I wish I kept my wood stove!

[iamdrumming]

So, I’m still battling issues with my pellet stove shutting down unexpectedly.
I’m confident I’ll resolve it eventually, but I’m sure something else will go wrong.
I wish I kept my Vermont Castings wood stove.
These pellet stoves are a pain in my A**!!
WAY too may things to go wrong…
With a wood stove:
- No moving parts
- Quiet
- Runs without power
- There’s a ton of FREE wood all over the place
- I love chopping it

Other than the convenience of a pellet stove running off a thermostat (which I don’t use anyway), I don't see a big advantage.
Cleaner.. maybe?
Just wondering if anyone else felt/feels the same way?

Venting in NH…

Thanks,
Rob

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Wow Rob. That is a shame to be battling all the time. I recall when a nephew really tried hard to talk me into a pellet stove. Just think, I would not have to work so hard. Then later I started finding out some of the negatives, like constant upkeep, higher light bill, always looking for pellets and there were 2 years when he had some problems even getting pellets. I talked with him a couple days ago and he is starting to stockpile pellets for next year already. "So, you have to dry your wood too?!" lol

 

[fespo]

I sold my pellet stove last year, what a pain in the _ss. I just turn the gas on now, when the wood can not keep up.

 

[mrjohneel]

Rob, why'd you switch? I'm a new pellet guy and never had a wood stove. But I think I spend more time on this forum looking at the pictures of people cutting and stacking wood -- looks like hard work but good work in beautiful settings. Unfortunately I live in a dense suburb (that I like) but no place for me to scrounge or store wood. Good luck with your pellet stove (but I can understand if you went back to a wood stove).

 

[jtakeman]

No reason you can't have both! :cheese:

 

[Jags]

Rob, why'd you switch? I'm a new pellet guy and never had a wood stove. But I think I spend more time on this forum looking at the pictures of people cutting and stacking wood -- looks like hard work but good work in beautiful settings. Unfortunately I live in a dense suburb (that I like) but no place for me to scrounge or store wood. Good luck with your pellet stove (but I can understand if you went back to a wood stove).

Your a pellet burner AND a city slicker? Oh man - first person I have ever put on my "ignore" list.

(I kid, I kid, ;-) )

 

[Gary_602z]

Just wait until Fiskars comes out with their new X-2 pellet splitter then you can have the pleasure of splitting your pellets! :lol:

Gary

 

[eclecticcottage]

That sucks, sounds like you got a bad one there. I never considered a pellet stove when we bought the Lopi. Then someone posted about their Parlour pellet stove and I went AWWW $%^ I forgot about Thelin! Now I quietly ponder replacing the VF with a gnome, since it would only run as back up (no furnace) to the Lopi. It makes sense for that, since another wood stove would have the same downfall (not home to refill for more than 12ish hours, no heat) and it's a great look with a smallish footprint/size requirements. Only problem is the hopper isn't all that big on it, so maybe a DV is in the future (FAR in the future).

 

[mayhem]

I want a small pellet stove to heat the basement and keep my first gloor floors warm for me and let the stove do the rest of the house. My wife wants to get rid of the woodstove and switch to pellets. I'm trying to convince her otherwise because I don't think a pellet stove is going to work half as well as our woodstove in our house unless we get a seriously big one.

Plus I don't want to buy $1500 worth of pellets every year. Might as well just kick the oil boiler back on instead.

Nor do I want to deal with the maintenance on a pellet stove.

But she's my wife so I'm not sure I'm going to win this one.

 

[GAMMA RAY]

I want a small pellet stove to heat the basement and keep my first gloor floors warm for me and let the stove do the rest of the house. My wife wants to get rid of the woodstove and switch to pellets. I'm trying to convince her otherwise because I don't think a pellet stove is going to work half as well as our woodstove in our house unless we get a seriously big one.

Plus I don't want to buy $1500 worth of pellets every year. Might as well just kick the oil boiler back on instead.

Nor do I want to deal with the maintenance on a pellet stove.

But she's my wife so I'm not sure I'm going to win this one.

Pfft...you better go make yourself at home in "The Pellet Room"....you ain't gonna win that one...
:lol: :lol:

 

[blades]

Yep , you lost before you even started.

