I am marginally disapointed in pellet stoves at the moment.

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MountainStoveGuy

MountainStoveGuy

Minister of Fire
Jan 23, 2006
3,665
Boulder County
Its to soon to really say its time to pull the plug, but i dont think convection heat holds a candle to a real wood stove that offers both convection and radiant heat. My stove really cranks out the hot air, but the back of the house stays almost too cold to be comfortable, and this is just the shoulder season. I do not see any way in hell that 50k btu pellet stove is going to outproduce the 80k woodstove. This is interesting. It goes to show that a showroom display burning does not give a you a real world feel for what it will do in your home. I already miss the radient heat from my woodstove :bug:
 
Not being a smart ass or anything but what made you think 50 would outproduce 80? Edit: nevermind isee your sig and post count and figure this must be a joke.
 
because the 50 is constant. the 80 is on a curve. the 80 will average out to 50 over the burn cycle if i keep up on it.
 
MountainStoveGuy said:
Its to soon to really say its time to pull the plug, but i dont think convection heat holds a candle to a real wood stove that offers both convection and radiant heat. My stove really cranks out the hot air, but the back of the house stays almost too cold to be comfortable, and this is just the shoulder season. I do not see any way in hell that 50k btu pellet stove is going to outproduce the 80k woodstove. This is interesting. It goes to show that a showroom display burning does not give a you a real world feel for what it will do in your home. I already miss the radient heat from my woodstove :bug:
Click to expand...

Well, It is very different and I can see where you are coming from.
I kinda like the pellets for cleanliness and ease of use but I`ve not been overly impressed either.
The rising cost of pellets in my neighborhood took the wind out of the sails. So for now I`ll use em just for the finished basement.
Oh, I do love the near instant control of heat with pellets. The wood stove burned hotter n hell sometimes and I found myself babysitting it.
 
I LOVE the convenience, i love the lack of mess, i love the easy storage of fuel. Im with you all the way on that.
 
derrickp said:
Not being a smart ass or anything but what made you think 50 would outproduce 80? Edit: nevermind isee your sig and post count and figure this must be a joke.
Click to expand...

Ditto,................ I hope it's a joke with those credentials
 
LOL wern. Do you know how wood stoves are rated? They are rated in MAX btu.s They put out zero when cold, and max when fully loaded burning hot as possible. Take a 12 hour cycle, average that out and tell me what you get. My math tells me that is 50/hour average.
1=0
2=40
3=70
4=80
5=80
6=70
7=70
6=60
7=50
8=40
9=30
10=20
11=10
12=0.

This is how i burned my wood stove. I work and sleep, no time to keep the fire going at max potential. Post something constructive and prove me wrong, instead of insulting me. For people that have moved from wood to pellet, i do not think my findings to be that uncommon.

I have burned both. The pellet stove has not shown me anything to write home about as far as its heating capacity, and pure convection does not heat as well as a mix of convection and radiant.
 
true pook, i dont get much heat off the glass. not enough surface area and not hot enough to equate to a wood stoves surface area for radiant heating.
 
Come back from the Dark Side young Skywalker :lol:
 
Geesus, did Pook change his ID again?
 
BrotherBart said:
Come back from the Dark Side young Skywalker :lol:
Click to expand...

im not jumping ship this soon, just my initial observations in mild weather (30*+) with no furnace on. Its not going to go anywhere this season, i have three tons to burn, but once there gone, some lucky buyer will get a deal on CL.
 
Just curious....
How much area are you trying to heat with the stove?

Even though there is no radiant heat, the XXV can melt your eyeballs
if you stand too close.
 
tinkabranc said:
Just curious....
How much area are you trying to heat with the stove?

Even though there is no radiant heat, the XXV can melt your eyeballs
if you stand too close.
Click to expand...

My main level of my house is 25x50. The footprint is basic, the 25x25 is the main room the stove is in, the back of the house is 25x25 where the bedrooms are. The main room has vaulted ceilings that opens up to a 25x25 loft.

This is not a review of the XXV, i think the stove is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. It WILL melt my eyeballs, just not heat my house like the wood stove did. I think its a function of the different types of heat, and how the heat is delivered more then the unit i picked.
 
Yeah I burned two bags in my new pellet puppy and put it back on the pallet in the basement to await when I am too broken down to hump cord wood. It should do OK then. We aren't on a mountain side in Colorado.
 
Im not that old, but too broken to process the wood off of my nightmare of a lot. If i have to go back to wood. I will be buying it split and delivered. For now, i guess i will charge up the furnace to help assist the pellet stove.
 
This is just what I have found...but I find in order to get any amount of heat throughout the whole house my pellet stove has to stay running for a full day. The quick burns this time of the year are a hard gauge. I find my XXV does heat my whole house though. Its a 2900 sq/ft colonial. Somewhat open floor plan....no vaulted ceilings to steal my heat.
 
ya, hard maple does not exist in this part of the country at that rate lol. The best price for hardwood in this area is usally oak block for 300/cord.
 
amick780 said:
This is just what I have found...but I find in order to get any amount of heat throughout the whole house my pellet stove has to stay running for a full day. The quick burns this time of the year are a hard gauge. I find my XXV does heat my whole house though. Its a 2900 sq/ft colonial. Somewhat open floor plan....no vaulted ceilings to steal my heat.
Click to expand...

great info, my stove has been going pretty much all the time. (im on my 11th bag since i started up the stove) I think i will have to crank up the stove to 75* and see what happens. Im wincing at the amount of pellets i will need. I thought 3 tons would do it. There is no way thats going to happen.
 
