small house, new oil burner or pellet stove?

[spawner]

Hello all. I am contemplating the purchase of a small 900 sq/ft house that is in need of a heating system. It currently has oil forced hot air, and a bad furnace. The house is very open with only a crawl space below. There used to be a brick chimney on the exterior wall (living room), but it has been torn off and only the support pad is left on the outside. I am used to heating with wood, but thought maybe putting an exterior wall vented pellet stove in would be fine. thoughts? pros/cons? thank you
edit: also, what might be a good stove for a place this small? Thanks

 

[jackman]

My first choice would be a pellet stove since it's a renewable resource and has less emissions. It's more environmentally friendly and perhaps less subject to price fluctuations. My second choice would be a heat pump system. If natural gas is available that might be a good choice as well.

 

[DneprDave]

I put a ductless heat pump in a 700 sqft mother in law apartment I have, it formerly had electric baseboard heat. It heats and cools the space for less than the baseboard heat cost. It is set and forget, maintenance free.

I have a pellet stove in my main house as an auxiliary heater to help a forced air oil furnace for the winter months, I wouldn't use a pellet stove for primary heating.

 

[Highbeam]

I have a pellet stove in my main house as an auxiliary heater to help a forced air oil furnace for the winter months, I wouldn't use a pellet stove for primary heating.

This is important. Do not spend money on the pellet stove until/unless the primary (automatic, thermostatic, independent) heating system is on line and functional. The wood system is great and we use ours for 100% of our heating but only after the conventional primary system is on line. Consider the likely event that your pellet stove breaks, needs maintenance, runs out of fuel, you aren't there to feed it, you run out of pellets, etc.

For us that primary system is the cheap and dependable electric wall heaters. Who cares if they are expensive to run? They don't get run unless the woodstove were to fail. The cheap wall heaters are maintenance free and effective for a guy who needs a central system but doesn't plan to use it.

 

[spawner]

Thank you all for the reply's. I guess it makes sense to have the primary up first. Since the ducting it already in place I should probably just go for it. Ill have to look into this ductless heat pump... never heard of them. Thanks again!

 

[heat seeker]

If you're looking to eventually resell - many lenders won't provide a mortgage unless there is a functioning central system. Wood/pellet stoves often don't qualify.

 

[MarkF48]

I can't recall for sure if it's the state of Massachusetts or the insurance companies. I don't believe a pellet stove or other type of wood/coal burning stove can be the primary source of heat. Check with the local building inspector and/or the insurance company that will underwrite the homeowners policy.

 

[railfanron]

I agree with DneprDave . Don't use a wood fired appliance for a primary source of heat. Personally I would replace the oil fired furnace with a Propane fired unit. Way less maintenance and it would be a little cheaper replacement cost.
Ron

 

[velvetfoot]

Isn't oil still cheaper than pellets?

 

[Advisor]

Hello all. I am contemplating the purchase of a small 900 sq/ft house that is in need of a heating system. It currently has oil forced hot air, and a bad furnace. The house is very open with only a crawl space below. There used to be a brick chimney on the exterior wall (living room), but it has been torn off and only the support pad is left on the outside. I am used to heating with wood, but thought maybe putting an exterior wall vented pellet stove in would be fine. thoughts? pros/cons? thank you
edit: also, what might be a good stove for a place this small? Thanks

I replaced my Oil furnace with a Pellet furnace and so far so good. Cost me 1100.00 CDN including tax from Jan to May and still have a bit left over. 2200 sq ft home. My second choice would be a central heat pump.

 

[Deezl Smoke]

Hello all. I am contemplating the purchase of a small 900 sq/ft house that is in need of a heating system. It currently has oil forced hot air, and a bad furnace. The house is very open with only a crawl space below. There used to be a brick chimney on the exterior wall (living room), but it has been torn off and only the support pad is left on the outside. I am used to heating with wood, but thought maybe putting an exterior wall vented pellet stove in would be fine. thoughts? pros/cons? thank you
edit: also, what might be a good stove for a place this small? Thanks

You are used to heating with wood. So you know the feel of the heat wood makes.

My old wreck of a rental house is a rectangle 916 sq/ft, or right close to it. It has a central hallway, no wall insulation and a no floor insulation. I have two seasons now heating with pellets and would not have it any other way. I too grew up with wood heat and still use it in the shop. This house, like so many in the area, was heated with nat gas.

My pellet stove of choice is the Castle Serenity. They can be bought for very low money when on sale, usually Ace hardware has sales as low as $799. This past season I bumped the heat range to number 2 for a few days when the temps dropped to near record lows for my area, about 5 degrees F. Otherwise, one Serenity on low heat #1 is all it takes to keep things toasty and dry.

I do not run the stove on any external thermostat. Like you, I know how to heat with wood, so I have no issues with the way a stand alone pellet stoves regulates (or does not regulate) the temperature. I like to participate in the operation of the stove. Some prefer not to be involved with it, and I certainly respect that. But I think you will be somewhat disappointed with other heat sources if you like the feel of the heat that wood puts out. Perhaps I am assuming too much and just because you are used to heating with wood that you like the feel of wood heat? But most here that have either grown up with wood heat or have gotten used to it over the years, seem to be tough to satisfy with other heat sources.

FWIW. JMHO

 

[maple1]

Thank you all for the reply's. I guess it makes sense to have the primary up first. Since the ducting it already in place I should probably just go for it. Ill have to look into this ductless heat pump... never heard of them. Thanks again!

aka 'mini-split'.

Also, make sure you assess the liability potential in the rest of your oil system. Like, where & how old is the oil tank & what would happen if it sprung a leak?

Do you have propane?

All kinds of choices, make sure you take everything into account. I yanked all our oil stuff out 5 years ago. Replaced with wood & electric based (was wood/oil combo).

 

[spawner]

Turns out the day we were to put in our offer, the seller accepted one and the house is under contract. Bummer. Thank you all though for all the different perspectives. Still good info if we find another place.