Hi everyone, I have been lurking for a couple of weeks, liked what I saw and joined. My family and I just got a pellet stove installed two weeks ago, a Castille insert. I wish I had found this forum b4 I purchased so I could have had been more informed before my purchase.
A little about our journey to purchase a pellet stove. We bought our home three years ago. It’s a 30-year-old 2300 sqf two story colonial tract home with a fireplace. The first year we were able to get a bunch of free wood – about 4 cords. We cut it and hauled it. While that wood was seasoning, we started using the duraflame logs the former owner of the home left behind. Hey, who doesn’t want to use your fireplace in your new home? Hmmmmm, kinda was stinky whenever we burned the duraflames. We got some other real wood that was seasoned only to set off the smoke alarms when we used the fireplace. Hmmmm…. We then decided to open the outside door while trying to use the fireplace, not really enjoying the freezing air pouring into the room while the smoke detectors are going off. I spent the summer scrubbing off soot from our brick surround. I did have the chimney swept when I moved in. We tried using the fireplace last winter, with similar results. Last spring, we had a fireplace mason out to take a look at our problem. Turns out the fireplace was built with out a smoke shelf. Upon talking with other neighbors, they also cannot use their fireplaces. I can only assume the builder did not put smoke shelves in any of the fireplaces. Duhhhhh
(we have found many other problems with this house.)
We decided NOT to have the whole fireplace knocked down and re-built for $8,000 to correct the no smoke shelf issue. There is no natural gas in this area, so propane delivery, wood stove, or pellet stoves were our choices. We had been hearing how great pellet stoves are so we decided to give it a try. We are not trying to heat our home with it, just supplement the oil heat & be able to USE our fireplace. We gave away our hard-earned wood, to hubby’s uncle.
It hasn’t been very cold here yet, so I’ve only used it twice for an hour or so. We got our 2-ton of pellets in August from Lowes before the stove was installed for 263.50 per ton or 5.27 per bag. I hope you folks with more experience will volunteer your thoughts when I do have issues & questions with my new purchase.
Thanks & nice to meet everyone!
A little about our journey to purchase a pellet stove. We bought our home three years ago. It’s a 30-year-old 2300 sqf two story colonial tract home with a fireplace. The first year we were able to get a bunch of free wood – about 4 cords. We cut it and hauled it. While that wood was seasoning, we started using the duraflame logs the former owner of the home left behind. Hey, who doesn’t want to use your fireplace in your new home? Hmmmmm, kinda was stinky whenever we burned the duraflames. We got some other real wood that was seasoned only to set off the smoke alarms when we used the fireplace. Hmmmm…. We then decided to open the outside door while trying to use the fireplace, not really enjoying the freezing air pouring into the room while the smoke detectors are going off. I spent the summer scrubbing off soot from our brick surround. I did have the chimney swept when I moved in. We tried using the fireplace last winter, with similar results. Last spring, we had a fireplace mason out to take a look at our problem. Turns out the fireplace was built with out a smoke shelf. Upon talking with other neighbors, they also cannot use their fireplaces. I can only assume the builder did not put smoke shelves in any of the fireplaces. Duhhhhh
(we have found many other problems with this house.)We decided NOT to have the whole fireplace knocked down and re-built for $8,000 to correct the no smoke shelf issue. There is no natural gas in this area, so propane delivery, wood stove, or pellet stoves were our choices. We had been hearing how great pellet stoves are so we decided to give it a try. We are not trying to heat our home with it, just supplement the oil heat & be able to USE our fireplace. We gave away our hard-earned wood, to hubby’s uncle.
It hasn’t been very cold here yet, so I’ve only used it twice for an hour or so. We got our 2-ton of pellets in August from Lowes before the stove was installed for 263.50 per ton or 5.27 per bag. I hope you folks with more experience will volunteer your thoughts when I do have issues & questions with my new purchase.
Thanks & nice to meet everyone!
