Wood Stove vs Pellet Stove

tex78

Active VIP Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2010
Messages
17,505
Reaction score
16,871
Location
DA Moose B.C
Got a Dutch west stove, heats 1800 square feet wit open loft to roof, not much for roof insulation lol

It's got a cat built in and is pretty efficient with that, go through about 6 cords including loft in garage when heated and used

No natural gas here so it's power or propane or oil heat, which is way too much

Used to go get wood, been hard to do after ankle broke, and busy also

Bought 7 cords, 4 at 160 a cord and 3 at 190 a cord

At 160 a cord you can't do it for that really, it's hard on everything and have to drive a ways sometimes


Been over at friends with pellet stove and the heat sucks compared

Our stove is super easy to regulate heat and keep say 20 deg c
 
Last edited:

gunner3006

Active VIP Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2014
Messages
11,835
Reaction score
10,091
Location
grande prairie
The outdoor wood boilers are really handy cause they will eat anything. I just don’t have the space for it.
 

Cdnfireman

Active VIP Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2012
Messages
2,726
Reaction score
9,527
Location
Alberta
Outdoor wood boiler......

how would a boiler work for intermittent use? Say for a cabin that is used a couple weeks a month. Say it had propane to maintain things tp prevent freezing then fire up the boiler for a week or so to run some hot water radiators or something?
 

S.W.A.T.

Active VIP Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2008
Messages
4,424
Reaction score
7,503
Location
Smithers
how would a boiler work for intermittent use? Say for a cabin that is used a couple weeks a month. Say it had propane to maintain things tp prevent freezing then fire up the boiler for a week or so to run some hot water radiators or something?

Propane would be great. Use a 50/50 mix glycol to prevent freezing if your not around for the colder times. The boiler can be fixed to run radiators, infloor or forced air
 

skid

Active VIP Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
903
Reaction score
3,323
Location
smithers bc
I wouldn't use a 50/50 mix, typical is 30 glycol and 70 water. Glycol is hard to pump and using a 30/70 will help and is usually good to -35. It's a large cost to buy a wood boiler for small amounts of use like that, they aren't cheap. Also infloor heat takes quite a few hours to get a slab to tempature, so in something like a cabin that isn't used often I wouldn't recommend it. I have one for my place and I enjoy it but it'll chew through 15 cords or so a heating season, their is more efficient ones but last I checked they were running I the $12000 and up range for just the unit.
 
Last edited:

S.W.A.T.

Active VIP Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2008
Messages
4,424
Reaction score
7,503
Location
Smithers
I wouldn't use a 50/50 mix, typical is 30 glycol and 70 water. Glycol is hard to pump and using a 30/70 will help and is usually good to -35. It's a large cost to buy a wood boiler for small amounts of use like that, they aren't cheap. Also infloor heat takes quite a few hours to get a slab to tempature, so in something like a cabin that isn't used often I wouldn't recommend it. I have one for my place and I enjoy it but it'll chew through 15 cords or so a heating season, their is more efficient ones but last I checked they were running I the $12000 and up range for just the unit.

Good points but nothing beats infloor heat
 
  • Like
Reactions: RGM

Bnorth

Active VIP Member
Joined
Dec 18, 2010
Messages
10,511
Reaction score
19,964
Location
Salmon Arm
Wood heat is way nicer than pellets but the control of pellets is great. The new stoves run off a thermostat just like a furnace and can light themselves. Just keep the hopper full and it's as easy as can be. Wood really depends on availability, if you need to buy it it's not worth it unless you don't have a NG option.
 
Top Bottom