pellet stoves

There are fireplaces ourt there that throw lots of heat. RSF and Quadrafire come to mind. Some can even be ducted to move heat to other parts of your house.

And welcome. You'll get lots of info soon. It's the middle of the summer and these guys need something to talk about. There is also another part of this forum for pellet stoves. You'll find lots of help there, too.

pellet stoves are work but i spend about 10 min a day filling the hopper and giving the burn pot a quick scrap. and about an hour at the end of week, i shut the stove down and clean the inside of the burn chamber. then once a month i clean the stove and vent pipe. every ton to ton and a half you take you blowers out and clean them. if you get good it doesn't take real long, if you think about the time you spend cutting wood.

Go with a high efficiency wood burning fireplace. Ambiance when you want it, money saving heat when you need it.

Welcome to the forum. Lots of good info and great folks here!

Little Hawk sums up the daily/weekend/monthly stuff. I spend less time than he stated on my Harmon. Fill the hopper, scrape the pot and it's good to go. Once the cold weather really hits and the stove is burning higher and hotter, the weekly maint can go to every 2 weeks.

Depending on the make/model you look at would determine the ambiance factor. My P68 is primarily for heat and not for looks. Most call it a toilet bowl look :lol: But it cranks out the heat, with almost no monitoring from my end. There are other Harmans such as the XXV that looks great and puts out good heat as well. BUT, being from the south, you may not need the heat output that we need in the northeast.

Bear in mind that pellet quality plays a huge roll in heat output and maint. The lesser/cheaper pellets can sometime cause alot more upkeep and much less heat output.

If you are seriously looking at pellet stoves, take the time to go to several vendors with different makes. If you are lucky enough to find a dealer with more than 1 line, that helps the side by side comparison. It also helps to research the dealer and check their reputaion for service and knowledge.

Overall, a pellet stove was the answer for what I was looking for. There is alot to figure out and what you really want out of your setup and as many will say, "your mileage may vary". Botom line is to get what works for you.

Ask as many questions as you have about the stoves or the fireplace set ups. I'm sure that others will chime in on this.

Good Luck

Geno

A pellet stove used for ambiance only shouldn't present much in the way of an operational issue.

If you use a decent pellet it isn't uncommon to be able to run 24 x 7 and only be down for a short time every 7 days or so while cleaning out the burn pot etc.

With any wood burning device (that includes your wood insert) there is periodic cleaning to do.

What the pellet stove does is it gets rid of the wood mess (and multiple handling steps if you do the wood gathering and processing yourself) and allows one to run on a thermostat if desired.

Where the pellet stove falls down is that it needs electricity to operate which means a backup source is needed if your want to stay warm during power outages. But then boilers, etc also fall down this way.

I really need to do something about that particular situation. Been in this house close to three years now and there have been exactly two power interruptions, one lasted less than a minute (lighting storm) and the second lasted 7 hours (a frisky squirrel met its end and took out the substation and one of the re route lines was in the middle of being replaced). Both power losses were well outside of burn season. My house was built with running off of a generator in mind, just need to get one.

Welcome to the forum!

I also have a heat pump that I use for my primary heat source. I live in Cincinnati and have been using pellet stoves as a secondary source of heat for 14 years now.

I have an older Whitfield insert pellet stove for my main floor/second floor. I have a P-38 Harman for my finished basement which is the only source of heat I have there.

Maintenance on Harman's is actually fairly minimal during the burning season. You can go on -line to the Harman website and actually read the owners manuals so you can see what you are getting into. I actually have my Harman dealer clean my stove every spring.

Living in southern Georgia with a new house, you should have farily good insulation and windows. The temps during the winters should not get that cold so you will probalby not need a pellet stove that puts out 60,000 BTU's. The highest I've run my stoves is medium heat and thats when the temps are around zero or slightly below that.

Pellet quality varies greatly. The Harman's seem to handle almost any pellet although I've had issues with pellets being too long and bridging in my Harman.

The best pellets I recommend if you can get them are manufactured in Somerset, KY. They seem to be one of the hottest burning pellets with the lowest amount of fines and ash on the market today. Also, you can't go wrong with a Harman pellet stove.

Good luck with your decision.

