Natural Gas Stove or Pellet Stove?

[basenjiwarrior]

Hello All! (posting from Buffalo,NY)

I am a newbie here and appreciate that there is a knowledgeable place I can go to find out information on stoves.

I was hoping to get a wood stove and turn down/almost off my gas, and cruise through winter ,enjoying the savings and the warmth of the wood fire.

Unfortunately, I have been quoted estimates in the range of $4,500-over $5,000 (piping,piping, piping as I can't go through the chimney)

I just don't have that kind of money.

It's basically a 2 flat house. I live in the downstairs and rent the upstairs.

My place is small- only like 1,100 square feet.

Would it still be cost effective for me to get a vented gas stove or a pellet stove and turn down my gas for the whole place.

Thus, relying on the stove to heat my apartment. Would I expect a savings? Is it worthwhile to do?

Thanks so much, my heart was set on a wood stove, so I have the blues- but am wondering if one of the other options would save me money.

 

[begreen]

All of these stoves are going to need some degree of piping. Use a fuel cost calculator to do the math of pricing out the cost of gas (natural or propane) vs pellets (local cost) before making a decision. Is there already gas in the house? If not add that cost. How will the pellets get to the house? Need delivery, add that cost.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/fuel_cost_comparison_calculator/

 

[JoeS]

With the pricing of NG right now and the foreseeable future I think you would be wise to stick with the NG.

In my neck of the woods pellets would need to be in the 150/ton range to compete with NG.

 

[dac122]

Your wood stove estimate sounds very high to me, unless we are talking a wood furnace of some kind. What model were you looking at? How much pipe will you need? Are there some complexities to the install not mentioned? Are you doing it yourself or hiring out?

Have you also worked out the logistics of feeding your wood stove, and where to store the wood, etc.?

As mentioned check some cost calculators, and make sure it takes into account efficiency of the pellet stove and your existing heating. Having a rough idea about NG prices these days, I suspect pellets will be the same or more. If not sure just post your per therm gas cost including taxes.

If you already us NG to heat I doubt a gas stove will save you any money unless you are willing to put up with cold areas, or close off some of that 1100 sqft.

 

[ad356]

i really don't like gas myself, i prefer the pellets. i love the idea of paying for my heat and being done with it. none of this nonsense of using it and then receiving a bill in the mail for gas that has already been consumed. i think the pellet stove gives me more control of my heating cost. also none of this balanced billing, paying for heat in the summer is nonsense. i can understand buying pellets in the summer because they are cheaper(saving money on the off season), however balanced billing really does not save you any money it just costs money on the off season. also any form of wood heating produces a nice warmth you just wont get from gas.

in my case the gas furnace that came with the house is an oil fired unit that was converted over to natural gas, very inefficient. i bought a us stove company 5510 stove and the necessary pipe for $1,400 and had a neighbor help with the install. i also get a tax rebate on the stove of 30%. my neighbor told me that the previous owner of the house left for 2 weeks and used the gas furnace to heat when they were gone. that months heating cost them $480+ for 2 weeks of solid use, yikes. i shut the pilot off to that furnace, im not using that piece of junk at all.

all and all, i think the pellet stove was a good investment, it does a good job of heating the house. the only room that gets cooler is the kitchen which is furthest away from the stove. eventually i would like to either buy a us stove American Harvest or a hotblast furnace, these are the types that hook up to forced air ducts. if i ever did that, i would put the 5510 in the barn and use it to heat that. for now, im quite happy with what i have, just wish it distributed the heat a little better, that is the only downfall of having a stove in a given room. that room is warmer than the rest of the house.

the previous owner was using a wood stove. i was going to buy a new wood stove because what was here was tired. i had someone inspect the chimney and it is unsafe. it touches the eves, doesnt have enough masonry separating the thimble from the wall. also had a neigbor tell me that they were intentionally having chimney fires to "clean" out the chimney, i HUGE NO NO. so after some thought i decided to not even mess with having a liner installed and simply buying a pellet unit



i also do not like the stupid blue flame that natural gas produces, not something that i want to see. my parents use a natural gas fireplace and i think its one of the most pointless things in the world. it doesnt even produce any meaningful heat.