Indoor Pellet Storage?

......hey guys.......thanks for the nice comments.....much appreciated...... nice to see other great ideas for storage posted too. I tried to suggest to my wife to use the 'cedar chest' but got 'that look'....... anyway, turned our livingroom into Santa's Workshop (pellet chest division) put a couple of clean tarps down in the living room and used the shop vac when cutting..... some plywood for the base, tongue & groove pine for the sides and top, a couple of 2 x 2's and lots of glue & screws and clamps. Was a fun and practical project....... Merry Xmas.... cc

Storage space in my small living room dictates that I have something vertical. I saw these utility bins in pine and oak meant to be trash recepticles at the mill store last weekend and although they are not wide enough to easily place a scoop inside I thought it would be a good project to make one the same style just a little wider to sit near the stove.

http://www.millstores.com/display.ccml?137,0,134385,cc134385,,,Index,[email protected]

Keep all of my pellets in the garage. Bring in one bag at a time and pour it into the stove. If the entire bag doesn't fit, I just put the rest of the bag on the floor close to the stove. Doesn't look bad as you don't really notice it.

CanadaClinker said:

........Was a fun and practical project....... Merry Xmas.... cc

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Clinker,

as I mentioned a while back, I still haven't received the pellet chest that i ordered from you......are they on backorder????

.........hey mac.....you know I like to kid you about the chest and all..... ..... by the way, I haven't forgotten about yours.....its still in various stages of construction but I lost my glue....making another batch out of polar bear blubber (that's the secret holding ingredient)........ maybe after I retire in a couple of years, I will get it finished for you........ :lol: :lol:

I built my own storage too. got a 10 gallon can at the local ranch and home store and painted it to match the stove, then put a bag cutter in the bottom of it... Holds slightly more than one bag, but I usually just put a bag in the utility room, and one inside the can and refill the can after I've used it all up to refill the hopper. (Use a large feed scoop.)

Yep, that's where I got the idea, but for less than half the price. And once it's empty enough I just lift the can up and pour in. I maybe need to sharpen the spade a bit so it cuts more rather than tears, but it's working so...

Sting said:

I use a two ton pto driven feed cart :>)

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could you explain a little bit more what that is. it sounds like something I want to build on my front porch and run through the wall to feed my stove. I have enough room for about a ton, and still be below the window.

I have a pellet room in the lower level next to the open area where the pellet stove is at. I have about 2 1/2 tons left of 4 1/2 tons bought so far for this year. I"m pretty sure I'll get another 3 tons soon to stock up with a start on next winter. I figure I'll be at about 5 tons gone by April, altogether. With burning 2 bags a day for the colder months the close storage comes in handy. One thing, I'm heating my whole house for less than what I paid for electric heat to just heat my upper level. I figure I can fit 7-8 tons in the pellet room if I put them on pallets. ( And the guy that sold me the pellet stove said I would go through 2-3 tons for the winter. I got news for him... BTU's only go so far.) If you're in a cold winter area you should have an area to store 2-4 tons of pellets to guard against price swings. Buy low if you can, get the cheaper heat. If you can, have an area close to your stove, preferably in an enclosed area for pellet storage. It saves on the back for hauling the 40lb bags.

Great storage ideas!

I don't have anything fancy, I just use a coal hod to fill the stoves.
The hod holds about 1/3 bag at a time. Main pellet storage is in back
of my basement.

Sting said:

I use a two ton pto driven feed cart :>)

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Pictures please .You can't post that and not show us what it looks like .

Haubera said:

I built my own storage too. got a 10 gallon can at the local ranch and home store and painted it to match the stove, then put a bag cutter in the bottom of it... Holds slightly more than one bag, but I usually just put a bag in the utility room, and one inside the can and refill the can after I've used it all up to refill the hopper. (Use a large feed scoop.)

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Nice.I might copy this one .

Excell said:

Haubera said:

I built my own storage too. got a 10 gallon can at the local ranch and home store and painted it to match the stove, then put a bag cutter in the bottom of it... Holds slightly more than one bag, but I usually just put a bag in the utility room, and one inside the can and refill the can after I've used it all up to refill the hopper. (Use a large feed scoop.)

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Nice.I might copy this one .

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Thanks. A chunk of 2x4, a hand spade that I pulled the wooden handle off, drill some holes in the 2x4 (1 for the metal spade handle, and 2 to bolt it to the can) and punch a couple of carriage bolts through the bottom of the can... voila! The longest part to do was waiting for the paint to dry.

1. Carry bag from basement to where the stove is.
2. Cut with knife, sissors or rip top of bag off.
3. Dump directly into stove.

Way less pellet dust that way! I've found the more you dump, pour, handle them, the more dust is all over your furniture.

I agree, the less handled the less fines. I have 20 bags stacked in bedroom right now (extra large bedroom, single--no one to complain about it).

Like this. First one is last year, second is this year.

Hi All,

My kids gave me a "pellet container" for Christmas. Very similar to smalltown's. Mine has a Lighthouse painted on the lid.
Hold about 1 1/3 bags of pellets. Too narrow to get a large scoop in there, but a 2 cup measuring cup works fine for me.

As to the rest of the bags........they just sit here waiting their turn.

[del][/del]Hi All,

My pellet box is similar to smalltown's. It has a Lighthouse painted on the lid. Too narrow to use a large scoop, but a 2 cup measuring cup works fine for me.

Tried to do a pic, but didn't work. Too big!

My pellet storage is all outside, so I like to stage one bag in the utility room to dry the outside (gotta get a new tarp next year), and keep one in the can next to the stove to feed in as the bin gets low. I almost never dump an entire bag at a time, except into the can.

tchdngrnby said:

peasoupme said:

I was wondering how everyone stores their pellets inside the house? Our stove is in our living room and I'd like to get a decorative leather basket/or ottoman to put our pellets in so I can just dump a bag or two in and put a scoop in it. Anyone got any ideas? What do you use?

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I load them into the basement 6 bags at a time with the wheel barrow and pile them onto pallets to the ceiling. 6 tons loaded in two saturdays sure beats the time, effort, and cost in comparison to cutting, splitting, handling, and rehandling the equivalent amount of firewood....

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I can hear Monty Hall now; "do you want the new car or what's behind curtain #1?