Pellet or wood stove??

First I would suggest posting this in the wood heat or pellet heat forum. Second, either stove type will do the job in 2000SF but the stove will be cheaper to buy and run.

Pellet vs Wood is tough. If you have to buy wood then you mine as well buy pellets.

I'd personally vote for wood. You can scrounge for wood, you may have friends that have a tree fall over, etc. Pellets will never be free. And you can't control the cost. Anyone that has the time and patience can find free wood if they really want to...

bank the foundation,minimally speaking

btuser said:

Pellet vs Wood is tough. If you have to buy wood then you mine as well buy pellets.

Click to expand...

I'm with btuser, Wood works if you can scavanage the fuel the best.

Wood stoves are usually cheaper than pellet stoves. But there is other equipment that will equal that out. A chain saw is a must have. Even if you buy the wood. There is always some left on the side of the roads. I would stop and pick them up and bought a saw to cut it. You could buy picker loads and do the work yourself. Then you would need to rent or purchase a splitter. I did that for about 5 years.

I have found that most wood suppliers in my area didn't season the wood properly. And green wood or moist wood killes the burn. The ones that seasoned it properly were so over priced it was more economical to purchase logs. Did the work myself and saved. We went to pellets when my son was born. We wanted a temp consistent house. I couldn't do the with wood. And no way I was using the electric heat.

Storage is something else you need to consider. You would need the room for 2 to 3 seasons of fuel for wood. Pellets don't need that as there is no seasoning. And you can buy as you need. But having room for the seasons worth is what most of the pellet burners do. Since you buy when the prices are the most reasonable. Usually in the spring the prices are the lowest.

Both are good choices. Both have pro's and con's. You just need to pick whats best for you! Keep us posted on the choice and post a picture of the stove once your burning!

In addition to all the above conservation is a huge step, insulate those basement walls with foam and that will save you considerable heat regardless of the heat source.

I used a pellet stove to heat my home for 2 seasons and traded up to an out of the house seton. even with it being a less than perfect design our entire house hold prefers wood over pellets.
It also sticks in my head that the mess from pellet dust was a pain to deal with it is a very fine airborne mess when you fill the hopper everyday. Firewood mess on the other hand is easily
cleaned with a broom.

My 2cents

woodstove also has the sometimes significant advantage of not requiring electricity to run.