pellet furnace?

[Dr.Faustus]

im sorry i thought i was posting in the pellet section... can this be moved there?

recently, my 5 yr old oil boiler was completely submerged in water from hurricane irene. in fact my entire basement wall collapsed!. anyway, its all being rebuilt. heres my dilemma...

i never used the oil furnace since i got my pellet stove. since 2007 i've purchased 1 tank of oil. my water heater is electric. the furnace was forced hot air duct. i really dont like oil anymore. the price is never going to get reasonable in my opinion, it stinks, nozzles clog from under use etc....

i was thinking of either replacing it with an electric furnace that uses a coil and an air handler or getting a pellet furnace. ive been using an englander pdvc and keeping the house warm all winter just with that. is it legal and up to code to have a pellet furnace as your sole source of house heat? does it even matter? or do most towns require your home to have a conventional heating system?

anyone have experience with the pellet furnaces? it doesnt take much to heat the house, the pdvc and 5 tons do the whole season. im thinking the furnace will heat more evenly vs the englander cooking out the livingroom.

or should i just get the electric coil in the air handler as a backup to the englander?

i know electric is expensive and if i go that route i dont plan on really using it a whole lot however its cheap to install, doesnt need a flue, never have to order oil and i already have ductwork. 700 for the unit shipped.

 

[briansol]

Are you planning to keep your pellet stove as well? I think having the furnace would basically make the stove obsolete.

They aren't cheap either. (but i imagine insurance is footing the bill?)


If I had to do it again, I'd consider a pellet furnace, but I'd look into other things like geothermal too since the foundation is already broken to see if its a viable option in your area. Expensive, but green and will pay for itself over 20 years of heating/cooling, and green

 

[hossthehermit]

The " legal" and " up to code" issues vary depending on where you are, I imagine. The other thing is homeowner insurance requirements, I' ve heard some companies won't allow solid fuel appliances as sole or primary heat. I installed my pellet furnace beside my oil furnace, and tied into the same ductwork, usually start the oil furnace once in the fall to make sure it works, pellets the rest of the time, haven't bought oil for 4 years. Nice to have it there for a backup, though.

 

[FyreBug]

You are correct. Most jurisdiction do not consider solid fuel as a steady source of heat. The reason behind it, is if there is no one to refill wood or pellets the pipes will freeze and the insurance will not like it.

You could look at the PSG Alterna it's a full 120K BTU pellet furnace. If you put the optional electric element, then you have a 'full' stand alone furnace. It's also AC ready. http://www.psg-distribution.com/product.aspx?CategoId=28&Id=542&Page=description

You havent said what the size of you house is, BTU load requirement, level of insulation, type of house etc... All this info is required if folks can help with your specifics.

There is also the Drolet ECO-65 which is a 65K BTU pellet heater you can transform into a miniature furnace with its distribution kit. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200442427_200442427

But if you can provide more info it would really help.

 

[Dr.Faustus]

thanks for all the help. Im kinda torn between the harman pf100 and the farenheit. I tried looking around for a site that sells these things. When i got my englander I had just went to home depot and bought it. I dont see any place online to purchase one. Am i forced to go through a dealer on something like this?

insurance is not footing the bill, they wont cover foundation repairs/water. said policy covers dwelling and not what it sits on. fema has been a help tho.


Id like to keep the englander in addition to the furnace this way if 1 breaks i can use the other one until parts come in. my other concern..... if you are forced to buy the furnace through the dealer, are you forced to buy replacement parts through a dealer as well? Im an avid do it yourselfer and have fairly extensive knowlege of how these things work. I'd like access to the parts to service it myself.

 

[Dr.Faustus]

as for btu requirements, im not sure. house is 1700 sq feet, moderate insulation and im in dutchess county NY. doesnt take much to heat the place, my englander PDVC 25 does the job just fine, even on the coldest of days. so even a small pellet furnace will do the trick. the reason im even thinking about it is that it would be nice having it run like a furnace in the basement. no pellets in the livingroom, more even heat through ductwork and no dragging a shopvac over the carpets.

plus the englander is high maintenance during the super cold months when i have to run it full bore. I put the hopper extension which helped out a *lot* but since it has no burn pot stirrer and no official ash drawer, it has to be shut down, cooled, and vacuumed very often..

 

[silverfox103]

We on the forum are in the "pellet world", but in all honesty we are in a minority. People don't understand pellets, they think you have a wood stove or something. If the time comes that you wanted to sell your house, and there was no "traditional" boiler or furnace, you could have a problem. It could cost you tens of thousands on the price. My 2 cents replace what you had with something more efficient.

Tom C.

 

[ehkewley]

We on the forum are in the "pellet world", but in all honesty we are in a minority. People don't understand pellets, they think you have a wood stove or something. If the time comes that you wanted to sell your house, and there was no "traditional" boiler or furnace, you could have a problem. It could cost you tens of thousands on the price. My 2 cents replace what you had with something more efficient.

Tom C.

agreed