Pellet Stoves, Clean burning or dirty?

[ChrisW]

I am going to be building a new house this year and plan on having 2 free stanging stoves. I am trying to decide between wood burning and pellet, but I like pellet better because of not having to buy or split and store wood. I like the idea of storing bags of pellets better then cords of wood.

How dirty are the new pellet stoves like the American Energy Systems stoves?
http://www.magnumfireplace.com/essex.cfm is the one we are looking at. I like that it has a battery backup capability to run if the power goes out.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[gsxr1100]

The pellets stoves are pretty good. I did not buy one since you need power while my natural gas does not.

You still need to clean the ash but it is very small. Also in some pellet stoves you can burn corn.

But comparing wood to pellet. I would take a pellet stove any day.

Here is a cool link:

http://thehowzone.com/how/PelletStove/3

 

[cag]

Chris we have a woodfield pellet stove they burn very clean I can't complain, the past 12 years we had this stove I change the exhaust motor and fan motor but this is normal maintenance for a stove that old...cag

 

[Junkman]

I have a pellet stove for the past 7 years and the only maintenance has been cleaning. It takes about 2 hours to completely clean the stove and I do it in the middle of the heating season and at the end. I burn a bag a day and the ash needs to be removed after the 4th or 5th bag. I have two ash trays, so I just remove one and let it cool and insert the other. Cleaning the glass is done when I feel like it. It will stay clean for about 5 bags and then needs to be cleaned again. If the wife doesn't complain, I don't clean it. The only thing that I don't like about the pellet stove is the dealer that I have to buy pellets from. He keeps raising the price every month. Presently they are up to $5.25 per bag. I buy 2 tons in the summer and hope to make it into the spring. I can buy pellets at Walmart for $3.65 when they have them in stock. I don't own a truck, so I pick up 6 bags at a time. If you have the place to stock the pellets and a way to move them, they are great. Buy in the summer when the price is down. I find that most brands are about the same in quality. Some people believe that there is a difference in brands, but in my stove, I haven't found this to be true. Junk....

 

[cag]

Junkman in my area pellets are 4.58 CND tax included. I guest the price vary depending of the area you live in... cag

 

[ByronBob]

I've had my pellet stove for about 5 years now. It started singing to me last week and I took the blower out, cleaned it and oiled it so it stopped singing to me.

You get dust and ash either way so it's a fact of life if you want either unit. I've found the pellet stoves as easier to use, efficient and most importantly consistant. Wood gives you fluctuation in heat and makes it harder to regulate. Pellets regulate feed rates for heat output.

Mine runs on a 110 plug. If it goes out or the pellets run out it just shuts itself down.

My local guy delivers pellets right to the house. I buy in April for next season for 159/ton delivered. He holds the product and I call when I need a ton. NOBODY else does that so I'm blessed.

I was home for the last delivery. Pellets are a hot commodity. He ran out of 300 ton and bought 50 more to get him through. If your an existing customer and you need some it's now 190/ton and if your not a customer you can't get any.

I disagree with Junk though in quality of pellets. I've tried some others and found the product I'm getting now is the better of the types I've tried. Wally world pellets for me would be a last resort.

If you have wood stock available to get cheap then thats a good solution. If you don't I'd go with pellets. I easily save 500 in heating cost with my pellet stove each season.

 

[LMTC]

I intend to install a pellet stove in the next two years to replace our wood stove of 20 years. Figure as Momma and I get older, the pellets are easier than wood to handle. I would love to hear from all who comment on this thread what stove you have, and your overall experience, any specific pros/cons for your model, what you would look for buyng again (hindsight is usually better. Thanks.

 

[kensfarm]

I've heated my farm house w/ a pellot stove for the last six years.. it runs 24/7 in the winter. I go through 2 1/2 tons of pellots for a season. We scrap out the burn pot once a day.. and I do a big cleaning once a week. We burn about 1 40lb bag of pellots a day.. sometimes more if colder.

Breckwell Pellet Stove: Model: P2000FS

Up to 65 hours of heating from one fuel load
Automatic fuel feed
Whisper-quiet blowers
"Hot Rod" automatic igniter
Heavy steel construction
24 karat gold accents
Soft charcoal finish
Limited lifetime warranty

 

[Dozernut]

We have a Harman pellet stove and really like it. The stove does require electricity to burn, but we have a deep cycle, 12 volt battery and a 700 watt inverter that powers the stove just fine during outages. We charge the battery with the generator when needed.When the current battery dies we are going to get one of the sealed, Optima, deep cycle batteries to replace it. The Optima does not vent an acid gas and we could bring it into our home if needed, during an outage so the temperature extremes will not affect it. We used to heat with wood and will most likely never go back to it.
We buy the pellets by the ton and paid $212 for a pallet the last time we bought. I use the pallet forks on the tractor and remove the pallet from the truck and set them in the shed, must take all of five minutes to do it. Sure beats felling, bucking, splitting and stacking fire wood.

 

[1962]

i have been using a forced air coal/wood add on furnace for about 6 years now. the kind that attaches to the plenum and cold air return. it works great,has a thermostat and draft blower. a couple years ago i saw a harman corn burner at a steam show. now that is something i would like to have, i dont know what the cost of shelled corn is in my area, but it cant be too expensive... a few weeks back, pcn cable network aired a manufacturing show on the harman pellet/corn burners. very interesting to see all phases of the stove mnufacturing process. they seem very well built, and would be my first choice to purchase...built in central pa..