wood or pellets?

[Kosmonauts]

From my last post on this forum I definitely decided to put a stove in the basement. I've never really looked into the pellets but my wife was teaching me some things about it. Theres definitely pros and cons about both of them and because my chimney is going to be a bit tricky, I am just liking how the pellets need a vent like chimney opposed to a full on insulated chimney past the roof.

I personally would prefer the wood but I'm certain my wife is going to want the pellets. Dont know if anyone here has one of each or what, but i know that wood burns hotter and is way more reliable. The pellets are convenient, but there are quite a bit of electrical components that the stove relies on to work.

Would love some hearth.com opinions on this one!

Thanks!

 

[webby3650]

I had a pellet stove for several years. We loved it! Because we were both in denial... We switched to a Woodstove and never looked back. They can be a real maintenance headache and with the cost of pellets, we can burn Propane cheaper. I don't like the amount of noise that comes from pellet stoves either.

 

[begreen]

Agreed. We had a pellet insert for about 5 yrs. It was convenient to have the stove on a digital thermostat, warming up the house when you woke up, just like a furnace. And that was the downside, it burned just like a furnace with all the noise and more maintenance. With daily or twice daily loading they are dusty too. I could see adding a pellet boiler, in a utility room, but not in a living area. Tending the wood stove is less hassle and maintenance. Plus it has a much better looking fire.

 

[Kosmonauts]

Ok just wanted to hear you guys say it I think. I'm just concerned about the chimney and clearance to combustibles I suppose. However, if I can do pellets, I can probably put in a wood stove with a little more work and thought.

 

[webby3650]

What kind of issues will you be facing with the chimney install?

 

[CenterTree]

We have both. Wood in basement, pellet in living room.
I voted for WOOD.

Pellet is great for ease of USE. Hooked to thermostat....just hit a button.
Pellet is not so great for most other factors of ownership.

Pellet Cons: NOISY
Needs electricity.
Gotta find pellets, can get pricey and short supply.
Gotta store pellets. You got a big basement or garage?
Contains moving parts and stuff to break down.
Flame picture is not the most gorgeous.
Did I mention noisy?

Your biggest thing would be if you have fairly easy access to wood. If you do, that makes a big difference.
You always got to pay for pellets. Wood you can get free (YMMV).

Is your basement insulated? It takes a lot of pellet BTU's to heat an unfinished basement. (wood too, but ya can crank it up a lot more)

In fact, we are planning to take out our pellet stove and replace it with a second wood stove (after 9 years of pellets)
THAT'S how much we favor wood.

 

[Husky]

As one who just switched to pellets I would have to agree with everyone so far. If I was doing it again I would have put in another wood stove. Pellets have some advantages but nothing compares to a wood stove. If you have easy access to wood and you are looking for lots of heat go with wood.

 

[mass_burner]

Aslo, you can burn pellets in a wood stove but not the other way around. I get a 2-3 hr hot burn from my pellet cage. Perfect for shoulder or 4-5 hours before bed.

 

[Kosmonauts]

We have both. Wood in basement, pellet in living room.
I voted for WOOD.

Pellet is great for ease of USE. Hooked to thermostat....just hit a button.
Pellet is not so great for most other factors of ownership.

Pellet Cons: NOISY
Needs electricity.
Gotta find pellets, can get pricey and short supply.
Gotta store pellets. You got a big basement or garage?
Contains moving parts and stuff to break down.
Flame picture is not the most gorgeous.
Did I mention noisy?

Your biggest thing would be if you have fairly easy access to wood. If you do, that makes a big difference.
You always got to pay for pellets. Wood you can get free (YMMV).

Is your basement insulated? It takes a lot of pellet BTU's to heat an unfinished basement. (wood too, but ya can crank it up a lot more)

In fact, we are planning to take out our pellet stove and replace it with a second wood stove (after 9 years of pellets)
THAT'S how much we favor wood.

Wow thanks a lot for typing all of that out

I do have easy access to wood and just bought a new saw so I have really been crankin out the logs.

My basement is finished, but not all the way and some parts are not insulated. With wood I can just run it hot (I have about a cord and a half of black locust already so that shouldn't be an issue) but with pellets I feel like it's to much of a gamble. Thanks again

 

[Kosmonauts]

What kind of issues will you be facing with the chimney install?

What kind of issues will you be facing with the chimney install?

spots for the install are tricky and they're mostly sub surface so would require digging. Or I can come out of the block windows in the block foundation but I don't know if that's "legal". A pellet vent is easier and smaller but pellets aren't as good as wood.

 

[webby3650]

spots for the install are tricky and they're mostly sub surface so would require digging. Or I can come out of the block windows in the block foundation but I don't know if that's "legal". A pellet vent is easier and smaller but pellets aren't as good as wood.

There's no reason you couldn't come out of the window. Assuming you still have the proper clearance. Frame it in and put a thimble in it..

 

[Kosmonauts]

There's no reason you couldn't come out of the window. Assuming you still have the proper clearance. Frame it in and put a thimble in it..

Well that's awesome. That makes this whole thing so much easier Wood stove it is. Thimble and take all of the glass out your saying? Or you think it's ok?

