If you had the choice between natural gas conversion or stove what would you do??

You didn't say if you bought the stove or not???

But, in general, I would not compare these two things. There is a vast difference between setting a thermostat and hauling a couple tons of pellets, scraping your pot, etc.

My general opinion is that, for most, a pellet stove is an add-on luxury....an optional purchase. Whereas a conversion to gas is really a capital improvement on the house.

Also, other things come into play. Is your other (oil) furnace old and in need of replacement soon anyway? Do you travel or go away often? A pellet stove is mostly for attended operation.

In terms of a rational heating decision (other factors aside), I would certain consider the gas conversion a better long term investment. Example: if you sell your house in a few years, the gas will be of a lot of value but many buyers might not want to fiddle with pellets.

FYI, I heated my 2600 sq ft house, hot water (lots) - plus gas cooking and a gas dryer....for about $250 a month in the cold weather.

Lot of NG drilling going on in PA, WV and other areas. Prices have stayed pretty low at the consumer end, usually the equiv of $2.00 to $3.00 a gallon oil - not bad in this day and age.

Just FYI, stove dealers in the NE are already reporting a slowdown just in the last few days based on $4 oil as opposed to $4.50. Very fickle, indeed. At $3.50, things should return to "normal" - if prices fall to $3.25 or $3.00, I think we will have a repeat of overstocks (once initial demand is satisfied, stoves will build up in inventory).

Of course, some depends in the price of pellets - which appear to already be coming down in some markets. If pellets can be found at $200 to $250, it will help them be competitive.

Whether or not the recent oil prices were a "bubble" remains to be seen.....