Does anyone run multiple pellet stoves in home?

[scelder]

I have a large (3500 sq ft) historic home with a large, open stairwell / hallway running through the middle of it (think "Gone With The Wind" Greek Revival-style mansions). This central hallway basically wrecks any chance of moving adequate amounts of heat from one side of the home to the other.

I'm looking at putting a pellet stove on each side of the house. I'm currently going through the cost/benefit/return-on-investment conversation-in-my-head of

"well I could get two basic pellet stoves for $2500 total and heat the whole house now . . . "

or

"I can wait and put my money into one Harman now and another in a few years. . "

Both would not be running full blast at all times; likely would be used in a space-heater manner when we are using one side of the house.


My question is: What are your experiences with running multiple stoves? Is there anything to be aware of besides the fact that the work/cost/maintenance doubles? Are you running one high BTU workhorse and supplementing with a smaller stove, or are they balanced? Do you prefer two of the same model, or did you buy a cheaper "let's see if I like this whole pellet thing" model and then a nicer stove (or vice versa)?

Thanks!

 

[TonyVideo]

One Harman is not going to do it. These are space heaters and not central heating units. I have 3000 sqft with 11 foot ceilings on two floors. I have a P68 and a P43 in the back side of my house and still need gas to maintain on single digit or below days. Upstairs is 10-15 degrees cooler which we like for sleeping.

 

[scelder]

One Harman is not going to do it. These are space heaters and not central heating units. I have 3000 sqft with 11 foot ceilings on two floors. I have a P68 and a P43 in the back side of my house and still need gas to maintain on single digit or below days. Upstairs is 10-15 degrees cooler which we like for sleeping.

Thanks for the reply - those numbers are helpful to me (I'm in southern Indiana). New house or historic? I know there's some beautiful big old houses along SR 3 through downtown Rushville.

I'm not intending to use the stoves in place of central heat, but I'm "scaling up" within my own house - i.e., making a little bit more of it livable as the family expands. Right now it's just me, will be married later on in the year, etc., etc. No need to keep the whole place toasty.

 

[TonyVideo]

When Temps drop to single digits I put the stoves in stove mode running about 3/4 and let my gas heat maintain a set temp to even out the heat and not have frozen pipes.

 

[TonyVideo]

I am a block from main in R-ville. My main purpose was to zone heat instead of heating the whole house to a set temp. This allows us to be comfortable where we are and the temp at 72. Parts of the house could be at 65 or 63 but that is OK with me.

 

[TonyVideo]

By the way the Harman's are great and never had a problem. Minor cleaning every week, major every month and scrape the pot twice a day and good to go.

 

[scelder]

When you are heating primarily with the pellet stoves, how is the heat circulating to the upstairs? Do you have gravity vents, open stairwell, or just the slow process of heat rising?

Great info by the way, thanks -- your set-up sounds similar to what I'm hoping to get to. Except I'm in the country, so no natural gas -- will have to have propane or electric resistance heat as backup.

 

[Bioburner]

I have multiple stoves. I would start by heating you primary area first and let the rest stay cool till you figure out the rest. Most of Europe does not heat everything like we waste fuel in the US. Indiana has plentiful corn there so a multifuel may be in the mix too.
Maybe a nice used Harman as I see several of them in our area up for sale and keeps me wishing for more home to install.

 

[TonyVideo]

I have a stairwell so heat rises naturally. No vents. The opposite end of the stairwell upstairs can get to 60 if no gas to even it out. We like 65 or below for sleeping. So good on that end. I do have an electric heater for bathroom upstairs.

 

[TonyVideo]

My office is off the main room so I have a box fan blowing cold air out toward the room with the P68 with warm air coming in at the top. I have a ceiling fan in the main room and it makes a huge difference running it with a stove blowing up and circulates warm air nicely. Last year I did not have one in that room and it makes a huge difference.

