people, people check out my sig... I burn it all
!
I can tell you this...
there are ways to "tweak" pellet stoves, furnaces, wood stoves, etc to perform better... every situation is different
it all comes down to personal preference...but
if you wanna save the environment and are more eco then burn pellets or wood (with newer stoves)
if you wanna save money then use your furnace.... todays "new" furnaces are gonna get better eff than most if not all stoves (aka space heaters)
I have owned a total of 3 pellet stoves..... i am partial to harman... but none of them "throw" heat like my woodstove.. and its an insert so imagine if it was freestanding!
HOWEVER, NONE OF THEM HEAT MY WHOLE HOUSE LIKE MY FURNACE!........ with the woodstove you have the famous "curve" of heat, with the pellet stove you have constant heat but ask yourself how long does it take for heat coming outta a pellet stove at say 80 degrees to heat 2000 sq ft? vs 175 coming off a wood stove???(these are just estimates)
and as always... the insulation , the combustion air all have something to with our systems......and how they perform
many people including me want/wanted to heat with pellets so badly that we lost in math except the eco friendly... all the money we spent on stoves could've been offset by upgrading our furnaces(some of us)... for me my furnace runs between 85-88 percent ...... factor that vs price of pellets 250-300 a ton its cheaper to pay for oil.... to those that run 2 stoves... its cheaper to buy oil/lp/nat gas (for most)..... I wanted to save money , so i went with wood... it cost me about 2-400 a year with wood... i still get 1 or 2 tons as i have a pellets stove where electric heat is so you know pellets are cheaper... but if i dont have company it goes no higher than 2.5 with the feed at 3.5 (feed rate depends on the pellets you are using... you can go slower if you are using a good hardwood pellet(2.5-3) but softwood i wouldnt rec less than 3 sometimes 4-4.5 (but rarely)
MSG, you can try all the things possible to try , but if you are used to the "heat" coming off of a stove.... you will never find that intensity off of a pellet stove... simply because of the "curve" ... check that the only way to come close is to turn it all the way up!... also i believe your stove is made outta cast right?
you could try a p61/8 those are straight steel... you might have better luck