 

[edyit]

take out the whole window, then frame it in with 2xwhatever you need to match wall thickness. this way you know your thimble will have all the required clearances as well.

 

[Kosmonauts]

Awesome! I'm on it thank you guys so much

 

[begreen]

Be sure to read the thimble clearance requirements so that the opening is framed properly for it.

 

[brenndatomu]

Wood stove it is.

Good decision.
Just from reading all the threads here it seems to me that the pellet burners are kinda maintenance intensive...and require backup power source if that is to be your emergency heating
I have installed two class A chimneys to basement stoves . One that went out through the basement wall, and one that went through the window opening.
I probably overthought the first one that went through the old window opening. I took out the fairly large window, frame and all, and then cast a concrete slab, with the proper size hole for the new pipe to go through. The slab would replace about half the window opening. After I mortared the slab in, I then closed the other half of it in with glass block so as to not completely lose my natural light source.
The second one I just punched a hole out through the block wall...pretty easy really...mainly just a hammer drill with masonry bit and a 4" angle grinder with diamond blade. You can either put in a clay thimble to slide the pipe through, or just mortar the pipe right into the wall once you have it located in it's final position (that's what I did)

 

[Lake Girl]

Interesting that this same question wasn't posted in the pellet mill??
I have lived with a wood stove, outside boiler and now a pellet stove. The pellet stove is quieter than the fan for heat distribution from the outside boiler and uses less electricity. I do not need anyone to cut trees for firewood (hired or not) and then cut, split and stack to dry. I have a pellet shed filled to the brim with bags of pellets that I can handle on my own (I built the shed myself and loaded it solo). I add extra steps (screening pellets) to keep dust to a minimum in the house. The only issues we have had in 5 years of steady use has been the bearings in the room fan went this year (had replacement fan so easy swap - old one is waiting on the Hubby for bearing switch-out) and the micro-switch on the hopper lid is getting sloppy. I have done all the maintenance on the stove ... a "Pellet Princess" title was bestowed The pellet stove heats around 2000 sq. ft. but needs a bump in the upstairs in the steady -40/-50 degrees.

What happens when you can't process wood for some reason? I would like the option of having both at my disposal....

 

[Kosmonauts]

Interesting that this same question wasn't posted in the pellet mill??
I have lived with a wood stove, outside boiler and now a pellet stove. The pellet stove is quieter than the fan for heat distribution from the outside boiler and uses less electricity. I do not need anyone to cut trees for firewood (hired or not) and then cut, split and stack to dry. I have a pellet shed filled to the brim with bags of pellets that I can handle on my own (I built the shed myself and loaded it solo). I add extra steps (screening pellets) to keep dust to a minimum in the house. The only issues we have had in 5 years of steady use has been the bearings in the room fan went this year (had replacement fan so easy swap - old one is waiting on the Hubby for bearing switch-out) and the micro-switch on the hopper lid is getting sloppy. I have done all the maintenance on the stove ... a "Pellet Princess" title was bestowed The pellet stove heats around 2000 sq. ft. but needs a bump in the upstairs in the steady -40/-50 degrees.

What happens when you can't process wood for some reason? I would like the option of having both at my disposal....

My wife definetely likes the idea of the pellets. I also like that the chimney is more of a vent then anything. Pellets aren't completely out the window I don't think but I most likely will prefer wood because of where I live...

 

[Lake Girl]

Drove through a good chunk of Pennsylvania last year. The discussion in the Laurel highlands was we would hate to have fought a battle in that terrain (Son on his way to graduation ceremony in National Harbor ... history degree).

Some folks can continue to process their own wood stocks into advanced years however, both Hubby and I haven't been overly kind to our backs (or genetics as my daughter has the same issues at 23) and starting to feel the stress in our 50s. Pellets are more manageable than wood for us...

Hubby's opinion is that it is a very safe installation/operation option. He's seen his share of bad installs/problems on both as a fire fighter...

 

[webby3650]

Interesting that this same question wasn't posted in the pellet mill??
I have lived with a wood stove, outside boiler and now a pellet stove. The pellet stove is quieter than the fan for heat distribution from the outside boiler and uses less electricity. I do not need anyone to cut trees for firewood (hired or not) and then cut, split and stack to dry. I have a pellet shed filled to the brim with bags of pellets that I can handle on my own (I built the shed myself and loaded it solo). I add extra steps (screening pellets) to keep dust to a minimum in the house. The only issues we have had in 5 years of steady use has been the bearings in the room fan went this year (had replacement fan so easy swap - old one is waiting on the Hubby for bearing switch-out) and the micro-switch on the hopper lid is getting sloppy. I have done all the maintenance on the stove ... a "Pellet Princess" title was bestowed The pellet stove heats around 2000 sq. ft. but needs a bump in the upstairs in the steady -40/-50 degrees.

What happens when you can't process wood for some reason? I would like the option of having both at my disposal....

