Pellet Stove Placement

[deucedown]

I'm looking to purchase a pellet stove. I have a 1650 ft raised ranch. First I need to decide what I am going to buy. After that I need to figure out a placement. There is a 1ft by 1ft cutout from my family room (in the basement) to my living room...directly upstairs. Our raised ranch also has an opening from the stairs downstairs to the upstairs.

After reading other posts I'm not sure if I put the pellet stove in the family if it will reach the bedrooms. In that case should I install it in the living room and try and install a blower to the downstairs?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[UpStateNY]

I live in Woodstock, NY area. I am also looking to purchase a Pellet Stove.

If your looking for Lopi Pellet Stove you may want to try http://www.greenheatinc.com/
BTW I believe they are also selling premium pellets for $239/ton.

I will be going to http://www.crackerb.com/ next.

I have also stopped into http://www.firesidewarmthonline.com/

I just started researching pellet stoves. What stoves are you leaning toward and where are you going to purchase it?

I see pellet stove prices from $1200 to $3300. Obviously I am not interested in something that is going to be difficult to maintain. I also want electric automatic start.

I have a raised ranch at ground level with cement blocks and paneling on the down stairs. I am thinking of installing the pellet stove upstairs. But that would mean carrying the pellets up stairs. We don't use the downstairs very often.

 

[ylomnstr]

I'm in Staatsburg NY, about 20 minutes from Poughkeepsie. I got my first pellet stove in Pleasant Valley at (broken link removed)

I'm currently looking into the St. Croix Hastings from (broken link removed) which is in Poughkeepsie.

My only concern is the loudness of the unit. In my new house, the stove will be in the living room where we spend most of our time, so I don't want something loud.

 

[fireman1028]

not a fan of saint croix i dont think ashleighs sells them anymore they have bad warrantys or something same with Breckwell go lennox much better!

 

[save$]

There is an abundance of experienced forum participants who will tell you that pellet stoves are "space heater" and that you should put them in the level of the home you want to heat, but not in rooms you are going to sleep in. That being said.............
I too have a raised ranch, 28x40 finished on both levels. My stove is in the family room, centered and in front of the split stair well. Home is well insulated and we use a double entry.
Lower level averages 76-78 and the upper level 72-74, that is in all rooms and when the outside temp in above 20 degrees. When it is cooler than that, I have my furnace kick in for a very few minutes. I burned about 200 gallons of oil this winter for heat and hot water (separate oil fired hot water heater). I am into my 5th ton of pellets. If you want to have the heat reach your bedrooms, consider having grate in the floors of those rooms, esp. if on north end. The trick is no to worry about trying to blow hot air up the stairs and moving it around to the rooms on that level. What works is to get the cold air of those rooms to flow back toward the pellets stove. That's right, do what you can to pull cold air out of the rooms and move it toward the stove. When you do that, the warm air will have no problem filling in for the cooler air that was pulled out of the rooms and moved toward the pellet stove.
I used to heat my home with only a wood stove. Back then, we didn't have a furnace. Now with a pellet stove and a furnace, we stay toasty warm all the time.
Many other factors. Most are about your home construction, and how well you have done to reduce heat loss regardless of the source of the heat'
There are many other postings on this forum about heating a home with a pellets stove. Most will try to sway you from thinking of a pellet stove as a primary heat source.

 

[krooser]

not a fan of saint croix i dont think ashleighs sells them anymore they have bad warrantys or something same with Breckwell go lennox much better!

I'd have to strongly disagree with THAT statement... I'd have to think long and hard before buying anything except a St. Croix since mine has been bulletproof. Off the record, the sales guy at my local store sells several different brands but likes the St. Croix's the best.... same for the service crew. These guys are the largest pellet store in the US.

As far as placement, put the stove where you want the heat....

 

[THE ROOSTER]

Mine is in the coldest room of the house... And yes that is on the NW side and is my family room... I live in a two story home and the heat does work it's way up there, but by no means would it heat it all comfortably...

 

[deucedown]

not a fan of saint croix i dont think ashleighs sells them anymore they have bad warrantys or something same with Breckwell go lennox much better!

