Pellet stove advice needed.

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

I'm thinking of installing a pellet insert in my wood burning fireplace. I currently have a heatilator insert that was built into the original masonry fireplace when our house was built

(it is the firebox & has a standard damper & a standard size opening).


The Amish mason who installed the original unit was a great mason, but not a PEH installer. He bricked over the duct work in the firebox that should have been hooked up to provide outside air for combustion, & also replaced the metal fan grates (for intake & output air to the built in circulation fan) with fancy brick work with gaps in between........

Looks much better than the black tin grates that came with the heatilator kit, but cuts the cfm of the air the fans can move by probably 50% or more.

I have glass doors on the FP now, but still go thru way too much wood for the heat value I'm getting out of it. I burn hardwood cutoffs from a local lumber mill, clean square sawed 4x6x12 to 8x8 x16 inch chunks........some smaller, but you get the general idea.

I used to buy a large tandem dump truck load heaping from the sideboards delivered for $175, & went thru about 3 loads a year. Now the same load is over $300. Plus we still use nat gas as we aren't there to feed the fire 24-7.

It got me thinking about capping of the fireplace with a pellet insert & being able to dump a bag of pellets (or corn) in it & letting it do its thing. Since I'm spending about $1000 a year now on wood, having to buy pellets wouldn't make the difference in cost too bad for me, since I don't have access to free firewood.

Anyone know anything about what brand to buy or have any experience with these ??

I'm looking for one with a good reputation from a company that's been around & will be around if & when I may need parts & service.

I've looked at units at a local farm store & the door handles were already broken off some of their display models !

Thanks.............

Tom

 

[Dmace]

Our house came with a Harman brand pellet stove which I have researched to be one of the best and the contractor went top of the line with everything else, so I am not surprised. For 3 years now, the stove has been great. I clean the ash tray about once a month just for safety not because it is full and the pellets are about $4 per 40lb bag. Cranked, the stove uses about 1 bag a day, but we keep it on low to help out and have that nice wood burning scent throughout the house. Make sure you use hardwood pellets like the ones from Lowes, the other pellets from Home Depot were tough to start and made more ash than heat.

Here is a picture from before we moved in.

 

[VABlue]

I can't tell you who to buy from, but I can tell you my experience... A good friend has two of them - one in each enclosed kennel building. The buildings are roughly 60' long x 30' wide, each contain 30 runs, and are not insulated. The pellet stoves will keep the temps between 40-50 when the outside temps drop near 20, so they work quite well. They are used pretty much 24/7 during the coldest couple of months of the year and (to my knowledge) have not broken down over several years of operation.

Based on that, I would recommend getting one...

 

[jdgreg]

I have 2 Whitfield pellet stoves, one fireplace insert in the family room and a free standing unit in the basement. I've had them for around 10 yrs, and have been completely reliable. At the time, Whitfield was one of the top companies. Which model you get will most likely depend on what suppliers/installers you have in your area. Personnally, I'd stay away from the units that are sold at the farm & family type centers, as I dont think they are top models. I do get all my pellets at TSC however. Dont recall the cost now, but I usually go through about 2 tons a winter. Pellets are a LOT easier (and probably cheaper) than dealing with wood.

 

[ByronBob]

Mine is made from New England Stoves. They sold the model I have at TSC at the time. I still can get parts directly off their web site.

Pellets around my area are over 200 / ton. So you'd get 4 tons for under $1000. I burn 1 bag a day and my furnace still kicks on occasionally. The settings are low on the auger or else I burn more like 2 bags a day.

 

[jfh28]

Just had one installed this year....Harmon Accentra. We did away with an old wood burning insert. This is so much easier, uses about a bag a day and keeps the first floor of the house at a nice 68 degrees. Comes with it's own thermostat and auto ignitor so it will turn on an off during the day as needed by itself. You just have to dump the bag of pellets in it. Very quiet, no smell, no fuss. You need to spend about 10-15 minutes a week scraping the fire pot and cleaning....a little more once a month. But so much easier than the woodburner.....and a whole lot easier on the back!

Our ultimate decision came down to the local shop that sold it and installed it.....family run and stands behind it. Even in the pellet shotage of a few years ago they kept their customers supplied. Spend the time to look around.

8 degrees here last night but house was nice and toasty!

Jack

 

[TOMLESCOEQUIP]

A local dealer sells the Harman & recommended the Accentra insert........but quoted me $3800...........ouch !! ........that would take a long time to recover the investment.

Thanks for the replies so far. I'd like to get to know as much about them as I can before I buy one......especially brands to avoid with known problems !

Tom

 

[Mickey_Fx]

I also have a Whitfield, about 5 yrs, and have been satisified with it. It's a pellet insert and replaced a woodburning insert. Wouldn't go back to the stick burner. How often you have to clean out the ashes depend upon qlty of pellets used and how big the ash box is. IMO ash content in independent of whether pellets are made from soft or hardwood. Ash content should be listed on the bags. The pellets I'm using list ash content of .25% and are made from fir.

IMO you do want to get one that has the capability of hooking up a thermostat. I have a programable tstat and don't have to mess with the stove regardless of time of day or need for heat. My controller doesn't shut the stove off when set temp has been reached, it just slows the stove down so there is only a vary small fire. BIL has a newer Whitfield with a different controller and he say when tstat set temp has been reached the stove completely shuts down. Takes a lot longer to fire it up again and for it to heat up than how my controller works.

Whitfield is now owned by Lennox. Local dealer no longer sells them saying they have moved production to Mexico and qlty isn't what it was.

As for buying from a farm store, all depends upon the store. My local farm store has an area, showroom, as large and a lot of stove shops and handles several different brands. There are stoves setup and operating during the winter months. IMO blanket statements are not always valid for everyone.

 

[Sigarms]

A local dealer sells the Harman & recommended the Accentra insert........but quoted me $3800...........ouch !!

You're in the same boat I'm in.

I currently have a gas furnace-A/C for my first floor and was thinking about replacing the furnace a/c set up with a heat pump without strip heat and using a pellet stove for back up heat.

Have a friend who owns a fireplace shop and he gave me a VERY good price on a pellet stove insert. Problem was the pellet stove was just over 30% more than a variable speed, two stage, 95% gas furnace (which I would duel fuel with the heat pump). If the A/C has to come out (system is pushing twenty years old), labor wise, it would actually be eaiser to put in the furnace than stove.

I'm now scratching my head. I'll probably end up going with the variable speed gas furnace down the road.

 

[Red55]

I'm on my third season with a Englander stove which I believe is based in Virginia. Got my pellets from Lowe's $4.48 a bag and a bag lasts almost a day (20-22hrs) Great stove had one problem called them and they walked me thru the problem and it was fixed in less time than I was on hold for. It can also be hooked up to a remote thermstat but I leave my stove on all the time on warmer days I run it at it's lowest setting (1) I believe that if you're always pumping heat into the house it is much more cormfortable and efficient than trying to catch up when the weather turns colder. Burn about 4 tons a year lot less work than "free" wood and a lot less clean up and mess.
-Ed