Just like the title says it's up in the air yet which to go with. Looking at a Harman P43 or a TL 2.0 which is more efficient and easier to maintain. My parents have a pellet stove in the basement which has been flawless for 6 years which has me heading in that direction, but want to keep an open mind. I have a 92+ nat gas forced hot air so I am not looking for a savings just the looks/feel. I will be installing myself as I do HVAC for a living. House is a 6 year old 1850sqf 2 store in PA.
Pellet OR Wood?? need some pro/cons
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Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Since you already have cheap, thermostatic, and dependable heat that you pay for and when the power is on then you already accomplish what the pellet stove can do for you.
What you don't currently have is a source of heat that is silent, works with no power, can be fed free fuel, and is nice to watch burning. Of course I vote wood. If you didn't already have such an awesome NG heat source then I would ask about your stacking space, schedule desire to save money, etc.
What you don't currently have is a source of heat that is silent, works with no power, can be fed free fuel, and is nice to watch burning. Of course I vote wood. If you didn't already have such an awesome NG heat source then I would ask about your stacking space, schedule desire to save money, etc.
Firedancer
Member
jdp1152
Minister of Fire
Not even a debate if you have high efficiency natural gas. Get a stove/insert and enjoy the flames. I've got geothermal and burn for the love of it, not the cost. Pellet stoves don't come close in the ambiance department. Every evening I start a fire in one of my inserts and don't miss an open fireplace at all. The views are great and heat gain a huge plus
Holiday
Burning Hunk
I have natural gas as well and put in a wood stove so that's my vote. Didn't do it to save money but I'm pretty much burning all the time. It gives the heat and the looks which is what you are wanting.
Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar
Burning Hunk
I went from a pellet stove to wood and won't be looking back at all. My wood is free and my wood stove doesn't use any electricity unless I decide to turn on the blower. I think the pellet stove was pulling as much electricity as my A/C unit does in the summer.
Seanm
Minister of Fire
I was at a Halloween party the other night and was talking to a guy who used to have a blaze king who recently went to pellets. His family also burns pellets. He tells me he doesn't miss burning in a wood stove so I guess it depends on how you feel. We talked about trees, btus, wood heat and trout for quiet awhile. We were both convinced that the way we were heating was the way to go. Shrug.
weatherguy
Minister of Fire
I have the same discussion with one of my friends, he switched from wood to pellets and loves it, I switched from pellets to wood and love it, of course when we got hit by an early season snow storm and lost power for a week, I was warm, he wasn't.
Did you search for old threads that have already covered this topic?
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/wood-stoves-vs-pellet-stoves.92744/
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/wood-stoves-vs-pellet-stoves.92744/
Holiday
Burning Hunk
Does a pellet stove give a nice fire view or heat? I don't know much about them. Just figure it would probably cost more than a nat gas furnace to run and the purpose of this is atmosphere I believe.
Your original post says your motivation is not for savings, but for looks/feel. Pellets will not give you the look and feel of a wood stove or fireplace, no comparison, in my opinion.
BKInsert
Member
This is really unbelievable, I did not realize a pellet stove is a power hogger... this does not make sense to me, the whole idea is to save on energy cost and be independent of the grid, but I guess not everyone could handle wood.
See this thread...
https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/ups-or-generator.115997/
Does a pellet stove offer any energy cost savings at all?
BurnIt13
Minister of Fire
If you are not the type of guy who is going to hunt down free wood, haul it back to your house, and split/stack it.....I'd go with pellets.
Buying wood and having it delivered vs having a pallet of pellets delivered is not worth it in my opinion. The cordwood will not be dry enough to use right away, even though the seller says it is. You will have to wait a year probably. Then you will have to stack it somewhere, then bring it close to your house come winter time.
Bags of pellets can be stacked in closets, in your basement, under your couch, etc.
So if you can get your wood for free, and are willing to deal with all the work that goes with it......go wood. If you are just going to buy the fuel anyway....go pellets.
