new to this side of the forum...thinking about a pellet stove...

Hi there,
We run two stoves in our house as well. One in the kitchen, and one in the living room. Both are on opposite sides of our 2900 sq ft house. The stove in the kitchen is a Harman P68, and it heats most of the house comfortably. The problem was that our living room was always chilly. We picked up a used Lopi Fire-Fox from our dealer ($300.), and love it. It's the perfect size and really makes a big difference. Only downfall is that the ash tray is much smaller than the Harman and needs to be cleaned more frequently... But I'm not complaining...stove has been wonderful, and family time in the living room is much more enjoyable.

Edited to ad: And yes, you are correct. You can fill your pellet stove and let it go. We fill the Lopi every 24 hours.

Except for a through cleaning every 10 days or so my St. Croix is bulletpruff. I don't even open the door for a week or more to vacuum it out when using fir pellets (they burn very cleanly).

Others have different ways of operating their stove but mine is pretty much hands off... I haven't even touched the damper in two years.... about has EZ to run as you can get.

You may want to SERIOUSLY consider if you want in on the pellet stove craze. This is the highest year yet for pre-season prices. Last year many of us were paying $225 or less per ton. This year, the prevailing prices in the Northeast are hovering around $300. Way too much for compressed sawdust.

minnow said:

You may want to SERIOUSLY consider if you want in on the pellet stove craze. This is the highest year yet for pre-season prices. Last year many of us were paying $225 or less per ton. This year, the prevailing prices in the Northeast are hovering around $300. Way too much for compressed sawdust.

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And he's not from the northeast, pellets are prolly cheaper where he is.

With the price of pellets doubling in the last 5 years, a pellet stove may not be the best option. When taking into consideration the price of the stove, pellets, hearth pad(if needed), pellet vent pipe, the time and hassle it takes to clean and maintain, buying pellets, electricity, transporting pellets or paying more money for delivery and also repairs, your money may just well be better spent on upgrading the insulation in your home.

My house isn't insulated as well as it should be, but it is also far from being the worst insulated house as well. I think that with the prices of pellets having skyrocketed to the current prices, that I would have been much better off just putting money into upgrading my homes insulation.

With the price of home heating oil, and natural gas being much cheaper at this time, I am almost wishing that I didn't bother with a pellet stove at all rather than upgrading my homes insulation first. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy with my stoves performance, it is just the current cost of pellets that really makes buying a new pellet stove something to really think about. If it is money that you are looking to save, it may be better spent elsewhere with the current market conditions.

As a matter of fact, I am really thinking about getting rid of my stove due to the outrageous price that pellets have gotten to. I also live in the midwest where pellet prices are cheaper than most other areas of the country, what is the price of pellets in yor location? 2 years ago I paid $155 per ton for pellets, now the cheapest in the area is around $220 per ton for good pellets. I know this price isn"t too bad when compred to other areas of the country, but even at $220 per ton the whole pellet stove thing may not be worth it as far as saving money goes. It used to be though

You're probably better off with the wood stove.

It may be a "craze" but I think you can figure on a payback for pellet stoves if you do your homework first. I don't know where pellet prices are going to be over the next few years but you should judge "pellets compared to what?"for your area. What are you using for heat now, where do you live, what's your home's layout, do you plan on selling the house soon and so forth are the questions to ask.

Then there are the wild cards. For example, here is an article from today's Wall Street Journal about a very large natural gas discovery in Louisiana.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124104549891270585.html

There's no way I can predict how the economy and energy usage will be a few years from now or even next year. A pellet stove is working out well for me so far but maybe not for you. You have to do your own analysis and trust in that.

As has been noted in many previous threads, its about options and your personal unique situation as stated by Stentor. I just had 3 tons delivered last week at a price I'm comfortable with and that decision wasn't based on whats happening today because that could change tomorrow with one unfortunate international incident. My pellets don't have an expiration date so nothing is forcing me to burn them if I don't need to. If oil is cheaper, I'm there but if it goes through the roof, I'm covered as well. Its a nice feeling.

AMEN mandjk it is very nice to have options,and when because it will oil prices or nat gas and propane go through the roof that 272 a ton deliverd to me will be looking better every day.The way I look at it this upcoming heating season is probably a wash with me saving about 100 over using oil,but with my house layout the pellet stove heats so much better and thats worth something to me for the extra work with the pellet stove.IMO

Agreed. Plus, the wife likes it. If shes happy, I'm happy.

Just to follow up with my previous comment. All things considered, this is not the time to buy a pellet stove. With pellets at an all time high and not likely to come down due to lack of raw material, with the cost of traditional heating fuels (fuel oil and natural gas coming way down from last years high's) Add to that the fact that with a traditonal wood stove, the cost of a cord of wood has remained fairly stable over the years (especially compared to pellets). For those of you that already have a pellet stove, you've got a financial stake in keeping that stove stocked with pellets, you've got an emotional stake in it as well as no one wants to admit that the $3000 hunk of iron sitting in the corner is now too expensive to use.
No, for someone whose looking to get into the alternative heating game now, pellet stoves make little economic sense this year. Maybe next year, but not this year.

It will never be fair to compare a woodstove to a pellet stove. Wood will always be cheaper but will always require much more work. If money is the only thing that matters to you, buy a woodstove and be happy that you are making the cheapest heat out there.

Our pellet tons are still at 200$. Have been for years. I appreciate the convenience offered by the pellet stove system even though I don't own one. Just imagine, a thermostat to start the fire....

minnow said:

. . . you've got an emotional stake in it as well as no one wants to admit that the $3000 hunk of iron sitting in the corner is now too expensive to use.

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Ding, ding, ding . . . we have a winner! I totally agree.

I saw my local oil price yesterday is $1.59, I can't justify buying more pellets. I have a ton saved and can't afford to burn'em as I paid $245/ton from last September.
Mike -

I have to admit that for oil prices under 2 bucks a gallon I wouldn't bother using my stove full time either. Definitely not if I was paying over $250 / ton. To buy and install one with all that added cost you have to ask yourself if its worth it. Possibly if you could get a real steal of a deal but hell with the price they have been demanding for those stoves lately, wow. I wrangled mine up via the internet for $1900 and put it in myself back in04/05, today those puppies are priced like steel was gold. Pellets were around even here for $2.50 /bag if you were careful too. With the spike in the price of stove and pellets and drop in fuel oil you have to wonder if it's worth it. I bet there will be some Craigs List deals out there though as lots of guys sell their pellet stove for cheaper wood. I scored one for a guy I work with like that last season. It was a year old and the guy was ditching it for$500 to put in a wood stove. He tossed in most of a ton of leftover pellets to boot. They are out there.

One factor is how long my stove will last. I'm hoping to get between five and ten years before the model becomes obsolete or too expensive for a major repair. I usually get more than ten years on a vehicle and try to think about that when I buy something major like a new refrigerator or stove. I don't think new pellet stoves have a track record yet so I can't tell how long mine may last. But I'm making a bet. A stove is a long term investment.