Pellet Stove? Help a newbie make a decision.

[k2mattin]

Hey guys I have stumbled upon this site and figured it was a good place to ask this question. I bought a house that uses propane for heating and cooking. I bought the house last January, and was shocked at the prices I had to pay for propane. I understand it was quite high last year, and unfortunately I waited way to long to look into an alternative heat source for this year.

The 1200 sq ft home has a partially finished basement with a "gas fireplace i guess" . It does not currently have gas running to it, and it sits directly in front of the chimney where it is currently vented through. I really wanted to put something in its place that I could tie into my existing ductwork to get the heat to the upstairs bedrooms easier. I dont really know what my options are, but from what I can tell I need a pellet or wood burning furnace to do this properly. Is there anything I can use to take advantage of the current setup?

I really appreciate any advice or suggestions that I can get. This isnt something that I have to do right away, but would definitely like to.

 

[shawnfire]

I know they make inserts but not sure what will help you out on this.

 

[F4jock]

I know they make inserts but not sure what will help you out on this.

For what you want to do a furnace is the way to go. Suggest you start by having a local company come out and give you some input.

 

[k2mattin]

For what you want to do a furnace is the way to go. Suggest you start by having a local company come out and give you some input.

Yeah, I do have someone coming out. Its going to be a couple weeks before they come and I was hoping to have plenty of questions to ask them by then.

 

[Lake Girl]

Yeah, I do have someone coming out. Its going to be a couple weeks before they come and I was hoping to have plenty of questions to ask them by then.

Do they sell stoves or boilers or both?

 

[k2mattin]

Do they sell stoves or boilers or both?

stoves and furnaces for sure, not sure about boilers. They only sell Harmon.

 

[F4jock]

stoves and furnaces for sure, not sure about boilers. They only sell Harmon.

You won't go wrong with a Harman but as for questions, hard to give you any until we know what is recommended. You MAY be able to heat the house from the basement using a stove or an insert but if you want to use ductwork a furnace or boiler is probably the better way. From what I know and have seen, attempts to tie a stove into ducts don't work very well.

 

[Fsappo]

How much per gallon did you pay most recently for your propane?

 

[xSpecBx]

Fireplace looks like a prefab. You may want to try and find out the make and model as that will determine if you can put an insert into it and if so what models.

 

[k2mattin]

How much per gallon did you pay most recently for your propane?

I just pad 1.97 / gal for a fill up which I am definitely happy with. But my lock in price is not good at all at 2.48 / gal. I was hoping to get something done this winter to offset the cost, but its looking more and more like I needed to act sooner.

 

[F4jock]

I just pad 1.97 / gal for a fill up which I am definitely happy with. But my lock in price is not good at all at 2.48 / gal. I was hoping to get something done this winter to offset the cost, but its looking more and more like I needed to act sooner.

If you want to do it right and get your money's worth you're going to have to be patient.

 

[Fsappo]

I have a whole explanation of what to watch out for when going from LP to Pellets. I would ask your propane company what would happen if you went from 600 gallons per year (my guess on your usage) to 200 gallons per year. Just search my name or whatever and find the post. What can happen is 600 gallons at 2.50 per gallon for $1500 per year goes post pellet stove to 200 gallons per year (25 or so for cooking and then cold night, etc usage) at $4.00 per gallon for $800 per year. So you end up saving $700 in LP because the lower usage raised your rate. In order to save $700 in LP you buy 3 tons of pellets at 250 per ton..you see my point? This isn't the same everywhere, and my assumptions are assumptions, but do the math, crunch the numbers, etc. Do it at extremes, like 600 gallons per year at $3.25 a gallon (highest anyone heating should have paid for LP in the past 10 years unless they had Suburban propane) Then use $195 a ton for pellets, because you may be able to get them at that price again some day...

Pellets may save you money and be a perfect alternative to you for LP...but as someone who has dealt with both, Ive seen people spend $3k on a pellet stove and at the end of the year of hauling pellets, cleaning the stove, etc save 100-200 bucks. many have done much better, but check check check it checka check it out.