What happens if you run out of pellets? Or a local source is no longer available? I assume you buy pellets in advance, just like you would buy wood in advance. To me availability isn't really an issue since us serious burners prepare in advance. Buying pellets is a lot more expensive than buying fire wood around here, I like being able to provide my own fuel or buy if it becomes necessary. I've bought wood for as little as $75 a cord delivered.

 

[Heftiger]

Drove through a good chunk of Pennsylvania last year. The discussion in the Laurel highlands was we would hate to have fought a battle in that terrain (Son on his way to graduation ceremony in National Harbor ... history degree).

Some folks can continue to process their own wood stocks into advanced years however, both Hubby and I haven't been overly kind to our backs (or genetics as my daughter has the same issues at 23) and starting to feel the stress in our 50s. Pellets are more manageable than wood for us...

Hubby's opinion is that it is a very safe installation/operation option. He's seen his share of bad installs/problems on both as a fire fighter...

I think it just depends on if you want to do your work before the heating season (cutting splitting and stacking), or during the heating season (cleaning passages, clearing bridged pellets, ect). I found the maintenance of our pellet stove to far exceed the effort of wood (since I just buy my wood). Plus, the pellets were more expensive, the heat wasn't as good, and we had no heat during power outages. Neither one is 100% better than the other, it all depends on your situation and preferences. That's why we continue to see these threads come up every so often.

 

[begreen]

I liked our pellet stove a lot on a functional level. I was commuting then and it helped us get off the propane bandwagon and save a lot of money. This was a Quad 1200i which is pretty good for lower maintenance. I cleaned it once a week and that took about 15 minutes, including cleaning the glass. Pellet jams were cleared maybe monthly? Summer maintenance took about an hour. Over 5 years it went through a control board and 3 snap switches. I was used to working on furnaces and did our own repairs.

To contrast, in 8 yrs I have replaced the door gasket on the T6. It gets cleaned annually including the flue which takes about 30 minutes. The main difference between the two heaters is complexity. A pellet stove is a small furnace with all the components that go with a furnace. That includes a convection blower, an exhaust blower, temperature and vacuum switches and a control board. The two blowers generate noise. On high, a lot of noise. We ran the convection blower on medium for this reason. A woodstove OOTH has very little to maintain and some don't even need a convection blower. Without the blower the wood stove is quite quiet. That may be important if it is in one's living room.

 

[Lake Girl]

Yes we buy in advance ... planning is important with both heat sources. Pellets in our area can be hard to come by so pre-planning is a must. Still far cheaper than oil (done that route too). No NG available here. I have had wood purchases fall through on me too...

Just gave an account of our experience and opinion which is what was asked... YMMV As the female partner of the household heating dynamics, I would rather deal with pellets than wood. I've run my share of chain saws (have my own Jonsered) and split, stacked, loaded. I know, from my perspective, I am far more self-sufficient dealing with the pellet stove, and preplanning of that, than a wood stove. We have 2 generators for power needs...

 

[bags]

Both wood stoves and pellet stoves are a PITA to be perfectly honest here and BOTH require a lot of work but in different fashions. BOTH also have great qualities to offer if you are willing to deal with them. Many (myself included) find the benefits far out weigh the negatives on both.

IMHO pellet stoves are easy to deal with if you buy a low maintenance one. Very easy in fact. But that will cost ya. I saw someone above mention you need a lot of storage for the pellets. What about all the wood splits and stacks? That doesn't count? I have heated with both and still do. A little pellet dust. What about the non stop mess with dragging wood inside? Pellets don't get bugs either. Let's be real here. Not picking a fight but let's be realistic about the pros and cons of both. Because they both have their fair share of each

I will say this though. Do not even toy with the idea of a wood stove unless it has some long burn times. Unless you like wood split sprinting sports. Also look at the newer EPA units to reduce your overall wood usage. Wood is good and so is pellet heat. My pellet stoves can be run just as hot as wood stoves and they also radiate and blow heat. Neither are perfect nor really require a ton of work. Busting, cutting, stacking wood is a bit more work. But humping 40 lb bags is a good little workout too.

It is all in what works for you and your situation. A plus on wood is that the wood heat works in power outages but really, How often is one without juice this day and age. I live out in nowhere in the woods and rarely have interruptions. When I do they are short lived. Not saying they can not happen for longer periods though and that was a big reason I just bought a new NC-30 wood eater.

Your best bet is to just take it on the chin and buy one of each if you can and cover your bases in all circumstances. i also know this is not practical or doable for many just strictly on space constraints alone. I have to run to TSC before they close in a couple of hours but i will be more than happy to break it all down on both. Many true and valid points have already been hit above. Realizing this is in a wood stove forum you will obviously get pro-wood opinions more so than any pro-pellet input. As Lake Girl mentioned. Post it over on the pellet mill and more will rip on the wood stoves. Hey, It is cool to root for your team and all but this guy needs solid realistic facts to work with so he can make a good informed decision. He already has enough trouble and a 50 / 50 split with the Boss Lady wanting pellets and he prefers wood.

Good Luck is all I can say.

 

[mass_burner]

Pellet stove is tempting, the thermostat feature, etc I would need a low maintenance stove. I wonder if my stove installer would come by periodically and do the maintenance/cleaning for a monthly fee?