pellet stove/insert

“anyone have one at home? pros/cons
woodburners?
Could be a cold expensive winter...”

“I have a wood burning stove. Would probably go with a pellet stove if I had the chance - automatic fuel feed, no hauling/splitting/feeding wood.

Either way, probably a good investment for this winter.”

“We have two wood stoves at home. The only problem I see with a pellet stove is that I think they need electricity to run. That's not good if the power goes out and you need heat.”

“Some of the pellet stoves have a battery backup to correct that problem.

I feel that a freestanding unit is more efficient than the insert because you have more area radiating heat into the room while the insert radiats only from what is exposed from the wall....

From I've seen, read, heard they are a good investment.

look for deals, they are out there....”

“My parents had/have a woodburning furnace which they have used for many years to heat their house. If the power is out they can still burn, but they must make a smaller fire.

I would imagine a pellet stove would still be usable if you manually fed it and kept the fire smaller since the blower (if there was one) couldn't run.”

“We have two woodstoves, one at the cabin and one in the city. but would like to put one of the woodstoves upstairs at the cabin and get a pellet for the downstairs. electricity not a problem, cuz we are stand alone solar anyways. Still have to clear out the ash, but a nice big hopper sure sounds like a lot less work to me.”

“Thanks guys... taking the plunge this evening.”

“So what did you buy?”

“Quadrafire insert, pellet”

“We got a discount because my wife agreed to pose for this promotional picture at the dealer. We said COOL!!!

”

“Discount = good
15 minutes of fame = cool

Let me know how it works out. Burn times, etc. What are pellet prices, and for how much?

I fired up my stove (wood, catalytic) for the first time on Friday and I'm very happy with the performance. Can't wait to get some wood split so I can use it all winter.”

“Did that model come with battery backup?”

“I lied, thats not my wife. I did get a discount, though cuz my bro purchased there and I got a referral discount.

No battery back-up but we have very reliable electric service

Pellets about $190 a ton (50 bags @ 40lbs)
Burns about 1 lb an hour @ low.”

“We're toasty warm now! Its not "as agressive" as a woodburner, but its more an appliance.”

“Can't beat wood heat in any form - pellet or solid wood. I keep my place toasty warm, too, and its still far cheaper than the other options! Nice bonus is no damage to the ozone layer, unlike the other options.

(Wood releases the same amounts of various forms of carbon through burning as it does by decaying in the woods, and isn't releasing carbon that has been stored underground for millions of years, so no net damage to the environment.)”

“My brother bought one of those electric fireplaces that has a mantle and fake logs and everything. Ya just plug it in and it goes. It even has a remote control. Sickening I say!

I saw an old wood burner the other day at the flea market that was sweet as hell but I don't have a chimny or a place to put one. :(”

“Usually you can go out a side wall and then up beyond the roof line - just using metal chimney pipe. No real chimney needed.

Room for the stove, that's another issue. You can buy really tiny models that don't take much room and don't need more than a few feet of clearance around them.”

“Well, forget buying a pellet stove. Apparently the housing crash has led to skyrocketing sawdust pricing (no homes being built, no sawdust from the sawmills). Which of course means skyrocketing pellet pricing and shortages like 2 years ago.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/housing-slowdown-leads-to-sawdust-shortage.php”

“I thought this was going to be another lactis rant.”

“Can't you convert a pellet stove to burn corn easily?”

“Most stoves can burn a 50/50 mix, but only stoves specifically designed to burn corn can go 100% corn. Corn stoves can burn 100% pellets, though. I think the corn burns hotter due to the corn oil, so the corn stoves are designed to handle the more intense heat.”

“Aren't corn stoves outside the home while pellet stoves are inside the home?”

“You are thinking of external boilers. Those are usually wood.”

“We didn't buy a pellet insert. We bought a COAL insert this winter. http://www.harmanstoves.com/list.asp?id=3,4,7,13,14,15,16,17&title=Harman%20Coal%20Stoves I pay $140/ton for anthracite coal at the breaker in the county we live in, vs. seeing $205/ton for cash and carry pellets.

What, you say they don't mine anthracite coal in the county you live in? There's still a big spread for shipping coal to where you are to make up the $/Btu.”

“You do realise you've locked yourself into a highly-polluting fuel source? And that you can get wood for $0/ton/cord? I can harvest my own fuel from my own backyard. At least you can also burn wood in your stove.”

“Oh, yeah, I smell the sulfur wafting down on a humid day for sure. The chimney isn't tall enough to send it up to the Adirondacks though, not like it is from the "clean" electric power plants. :)

I found a lower sulfur and ash (and cheaper) source, where I can look the manager in the eye and see that he's not Hugo or Osama. Those two and their buddies certainly are part of the financial equation for heating oil.

Wood isn't particularly pollution free on a local scale, nor is there enough wood on our lot to satisfy heating demand.

The big issues with coal vs. wood are release of sequestered carbon and nonrenewability (which pretty much go together) - that wasn't enough to sway my wife away from coal. :)

(I must have a strange wife, I'm told they usually want to get away from coal not stay with it...)”