Pellet stoves are not any more work than anything else. A lot depends upon you, your habits, your pellet choices etc...wood stoves do not have button and knobs...if you are a tinkerer and cannot leave button alone, if you are not up for understanding how and why a pellet stove work (which is kinda cool) then maybe a wood burner is better. There is however and pellet stove which will allow you to do both.


it will set you back $6k

here's the link to learn more

http://www.ecotec.net/pdf/Engelska/Tyr_E.pdf

smwilliamson said:

Pellet stoves are not any more work than anything else. A lot depends upon you, your habits, your pellet choices etc...wood stoves do not have button and knobs...if you are a tinkerer and cannot leave button alone, if you are not up for understanding how and why a pellet stove work (which is kinda cool) then maybe a wood burner is better. There is however and pellet stove which will allow you to do both.

it will set you back $6k

Click to expand...

That is slick for the stuck in the middle peeps. Got any more info on it? I wounder if you could stoke it before bed with wood and if the pellets will take over in the middle of the night. The thing I hated the most was getting up at 2 AM to refill the stove.

The tall box the left is where the hopper is for the pellets. Theoretically, if you move the fuel away from the firebox, you don't need the high limit switch or the constant convection air. This stove is a bottom feeder with a spiraling burnpot agitator. Beautiful to watch. Yes, you can load stick wood and set the thermostat to whatever you want. If you do not keep feeding the sticks and the room temp falls, the pellets will kick in and keep going.

I think I can get these things through MESyS in Maine, perhaps through another distributor too.

They are from Sweden...heck, I love my Volvo ;-)

and yeah, that is soap stone on top.

Thinking that you live in Southern Georgia, I just wouldn't think you would be using it alot or needing more than 1 ton a year if your lucky.

..and get a multi-fuel stove for them peach pits.

smwilliamson said:

The tall box the left is where the hopper is for the pellets. Theoretically, if you move the fuel away from the firebox, you don't need the high limit switch or the constant convection air. This stove is a bottom feeder with a spiraling burnpot agitator. Beautiful to watch. Yes, you can load stick wood and set the thermostat to whatever you want. If you do not keep feeding the sticks and the room temp falls, the pellets will kick in and keep going.

I think I can get these things through MESyS in Maine, perhaps through another distributor too.

They are from Sweden...heck, I love my Volvo ;-)

and yeah, that is soap stone on top.

Click to expand...

Sure wish I could find more info. Max BTU output. Hopper capacity and what the outside silo is all about.

southgapeach said:

We are from south georgia. We are in the process of building a house. We were thinking about buying a prefabricated wood insert for the house. While at the retail store, we came across a pellet stove. the one we looked at had a thermostat on it self loaded the pellets. Sounds like a great concept - no cutting wood, no having to get up in the middle of the night to keep fire going, etc. So we started doing research. The brand we were looking at was a Quadrafire. Then we moved on to Harman. We have just about concluded from everything we are reading that any pellet stove requires alot more attention than we originally thought. Seems like whatever brand you get, they all have issues. So now we are almost back at the idea of sticking with the prefabricated wood insert. We would appreciate any and all suggestions, positive and negative, about pellet stoves.

The other thing is that folks are telling us if you get a prefabricated wood insert that you don't really get any heat off of it. We will have a heat pump so are not going to be using insert as a main source of heat, more as a supplemental heat and of course the ambience! Thanks for all your help.

Click to expand...

heat pump only worx if electric is available

jtakeman said:

smwilliamson said:

The tall box the left is where the hopper is for the pellets. Theoretically, if you move the fuel away from the firebox, you don't need the high limit switch or the constant convection air. This stove is a bottom feeder with a spiraling burnpot agitator. Beautiful to watch. Yes, you can load stick wood and set the thermostat to whatever you want. If you do not keep feeding the sticks and the room temp falls, the pellets will kick in and keep going.

I think I can get these things through MESyS in Maine, perhaps through another distributor too.

They are from Sweden...heck, I love my Volvo ;-)

and yeah, that is soap stone on top.

Click to expand...

Sure wish I could find more info. Max BTU output. Hopper capacity and what the outside silo is all about.

Click to expand...

Max BTU 43,500 under pellet fuel, hopper capacity 60 lbs, the outside silo is a detached bin for pellets so that the system can 1. run from a remote vacuum feeder from a bulk storage bin, 2. allow the stove to get VERY hot during stick burning without compromising the pellet fuel (e.g. limit safety switch)

I love my pellet stove and spend about 15 minutes celaning it every 2 -3 days and then a couple of hours in the spring when I put it away for the summmer..However if you have natural gas available perhaps you would want to consider a natural gas stove...zero maintenance, not too much heat and they can look prettygood.

southgapeach said:

We have just about concluded from everything we are reading that any pellet stove requires alot more attention than we originally thought. Seems like whatever brand you get, they all have issues. So now we are almost back at the idea of sticking with the prefabricated wood insert.