Check to see if the switch on the inside of the control box (black toggle switch in side where the control panel closes into) is on high. It controls the convection blower. Just wondering if you are using room temp or stove temp. I use room temp set on 68-70 and I adjust the room temp setting (low - high) depending on the heat I need. I too the first year I bought my stove did the 3 ton pellet suprise...... 4.5 tons gets it done.
 
I have the toggle switch set to high, and the room temp set to 70(ish). Last night i moved it up to 74, the rooms in the back where a tolerable temp, still woke up with a ton of blankets on. I drained half the hopper last night. The living room is warm, its just a different kind of warm i was expecting.
 
I guess i should put this another way. I do not see any difference in the feel of the heat then what my furnace produces. The main difference being that the house is uneven (expected) where the furnace is even throughout. My furnance will cost me about $1500-$2000/ year to heat my entire home depending on how cold it is. If i have to burn 5 tons to keep my house marginally warm, that will cost me $1250 worth of pellets. If i have to use the furnace and pellets.. then who knows if i actually saved a dime. If i do save money, its only because the rooms are cold vs the house being even.
 
MountainStoveGuy said:
LOL wern. Do you know how wood stoves are rated? They are rated in MAX btu.s They put out zero when cold, and max when fully loaded burning hot as possible. Take a 12 hour cycle, average that out and tell me what you get. My math tells me that is 50/hour average.
1=0
2=40
3=70
4=80
5=80
6=70
7=70
6=60
7=50
8=40
9=30
10=20
11=10
12=0.

This is how i burned my wood stove. I work and sleep, no time to keep the fire going at max potential. Post something constructive and prove me wrong, instead of insulting me. For people that have moved from wood to pellet, i do not think my findings to be that uncommon.

I have burned both. The pellet stove has not shown me anything to write home about as far as its heating capacity, and pure convection does not heat as well as a mix of convection and radiant.
Click to expand...

First off, Nothing was meant to be insulting, but since you are taking the defence; I would think your "certification" and heating experience (common sense) would have tipped you off to the fact that pellet stoves do not throw the radiant heat as wood stoves do. I would think that a dealer for Regency, Harman, Hearthstone, MORSO, Eco Teck, Kingsman, Marquis, Enviro Fire, Morso, Pacific Energy Hampton and Valor would know the difference. So take my comments as you may, but try to lighten up.
 
MountainStoveGuy said:
tinkabranc said:
Just curious....
How much area are you trying to heat with the stove?

Even though there is no radiant heat, the XXV can melt your eyeballs
if you stand too close.
Click to expand...

My main level of my house is 25x50. The footprint is basic, the 25x25 is the main room the stove is in, the back of the house is 25x25 where the bedrooms are. The main room has vaulted ceilings that opens up to a 25x25 loft.

This is not a review of the XXV, i think the stove is doing exactly what it is supposed to do. It WILL melt my eyeballs, just not heat my house like the wood stove did. I think its a function of the different types of heat, and how the heat is delivered more then the unit i picked.
Click to expand...

MSG,

do you utilize the loft area? do you have a ceiling fan for that vaulted ceiling? not trying to be a smart butt here... just asking. i have 1100 sq ft(yes, half of what you have), and i keep the ceiling fan in the living poom pushing down, and the one in the dining room pulling up, and it seems to move my heat around quite well...but then again, i am not heating alot of vaulted space either. just a suggestion.


mike
 
the wood stove space heater made my house more comfortable. the pellet stove is more like a furnace. pook your a smart ass. :p
 
Werm said:
MountainStoveGuy said:
LOL wern. Do you know how wood stoves are rated? They are rated in MAX btu.s They put out zero when cold, and max when fully loaded burning hot as possible. Take a 12 hour cycle, average that out and tell me what you get. My math tells me that is 50/hour average.
1=0
2=40
3=70
4=80
5=80
6=70
7=70
6=60
7=50
8=40
9=30
10=20
11=10
12=0.

This is how i burned my wood stove. I work and sleep, no time to keep the fire going at max potential. Post something constructive and prove me wrong, instead of insulting me. For people that have moved from wood to pellet, i do not think my findings to be that uncommon.

I have burned both. The pellet stove has not shown me anything to write home about as far as its heating capacity, and pure convection does not heat as well as a mix of convection and radiant.
Click to expand...

First off, Nothing was meant to be insulting, but since you are taking the defence; I would think your "certification" and heating experience (common sense) would have tipped you off to the fact that pellet stoves do not throw the radiant heat as wood stoves do. I would think that a dealer for Regency, Harman, Hearthstone, MORSO, Eco Teck, Kingsman, Marquis, Enviro Fire, Morso, Pacific Energy Hampton and Valor would know the difference. So take my comments as you may, but try to lighten up.
Click to expand...

tryin' to lighten up :). I knew the stove was not a radiant heater, im just surprised that i do not like convection heat! I got from your comment that i was a moron for not knowing that woodstoves put out constant heat, and they dont. I misunderstood your post, you misunderstood mine. :)
 
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