Anyone think about trading for a pellet stove?

[Jazzberry]

Anyone do it? Regrets? Likes?. I think about it every year around this time when my back is stiff from working firewood.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I added a pellet stove to the finished basement. Still have wood burner on first floor. Very convenient although you still have to do some daily maintenance of it (ashes and whatnot. They are a more complicated thing than woodstoves with the electronics and auger. I like mine a lot and puts out good heat.
If doing the woodstove feels like a chore, than finding an alternative makes sense. I’m scheduled to cut some wood tomorrow and basically bust my butt doing it. I’m also looking forward to the whole thing, but that’s me. Whatever works the best for you.

 

[SpaceBus]

Every time I think about it I decide against it. If I'm going to pay for the heating fuel directly then pellets don't make sense. Pellet stoves have several points of failure, don't work without electricity, and you still have to store the fuel. If dealing with wood is too much, then just pay to have it delivered and stacked, it still comes out ahead of pellets.

 

[begreen]

We had a pellet stove for about 5 seasons. It was convenient, but I don't miss it. Definitely noisier and more maintenance than a wood stove. The power outage issue was the final straw.

 

[Highbeam]

Lots of people switch when they get old, lazy, or too broken to be bothered with dealing with firewood. It sure beats electricity!

All of the noise is my problem.

 

[SpaceBus]

Honestly 40 lb bags don't sound fun when you are old.

 

[Dataman]

I got rid of my Blaze King King last year. We heated with pellets instead of Wood. About the same for heat. Noise on Medium Fan was not big problem. I used 2 box fans to push air down the hall and into bedroom. Those are noisy compared to Harmon XXV. I got Inverted and 100ah battery for backup. I can get couple more batteries. One from Generator and one out of RR (63SC3). 100ah gives me 6 hours on run time.

I had vibration noise and thought it was distribution fan. It was 2 screws impacting the housing. Still had some buzzing when cold and 1st started for 1 min or less. Minor compared to before.

I spent

$3500 - New Harmon XXV - Floor Model
$1200 - Install
$450 - Inverter
$50 - Stuff/Cleaning/Lighter Fluid/Power Strip
$170 - 100ah Battery Deep Cycle
-$600 - Sold 2 year old Log Splitter to relative (lost 300 on it)
-$400 - Sold Wood Stove
$100 - Used Cougar Ash Vac with new Filter

$4500 to switch.

I kept it cleaner than I should have and let ash into the room. I plan on using my Vac with Attachment when I clean the heat exchanger. Less ash in the room.

It was lots easier bringing up bags of pellets instead of couple wheel barrels of wood up daily. I stored 1 Ton on Back porch and kept some inside. When we got low wife would bring up 9 and I would unload them (tractor bucket). We did that with wood too. But could not get much wood as pellets.

Downside is I spent $1100 on 5 Tons of Pellets. I have almost 1 Ton leftover. This year $$840 will be spent.
Downside I kept kettle of water on wood stove. Pellet stove I have to use Electric Kettle. Humidifier now do what I did for free with wood stove. But I don't have to clean up minerals from water.

Harmon XXV

• Dataman
• Sep 17, 2018

Harmon XXV Setup

Harmon XXV

• Dataman
• Sep 17, 2018

Harmon XXV Setup

Aims 1250 Inverter

• Dataman
• Sep 17, 2018
• 3

Aims Inverter with 100ah battery

 

[begreen]

It sure beats electricity!

All of the noise is my problem.

A heat pump is much quieter and if an efficient model it costs less to operate in our area.

 

[Dataman]

HP is what I use until it goes below 20f or about. Daytime it warms up most of the time. Of course 18 year old unit Trane XR13i) broken today. I think it's Compressor too. Time for new one. Shame Can't get service. Been hot until today. 70's for few days.

 

[webby3650]

It was lots easier bringing up bags of pellets instead of couple wheel barrels of wood up daily.

I’m not sure what stove you had before, but dang! 2 wheel barrel loads a day? I don’t burn that much with both my stoves going.

 

[Nigel459]

Anyone do it? Regrets? Likes?. I think about it every year around this time when my back is stiff from working firewood.

What is the cost of propane or natural gas where you are? That's even easier: no hauling anything, thermostatic control... (yes I know, some high end pellet stoves have thermostats but most don't) Fossil fuels and all tho, sounds like you like the idea of wood, but don't forget those options.

 

[Highbeam]

A heat pump is much quieter and if an efficient model it costs less to operate in our area.

At least I can probably fix a pellet stove when it breaks, probably not a heat pump.

 

[begreen]

Having serviced a few pellet stoves the question is which is more likely to break-down? If pellet stoves were as robust as furnaces that would be an easy answer, but they are not. I have had to replace snap disks frequently, a control module and on one Enviro, the damn air air vacuum tap kept clogging, and it was not in an easy place to service. All this was with stoves 2-5 yrs old. And that doesn't include frequent ash dumping, window cleanings, etc.. Folks I know with heat pumps are not dealing with these issues. Nor have we. Our heat pump went in in 2006 and the only thing I have serviced is the air filter.

 

[Jazzberry]

What is the cost of propane or natural gas where you are? That's even easier: no hauling anything, thermostatic control... (yes I know, some high end pellet stoves have thermostats but most don't) Fossil fuels and all tho, sounds like you like the idea of wood, but don't forget those options.

We only have propane here and its really high. Only propane we have is a cooktop and a water heater. That alone runs around 450.00 a year. I heard people talking 800 to 1000 a month on propane. Pine is free here thanks to the bark beetles. I have actually been getting pine delivered for free for the last few years. Getting lazy in my old age.

 

[begreen]

Our propane cost is insane. If we still had the high-efficiency propane furnace our heating bill would be >$4000 now.

 

[lsucet]

Used to have two. Sold one and the other still installed but not in use for the last few season. Not even stock pellets no more. It is in good working conditions, just switched to wood completely. I know there is a work around in case of an outage, but more things to have and take care of. I know many people that love them over wood. I prefer wood. Quiet, less parts for repair, less maintenance, less electricity to pay. Including if you're a handyman and has a lot of spare parts, can be hard if something goes wrong in the middle of the night. At least for me that I have no other heating sources like propane or electric furnace.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Having serviced a few pellet stoves the question is which is more likely to break-down? If pellet stoves were as robust as furnaces that would be an easy answer, but they are not. I have had to replace snap disks frequently, a control module and on one Enviro, the damn air air vacuum tap kept clogging, and it was not in an easy place to service. All this was with stoves 2-5 yrs old. And that doesn't include frequent ash dumping, window cleanings, etc.. Folks I know with heat pumps are not dealing with these issues. Nor have we. Our heat pump went in in 2006 and the only thing I have serviced is the air filter.

I’ve had my pellet stove for one year and have had a couple issues come up that were ultimately covered by warranty. I tried fixing these issues myself first but then called on warranty. Some pellet stoves can have small clearances to combustible walls. I believe mine called for 4 inches and mine is installed in corner of room. I asked for a couple extra inches out from wall than the minimum clearance. Doing this really helps when maintenance needed.