Click to expand...

One thing I can tell you is several of us pellet burners are ex-wood burners.

Granted you will have to clean it a bit more, But its a way to get to know the stove. You will be cleaning up after the wood stove too. And it will not be just the stove. Every where you stack the wood will need to be tidy'd up. The closest stove I found to the wood burner is a multifueler. I only clean mine once a week. Same as the wood stove!

Welcome to the forum's and keep us posted on your purchase.

South Georgia?, If it don't snow there you dont need a stove...period!!, just enjoy the heat pump, I'd get a gas fireplace, no fuss no mess no work!, do they even sell pellets there?, how about a snow shovel??..sheesh south georgia......P.S, welcome to the forum.

southgapeach said:

Thanks for the feedback.
My concern is that we see so many horror stories about pellet stoves with failures of igniters, boards, other components, and noise.
Are these due to lack of quality, or maintenance?
It seems like there are posted problems on all brands with some dealers indicating they are no longer selling some brands.
We would like to cut through the smoke, and get some input from people who are using pellet stoves, and their experiences.

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Horror stories abound, regardless of brand or items puchased....one person's gem is another persons' anathema!

You mention dealers....thats about half of your purchase right there......if they wont service the unit, or dont know what they are doing, what good is the warrantee? I would look for referrals from existing users in this arena (in your own area), as all dealers will tell you they offer good support and service, and frankly, the proof is in the pudding here!

As for problems, even a stove thats perfectly maintained can break...after all, it is mechanical. But, by doing proper maintenance, you can decrease the likelihood of failure. If I had to estimate, roughly 85% of problems are due to inadequate maintenance or operation.

Lousyweather said:

southgapeach said:

Thanks for the feedback.
My concern is that we see so many horror stories about pellet stoves with failures of igniters, boards, other components, and noise.
Are these due to lack of quality, or maintenance?
It seems like there are posted problems on all brands with some dealers indicating they are no longer selling some brands.
We would like to cut through the smoke, and get some input from people who are using pellet stoves, and their experiences.

Click to expand...

Horror stories abound, regardless of brand or items puchased....one person's gem is another persons' anathema!

You mention dealers....thats about half of your purchase right there......if they wont service the unit, or dont know what they are doing, what good is the warrantee? I would look for referrals from existing users in this arena (in your own area), as all dealers will tell you they offer good support and service, and frankly, the proof is in the pudding here!

As for problems, even a stove thats perfectly maintained can break...after all, it is mechanical. But, by doing proper maintenance, you can decrease the likelihood of failure. If I had to estimate, roughly 85% of problems are due to inadequate maintenance or operation.

Click to expand...

To add to what Lousyweather has just said, you really, really, need to have several dealers in your area that are good at servicing the unit you buy, there is nothing worse than having a non working stove and no way to get it working in a reasonable amount of time. Given the current economic situation only having one dealer/service option in your area is a very bad situation, stove shops do not always have the resources to weather bad economic times and have been known to go out of business.

The other thing that you need to understand is that a number of people here are DIY when it comes to their stove servicing. These folks only need a source for parts and can take care of their own stove issues.

We hear all kinds of horror stories about service, installation, and operational problems.

If you check out several of the threads here on the pellet side of hearth.com you'll see repeated mentions of the importance of proper cleaning. This single aspect of running a pellet stove accounts for around 80% of stove issues and the issues run all the way from the stove going out to fires outside of the burn pot.

I love my pellet stove, the house is kept warmer than it would have otherwise been and as long as I can still service it and manage the 40 pound bags I'll likely use it.

Yeah the dang thing has turned into a hobby like the gardens and keeping chickens has.

southgapeach said:

ok, while doing more research on pellet stoves came across a company about an hour away that carries Breckwell pellet stoves. Are any of you familiar with this brand?

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I will try to be nice and say they are a starter stove. They have had some issues in the quality department. I would not recommend one.

Breckwell stoves have some issues. For example, the exhaust uotlet on the inserts is so low you cannot attach a cleanout T. The pedistals come loose on many freestanding units... amongst other issues. You would be better to buy an enviro stove for the same money. IMHO