Does anyone have a Pellet stove? I'd like to hear comments on them. It seems there are a number of used ones on the market and I am curious why, if they did not work out or what. I would like to get away from heating with wood & pellet fuel is one of the alternatives, (natural gas is not).

-- R.P. Henderson (redgate@echoweb.net), February 04, 2000

Answers

R.P., I've never owned a pellet stove. What I do know is that it can be difficult and expensive to buy the pellets. Like wood, pellets are bulky and heavy and need to be stored. Unlike wood, pellets have to be stored in a protected area, ie inside.

Over the years I've known people who investigated pellet stoves and decided against them. The price of the pellets and the continued availability of the pellets was always the problem. Try calling some of the sellers and seeing if they will talk to you about the stoves. Some of the sellers will lie no matter what, others will be painfully honest, and most will be of at least some help.

It gets my attention that you wrote "It seems there are a number of used ones on the market." Pellet stoves are a tiny fraction of the stove market. Why would a noticeable number of them go on the market in the same area at the same time? A certain number of them could have been part of people's Y2K preps, but still...they went to a lot of work to buy and install them, why pull them out?

You wrote that natural gas is not an option, to me, natural gas is piped through an area in the same way that muni water is. What about propane? That is a stand alone set-up requiring only the occasional delivery. (Do they call propane butane down South?) Coal is another option that may be difficult to find and the ashes are a problem to dispose of. Passive solar to reduce your heating needs? Better insulation? Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), February 04, 2000.

R. P. Check out the BACKWOODS HOME "READERS FORUM". Some pellet stoves can burn corn. We do and it works great for us. Lots of what I have to say is in BACKWOODS.

-- BROOM MAKER (elmjem@aeroinc.net), February 04, 2000.

Coal burns hotter than wood and much longer .We live in Northern N.Y. 50 lbs cost about $ 5.00 and that last a day or so more on cold days (0 to-)Its downfall is its dirty ! Dust every where all the time .We are installing a oil furnance and will use wood next year .I've heard lots of good things about the outside wood furnances ,you can stock them for up to 2 days , all the ash is outside , and even up here were it gets very cold they heat well.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), February 04, 2000.

Patty, think about an INSIDE wood heater. Look for one with an ash drawer; this prevents a lot of hassle and soot in the house. An inside heater will not lose any heat into the outdoors, like an outdoor one, and besides, with an outside one, you won't have the pleasure of coming in from working outside and backing up to the heater!

Pellet stoves. Anyone know how much the pellets cost? Two drawbacks that I can see. First, you have to have electricity to make them work. Second, you are reliant on someone else for your fuel supply. Wood heaters, on the other hand, require no electricity, and you can burn anything from mill ends to cord wood. And you can cut your own.

How'd you like to lose your electricity for a few days and have no heat, even though you had a pellet stove? (and the same thing goes for some gas and oil stoves, as well)

Wood heat is actually solar power; wood is the organic battery.

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@echoweb.net), February 04, 2000.

The company I work for sells wood stoves in 11 states. I have personally been selling them for 10 years. We quit handling pellet stoves several years ago due to repeated problems. Compared to a wood stove that has, as a general rule, 1 motor, 1 heat sensor, and 1 motor speed control; a pellet stove has, at the very least, 3 motors, 4 heat sensors, 2 speed controls, and usually a circuit board. If any one of these parts ceases to function, the entire stove ceases to function. This is besides the fact of a dependency on electricity to operate and a necessity of fuel from a supplier that may be a long distance away. A couple of other bad points is that the fuel comes in 50 pound bags and is heavy to haul in and it is also dusty. The fuel itself varies so much from different manufacturers that if you change pellets the stove may not burn properly. The ashes from pellet stoves are similar to talcum powder in consistancy, which can lead to quite a mess. Now, on the positive side, pellet stoves are much simpler to vent in the fact that it can be vented right out the wall behind it. Whereas a wood stove must be vented above the roofline to make it draw properly. I hate to sound so negative about a product, but I have never had the kind of problems with woodstoves that we experienced with pellet stoves. I came very close to quitting my job due to the fact that I knew that at least half the calls I got each day would be complaints about their pellet stove. Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions. I will do my best to answer them.

