Pellet Stove or no Pellet Stove??

[OVERKILL 19]

A contractor broke my water line off at the concrete in my basement !!!!
So I'm renovating now, and wanted to put in a Harmon 61A pellet stove, buddy at work, his dad is a WETT certified installer, had him over to scope it out and talk about piping/venting etc.
Today I thought I'm gunna call my insurance company to see what they want for a inspection spec......

Bam big list of items to get signed off , inspection from WETT CERT installer oh! And by the way 20% up charge for a pellet stove!

So for me that's $300 a year extra to run a pellet stove in my house. Is it worth it?? I don't need it, it's a nice to have on cold days, fire her up and make the new tv room cozy crazy warm!
Anyone have one? Good ? Bad?

 

[Bnorth]

I assume your primary heat is natural gas? Not sure what the price of gas is like in RD but pellets aren't cheap. If you run the stove 24/7 figure on 4 tonnes a year.

 

[catinthehat]

I have one in the basement of my house and love it.
We only use it from late Oct. to Mar.
We go through about 2 tonnes a year, cost is around 700 bucks.
I figure I only save a little more than that in gas costs, so don't plan on recovering cost of stove.
My insurance only went up 10%. Still hurts though.

 

[Puba]

Nice heat on a cold day. Great as a second source of heat.

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[rsaint]

I have one and at 7.00 a bag a day is way more than natural gas. Nice heat looking at getting rid of it and going to natural gas fireplace. If bulk pellets where avalible could be cheaper but a hassel with storage and unloading.

 

[ABMax24]

Why not a traditional wood stove?

 

[S.W.A.T.]

outdoor wood boiler

 

[OVERKILL 19]

Why not a traditional wood stove?

Have to pack frozen wood threw house down basement."messy"

Wife would probably never lite a wood stove.

I'd have to buy wood, so not better off in that department

Those are probably the main reasons

Pellet stove easy "set it and forget it" no over heating the room

 

[OVERKILL 19]

outdoor wood boiler

Sooo have a copper coil in middle of room to hug on cold days?....pretty sure city bylaw won't let a wood boiler be running all day long! Plus if I could run a boiler outside she would be coal!

 

[whitegold]

I've had a pellet stove for years, I like it but it certainly isn't maintenance free. I have to oil the auger as well as the fan motor. It is a slow heat but steady, and the glass needs to be cleaned daily if you want it to stay looking pretty. I go thru 2 tonnes a year @ $225/tonne. I've had natural gas and still prefer pellets.... jmo...

 

[OVERKILL 19]

I have one in the basement of my house and love it.
We only use it from late Oct. to Mar.
We go through about 2 tonnes a year, cost is around 700 bucks.
I figure I only save a little more than that in gas costs, so don't plan on recovering cost of stove.
My insurance only went up 10%. Still hurts though.

I wasn't expecting to save money having it, my house is 100 years old so duct work is poor, but I've been adding duct fans to try to get the second story more negative pressure to drive more heat up there, but is tough.
I'll maybe call around and see what other insurance company's are quoting at. Thx

 

[OVERKILL 19]

I assume your primary heat is natural gas? Not sure what the price of gas is like in RD but pellets aren't cheap. If you run the stove 24/7 figure on 4 tonnes a year.

Yes I have a 2 stage high efficient Lenox , I Goto Armsrtong /Kelowna every year. Cousin has buddy at pellet plant in Armsrtong so might just pack a bunch home each year.

 

[Bnorth]

IMO wood heat is the nicest heat and the newer pellet stoves are head and shoulders above the old ones with some really nice thermostat control now.

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[medler]

I have one in my basement. I love it. Pellets are $7.00 /bag of 40 lb Cheap not expensive. Will go through a bag a weekend unless you want your basement at 30* and die from heat ,,then it will use more obviously

 

[medler]

In the long run of buying wood or getting it yourself is a lot of work.

I used to have a wood stove in my other house. Was nicer and way more heat but I don't live in a house that has a back alley so it sucks for stacking and what not. Just burn wood in my back yard now
And the pellet stoves smell like wood to a certain extent

 

[Eagle]

I just built a new home and installed a Quadrafire MT Vernon Insert. This thing is awesome, It is super quiet and pumps the heat. It is super efficient and easy maintenance. No cutting wood and having your wife fill the house with smoke when she tries to start a fire.. Check out their website. I did a lot of research and I think they make the best unit. My 2 cents Cheers!!!!

 

[S.W.A.T.]

Not exactly how it works, outdoor boilers can adapt to any existing heating system, forced air or radiant etc. Mine is efficient enough it meets local codes and was even designed to burn indoors. Yes we go and get wood but really isn't that much effort.

Sooo have a copper coil in middle of room to hug on cold days?....pretty sure city bylaw won't let a wood boiler be running all day long! Plus if I could run a boiler outside she would be coal!

 

[ferniesnow]

The original post was about pellet stoves and reasons for not burning wood a few posts down. I'm not trying to convince Overkill10 to switch to wood but rather get those thinking about building a new house or adding on an addition, to plan "wood heat" into the equation so that everything is easier. To each their own when it comes to pellets vs wood. They make awesome wood stoves these days and the efficiency is amazing. If at all possible plan the outside wood storage so that it is close to a door or window (great for basement locations). For my forced air furnace, I throw in enough wood for a day or two. I do not want bugs in my house and after that the wood is warm enough for the little critters to come out of dormancy. My outside wood is no more than 25' from the basement window and the inside wood is 15' from the furnace door. On the main floor, we bring in wood as we need it through and entrance door. Again, that outside wood is well located at 40' from the stove. We heat year round with wood and use electricity for back-up when we are away. I use a chainsaw in construction and opening trails so having a chainsaw is not an issue. Truck is set up with rails to gather wood and transport to the wood shed. I use a wheel barrow to get from the truck the the shed. Sure makes it easy. The furnace wood doesn't require splitting and is cut into 2' lengths. 12 hour burns are the norm as is the wood stove on the main floor. I split the stove wood daily as I think that helps my arms/shoulders for the sledding season. My Blaze King generally heats our 2000 sqft bungalow (main floor and another 2000 soft in the basement) other than the months of Dec., Jan., Feb., and into March if required. I burn 3-4 cords in the down stairs furnace and 2-3 cords in the Blaze King.

Love our wood heat and no worries if there is a power outage.

 

[S.W.A.T.]

What are pellets made of? We have had all different types of heat in homes over the years and the outdoor boiler has been by far the best.

The original post was about pellet stoves and not burning wood.

 

[ferniesnow]

What are pellets made of? We have had all different types of heat in homes over the years and the outdoor boiler has been by far the best.

I know all that but why pay someone else to make the pellets and increase the cost of the wood going into the stove. How about the auger in the event of prolonged power outages? I can harvest my wood no more than 5 km from our house and I only cut dead wood (no green wood). That is also a benefit as to where we live.