Just beginning...

[Alleycat]

Hello all,

I am just beginning research into purchasing a pellet stove/wood stove and would appreciate any and all advice. My apologies if I am posting in the wrong forum.

We have lived here in western Mass. for 5 years and rely 100% on oil (heat and hot water). I filled our 500 gallon take this week, $1200, and last filled it at the end of November. We try to keep the house no warmer than 64 degrees.

Our home is a 1950's ranch, 1500 sq ft, with a fully finished non-walk out basement. We have a wood burning fireplace that we rarely use. Ideally, we would like a fireplace insert but don't know if this is the best, most efficient option. It seems a fireplace insert would heat the living area well, but not so sure about the rest of the house.

We had an energy audit done shortly after we moved here and told we are well insulated. We are in the process of installing new windows, started with the largest and will replace more this summer.

When is the best time of year to purchase a stove/insert? Do prices come down as winter is coming to an end?

Thank you for reading and your advice!

 

[pen]

Welcome to the site!

If you provide the dimensions of your fireplace and it's hearth, some info on where it's located in the house and what your floor plan is like, and how willing you are to mess with firewood or if pellets are more appealing you should be able to get some good suggestions that'll save some money in the long run and keep that place a bit warmer.

Also, are you hoping for full solid fuel heating, or supplemental?

pen

 

[fossil]

Welcome. For starters...wood stoves and pellet stoves are very different appliances. Wood stoves require, for fuel, seasoned (dry) firewood splits of an appropriate size for the appliance. Obtaining, processing, handling, and storing this firewood is a big part of owning/using a wood stove (read: lots of work unless you buy split wood). The stoves themselves are really very simple. Pellet stoves, on the other hand, burn processed fuel pellets that are typically bought in bags, so no wood processing required. But still some effort and expense goes into obtaining the fuel, and provision must be made for ample storage space. A pellet stove is a much more complicated appliance than a wood stove, but then it's a lot more "set and forget" when properly maintained and operated. The forum that this thread is currently in is where wood stoves are typically discussed. We have a separate forum for pellet stoves. Spend whatever time you want in all of our forums...you'll find lots and lots of good folks to answer your questions. Again, welcome. Rick

 

[Pallet Pete]

Welcome to the forums !

Personally I don't like the issue of being reliant on pellets for heat because of the cost and electric required to use them. My preference is wood simply because I can cut get wood all over. If we are ever out of power which happens frequently we don't need electric to run the wood stove. An insert would need electric for the fans however it has the benefit of not being locked into the pellet market which varies all over in price depending on the time of year and availability. Inserts heat very well now days and you could easily heat your whole house with one. We have a freestanding Jotul F-50 and love it ! The feel of wood heat can't be matched by anything else. Pellets do a good job but require just as much maintenance as wood does it is not set it and forget it they still need cleaning and attention just like a wood stove. If your gone long periods that's where pellets shine some pellet stoves can go 30-40 hours a fill. The best time to buy is spring the prices go down 20% or more at dealers. Our dealer drops like a rock in preparation for all the spring lawn and bath items. Home Depot puts all the wood and pellet stoves down almost 40% for a few weeks that time of year as well. It's the good deal season !

Pete

 

[begreen]

Pellet inserts are great. They only need to be fed once or twice a day. Many can be hooked up to a digital thermostat and raise/lower the temp at a scheduled time. And they are very clean burning.

That said, after 5 years I pulled the pellet insert and sold it. Why? Higher maintenance due to electronic parts, noise, cost of fuel, and well I pulled the entire fireplace too.

The replacement woodstove has been great. We have fairly frequent long power outages so a woodstove makes doubly good sense.

 

[gyrfalcon]

Pellets also come in 40-pound bags. For most women, hauling around and hefting 40-pound bags is a major strain and generally just out of the question. Firewood, on the other hand, you can lug as much as you can carry comfortably. Not a real biggie on the choice, but worth considering. If you get a pellet stove, the man of the house is going to be the only one who's going to feed it.