 

[TonyVideo]

I bought the P68 first and after a month realized the back side of the house was too far away so had a room between the kitchen and dining room at a 90 degree angle that. P43 fit nicely to spread heat or the two adjourn rooms. The back side of the house is where all water pipes are located so didn't want them to freeze. Have pipes under house to make me keep gas running in single digits. Every home is different but older homes are harder to heat. 3/4 of Windows have double pain now but I have 2 big poured glass windows that are still original. Zone heating is working for us OK. My wife likes being warmer in the living room. I have pocket doors but never use them regularly as they block the main room from light during the day. Might look at using them on real cold days this week but they will get cold however. My thermostat for the gas is in the same room as the P68 opposite end. Stove mode about 3/4 and the thermostat set to what we want when in that room. I do have the vents shut off in the room with the P68 so most of the heat in real cold days go to the perimeter and upstairs.

 

[adam6979]

At least two pellet stoves is what you will probably need to heat the whole house, possibly three or a large pellet furnace. I would suggest you buy the best stove you can, if it is Harman then so be it. Then you supplemental heat for the other areas until you can buy another one. We bought a Quad the first year and it did great except in the real cold it wouldn't heat out to the other end. We used electric to provide some heat over there. The next year we bought a ESW pellet stove and it does the trick - between both stoves even in 40 below nights it is still toasty in here. We are actually adding a Wood Furnace this year as a backup in case either stove goes down. Don't go cheap on the stoves unless you like working on them... If I could have afforded at time I would have bought 2 Quad's and not the ESW. I'd also suggest two of the same model stoves so you only have to have one set of parts and only learn one stove...

 

[Arti]

I run a pellet Furnace with it's own ducting, We also have a Small Pellet stove in the living area to bring the temperatures up a few degrees higher than the rest of the house.
Oddly enough we don't really use any more pellets running 2 stoves at the same time versus just one at a time.
Sort of like the idea that if anything goes wrong with one of them we still stay warm, also if the weather gets really cold and windy we can still heat the home without running either stove to the max. I don't see any reason that 2 pellet burners wouldn't work well for you.
Each pellet burner has it's own thermostat and it works out well for us.

 

[scelder]

I run a pellet Furnace with it's own ducting, We also have a Small Pellet stove in the living area to bring the temperatures up a few degrees higher than the rest of the house.
Oddly enough we don't really use any more pellets running 2 stoves at the same time versus just one at a time.
Sort of like the idea that if anything goes wrong with one of them we still stay warm, also if the weather gets really cold and windy we can still heat the home without running either stove to the max. I don't see any reason that 2 pellet burners wouldn't work well for you.
Each pellet burner has it's own thermostat and it works out well for us.

I've considered a pellet furnace, but I don't currently have any ducting. And for the price of many of the pellet furnaces, it seems like it would be easier to just install two main-level pellet stoves and enjoy the flame.

Did you have preexisting ducting, or have a professional (or DIY) ducting put in just for the stove?

The two advantages for a pellet furnace that I can see would be savings on venting (direct out a basement window) and the "Central Heat" box checked for bank refinancing, or if I were to sell the place (though this is guessing -- no idea how the real estate market views pellet stoves!).

 

[Bioburner]

I have seen many stoves for sale as the realtors tell the sellers they have to go in my area. I have good furnace to get installed when the day comes to move on.

 

[Arti]

I tried it in the existing ducting and it didn't really work very well.
I'm a HVAC Contractor so I put in ducting just for the stove. I don't do Pellet stoves for a living mostly Natural Gas and Heat Pumps. I've discovered that slow constant heat is somewhat different than the on off of a gas furnace.

 

[scelder]

I have seen many stoves for sale as the realtors tell the sellers they have to go in my area. I have good furnace to get installed when the day comes to move on.

I've wondered about that.

So let's assume I have two top-quality pellet stoves installed which provide comfortable and efficient heating for the entire house . . . .

If I want to sell the home I'll have to plunk down the cash to replace the rust heap of a fuel oil boiler that nobody could ever afford to use?

What a world . . .

 

[Bioburner]

Unless that maybe new owners like the daily tending etc. Lenders don't seem to keen on most nonconventional heat sources as sole heat.

 

[doghouse]

Is the home well insulated?

 

[scelder]

Is the home well insulated?