Nathan (muskokie)

-- Nathan Williams (muskokie@hotmail.com), February 05, 2000.

I have had both pellet stoves (2) and wood stoves (legion).

Pros for woodstove:

1) No reliance on anyone except us for getting the wood in 2) Aesthetics! Bigger firebox and more viewing glass 3) Cheap, renewable fuel resource

Cons for woodstove:

1) Work bringing in wood, plus stacking etc 2) Messy! Dust and chips and stuff all over the place 3) Blower is noisy (we have electric blower which works when we want to use it, provided we have electricity!) Don't have to use it, tho

Pros for pellet stove:

1) Easy to go to the store and buy pellets (don't work up a sweat) 2) Not as messy as woodstove with dust, chips, etc. 3) Less environmental emission problems than many (not all) wood stoves Cons for pellet stove

1) No heat when electricity goes off 2) Dependency on manufacturer for fuel product 3) Not as aesthetic (small firebox, tiny flame) 4) Blower is ALWAYS noisy and has to always be on.

Since we have a wood cookstove too (don't use it exclusively, tho), we can use the same fuel for both stoves. We also live in tree country and get cheap/free wood. Your mileage may vary....

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), February 07, 2000.

Pellet stove good...until break...then dealer will be helpless (and uncaring unless they are exceptional) because the manufacturer out of business. I bought a major brand and itbhas left me stranded. In my search for parts I have met many others in my same boat and I have gone back to wood. It was a great idea, born of the government ridding us of woodstoves, but then no one regulated the new industry. I feel so taken and so sorry for all of us who spent $1400 or more to have the pellet stove become a paperweight while we froze our tooshes off while looking out at the snow through our frosty front windows. fool me once shame on you! Fool me twice?...I think not

You might want to get a DRAFT motor for you unit before it fails...and it will fail. Pellet stoves run constantly (by design) ant the draft motor will wear out.

Jerry

-- Well....Jerry (jottoh@yahoo.com), January 25, 2001.

I'm in the Rochester, New York area. I have a pellet stove that I inheireted when I bought my house. It's an Envirotech, which I understand is out of business. Does anyone know where I can find a reasonably intelligent person to teach me about this stove - I don't know anything! Naturally, the seller of the house was a total jerk - left me the manual and that was it - didn't even tell me the stove was designed to burn CORN. After I fill my shed with wood pellets. But I digress. Also, any idea about parts?

The bags of pellets are about $3.00 for a 40 lb. bag - 100 to 110 bags per winter. I use about 1/2 bag per day (I don't run it during the day when I'm at work) As a single mom, first time homeowner, the fact that I don't have to mess with a woodpile is a big plus. However, if the electric goes, as has been pointed out - I'm gonna freeze. But it helps cut down on the fuel bill - I have electric baseboard heat.

Any help would be appreciated.

-- Marie Jones (mjones@wilmorite.com), March 05, 2001.

I work for a dealer that sells pellet,wood and gas heaters. I have worked on approximately 5 brands of pellet stoves and personally I wouldn't have one in my house and that in spite of the fact I can fix it myself. We recently did a cost analysis of fuels in this area since the big energy crunch, and price wise pellets did very well. We get $157.50 for a ton of pellets which is 50-40 lb bags. Most people dont realize that pellet stoves require constant maintenance. The less maintenance, the less efficiency and more repairs, which are not cheap. They are a very mechanically complex heating unit when compared to most any other types of heater. The firebox needs to be cleaned out every few days. The hopper should be vacuumed out to get rid of accumulated sawdust.( If not done this can cause the auger motor to fail causing a $90 repair, not at all uncommon). Once a year the motors should be pulled so the entire smoke path can be cleaned of soot. Many people do not do this and they are amazed at how much better and more efficient the heater works after it is properly cleaned. As previously mentioned they require electricity to run which means noise and the cost of the electricity. Someone mentioned a brand which is no longer made. Many components such as motors are interchangeable among different brands so you might compare your defective part with something available locally. Without mentioning the brand I work on , I will say that some companies have come a very long way in improving the ease of operation and maintenance of their units. Much improved over a few years ago.