I also don't agree with this statement, due to owning a st. criox for the first year. I know it has only been my first year but my stove has been incredibly solid. Hopefully I will be as happy with this stove in five years as I am now. I decided on the st. criox due to the fact that I haven't seen as many bad reviews as I have with other stoves. They are also not as prominent as some of the other stoves like quadrifire. My father in law bought a quadrifire this year and my friend bought a lenox. They both had an issue with there stove where they had to call the company to have someone service there stove. One was getting clinkers and the other had some other problem. My father in law and me ordered the same pellets so that can be ruled out with the clinkers. I had my stove on 24/7 due to the fact that we locked in at 4.69!! All of are thermastats were set to the minimum and we averaged 17 gallons of oil a month. We have oil for heat and hot water. Our family room/basement in the raise ranch is large and open and that averaged around 70 and are upstairs averaged 62. I used 2 1/2 tons for the winter. I was rather cheap as I could have used it on a higher setting, but I wanted to gauge it being my first year by having it on the 1 and 2 settings. There is 5 settings on my pellet stove with 1 the lowest and 5 the highest. I did try and burn it on level four or five a few times a week to burn the creosole.

We did use an electric heater for 2 bedrooms when we slept as it was most difficult to reach those rooms. Given the price of oil I think the pellet stove is almost paid for itself. I purchased my with installation for 3200. It would have been a lot more have I not negotiated hard core.

Go St. Croix!!

 

[mnkywrnch]

I have to agree with krooser and deucedown my st croix prescott has been rock solid,cleaning is a snap all motors are very easy to remove and clean,and I must say this stove will handle some of the dirtiest pellets without a problem a friend of mine owns a quad castile which also seems like a very good stove,but he said pulling the motors for cleaning was a pain. Im also sure lenox is a good stove, they have been around for years. Find what meets your needs make sure the dealer is reputable and go for it.IMO

 

[mandkj]

I have a raised ranch and the pellet stove is in the family room on the lower level. It is pointed directly at the split stairs and at the top of the stairs is a ceiling fan which I run in reverse. This pulls a good amount of heat upstairs and will keep it around 70. The bedrooms do not get the heat so I have heaters from eheat.com that work great. They use a lot less electricity than regular space heaters and are much safer.

 

[Al in MN]

Another St Croix Afton Bay owner here in MN which I bought used 2 years old and installed in Feb. have not had one lick of problem so far and ran it on number two most of the time.

 

[krooser]

One thing...resist that temptation to save a few $$$ by buying on-line. Find a GOOD dealer who will service what they sell and stick with them That's worth more than any on-line savings...

 

[Xena]

not a fan of saint croix
i dont think ashleighs sells them anymore they have bad warrantys or
something same with Breckwell go lennox much better!

Bad warrantys? You have any facts to back that up?


Going into the 5th year with my st croix. These stoves
have handled a dozen different pellet brands without a problem.
Easy for DIY service, and didn't have to take out a second mortgage
to buy it. Regular maintenance and she runs sweet. I wouldn't
trade this stove for anything new out there on the market today.

 

[Wet1]

Given the price of oil I think the pellet stove is almost paid for itself. I purchased my with installation for 3200. It would have been a lot more have I not negotiated hard core.

You paid $3200 for your stove (less than a year ago), plus the price of pellets, and you think your stove has almost paid for itself given the price of oil?!?!?!? You do realize you could have also just bought the oil from someone else and saved the $3200? I don't think I'd consider spending $3200+ on the pellet stove as paying for itself in less than a year given the cost of oil this last season...

 

[summit]

buy a harman. P68. Can't go wrong

 

[Meneillys]

My father and I made a sheet steal shroud around his Quad Mt Vernon and hooked it up to his plenum on his gas furnace with a 14" duct fan we got from mc-master carr. As long as you block off the return air on the furnace it works good. The air temp difference is about 4 degrees from one end to the other of his house. We also did this to my brothers Mt Vernon but we had to add an extra fan down the line to get the house evened out.

 

[fireman1028]

not a fan of saint croix
i dont think ashleighs sells them anymore they have bad warrantys or
something same with Breckwell go lennox much better!

Bad warrantys? You have any facts to back that up?


Going into the 5th year with my st croix. These stoves
have handled a dozen different pellet brands without a problem.
Easy for DIY service, and didn't have to take out a second mortgage
to buy it. Regular maintenance and she runs sweet. I wouldn't
trade this stove for anything new out there on the market today.

