Made the Switch from Pellet To Woodburner

[richg]

Well, actually a pellet stove is a woodburner, but you know what I mean ;-)) I scored a 2009 Quad 2100 ACC at a stupid-low price and will pick it up next week. Also picking up the convection blower and outside air kit. Once the stove is in place it will be time to measure out the venting system and order. Yowsa, there is a HUGE price difference between vendors for the same item. I checked ventingpipe dot com and they wanted $575.00 for a Selkirk through the wall kit. Kept hunting and found Ace Hardware had it for $300.00. this wasn't a fluke as it was listed for $310.00, $320.00 etc at other sites. I was never a fan of venting pipe during the pellet years and this certainly did not help.

 

[Slow1]

Congrats and welcome to the wood burning world.

Have you secured your wood supply for this year yet? That is the #1 issue for first year burners. Unlike pellets, you rarely can find sellers who have wood with proper moisture content (i.e. anywhere near 20%). In fact, if you ask about MC you are likely to get a blank stare or silence on the line. "Seasoned" doesn't really mean a thing - there isn't a legal definition of it and somehow I don't think that it could be enforced if there were one. So... If you don't already have your wood split and stacked you are probably behind the ball.

If you still have your pellet stove in place, you might be wise to keep it in place and spend the next year gathering your wood for 10/11 season (and beyond), reading up here on chimneys, and generally getting your hearth plans in place for that new stove. It just might make the switch from pellet to wood go much better...

 

[begreen]

Welcome to the dark side Rich :coolsmile:. For a comparison, you might want to get a price from www.dynamitebuys.com. They saved me quite a bit recently on some Simpson pipe and the service was good.

 

[CarbonNeutral]

Welcome to the dark side Rich :coolsmile:. For a comparison, you might want to get a price from www.dynamitebuys.com. They saved me quite a bit recently on some Simpson pipe and the service was good.

I ordered my Simpson from them a week ago - figure it will take a week or more to arrive. Sean at Dynamite was great - helped when I was confused about parts, and when I first saw the invoice and thought they had bait and switched me (they hadn't. I didn't read the invoice all the way down to the discount part....)

Compare a 4' section of oval rigid:

local stove shop price: $185
Recommended manufacturer price (I believe): $150ish
Their price: $102, shipped....

So my $1200 of liner would cost me north of $2000 from the shop....

 

[richg]

Thanks for the advice folks, and I'll check out that site. It's a shame because I always try to support a local business first, but local prices are guano and I don't have Bill Gates money to spend. For kicks, I called a local shop about that Selkirk kit.....they wanted $625.00. No thanks.

As to a wood pile, yeah, that may be an issue. I dropped four enormous red oaks over the last year and gave the rounds to a neighbor who is a woodburner fanatic. He has his own splitter etc, has about six different stacks at any one time, etc. I may be able to bum some back or trade for beer.

 

[Slow1]

As to a wood pile, yeah, that may be an issue. I dropped four enormous red oaks over the last year and gave the rounds to a neighbor who is a woodburner fanatic. He has his own splitter etc, has about six different stacks at any one time, etc. I may be able to bum some back or trade for beer.

At the least if he is a couple years ahead you should be able to trade some green for seasoned this year.