Purchasing Pellet Stove for Modular Home

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wldraven1965

New Member
Aug 22, 2010
11
Far Far Away Land
hello everyone.

Yesterday, we looked at several pellet stoves for our 2000 square foot modular home and the dealer at our local store was without knowledge of anything he had for sale. We want to use the stove as our primary heating source.... We already have fireplace in the house, but, would like to let that remain as our secondary source of heat should we have power outages due to storms.

Anyway, back to my problem. the fireplace is set in our family room/kitchen/dining area. I asked if it was possible to set the pellet stove in the dining room or livingroom of our house, these are the central areas in the home. The dealer said, he didn't know and it would cost me 100.00 for him to inspect my house for the perfect place to set the pellet stove up. My caution light began to blink rapidly, and the guy began to look like a snake in a suit. My sister and I left the shop quickly and found several pellet stoves on Lowes and Home Depots websites that we have considered... We are concerned about the performance and quality of their devices. Especially since they were 1500.00 to 2000.00 less than what the suited snake was selling...


Does anyone have any suggestions, where the stove should be placed and what is a good stove to purchase... We are able to spend no more than 2300.00, we are both disabled and funds are limited...... thank you
 
Greetings. Englander (also sold as Summer's Heat brand) pellet stoves offer good value and are mobile-home approved. You should be able to install one without problem. If possible, try to locate the pellet stove centrally in the home for best heat distribution.

One thing you should check out first is the local availability and cost of pellets. In some areas they are a cost effective alternative fuel, but in other areas another fuel like natural gas may be more cost effective.
 
Seeing that you stated you have a disability. A pellet stove does require much TLC. Where a NG stove is much more user friendly and doesn't need lots and lots of TLC to keep burning properly. So as BeGreen stated. I would also recommend you check into what the fuel prices pellet and NG are. Or even LP for that matter. Gas stoves require much less fussing with!

One question you would have to ask yourself, Even if pellets are less expensive. Would you be able to tend to the stove on a regular basis?
 
Welcome to the forum wldraven. This is a great place to get info from members who are very helpful and knowledgeable. We also have a bit of fun here too on occasion! LOL

As for your question about the Englander stoves, I can personally attest to their stoves being very solid and reliable. I sold another brand of stove last year to buy one of their multi-fuel pellet stoves, and have NO regrets.

One of the members on this forum, Mike Holton (forum name "stoveguy2esw") is the senior tech person at Englander, and is a GREAT person to deal with. Their customer service is 2nd to none in the industry, IMO.

I bought a factory refurbed unit last summer off of eBay, and couldn't be happier. Here is a couple of links to those stoves. Free shipping is included to the nearest trucking depot, and can be delivered to your home for a modest $50-60 extra.

This is the same person I bought my unit from. Free shipping is included to the nearest trucking depot, and can be delivered to your home for a modest $50-60 extra.....it's the newest stove in their product line-up: http://cgi.ebay.com/TimberRidge-pel...684619951?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0#ht_2185wt_913

This stove is the same one I bought, and can burn other fuels besides wood pellets, but is from another seller (but is very highly rated on eBay too). He does charge for shipping: http://cgi.ebay.com/TimberRidge-pel...684619951?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0#ht_2185wt_913

Don't forget: these stoves also qualify for the The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, providing a tax credit of up to $1500.00 for purchases made in 2010, which includes the stove, any piping for exhaust, installation, etc, etc.


Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.
 
thank you so much for your input.

We have found premium pellets at the Tracker Supply Store in our area for 205.00 a ton. We bought 2 tons yesterday for 385.00... Yes, we bought the horse before the barn was built... LOL....

We are unable to use oil heat since the smell makes my sister very ill. We installed electric baseboards and were not satisfied with them.... A family member has a pellet furnace in North Carolina and the house is hot as HELL in the winter.... The smell did not bother my sister....She is now concerned with the noise of the fan....I reccommended her sleeping in the shed........LOL.

I look forward to purchasing a stove. I also look forward to chatting with you guys.....

thank you so much again I have to sign off the Lasanga is ready to come out of the oven....
 
wldraven1965 said:
....We have found premium pellets at the Tracker Supply Store in our area for 205.00 a ton. We bought 2 tons yesterday for 385.00...

Just curious....what brand did they have, and was that the one you bought?
 
wldraven1965 said:
I believe they were American Wood or All American Wood...... But, I think its the first

American Wood Fiber? (referred to as AWF on this forum). As Jay says, good pellets and that was a good price.
 
The englander is a great stove for the money. I would buy another if I needed to buy agian. That being said all stoves require some form of periodic cleaning and moving pellets. I would limt by models based on purchse price and then inquire on this forum as to how much time and effort it takes to maintain the various models. It depends on many issues as to what stove to purchase. There are those that require very little cleaning and those that require more cleaning based on design. There are stoves with thermostat's and other features. The bin can hold so many pounds of pellets for example. The bin will impact how often pellets have to be refilled in the stove. The lower England holds a little less than a bag of pellets. Some hold more.
 
Howdy wldraven and welcome,
Is the existing fireplace centrally located in your home? How big a living/open space do you have? I wanted a pellet stove too, but ended up with a pellet insert that fits into the existing fireplace. I think you should first find someone you can trust to install the stove and perhaps they can help with where the stove should be placed and type of install that is best. Many contractors out there looking for work and many should be able to do the job properly. Talk with friends who have had work done and find someone you trust. Best of luck and keep us updated as to the progress your making!

Schoondog
 
Hey again guys.... Thank you for the warm welcome. My home is an open plan.... The family room, kitchen takes up close to 1/3 of the house. The fire place keeps it extremely warm in winter when we have power outagess. The living room and dining room are open roughly 27 ft by 14ft. The bedrooms are off the living room. We plan to place the stove on the northeastern wall of the dining room. Set diagonally so the heat will blow thru the dining room into the living room and hopefully into the bedrooms. Now, you guys can correct me if I am wrong, but, we are thinking that a stove that heats up to 2200 sq. ft. will do the job in the 1500 sq foot area that we need heated... We have a electric baseboard in the kitchen and family room and French doors can close that area off from the rest of the house.

We are reluctant to go with an insert.... We would like to keep the fireplace available for emergencies.
 
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