Pellet Stoves, Which to start with?

[sweettractors]

Please check out this website great reading on pellet stoves Hearth.com - Information on Gas Fireplaces, Wood Stoves, Gas Logs, Pellet Stoves, Fireplaces, Chimneys and Hearth Products

Thanks for the link coobie. Very informative. Ken Sweet

 

[charlz]

I noticed the other day my local farm and garden store has 'Heatilator Eco-Choice' pellet stoves for sale. Don't know anything about them but they looked like a pretty straight-forward, no-frills stove.

Heatilator Eco-Choice Products: Pellet Stoves

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Hi Buckeye, What Mickey fix is saying is that if your stove is rated at 2 amps, 120 volts, It uses 240 watts of energy. If you take that same 240 watts of power required, and power it with 12 volts, then Power = volts X amperage, or 20 amps.

What I was saying, is mine is only powered on 120VAC, not 12VDC. The stove itself has no DC amperage rating. With that said, Harman sells an UPS to supply backup power in the event of AC outage. The XXV is max rated at 440W, 3.6A and running at 180W, 1.5A AC.

BTW, Power = volts X amperage is for a unity power factor, no reactive power. i.e. no AC motors to run.

 

[sweettractors]

Oh Man, You guys are way over my head I feel like I'm in Algebra class all over again Ken Sweet

 

[mbohuntr]

What I was saying, is mine is only powered on 120VAC, not 12VDC. The stove itself has no DC amperage rating. With that said, Harman sells an UPS to supply backup power in the event of AC outage. The XXV is max rated at 440W, 3.6A and running at 180W, 1.5A AC.

BTW, Power = volts X amperage is for a unity power factor, no reactive power. i.e. no AC motors to run.

It sounded like I offended you, That was not my intent. I apologise. (The small motors should not be able to generate much inductive loading, so you could assume a P/F of .8 at worst, and bump your UPS capacity to 120% to compensate. ((Yes, I'm a smart@$$)) Still, I apologise. :thumbsup

 

[mbohuntr]

Oh Man, You guys are way over my head I feel like I'm in Algebra class all over again Ken Sweet

Like a teacher once told me, you know it was a good class when the students are looking for aspirin.:confused2:

 

[Harvey9]

I have a Harman, not sure of the model. Had it for the past six winters with no issues.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

well, it is vector arithmetic. I'll try to explain.
Total power is Real Power + Reactive Power. The difference between the two is the power factor. Real Power is measured in Watts. Reactive power is measured in Vars. Reactive power is used when you are running motors or things that have a electromagnetic field. Your utility had to provide total power to you, however almost all residential is mostly real power, so you are not charged for the reactive power, therefore you have a KWH meter, measuring your watts only. Commercial customers get charged for both. The reactive gets charged as a power factor penalty. normally, if you keep it above .8 or .9, you might not have to pay extra. If it is lower, you pay a penalty. Normally this is from running a lot of big motors...

For the pellet stove, the motors reactive power is pretty small, but I was just making a point. I thought that someone might point out the fact that I mentioned power factor, yet listed the rating in watts. :laughing: I was waiting for someone to correct me on that. :laughing:

No offense taken.

I've heard the same company now owns Quadrafire and Harman.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

From what I see you guys saying, you don't need to worry about creosote build up or chimney fires when using a pellet stove. Is that about right? Ken Sweet

Ken, good for you to offer pellet stoves to your customers. Wood pellets are domestically produced, and the supply is not subject to international conditions. However, back when stove oil hit $4 a gallon, the supply of pellets got very short. Anyone looking for pellets in January was pretty much out of luck.

Forced air combustion along with low moisture and standardized fuel means pellet stoves are virtually pollution free. They don't smoke, they don't stink, and the vent stays clean. Pellet stoves are EPA certified and meet all federal clean air standards. They don't require a chimney, just a vent like a gas water heater. They can be installed very inexpensively compared to a wood stove. You will have to offer installation. The secret is that they have to be installed strictly according to directions.

Customers should have dry storage for pellets, and stock up in summer while prices are low and availability is high. A storage shed that will hold four pallets of pellets is a good idea.

Set them up to run in your store in the winter. It will save on your winter heat bill. Customers will be very impressed at how much heat comes from a pellet stove. You should have steady sales that will spike when propane/heating oil prices spike.

 

[higgy]

this is how my pellet stove is set, sorry about the darkness I will get better pic tomorrow.

I agree completely with Larry

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I like the mirror glass on mine, when it is off, you can't see inside.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I'm a little late buying pellets this year, stopped by one store, they are $235 / ton and they guy said they are almost sold out, next load the price is going up. I called the store I have bought from the last 2 yrs, $199 / ton. So I ordered 3 tons over the phone. Best price I've gotten in a few years.