Would you buy a Pellet Stove again???????????????

[Panhandler]

Finally a pellet stove owner that wouldn't do it again. Thanks for your post and honesty. I called my gas Co. and they wanted $12,000 to hook me up. Add another $7,500 grand to take my oil burner and 330 gal tank out and replace it with a NG burner and that translates into a big OUCH! If I had a NG gas burner I would offer my Pellet stove on EBAY at a reasonable price.

Wow, that's quite a different experience I'm having with converting over to NG in CT. My NG company just ran the line to my house last week. Cost? $0.00 dollars. I have two oil boilers and want to stay with two NG boilers. The NG company and Regal Supply in Hartford each rebated $600 toward the boilers. I bought two high efficiency direct vent boilers for $2075 (after rebates) shipped to my door. I installed my last boiler, so I'll install these as well. I still need to buy some parts to make everything functional, but I expect to come out of this conversion at under $3k.

I also have about 450 gallons of heating oil left in my oil tanks. I prepaid that oil last year @ $2.55 a gallon. I still have to get rid of all this oil, but I guess I'll just have to transport it away with my two diesel vehicles over time. ;-)

It's all dependent on the utility. I have done a few NG conversions (as a contractor) for some folks back in the '80s. Back then, BGE would charge for just the materials and many people got hooked up for less than $1k. I suspect that most utilities are now charging for labor and this is making the decision less attractive. You would have to burn a LOT of gas to recoup the $12k investment, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Every local utility is different. I suspect that those areas that are serviced by separate gas and electric utilities may come in more competitively.

Careful how you transport that dyed fuel; you wouldn't want to "accidentally" get any in your fuel tank. The tax man is getting more aggressive and the dye is rather permanent...

Back on the topic at hand: I have been considering a pellet insert for our unused fireplace in the rarely used living room, but NG is really still a bargain. At any rate, I'll keep my eyes open in the coming years for a bargain when all the dust settles from the current panic situation.

Chris

Keep an eye on that "bargain" natural gas. On July 1st VA Power raised their rates 35% and here in WV the NG company asked the PUC for a 42% increase.

 

[MCPO]

I`ll respond to this one next spring since I`m a newbie.
Having burned wood for 12 yrs I`m not totally inexperienced but at the same time I`m not entirely thrilled with the thought of being into this pellet burning thing either . I don`t see it as being significantly less costly than oil but I do like having a stove of some sort in the house. It`s reassuring to have an alternative heat source and supply of fuel sitting here if nothing else.
I honestly don`t expect miracles with a pellet stove.

 

[DiggerJim]

I`ll respond to this one next spring since I`m a newbie.
Having burned wood for 12 yrs I`m not totally inexperienced but at the same time I`m not entirely thrilled with the thought of being into this pellet burning thing either . I don`t see it as being significantly less costly than oil but I do like having a stove of some sort in the house. It`s reassuring to have an alternative heat source and supply of fuel sitting here if nothing else.
I honestly don`t expect miracles with a pellet stove.

That's actually an excellent attitude. There aren't many of us who couldn't use a savings of only 25-30% off our fuel bill...that's pretty doable with pellets. Going after a 50 or 75% or more might be stretching it (but possible if you set everything up right). Realistic expectations are the key to satisfaction. It's nice to have an alternative though - options are always a good thing.

 

[homebrewz]

Yes, but I would buy a multi-fuel stove (pellets, corn, bio materials) in order to burn whatever was available, cheaper, better, etc.

 

[MCPO]

Yes, but I would buy a multi-fuel stove (pellets, corn, bio materials) in order to burn whatever was available, cheaper, better, etc.

Around here the only thing available is pellets and even they are hard to find . Corn being more costly so what`s left?
I see no switchgrass or anything else so why go with a multi fuel?

 

[webbie]

Bush said switchgrass soon, and men on mars also!
%-P

Actually, the multi-fuel units (some of them) tend to put up with lower quality pellets also, which can be an advantage. A Harman fits this description - the bottom feed can use high ash fuels. I once burned pellet hull pellets in a Harman! Smelled good.....

Corn is expensive right now, but it was cheaper and more available than pellets over the last number of years (in many areas)....

Still, just pellets are OK if you are in an area with a lot of forest and multiple pellet plants.

 

[DiggerJim]

Corn is expensive right now, but it was cheaper and more available than pellets over the last number of years (in many areas)....

With the help of our congressional wizards, Corn is the new Oil what with the ethanol usage requirements they mandated last year. Corn's not going to go down now. We don't have enough corn production to meet the new laws.

 

[homebrewz]

Around here the only thing available is pellets and even they are hard to find . Corn being more costly so what`s left?
I see no switchgrass or anything else so why go with a multi fuel?

The price and availability of different pellet stove fuels, and the raw materials to make those fuels are varying enough that
while wood pellets are cheaper than most other fuels this year, it could be a different story next year, or the year after that.

 

[pellet0708]

Haven't even started mine up yet but would not give it a second thought. I know it will be pain in many ways but was always nervous not having any alternative fuel in the house.

 

[MCPO]

As long as pellets manage to stay below the cost of oil they will sell but if and when they get too close in cost I won`t be burning them and I suspect I won`t be alone either. The industry will be shooting themselves in the foot and ultimately take a big nose dive.
I think a better investment would be to add more zones in my hot water baseboard system.

 

[3fordasho]

I installed a quadrafire castile in 2001 and burned it almost exclusively until last winter when I added a woodstock fireview
into a new addition. Was burning 4 tons, last winter only went thru 30 bags as the pellet stove is now back up for the fireview and for use in the "shoulder" season.

Observations:

Fireview- love the radiant heat, and no blower/auger noise.
Like the fact that I can control my own fuel costs depending on how much work
I want to put into it.
Processing firewood- right now I don't mind it, even enjoy doing it.. ask me in 5 years;-)


Quad Castile- thermostatic control makes it convenient and ideal for when I'm not around
to feed the fireview.
Don't like the blower noise.
Don't like the inability to control fuel costs, I'm in the middle of corn country so I thought I had a good
back up fuel....wrong.
Never felt as warm as I do now with the Fireview.

Would I still buy a pellet stove? At todays prices, probably not. I do like having the stove as a back up and
have no plans of removing or not using it...

 

[steamguy]

Been burning pellets since 2003. Replaced the original Austroflamm with Enviro Empress FPI. After a year of using the Enviro, it's been a good stove.

Would have liked to have just...a...little... more heat output and a little less noise from the Enviro, but it's otherwise just fine. The Austro would run you out if you had it on full blast. But it was a hassle to start, needed cleaning every other day, and after 13 years it just plain wore out.

Yeah, the cost of the pellets and the stove has been consistently less than spending the money on the power to heat the house. We burn between 2 and 5 tons a season, depending on the severity of the winter. Spring/Fall usually take another 1-2 tons.

 

[webbie]

Steam, do you mean 1993? or 2003?

 

[steamguy]

Steam, do you mean 1993? or 2003?

Oops, 1993! :red:

We bought the old Austroflamm in the depth of winter 1993, after we finally were able to dig out. A whole week of howling snowstorm snowed us in. No power for four days, and the fireplace that my wife wanted to include in our original design (instead of a stove alcove) could not keep us warm. It was only after I pulled out my old Perfection kerosene heater from the shop that we had any kind of heat in the house.

A low of 39 degrees in the house with the fireplace roaring dangerously finally convinced her that we needed a stove; since I was the one who had to deal with the gathering, splitting, bugs, mess, and dirt of firewood in our new house, I wanted to go the pellet route. She agreed and ended up loving the the old Austro; particularly the way it was nearly silent.