-- jz (oz49us@yahoo.com), March 06, 2001.

I've owned a wood pellet stove for 5 years or more (BRECKWELL)and have had only good luck with it.We use it only for supplimental heat.It sure is nice to load it up and go to bed and not have to worry about the fire going out or a potential fire hazard.It has safety shutoffs in the event something goes wrong.Works for me...

-- Maurice Price (mpjprus@earthlink.net), March 06, 2001.

We bought a used whitfield pellett stove a few years ago and wouldn't be without it! Had a wood stove before that but finding, chopping and hauling was to hard after we both had back surgery. We buy bags of hardwood pellets for about $3.00 a 40# bag. One bag lasts for about a day and a half when its cold out. You need to make sure you get the hardwood pelletts and not the ones that contain a lot of paper. We have had no trouble getting pellets and even tho they do need to be kept indoors to keep from getting damp, they take up a lot less room and are a lot cleaner that the wood. Plus we fill the stove once or twice a day compared to every 3 hours or so that we did with the wood stove. It's nice to come home to a cozy warm house. Barb

-- Barb (WILDETMR@YAHOO.COM), March 08, 2001.

I have owned a Whitfield pellet stove for 11 years and have enjoyed this appliance verry much. We live in Colorado at an altitude of 8,000 ft. The winters can be very cold and harsh and our Whitfeild has keept us warm through all of them. Their are several things one should take into consideation should you decide to heat with a pellet stove. 1. Is your house designed to be heated in this manner ie. well insulated, open design. 2. Do you have the time and mech. ability to due the proper maint. My stove is 11 years old and I have had to put little money into it. I clean the heat exchangers and burn pot once a week and dump the ash pan this operation takes about 5 to 10 minutes. I lube the motors and clean the exhaust vent twice a season this takes about 40 minutes. 3. Pellet storage. I have a large garage so I buy pellets during late spring and summer when they are much cheaper and have never had a problem finding an adequate supply. I heat the upper two floors of my home with my Whitfield @2000 sq ft. We are currently buying a new Quadri-fire for the upper floors and the old Whitfield will be retired to basement. Pellet stoves are easy to maintain and operate but due your reaserch, you will get what you pay for. There are three brands of stoves I would recomendbased on my own experience and that of freinds and neighbors 1. Quadri-fire 2. Harmon 3. Whitfeild

-- Terry J. Dolan (dolantb@purplemtn.com), April 14, 2001.

I have one from Englander stove (i.e. Home Depot) and enjoy using it in Northern Vermont. I have had it for two full winters and have the following observations:

Yes, you get what you pay for. This was half the price of many of the above named units. However I anticipate that components will wear out before theirs will. If you want one from HD, go for it but understand why such a cost delta. I have NOT had any failures yet and this runs 24x7 all winter long! The convection blower is getting loud and will likely get replaced in the near future.

Pellets, yes again you get what you pay for. Good ones heat great, fair ones will heat, poor ones will not heat at all and jam up your system. My wife can handle the bags easily which we keep in a shed about 15feet from the stove. The bags are cleaner than wood piles, no insects can survive that processing! If you have carpal tunnel and can't run an axe then this is your solution!

The heat from a pellet stove is not the 'black body' glowing heat you get from a wood stove. One can place their hand on at least 50% of the stove with no fear of burning one's self. No blower, no heat simple as that.

As to the power issue, I have a 1000watt inverter that I can run off of a car battery for quite some time. Yes we are tied to power but this solution works and the stove only draws 400watts on max max max.

