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..

 

[Dozernut]

Sorry, I got completely away from your question. The pellets are more uniform in moisture content and much cleaner burning than wood. You will not have the creosote build up like you will with wood. The stoves are just a little bit dusty, due to a few of the pellets crumbling into dust and when you fill the hopper the dust will escape. The stove is so efficient that it produces a very fine ash that will find all the holes and cracks that you missed, just seal them with stove calk. Other than that the stoves are great.

 

[jimgerken]

Hey guys, if I am figuring it correctly, about the average you are paying for wood pellets is between 10 and twenty pounds for a dollar. Is that about right? I wonder why you wouldnt burn shelled corn instead assuming your appliance accepts them? I can buy shelled corn in bulk for $1.60 for a bushel (about 60 pounds). So I am getting around 37 pounds for my dollar. Also, shelled corn has more BTUs than wood, 7800 btu per pound for wood pellets, 9400 btu per pound shelled corn. Overall, it appears to me (a newbe to the subject) that the shelled corn costs about one-half as much as wood pellets.
Compared to LP heating, at current prices in my area, shelled corn fired heating (not considering the equipment costs for either system) would show shelled corn costs about 1/5 as much as LP. What am I missing here, why woudnt more people use shelled corn over wood pellets? Set me straight. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Thanks!

 

[ByronBob]

I guess I'm paying .08 per pound. My question to you is where did you find the BTU rating for pellets. I've never been able to find that out to compare propane to pellets.

Corn isn't sold by the bag here that I know of to burn. I'd have to see one running to determine why I couldn't.

 

[Highbeam]

If you're into that sort of thig, pellets are a use of an industrial byproduct. You won't see saw logs ground down into pellets. The conversion of wate into pellets diverts this waste from the landfill.

The corn is an interesting, relatively new fuel. What used to be a pellet stove is often now called a biomass stove. Folks are also burning cherry pits. Corn is more loaction dependent, seems harder to get in western Washington compared to wood byproducts. It won't come on a nice tidy pallet in individual easy to handle bags. I don't intend to set up a silo in my back yard. I would rather support the farming industry than keep sawdust out of the landfill. You're stove has to be set up to burn corn.

A pellet stove runs about 1300$ for a nice one from stovesunlimited.com. They are relatively safe due to low flue temperatures, forced exhaust, and lack of creosote. A nice feature is the automatic ignition, no need to mess with starting fuel or matches. The auto ignition models are often compatible with thermostats to allow the stove to function like a furnace.

They won't put out the same cozy, radiant, silent, heat that a woodburner will but the convenience, cost, and "earth friendly" benefits of the pellets or corn can't be ignored.

 

[Dozernut]

As Highbeam said, you have to be able to deal with corn in bulk. Corn is too expensive to buy at the mill, so you will have to find a farmer to sell to you. Transportation, loading, unloading and storage are the problems with corn. A good farmer will sell you corn dried to the proper moisture level, a not so good one will not.

 

[jimgerken]

Yup, bulk seems to be the way to go. Bagging stuff up adds greatly to the cost. Kinda like buying LP, we do that in bulk, wouldnt think of buying it in five gallon cans to heat the house. If I get into the corn-burning, I will have a small (100-200 bushel) gravity flow bin erected next to the outside corn-burning boiler, in my yard. There are four or five feedmills within 15 miles of my house that will sell me dry corn in bulk with delivery augered into my bin, for the bulk price of about $1.60 a bushel (58-60 pounds) today. This is corn that has been dried to about 13% moisture for long term storage, and will burn just fine at that moisture.
I wonder if you can buy the wood pellets in bulk. It certainly would reduce the cost if you could figure out how to deal with it.

 

[Dozernut]

Sounds like you have it all worked out on supply and delivery. Those corn burners are good stoves, if thats what you desire, go for it. Let us know how it works out, I have been kicking around the idea of another stove to heat the shop. Maybe I can tap into your experience with a corn burner. Good luck!

 

[kensfarm]

"I wonder if you can buy the wood pellets in bulk."

I get a lower price when I buy by the ton.. still in 40lb bags.. the price for a pallot/ton is $176.. if I remember correctly.