Hello everyone i am the new kid on the block with a few questions

[bologna007]

just a little bit of back ground for ya . for the past ten years i have been running a 1977 VC vigilant cast iron wood stove. It eats a lot trying to heat an 70 year old house with very little in insulation. living in southern NH grapple loads of green hard wood are the cheapest way to go. it takes about 6 to 8 cords a year. well now as the years add on and medical problems along with them i am finding it harder and harder to do all the work that is needed to keep feeding this beast of a stove. don't get me wrong in my heart i know that this stove is a large part of American history and i love the heat and simplicity of this stove but i just can't keep up with it any longer. i am thinking of buying a new pellet stove.

These are a few of the questions that come to mind
if i use a more powerful igniter will i be able to run multi fuels through a regular pellet stove? may be a different feed screw ?? next the vc uses a 8 inch vent pipe (i have mine going straight up through the kitchen ceiling and roof) can i use a 8 inch to 3 inch stove pipe adapter and run from the pellet stove up or if not then run the 3 inch pipe straight up inside the 8 inch to the top/ cap?
why do some stoves have an ash drawer and some don't and does it make a difference ?

how do i find out which pellets or blend of pellets will run best in what ever brand of stove i decide to buy?
Well it's long and winded and i hope i am not making a fool of myself. Thanks for any and all the help you can give.........

 

[Bioburner]

Welcome.
Lets see if I can get thru some of your ?s

Most ignition systems in pellet stoves are not high temp pressure systems. Corn ignition temp is around 2 hundred more than wood. Also the stove needs a deeper pot to help keep the temp higher to keep corn burning. The Whits couldn't digest corn at all as most designs were very shallow and ran a lot of air thru to keep the pot clean.

What pellets your stove will digest is most often by trial, purchasing a few bags of whats locally available. Some stoves are far better than others at digesting whats put in the hopper. Others in your area may know whats a good buy and burns well. Many conversations about that.

Download a few manuals-installation instructions from the stove manufactures that are on your list to see suggested venting.

 

[bologna007]

BIOBURNER THANKS OS MUCH!! this is the start of a new journey for me and mine, again many thanks.........

 

[rich2500]

may also want to check your local codes as far as the venting goes, I have had stoves with and without the ash pan it's just a matter of do you dump the ash or vacuum it out, usually by the time the ash pan is full the stove is due to be cleaned any way so no big deal to just suck up the ash.

 

[bologna007]

good advice on the ash pan. it will help me to now pick a new stove.....

 

[Lake Girl]

Welcome to the forum! Lots to research on pellet stoves ... Price point can be a factor and sometimes you get what you pay for. Some brands are cheaper and can be riddled with problems; others have minor hiccups; others smooth sailing. Some stoves have greater adjustable fuel/air options...

Pellet recommendations can often be found in the manual ... especially if the stove prefers softwood pellets. Some stoves are fussier than others ... mine prefers softwoods. Others will eat just about anything ... Multi-fuel stoves are less fussy but the agitator they usually have for the burn pot adds the noise factor and additional maintenance factor. Ash content and BTU output of pellets tend to be considerations too.

I am curious on the venting question myself as a neighbour is considering switching from wood to pellets and has the 8" roof stove pipe and cap...

Ash pans ... the ones with the pans in the pedestal seem to require less frequent emptying. My stove has a small one in the bottom of the burn chamber and, depending on the pellet, may require daily emptying.

Any brands/models that pique your interest?

 

[bologna007]

well as you say price is always a factor and in my case a major factor. I have been diing a lot of research and i believe i will be going with a Englander
55-TRP22 - EPA Certified Pellet Stove - 2200 sq. ft. heating. i have 1340 sq ft to heat so i figure a little bigger stove can't hurt plus Englander uses a thicker Gauge of steel in their stoves which helps with retaining ambient heat (so i am told)

 

[gfreek]

So here is a stove meant for wood stove replacement, Breckwell bought the company, ( Nu-Tec). Will it replace you stove, yes, similar heat output that's the million dollar question.. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...stove-was-the-nu-tec-upland-207-stove.128694/

 

[bogieb]

Some stoves have conversion kits - some Harman's come to mind (imagine that ). However, if price is a major consideration, and you insist on new, then a Harman is probably out of the question.

Stoves can be weird; one stove of a particular make/model will eat any pellet given to it, and someone else will have major problems and have to buy better pellets (or even the most expensive pellets) for the same stove to run well and consistently.

 

[Tonyray]

good advice on the ash pan. it will help me to now pick a new stove.....

If you want a Large Ashpan that doesn't need emptying for month or so,
doesn't get bigger than Harman free standing P Series..

 

[Lake Girl]

On price point, if you are thinking England Stoves works, you can also look here for refurbs... (broken link removed to http://www.amfmenergy.com/manufacturer-refurbished-stoves.html)
Mike (stoveguy2esw) is the head tech there and checks in here from time to time. With this brand of stove, you will be your own tech so hopefully mechanically inclined!

The Castle stoves (Serenity) seem to be doing reasonably well as far as maintenance too. I think they have a bit more adjustable function than the Englanders.

Some of the forum members have bought used stoves and done a good clean and check over (bags comes to mind with his Harman; not sure if bogieb's are new - they both have 2!)

If buying a brand new stove, it is advisable to do a burn-in outside before moving it in... paint fumes Wouldn't hurt to get it in the house early to get the kinks worked out either!

