Stove that burns wood AND pellets?

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scoob_i_e

New Member
Nov 15, 2008
10
CA
I thought I remembered hearing something about some types of stoves that are capable of burning regular old wood in addition to having the capability to burn pellets. Did I hear something wrong or do such stoves exist?
 
I've heard of baskets for pellets that some put into their stoves so they can burn pellets.

I've never heard of a woodstove that was made to burn pellets.

Matt
 
Glowball Worming Bustierre said:
u can throw pellets into any woodstove & i bet theyll burn

But not the other way around, correct?

My dilemma here is that I know someone wanting to buy a gas stove. But I think it's a better choice to go with a wood stove. Better because it's cheaper (but requires more work.) Whereas a gas stove is basically set and forget.

Then again, if a wood stove can also burn pellets, then that would mean there is a choice between doing the extra work to process wood--or just go the lazy route and buy a bag of pellets. Or I might still not have a clear understanding of all this?
 
Yes, they'll burn, sort of. I tried this in the Jotul when we still had the pellet stove. If you just throw a handful of them in, they will burn ok. Throw a couple shovelfuls in there and they will smoke and smolder. The problem is you can't get enough air under them to burn them cleanly and quickly.
 
BeGreen said:
Yes, they'll burn, sort of. I tried this in the Jotul when we still had the pellet stove. If you just throw a handful of them in, they will burn ok. Throw a couple shovelfuls in there and they will smoke and smolder. The problem is you can't get enough air under them to burn them cleanly and quickly.

Ah, okay. Thanks.

So that's what the little tray to hold the pellets is for, correct? (To suspend them and allow a greater amount of air to flow over them?) So, if you were to throw a tray in a conventional wood stove and try to burn the pellets with that, would that allow the pellets to burn better? (But then I guess you'd still have to be constantly tossing pellets in a little a time, right?)
 
That's the idea. From the few posts of folks that tried them, it seems their performance is not too impressive. If you had a coal/wood stove with a bottom air feed, they might work better. But these are somewhat uncommon stoves.
 
BeGreen said:
That's the idea. From the few posts of folks that tried them, it seems their performance is not too impressive. If you had a coal/wood stove with a bottom air feed, they might work better. But these are somewhat uncommon stoves.

Ah, I see, so it's the source of the air that makes things difficult? So there are not many wood stoves with air that come from the bottom? And for maximum efficiency when burning pellets, you need the air coming from beneath?

Okay, I think I got it now. Thanks much.
 
Why not consider a wood stove and BioBricks (or some similar product)?

You get the handling/storage advantage of a pellet stove when you want to go that route and can also burn cordwood to the extent that you feel like processing it.
 
EngineRep said:
Why not consider a wood stove and BioBricks (or some similar product)?

You get the handling/storage advantage of a pellet stove when you want to go that route and can also burn cordwood to the extent that you feel like processing it.

That looks like a possibility. Are they referred to by some generic name?
 
Not really anything that can do this to any realistic degree.
Sorry to correct you
Don't know about USA
It is available in Europe, even though a niche market product.
http://www.jolly-mec.it/
there are other ones out too, but these are mostly only available as a commercial boiler product to be installed in your basement.
 
I think it is a very intriguing idea to be able to burn both. I could burn wood by the day and evening and when its time to hit the hay I could flip a switch and have a good overnight burn. Its easy to see the convenience for people that are gone durning the day or away from the house for a day or two.

Realistically, all I would want is for some automatc loading feature. Even if I had to cut some cordwood to square pieces that would make it a viable option to automatically load during the night without having to get up.
 
That's a different animal, I think it has forced draft. The question was is there a woodstove that burns both fuels. No wood stove that I know has forced draft except a pellet burner. They work well because they don't try to burn a mass of pellets at once.

I love the look of this beast. It looks like the robot on Lost in Space.
 

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Your friend could buy a woodstove and buy biobricks. That will cut down on much of the work and mess, but they are as expensive as pelletts but you can't set and forget.
 
I'm not sure. Biobrick is a brand that is available in my area. I know that there are many other companies that make a similar product. It is essentially compressed sawdust that is formed into bricks and packaged in bundles of 20. It is sold by the bundle or by the ton. Supposedly a ton is the equivelent to 1 to 1.5 cords of wood in terms of heat output. They are convient to store and use.
 
Alrighty. Thanks. Looks like if I start using search terms like compressed saw dust logs I should start finding some stuff.
 
LOL :) Or you could call your local pellet supplier. I'm sure that they carry the local product
 
That Jolly-Mec stuff is pretty "WOW"!

Thanks for the link whoever posted it.

Possibly Ferrari's alter-ego?

Sorry, I know this response has nothing to do with the origional post, but I had to make a comment on that! Again... WOW!
 
when I was looking for a pellet boiler (not that easy) I remember I found a OWB that burned both pellets and wood, I think it was a CB product.
 
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