Pellets are in some ways more convenient, but they cost a lot more even if you have to buy your firewood and have it delivered. And then there's the noise and the electricity issue, though I think for most of them, you can buy a battery back-up-- or two.

This forum is populated by firewood stove devotees, so you won't get much praise here for pellet stoves. The pellet stove forum would give you more info on the joys of pellets over firewood. (Well, they are cleaner and less messy and don't require a chimney, just a vent.)

 

[stoveguy2esw]

essentially what my friends in here are saying is there are pluses and minuses to wood or pellet systems.

wood stoves are what they are, they work all the time as long as wood is supplied they will heat when noting else will (power outages and such)

pellet stoves require electricity to work, so if using as a primary heat source as with any electricity tethered heating system a usable supply of power or a backup which does not have this requirement is prudent.

with wood, its a lifestyle if you plan to harvest your own fuel, wood MUST season at least a year to be truly ready for use. its work, on the good side, its something that can be family oriented. many folks enjoy the getting out and doing, its great exercise and if you are the "outdoorsy" type family it can be a lot of fun.

pellet OTOH is much more convenient as the fuel is premade and prepackaged. its cleaner, no bark bugs and such no woodpile in the yard, but the fuel must be kept dry as if it gets wet its ruined, no way to salvage it.

cleaning is simple and can be done with an ash vac or shop vac, the ash made by a bag of fuel will generally be just enough to fill half a coffee can where a wood stove burning the same amount of wood may be a bucket full.

pellet also allows more control over heat output, with a woodstove its "fire and accept what you get" in many cases. though some control is present in a woodstove, pellet is far easier to regulate.

"radiant versus convective" woodstove are radiant heaters, they radiate heat out which warms solids and thus heat a space, pellet stoves are convective, they heat air and rely on air to distribute heat. in a well insulated environment radiant heat or convective are quite effective, in a poorly insulated space (unfinished basement and the like) radiant heat is much more effective

 

[BobUrban]

Welcome to the Hearth. I have a neighbor with a pellet stove that loves it so that is my only opinion. My goal with a wood stove was to get off the bill so pellets would add just another, albeit lesser, bill/cost. The up side is you can shop pellets, buy in bulk and store them for the heating season. No cutting and gathering that requires a totally obsessive personality. If you are not type A or at least A- you may not enjoy wood stoves/heating.

My neighbor that has the pellet says it is easier for his wife because she can just take a scoop of pellets and load the stove. I am sure she is not hauling many bags but I also am rather certain most wives are not cutting, gathering and stacking firewood. The labor part is typically male either way. ***No disrespect to those woman that are involved - actually MUCH respect to those that are***

Either way you will be $$ ahead from the oil prices.

Post pics - we love pics!!

 

[rkshed]

I love my woodstove.
For us, the only cost associated with it is whatever we pay for gas and chains for the saw and Tylenol.

 

[Beer Belly]

My brother has a Pellet Stove, and absolutely loves it....but he leads a different lifestyle and likes his freedom of time. As others stated, the Pellet Stove is basically load it and leave it, where the woodstove needs monitoring and dampening to get it set....then there is fuel supply....my brother stores his pellets in a nice dry area, and I do the same with my wood, but.....I need to scrounge (don't pay a dime for wood), cut, split, and stack...there is also the need for the tools (chainsaw and splitter), and a truck comes in handy if you really get into it, but in the long run, the savings will cover the expense after a while.....with a Pellet Stove, well, I've never seen anybody giving Pellets away for free. On edit: We have a 1,700 sq.ft. Split Level Ranch (3 br /2 bth) and have an Avalon Ranier insert, we would have gotten a bigger stove, but this is the one that fits the space. In our case, the blower is key to moving the heat...noisey on "high", but after a while, you don't even notice....without the blower, it just takes a little more time to warm the house.