We have cut our oil consumption way down after properly insulating and installing an aftermarket thermostat for the pellet stove. The house oil thermostat works at 55 and the pellet stove runs at 70. This way the house is protected from the pellet stove burning out and letting our subzero cold destroy the plumbing.

Thanks for the cleaning tips!

-- David Cove (davidc3@usa.net), October 14, 2001.

Ive had a pellet stove for about 10 years now.

Ive never had any problems getting pellets. In upstate NY I used about 2 tons of pellets a year. Thats about $350-400 a year. We had electric baseboard previously that cost hundreds of dollars a MONTH to heat our house. For us the pellet stove was a God send.

I do reccommend keeping your stove clean and maintaining it well. We have had renters in our house for a few years and they don't miantain the stove and Ive had to repair it a few times. On the plus side working on the stoves is quite easy and the basic principles are quite easy to understand for some one with a basic mechanical background.

You have to keep the pellets from getting wet otherwise the storage is easy. I like the pellet stove because chopping and splitting wood is too much work for me.

-- John L. Quinn (shelbyz88@earthlink.net), October 19, 2001.

I know there are small solar units designed for an RV or weekend cabin use (Real Goods is one source). Could you use one of those for just a pellet stove? We have a regular fireplace insert with electric blower (all-electric house) but we are much better off than people down the road in brand new all-electric houses without fireplaces, at least we can still have a fire.

I'm not so sure about propane, either. As I understand it, it is dirtier than natural gas, not to mention I see a lot of older tanks right close to the road. One wayward car and goodbye. And you're still dependent upon someone else to supply you. I don't know how prices vary relative to say, heating oil. Even if you have natural gas, unless you have older heaters you're still SOL (sadly out of luck) if the electric goes out--same with a gas stove.

Tell stories 'round the old barbeque? lol

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), October 19, 2001.

We have a wood pellet stove for three years and love using it, the key is keeping it clean and maintained. It only took me about two hours to install, including making holes through the walls. We tried different types and brands of pelletts, the better quality does keep your stove cleaner, but beleive it or not when we used cheaper high ash pelletts we do get much better heat( and a lot of ash to clean up) just as the manufacturer states.

-- R.P.Walsh (rpwalsh@earthlink.net), December 29, 2001.

I have been running a Breckwell freestanding pellet stove for over five years. I love it for several reasons. I live in a townhouse and do not want a big chimney. Hauling wood is a lot of work and storage is a problem. My heat pump does not work in very cold weather. The PS keeps the house warm and gives me NO trouble. I do have to vacuume and oil the motors twice a season. The motors pick up dust because they are moving a lot of air. If you do not care for this type of appliance properly you will have a noisy ineffecient stove.

I love the fact that I can set the feed rate and have a steady temperature for two days in mild weather, one day in cold weather. Just dump a bag of pellets in the hopper and go. I have an ash vac that I use to suck all the ash out of the stove. I can even keep the fire going while cleaning. I won't say how, however! I buy two tons per winter(from Wal-Mart). I stack the bags on a pallet(s) and cover with a tarp. I wish I had a garage. A more expensive stove shop allows you to leave your pellets at their shop, just pick up a few bags when you need to. Pellet quality has really picked up over the last few years. I have no problems with any brand.

There was a problem with the circit boards on some Breckwell stoves but that has been corrected.

JL

-- James Latin (Drycellbattery@aol.com), February 05, 2002.

I have owned a wood stove and just purchased a pellet stove. We've been running the pellet stove for a week now and I'd never go back to a wood stove. We bought a Quadrafire pellet stove. We literally only have to keep it filled with pellets and clean it. It turns itself on and off with a thermostat. We cut a hole in the floor from the basement (where it sits) and put in a duct with a fan - it is a more constant warm heat than even my forced hot air propane system. If you are using it to heat your house full time - do yourself a favor and buy a humidifier.

-- cyndi hiener (c.hiener@comcast.net), March 05, 2002.