Buying wood and having it delivered vs having a pallet of pellets delivered is not worth it in my opinion. The cordwood will not be dry enough to use right away, even though the seller says it is. You will have to wait a year probably. Then you will have to stack it somewhere, then bring it close to your house come winter time.
Bags of pellets can be stacked in closets, in your basement, under your couch, etc.
So if you can get your wood for free, and are willing to deal with all the work that goes with it......go wood. If you are just going to buy the fuel anyway....go pellets.
Papa-Yankee-Romeo-Oscar
Burning Hunk
When I originally bought it I ran corn in it and saved quite a bit over heating with propane. When corn went through the roof and became cost prohibitive I switched to wood pellets. In the dead of winter with the stove running 24/7 my electric bill would meet or exceed what it did running the A/C in the heat of summer. When you factor in the cost of pellets the difference between heating with the pellets and heating with propane was a wash. My pellet stove has now been put on garage duty.
joescho
Feeling the Heat
I have both. I run both all winter. I have 4 ton of pellets in my basement and 3 cords of wood in my backyard. I will run out of wood by April (my choice). I will have at least a ton of pellets left over. If you plan ahead (like you would if you were burning wood) you will have the pellets you need and no, the store is not likely to run out of pellets. The closest thing to that is maybe around March they put them away in favor of grass seed and mulch. You can clean the pellet stove twice a month, and just keep feeding it pellets. No, it won't eat all you electricity. Many have a thermostat not so it can run unattended. I like my pellet insert. Its clean, efficient, warm, and convienent.
My electric bill has decreased from $190/month (budget plan) to $129/month.
Having said all of that, my wood insert in my basement is absolutely my heavy lifter. Between that and my pellet stove none of my electric baseboard heaters ever turn on. That thing cranks. It puts out heat like nobody's business. I get 3 huge wheel-barrow loads on Saturday, clean out the ashes, and away I go for another week.
Its more work than the pellet stove, but its a lot more heat.
But I really can't say I like one over the other. They both have lots of plusses and minuses. Its all in how much work/heat you want.
Just my 2 cents.
My electric bill has decreased from $190/month (budget plan) to $129/month.
Having said all of that, my wood insert in my basement is absolutely my heavy lifter. Between that and my pellet stove none of my electric baseboard heaters ever turn on. That thing cranks. It puts out heat like nobody's business. I get 3 huge wheel-barrow loads on Saturday, clean out the ashes, and away I go for another week.
Its more work than the pellet stove, but its a lot more heat.
But I really can't say I like one over the other. They both have lots of plusses and minuses. Its all in how much work/heat you want.
Just my 2 cents.
eclecticcottage
Minister of Fire
Well...I say go to a stove shop and look at both burning. There is definately a difference. I really don't like the look of a pellet fire, although I *might* like a Thelin because it's such a skinny fire box that it might look good. I've never seen one burning though. I HAVE seen more "traditional" styled stoves in wood, pellet and gas (mostly Lopi) and couldn't figure out why someone would choose a pellet stove over a gas stove (which will turn on and off when needed thermostatically, not need feeding and still work without power for as long as there's no power) even if they have to use LP instead of NG if they didn't want wood. It's mostly personal opinion obviously though, because plenty of people do. For me, it's wood, gas then pellet. Wood has the best look and since we scrounge our wood (free) it's the least expensive and I don't find it terribly messy. Gas (we've had two and I would like to replace the VF for a DV eventually) has a decent look and is basically like a furnace that doesn't need electric to run-set it and forget it (unless you need to refill the LP tank). Pellets still need storage space, and electric to run, and the stove still needs cleaning.
joescho
Feeling the Heat
You're right.... personal preference. I'm just not a fan of gas - no particular reason.
Agreed.
Pellets are also different by brand. Some are lousy, others are great. I think its all in where the company gets the sawdust or wood from and what else may be in it. There's one pellet brand that makes a greenish flame. That's got to make you go hmmm.......
However, pellets are great for the environment because otherwise all that sawdust would go to waste.
But as eclecticcottage said, go see both. That's the best advise. All have their ups and downs, it all in what your preferences are.
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