Will be blowing in insulation into the attic this spring. Single-pane windows with newer storms. No insulation in walls, but they are solid 13'' brick, so there's a tremendous amount of thermal mass -- the home will stay warm / cold for one or two days or more after a major temperature swing.

 

[Bkins]

If I want to sell the home I'll have to plunk down the cash to replace the rust heap of a fuel oil boiler that nobody could ever afford to use?

What a world . . .

I don't know about your area but in mine fairly new oil furnaces can be had for cheap, like $300 or so. Keep your eyes open on Craigslist for one sized to fit your home and see what you find. You should be able to find what size off the name plate. You might get one that will fit right in. You would have the cost of having it put into place. Just a thought to consider over new. Very, very few new oil furnaces being put in around here which is a big oil area, or used to be. I just had our 8 year old furnace, which was used very little and was basically new replaced with a high tech gas unit. The contractor said he hadn't put in a new oil furnace in over a year and installs are his primary business.

Have you given any thoughts to coal if it's available in your area? Coal stokers are not like the old coal stoves of years past and depending on your location and supplier may even be cheaper fuel wise.

Someone mentioned corn, which being the state you live in would be a good idea to investigate.

I have run 2 stoves in years past and found the heat flow to be lacking in our home. One is a 60,000 btu and the other a 40,000 insert. Our kitchen, and bedrooms, and bathroom stayed cold, like around 63-65 while the rest of the house was in the very low 70's.

 

[scelder]

I don't know about your area but in mine fairly new oil furnaces can be had for cheap, like $300 or so. Keep your eyes open on Craigslist for one sized to fit your home and see what you find. You should be able to find what size off the name plate. You might get one that will fit right in. You would have the cost of having it put into place. Just a thought to consider over new. Very, very few new oil furnaces being put in around here which is a big oil area, or used to be. I just had our 8 year old furnace, which was used very little and was basically new replaced with a high tech gas unit. The contractor said he hadn't put in a new oil furnace in over a year and installs are his primary business.

Have you given any thoughts to coal if it's available in your area? Coal stokers are not like the old coal stoves of years past and depending on your location and supplier may even be cheaper fuel wise.

Someone mentioned corn, which being the state you live in would be a good idea to investigate.

I have run 2 stoves in years past and found the heat flow to be lacking in our home. One is a 60,000 btu and the other a 40,000 insert. Our kitchen, and bedrooms, and bathroom stayed cold, like around 63-65 while the rest of the house was in the very low 70's.

If I am lucky enough to get to the point where my house is 63-65, I'll be happier and warmer than I've been since July.

I've looked into coal, but there is only one supplier of anthracite nearby, which makes me somewhat leery. I did make sure that when I lined my chimney, I went with the higher-grade steel that can handle coal, should I choose to go that route.

I do like the idea of ordering all of the coal I'll need for 10 years at once and dumping it on the property to be used as needed . . . but there really is a psychological barrier to get over with coal - both for me and the fiance.

 

[adam6979]

I've wondered about that.

So let's assume I have two top-quality pellet stoves installed which provide comfortable and efficient heating for the entire house . . . .

If I want to sell the home I'll have to plunk down the cash to replace the rust heap of a fuel oil boiler that nobody could ever afford to use?

What a world . . .

Nope you could just source a used hot air furnace ($300 on a good day) and put it in. Or just raise the price by $5k and include a $5k credit back for a boiler install.

 

[mithesaint]

I have a similar set up to Arti. I have a St. Croix SCF 050 multifuel furnace in the basement, and a Englander 10 CPM in the main living area. The SCF is the workhorse, and the CPM is there for the brutally cold days that are too much for the SCF. That CPM is also automatic on-off, so it's nice to have it on a thermostat for the shoulder season.

Having two stoves is not really much more work than one. I might burn through a few more pellets, but it's easier on the stoves to not be running full blast when it's really cold out.

 

[digitys]

Have a Harman XXV on one side of the house and Blaze King Princess Insert on the other, which is actually getting replaced by a Harman Accentra Insert tomorrow. Our set up worked great for us and looking forward to getting the Accentra up and running!