Thoughts on a pellet stove for a large shop

[CalG]

I've got a pellet stove sitting next to the Fisher stove that has heated our home for more than 30 years. It's not hooked up yet. I have a lot of ugly wood that needs burned up before I make the switch over. I'm looking forward to the steady warmth without so much tending. My plan is a bag a day just to keep the chill off. Sensible heat will still come from the main floor parlor wood burning stove.

I'm not looking forward to thinking about the $8 every time a bag of fuel is tipped into the hopper. It seems like over 50% of my wood burning fuel comes "free". (Not counting effort;-)

At present there is a LOT of fuel wood cut split and stacked, in the yard. If the pellet thing works out, likely four years worth ;-) Giving up the "trash burner" all winter is going to be another thing.......

 

[stevem5215]

Pellet stoves are expensive to run. Just how it is. If you have a free supply of cordwood it's still the best heating option out in the wilderness.

 

[ultrarunner]

I have a pellet stove in the rental house family room…

Only one tenant has mastered it… some never tried and others tried and gave up…

My property manager asked what am I going to do about the 3 stoves that don’t work and I said enjoy them and sent her pictures of all 3 in use…

The pellet requires dry pellets, start up and then dialing in the dampers, adjusting the feed rate and blower and then periodic cleaning… evidently too much bother for 4 of the last 5 renters…

 

[4570Man]

I’ve never understood the appeal to pellets. For what they cost you might as well burn propane and not waste time carrying it.

 

[deserteagle71]

I'm at the point where I need to put some heat in my new shop. I have plenty of wood that I could use but I am also looking at pellet stoves. I don't know much about them, but I like the Idea of being able to load up and not have to worry about it for a couple days.

Good luck with finding a pellet stove that will hold enough pellets for two days burn.

After burning wood all my life I went to a pellet stove 4 years ago. Big learning curve. I bought a Harman P68 pellet stove after doing some research; it has worked out well and has one of the biggest hoppers (where you pour in the pellets) in the business. I believe it holds about 76 lbs of pellets - or less than 2 bags. It will empty that hopper in 24 hours on a "normal" winter day when it is not bitter cold. If it is bitter cold - 20 degrees or below - you can count on filling that hopper morning and night. There is a hopper extension available that will increase capacity but then you'll have to lift the bags of pellets really high to fill the hopper. Then there's the maintenance. Instructions for the Harman stove state you need to scrape the burn pot to clean it at least once a day. A more thorough cleaning has to be done weekly.

Only reason I went to pellets is that firewood is almost impossible to get around here; the last few years I was driving 480 miles (round trip) to buy firewood in Oregon. What firewood is for sale around here generally sells for $360 - $400 a cord.

 

[deserteagle71]

I’ve never understood the appeal to pellets. For what they cost you might as well burn propane and not waste time carrying it.

Depends on the price of propane where you live. Here propane generally mirrors the price of regular gasoline. When you have to pay $3.60 - $4+ a gallon for propane (what it costs around here) then pellets are a good deal. Some of my neighbors who heated with propane last winter reported paying $500+ a month to stay warm.

 

[deserteagle71]

Here's the maintenance required for my Harman stove. I believe most of the brands have similar requirements.

Wood stove requires a lot less maintenance!

 

[4570Man]

Depends on the price of propane where you live. Here propane generally mirrors the price of regular gasoline. When you have to pay $3.60 - $4+ a gallon for propane (what it costs around here) then pellets are a good deal. Some of my neighbors who heated with propane last winter reported paying $500+ a month to stay warm.

If my calculations are correct it would take about 175 gallons of propane to equal a ton of pellets. That would make for a little bit of savings. Natural gas on the other hand is a lot cheaper than propane. At the national average price of $9.50 per thousand cubic foot it would only cost about $150 to equal a ton of pellets.

 

[jyoutz]

I'm at the point where I need to put some heat in my new shop. I have plenty of wood that I could use but I am also looking at pellet stoves. I don't know much about them, but I like the Idea of being able to load up and not have to worry about it for a couple days. I'm not trying to keep it 85 degrees in there but would like to keep the shop 50/60 degrees so that my machines stay happy, and my pipes don't freeze.
It seems no one builds a stove that doesn't have a glass door on it. I don't care about looks or sitting around watching a fire burn, I just want the heat. I could build a stove and it may lead to that, but time is getting short, and my shop is still not all the way tooled up yet. I know I couldn't afford gas or electric and I don't generate enough used oil to keep a waste oil burner going so my options are limited. Just looking for ideas about the pellet burning stoves. The idea of not having to have a full-blown chimney appeals to me because they just vent through the wall.

I heated my 2200 square foot house for 15 years with a pellet stove. They are a great option Figure one bag of pellets per 24 hours. They put out considerable heat , but will need fans to circulate the heat. Is your shop insulated?

 

[jyoutz]

Pellet stoves are expensive to run. Just how it is. If you have a free supply of cordwood it's still the best heating option out in the wilderness.

Pellets can be bought by the ton at a cheaper price, but yes firewood is cheaper if readily available. Pellets are cheaper than propane or electric heating and more expensive than natural gas.