 

[VCBurner]

Sorry to hear about the trouble with the pellet burner. If I had the choice, I'd have a wood stove instead of pellet. I miss burning wood. The old house had a utility chimney unused in the basement and a fireplace with a wood stove attached to it. I used to have the wood stove in the basement but having it upstairs in the main living area was the best. The new house only has one flue which has the furnace in it. We only heat the water with that. Seeing as we rent, it would be too much putting in a class A chimney so the pellet stove is OK. I boughtmine used for $900 and have had no motor failure or anything else so far. The convection blower froze once and I just tapped on it to free it up. It overheated it once by trying to set it on 5 from a cold start with a dirty stove. The house temp was really low and I had to reset the sensor to get it to work. Never had another problem but if given the choice, wood burning would be at the top of the list. There is a place for pellet stoves though and I could see both in my future, when we buy our own home. For some, pellet stoves are more convenient and you still save a ton of money compared to oil or gas. I have burned about $300 worth so far this year, oil would have been at least twice as much if not more at nearly $4/gallon prices.

To sum it up, yes I would prefer a wood stove as a main heater and feel the same way you do about the work involved. But I hope you can figure out your pellet burner, as mine has been trouble free and has kept us warm all winter long.

 

[mayhem]

Yep , you lost before you even started.

Yep. I resigned myself to that awhile back. But I can get out of it...I just have to figure out how to sabotoge the process.

My flue is about a 30' straight vertical shot. If I pull the wood stove out and switch to pellets, we'll have a big hole in the roof! (She doesn't need to know you can patch it or buy a thinble that'll adapt the pellet exhaust to the metalbestos)

 

[iamdrumming]

To clarify, we had a very nice vermont castings wood stove in my old house. When we moved, we had a very inefficient gas insert.
We knew we needed something more efficient. So, we went with a pellet stove primarily because of the work load and mess of a wood stove.
Since we got the pellet stove three years ago, we've replaced the igniter and thermal coupler. Went without power for 9 days (no pellet stove). Now, we've had it broken for going on two seasons.. the dealer tried to fix it, another guy tried to fix it. Now, I am trying to fix it with help from these forums.
I'm just so fed up with this thing.. way too complicated. Plus, there is free wood everywhere around me!
I think I'm selling this thing as soon as I get it fixed!

 

[Weird tolkienish figure]

So, I’m still battling issues with my pellet stove shutting down unexpectedly.
I’m confident I’ll resolve it eventually, but I’m sure something else will go wrong.
I wish I kept my Vermont Castings wood stove.
These pellet stoves are a pain in my A**!!
WAY too may things to go wrong…
With a wood stove:
- No moving parts
- Quiet
- Runs without power
- There’s a ton of FREE wood all over the place
- I love chopping it

Other than the convenience of a pellet stove running off a thermostat (which I don’t use anyway), I don't see a big advantage.
Cleaner.. maybe?
Just wondering if anyone else felt/feels the same way?

Venting in NH…

Thanks,
Rob

If you live on a wooded lot I'd go with a wood stove. But I live on a very urbanized lot with a bunch of twigs that could probably heat me for about an hour.

So yeah, I like my pellet stove and I've been lucky so far with reliability etc.

 

[MishMouse]

Yep , you lost before you even started.

Yep. I resigned myself to that awhile back. But I can get out of it...I just have to figure out how to sabotoge the process.

My flue is about a 30' straight vertical shot. If I pull the wood stove out and switch to pellets, we'll have a big hole in the roof! (She doesn't need to know you can patch it or buy a thinble that'll adapt the pellet exhaust to the metalbestos)

My advise is pray for a storm to knock out the power for a few days.
How I win is to have her come to my opinion on her own, this may take a while but it is more productive in the long run.
If I try to convince her by using logic and reason I feel I would have better chance to get a squirrel to fill out my income taxes.
But, when she feels it is her decision then there is no problem.

 

[Jags]

I feel I would have better chance to get a squirrel to fill out my income taxes.

I have a squirrel that fills out my taxes. His name is Bob.

 

[blades]

Heard of him, in relation to something else which escapes at the moment. ( old age)

 

[Eatonpcat]

I feel I would have better chance to get a squirrel to fill out my income taxes.

I have a squirrel that fills out my taxes. His name is Bob.

Do you get back PeaNUTS every year??

 

[Jags]

I feel I would have better chance to get a squirrel to fill out my income taxes.

I have a squirrel that fills out my taxes. His name is Bob.

Do you get back PeaNUTS every year??

No. All I get from him is a bunch of chatter.