 

[bogieb]

Some of the forum members have bought used stoves and done a good clean and check over (bags comes to mind with his Harman; not sure if bogieb's are new - they both have 2!)

If buying a brand new stove, it is advisable to do a burn-in outside before moving it in... paint fumes Wouldn't hurt to get it in the house early to get the kinks worked out either!

My former Hastings I bought used, and the P43 I also bought used.

If buying new from a dealer and having delivered, you can ask the shop if they can do the burn in for you before delivery. They may not, but they may - never hurts to ask.

 

[womaus]

I picked up a used Harman this past fall, had a few repairs to do to it due to it being over 10 years old. Doing the repairs myself gave me a better understanding of how it operates, how to run it correctly.
I chose a Harman after talking with others that own pellet stoves...the Harman owners, once that got past the pain of the "Harman tax" of the initial price had nothing but glowing remarks of the device. Other brand owners had varying results.
It's worked well over the past few months. I've pushed through at least 8 different types of pellets, no issues there. Hardwood, softwood, blends. Some seemed a bit better than others, but all worked out well.
For you, now is the best time to look for and purchase a stove. It seems that due to the low oil prices many people are bailing out of heating with pellets...you should be able to find a somewhat new device, with low hours on it, at a reasonable price. Pellets too...I've seen lots of ads in Craigslist with people selling their leftover stock in their garage at a reasonable price.

Do you have someone close by that has experience with pellets? Tag onto them, look through Craigslist, go take a look at a few in the area. It's still cold enough that they may be in operation, if you have the time you should be able to see a full startup / shutdown cycle to verify operation (highly recommended...I did not verify my purchase this way, it turned out to need a new $181.00 controller, the shutdown cycle was faulty on the original).

http://nh.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=harman+pellet&sort=date

That link should pull up NH area Harman stoves for sale. You aren't too far from Boston area or Central MA either...

I'd recommend going to a Harman dealer and spending some time there familiarizing yourself with the models, and getting amazed by the prices of new stock.

 

[bologna007]

thanks so much. great advice

 

[Bioburner]

One should remember about prices is like a car and drive it off the lot and take a major hit. Also in a comparison, the average price of a new car is now over 32 grand

 

[rona]

just a little bit of back ground for ya . for the past ten years i have been running a 1977 VC vigilant cast iron wood stove. It eats a lot trying to heat an 70 year old house with very little in insulation. living in southern NH grapple loads of green hard wood are the cheapest way to go. it takes about 6 to 8 cords a year. well now as the years add on and medical problems along with them i am finding it harder and harder to do all the work that is needed to keep feeding this beast of a stove. don't get me wrong in my heart i know that this stove is a large part of American history and i love the heat and simplicity of this stove but i just can't keep up with it any longer. i am thinking of buying a new pellet stove.

These are a few of the questions that come to mind
if i use a more powerful igniter will i be able to run multi fuels through a regular pellet stove? may be a different feed screw ?? next the vc uses a 8 inch vent pipe (i have mine going straight up through the kitchen ceiling and roof) can i use a 8 inch to 3 inch stove pipe adapter and run from the pellet stove up or if not then run the 3 inch pipe straight up inside the 8 inch to the top/ cap?
why do some stoves have an ash drawer and some don't and does it make a difference ?

how do i find out which pellets or blend of pellets will run best in what ever brand of stove i decide to buy?
Well it's long and winded and i hope i am not making a fool of myself. Thanks for any and all the help you can give.........

It sounds like you would do yourself a favor by talking to someone, Neighbor, friend or relative about burning pellets in general. Then stop in at a few dealers to look and gain some information from them. Don't buy anything yet just look at what they offer as you have all summer to educate yourself and learn whats available in your area. So a multifuel stove basically is going to be able to burn pellets, corn, wheat and other fuels such as cherry pits. With that in mind do you see farmers raising corn or is there a cherry processing plant in your area? If not then the need for a multi fuel stove is questioned. Once you decide which type stove you can use then you can get into specifics. Do you want electric igniters or do you want to manually light the stove. Next is the ash container- Some have a large container like Harman for example that doesn't need dumping very often while there is some that need dumping daily. Of course price will be a factor but you can usually figure you get what you pay for- The more convenience usually the higher priced and some igniters are short lived meaning that may be a expense every couple of years depending on brands of stove you buy. Do you do much of your own maintenance around the house? If you are going to be dependent on a dealer you should be looking for one close by or even rethink the idea of a pellet stove. With nat gas as cheap as it is you might consider a nat gas stove as there is very little work involved.
When you get closer to deciding which brand to get you will have to sort through many different brands and models. Some people love a certain model while others hate it . I had a list of questions posted that would help you narrow down your choices a couple years ago but have misplaced it .
A pellet stove is way different then a wood stove so if you decide to burn pellets you can't toss in small chunks of wood. So you are going to have to buy pellets which will cost from 4.00 a bag which is 40 lbs on up. If you lived in the Midwest I can buy a bushel of corn which is 56 lbs for 3.15 so there is a advantage in burning corn.
We could also touch on buying new or used. This can be a learning experience as you can get a real nice stove for a big savings or you can buy a pretty piece of scrap metal. You can do the same when buying new so this is where doing your homework pays off.

 

[bologna007]

thanks for the advice Rona. It will surly come in handy when its time to buy a stove