Help me advise a friend on what to look for buying a stove

[xman23]

Guys, I'm a veteran cord wood burner / hearth member. But I know nothing about pellet stoves. As we all do when non burning friends are over the thing they all want to know, is what's involved in heating with wood. I can't tell you how many people I got into burning. So last night a single woman friend ours was over, and we discussed reducing her propane bill this year. No way can she deal with cord wood so I think to way to go is a pellet stove. She works 3, 12 hour days. As far as I know pellet stoves can be run from a thermostat. Maybe even programmable one. I know there is a bin for pellets, but not much more.

So what are the key features she should look for when buying one of these stoves. If you can suggest a brand that has a lot of bang for the buck, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you Brothers.

 

[Zeus]

Guys, I'm a veteran cord wood burner / hearth member. But I know nothing about pellet stoves. As we all do when non burning friends are over the thing they all want to know, is what's involved in heating with wood. I can't tell you how many people I got into burning. So last night a single woman friend ours was over, and we discussed reducing her propane bill this year. No way can she deal with cord wood so I think to way to go is a pellet stove. She works 3, 12 hour days. As far as I know pellet stoves can be run from a thermostat. Maybe even programmable one. I know there is a bin for pellets, but not much more.

So what are the key features she should look for when buying one of these stoves. If you can suggest a brand that has a lot of bang for the buck, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you Brothers.

Well to start I would be looking at a stove that has a60 lb hopper or larger to to satisfy those twelve hour shifts a smaller hopper on some stoves won't allow that long of a burn time when it's really cold outside

 

[Bioburner]

Or a hopper extension. Most of the pellet stoves can digest a standard bag of 40lbs and with a moderate burn of say 2 lbs an hour can burn almost a full day. Some of the stoves can go as low as a 1 lb an hour but then comes the ability to self ignite and control with either remote or on board thermostat makes a for a no burn rate conserving pellets.
Is the maybe newbie mechanically inclined? It helps with their service and needed cleaning. Some stoves are easier to clean and less needy on daily cleaning and some can burn a ton of pellets before needing a good cleaning and ash bin emptying.

 

[bogieb]

Welcome to the dark side xman. Part of the equation is her living circumstances. Is she in an old drafty farmhouse of 2,300 sq/ft with 2 floors, or a newer 2,500 sq/ft ranch that has a tight envelope? Probably somewhere in between, but all of the factors will have some sort of play on how much stove is needed.

The stove choice should take into consideration the sq/footage (stove literature will say how large an area it can handle), but that also needs to take into consideration the topic in the first paragraph. It is better to have a bit too much stove as to not enough stove. Does she have a place to install with needed clearances both inside and out? With the pellet stove forcefully pulling air into it, there are a lot of rules where the exhaust can go (not within 4 ft of an openable window for example, unless an Outside Air Kit is installed).

It is also better to place the stove in the room that is used the most, so if the only place to install is in a mud room around several walls and away from the main living area - there could be some disappointment in results.

If she is somewhat handy, or has access to someone who is, it may be possible to get a good deal on a used stove. If not then it would probably be best to stay away from a BBS or hardware store stove and get one from a somewhat local dealer so if there are issues there is someone who can help resolve them. Stove dealers usually only work on the brands they sell.

There is a whole lot of stuff to think about when looking to get into pellets. Zues, Bioburner and I have only scratched the surface.

 

[Bkins]

She must also have a dry place to store pellets. You might want to read through the stickys at the top of the page which contain a lot of information about pellet stoves and pellets. She needs to be able to lift 40 lb bags of pellets and be willing to attend to her stove at least a few times a week for most stoves.

 

[Lake Girl]

Probably best if you give us a better idea of the size of the space she is planning on heating, budget. The 12 hour shifts translates to 13-14 hours depending on drive time, weather conditions, errands that need to be run, etc ...