Some of my avalon components are covered up to 7 years! i have not seen that anywhere

 

[mnkywrnch]

not a fan of saint croix
i dont think ashleighs sells them anymore they have bad warrantys or
something same with Breckwell go lennox much better!

Bad warrantys? You have any facts to back that up?


Going into the 5th year with my st croix. These stoves
have handled a dozen different pellet brands without a problem.
Easy for DIY service, and didn't have to take out a second mortgage
to buy it. Regular maintenance and she runs sweet. I wouldn't
trade this stove for anything new out there on the market today.

Some of my avalon components are covered up to 7 years! i have not seen that anywhere

The st croix's are 2 years on electrical and 5 on everything else not to bad IMO.

 

[deucedown]

Given the price of oil I think the pellet stove is almost paid for itself. I purchased my with installation for 3200. It would have been a lot more have I not negotiated hard core.

You paid $3200 for your stove (less than a year ago), plus the price of pellets, and you think your stove has almost paid for itself given the price of oil?!?!?!? You do realize you could have also just bought the oil from someone else and saved the $3200? I don't think I'd consider spending $3200+ on the pellet stove as paying for itself in less than a year given the cost of oil this last season...

We locked in for the year at 4.69....do the math 4.69 x 1000 gallons. We will use a total of 225 gallons of oil for the year. If I broke the service contract it was 800 dollars. Before posting you should do the math.

 

[Wet1]

Given the price of oil I think the pellet stove is almost paid for itself. I purchased my with installation for 3200. It would have been a lot more have I not negotiated hard core.

You paid $3200 for your stove (less than a year ago), plus the price of pellets, and you think your stove has almost paid for itself given the price of oil?!?!?!? You do realize you could have also just bought the oil from someone else and saved the $3200? I don't think I'd consider spending $3200+ on the pellet stove as paying for itself in less than a year given the cost of oil this last season...

We locked in for the year at 4.69....do the math 4.69 x 1000 gallons. We will use a total of 225 gallons of oil for the year. If I broke the service contract it was 800 dollars. Before posting you should do the math.

I did do the math and it looks like you spent way more than you needed to. I'll reiterate the three obvious options:

A) Oil contract @ $4.69 x 1000 (BTW, it sounds like you're using more oil than you should be for a house of that size.)
= $4690 total for oil only with the company you signed the contract with.

B) (Oil contract @ $4.69 x 225)+(purchase pellet stove so you don't use as much oil $3200)+(cost of pellets, say 3 tons @ $300)... and I'll assume you ONLY used 3 tons, which is only the BTU equivalent to about 356 gal of oil, and nowhere near the equivalent of 775 gal of oil. + (the electricitry for the two electric heaters in the BRs $100(?))
= $5255+

C) Buy some oil from your oil supplier which you signed the contract with, ($4.69 x 225), and then buy remaining oil at market price as needed from someone else, + ($2.00 avg for season x 775).
= $2605

D) (Break contract $800) + (buy oil at the market price $2.00 (avg for season) x 1000)
= $2800

Doing option B is really no different than option C in regards to your original contract and there's no way the oil company would know the difference between you doing option B or C, but even if you wanted to be technical about paying an $800 fee for breaking the contract, option D is still far less than A or B. So please explain to me how your decision to do option "B" was a savings and how the "pellet stove is almost paid for itself."??? :-S

 

[deucedown]

Exact usage of oil per month = 17 gallons x 12 months = 204 gallons times 4.69 = $957

$957 + 2 1/2 tons of pellets x ($250) = $625

Cost of Stove = $3200

My cost for heat this season $4782

Without the pellet stove I would have used at least a 1000 gallons for the year......our house is 2200 square feet, I didn't include the garage in my original estimate but it is enclosed, however I don't heat it with pellet stove.

So technically 750 gallons of oil x 4.69 = $3516

I guess your right since you are the oil Nazi, I will recoupe it next year.

Breaking the contract to pay $800 and having to pay for another wrap around service agreement $300 just didn't make sense. Instead of losing $1100 and saving 2.69.....by the way oil wasn't $2.00 per gallon at the beginning of winter I decided to invest in a stove.

