a few weekends. It's worth it to me.

I think everyone had relatively bad experiences their first year or 2. FREE heat isn't REALLY free. You have to work for it. That said everyone's situation is different. I would definitely find a friend, or friend of a friend, who has one and ask them about their experience before making a move. One thing to watch it in store. Totally different using it at home.

Yeah, it can be frustrating. My wife and I bought a house recently that has a wood stove and a fireplace. Our previous homes did not have any wood burning appliances. So no experience there. In November my wife asked me to try out the stove. Little did I know it would take a rebuild before I got that stove to light up. It was a crash course in stove technology for me, made greatly easier by the posts in this forum. (Thanks, members of the forum!)

A few weeks later I got the stove working but now we have the firewood supply problem, because, well, firewood was nowhere near the top of the priority list of tasks for settling down in the new home. Some wood was left behind by the previous owners but we keep the little we have in case of power outage. I've started contacting local companies that make it part of their business to supply firewood but I've not been impressed so far. The lady who answers the phone at one place told me their wood was "seasoned" but "recently cut". Er... what? (Kiln-dried wood I guess could be "recently cut". But I'm certain if she was talking about kiln-dried wood she would have said it was kiln-dried, and the price would be higher than what she quoted.)

Grimlock13 said:

I really appreciate everyone's comments and words of encouragement. I will keep at it , just frustrated and going threw the growing pains I guess. Knuckle down and man up is exactly what I have to do. Thanks again for everyone's reply's believe it or not they are all very helpful, Thanks!

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We've all been there. My first year was a steep learning curve in every sense. Keep at it and you'll get better at it than you think. It's a process you need to figure out what works best for you and constantly refine. This forum is filled with so many knowledgable people, who all have a different scenario, but for the most part always willing to help. That's what makes this site so dynamic.

1st year of burning sucks. It's almost not worth it. The 2nd year is a lot better. By year 3 you are going to have a system down and plenty of dry wood. It will be a breeze. Well, as much a breeze as heating with wood can be. I like the cutting and splitting aspect too but it is work.