Sounds to me you work for an oil company. I'm sorry I offended you by purchasing a pellet stove and not breaking my contract. Next time I'll be sure to ask your permission.

 

[deucedown]

Given the price of oil I think the pellet stove is almost paid for itself. I purchased my with installation for 3200. It would have been a lot more have I not negotiated hard core.

You paid $3200 for your stove (less than a year ago), plus the price of pellets, and you think your stove has almost paid for itself given the price of oil?!?!?!? You do realize you could have also just bought the oil from someone else and saved the $3200? I don't think I'd consider spending $3200+ on the pellet stove as paying for itself in less than a year given the cost of oil this last season...

We locked in for the year at 4.69....do the math 4.69 x 1000 gallons. We will use a total of 225 gallons of oil for the year. If I broke the service contract it was 800 dollars. Before posting you should do the math.

I did do the math and it looks like you spent way more than you needed to. I'll reiterate the three obvious options:

A) Oil contract @ $4.69 x 1000 (BTW, it sounds like you're using more oil than you should be for a house of that size.)
= $4690 total for oil only with the company you signed the contract with.

B) (Oil contract @ $4.69 x 225)+(purchase pellet stove so you don't use as much oil $3200)+(cost of pellets, say 3 tons @ $300)... and I'll assume you ONLY used 3 tons, which is only the BTU equivalent to about 356 gal of oil, and nowhere near the equivalent of 775 gal of oil. + (the electricitry for the two electric heaters in the BRs $100(?))
= $5255+

C) Buy some oil from your oil supplier which you signed the contract with, ($4.69 x 225), and then buy remaining oil at market price as needed from someone else, + ($2.00 avg for season x 775).
= $2605

D) (Break contract $800) + (buy oil at the market price $2.00 (avg for season) x 1000)
= $2800

Doing option B is really no different than option C in regards to your original contract and there's no way the oil company would know the difference between you doing option B or C, but even if you wanted to be technical about paying an $800 fee for breaking the contract, option D is still far less than A or B. So please explain to me how your decision to do option "B" was a savings and how the "pellet stove is almost paid for itself."??? :-S

I was only joking about the oil Nazi comment but I guess you like to show other people how oil is better https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/38540/

Why do you hate pellets so much......and if you respond to me two more times I'll be your 1300 post....how do you find the time?!?!?!?!

 

[Wet1]

I don't work for an oil company. In fact, I removed the oil service from my house (still have it in my garage though) and converted over to NG. So no, I have no interest in oil. Regarding pellets, I own 2 pellet stoves (had a third that belonged to a friend at one point) and have been burning pellets for 9 years. In that time I've seen significant supply and price fluctuations, and it seems to be worse in more recent years. So no, I don't hate pellets, but I can tell you they are no huge bargain these days and certainly not if you have to spend big money on a stove, pad, flue, and installation.

What I do have an interest in is the gross misinformation that is somewhat regularly spewed around here... such as your initial initial post “my pellet stove is almost paid for itself" in less than a year (which is obviously horse poop)... or perhaps suggesting 2.5 tons of pellets will replace the 775 gallons of oil you had to use w/o the pellet stove. 2.5 tons of pellets only contains 41 million BTU, yet 775 gal of oil contains 108 million BTU. It's hard to say any central heating system is anywhere near that inefficient! Frankly I could care less what you spend your money on, but I hate to see unknowing newbies coming here reading gross misinformation or incomplete information and then go and spend $4k+ on a new pellet stove thinking it will pay for itself within a year when that simply is not true these days... not even close to true!

So take my observations and opinions as a personal attack if you must, but hopefully these same comments will at least give an unknowing reader a better perspective as to what savings there is to be had burning pellets today.

 

[Wet1]

Here's another post since you're concerned about my post count and checking my history.

 

[deucedown]

"and spend $4k+ on a new pellet stove thinking it will pay for itself within a year when that simply is not true these days… not even close to true!"

Not even close to true though I should recoupe by next year. My first statement wasn't gross information....so I was off one year. It will still be cheaper than oil given oil prices. If you can't see that than I can't help you and yes you have to much time on your hands. Now if you're retired I sort of understand, but you should probably get another hobby than posting on forums all day, everyday. Good luck to your mission to finding all of the misinformation about btu's of pellet stoves vs oil. I think this stuff excites you in a strange way.