Pellet stoves

[curly_kate]

My DH & I are trying to find a good way to supplement our furnace this winter. We have oil heat (eek!), and hate how much we have to pay on heating oil every winter. We were thinking of replacing it with a heat pump, but because our house is so old, it would involve some major electrical work. Anyhoo, we are debating a pellet stove or woodstove. There is one of those plates on the wall that covers the spot where a stovepipe connected once upon a time, so I don't think either would require much construction. Anyone have any experience with either?

 

[sufficientforme]

My parents have a pellet stove (its pretty old, one of the original models) and it is very efficient, they live in a pretty mild climate so they run it for a few hours in the evening and it is enough heat for them through the night. Biggest con for them is when the power goes out they have no heat. Pros are the neat stacks of pellets over messy bark/wood etc
My sister purchased a gorgeous Jotul http://www.jotul.com/en-us/wwwjotulus/ wood burning stove this year, it does have a blower. They have over a 2000 sq ft home and it heats it up nicely. She says she is surprised how much more efficient it is compared to a regular wood stove. Biggest pro for them is their power goes out a lot and are able to heat the house. Biggest con getting firewood and the mess with that.
Depending on what climate you live I have heard great things about a heat pump, we live in a pretty short winter climate and that is what we will be replacing our furnace with when the time comes.
I would also check out soapstone stoves.
Good luck!

 

[enjoy the ride]

I've heated with a pellet stove in two houses for years.
The pluses of a pellet stove are that you can have a thermostat and the pellet stove can feed the pellets automatically to keep the set temperature, the pellets are easy to store, neat and can be kept safely in a garage or something, it is very efficient and low emmissions (relative to wood stove.) It is easy to clean and maintain.
The bad things are dependance on electical power (although it is low use) so that if your power goes out, you cna't use it without a generator back-up. I have heard of a battery back up one but don't know how it works. Also pellets have been scarce at times and there have also been time when the quality went down. I do worry about a drop in availablity due to the drop in lumber and furniture manufacture due to the ecomony. I have now stored two years of pellets in my garage. The price for pellets has been stable for this year but has gone up. But, even though our area is surrounded by hundreds of thousands of acres of timber, so has wood. Not full cords are going for $300.

For convenience and efficiency, pellets can't be beat by a wood stove but, if you have the wood available free or low cost, and the time to get wood and clean chimneys, wood stoves are much less costly and quieter.

 

[yotetrapper]

We bought a corn/pellet stove and hate it!! It can burn either corn or pellets. Neither one would heat the small house. When it got below 0 we couldnt get our house above 50!! I grew up with wood stoves and am very partial to them. They heat much better, and are cheaper (in most areas.)

Here we can get a pickup truck full of wood for $35 dollars, which will last at least a week in a half in bitter cold. Pellets we were using 3 bags a day in bitter cold. 3x$4=$12 a day x11days=$132 for a week and a half!! I believe fuel oil is cheaper than that!!

I would seriously reccomend a woodstove. Will provide all your heat in the day and evening, with your furnace maybe kicking on in the middle of the night if you can't take a bit of cold.

 

[yotetrapper]

<<Not full cords are going for $300>>

I think you need to get out of communist CA if thats the cost of wood!! We live with not a tree in sight (well almost) and get a cord and half for $35.

In reference to my post above, if you will need to pay $300 a cord, stick with fuel oil!

 

[enjoy the ride]

Lol- I'm always pleased when someone says something bad about California- there are too many people here already- now if I could persuade others to leave..............

 

[sufficientforme]

You are lucky to get firewood so reasonable. For me here it is 275 a cord, I checked with famil y in other states and they were paying the same or a little less.

 

[Beekissed]

You are lucky to get firewood so reasonable. For me here it is 275 a cord, I checked with famil y in other states and they were paying the same or a little less.

I can't even imagine paying that much for wood!!! What a rip off! We are in the wrong business, I tell you! For around $400 one can get a logging truck to come to your house and dump a full load of logs in your yard. At least, around here.

Most folks who do not have land use this resource. They then cut and split the wood themselves and I've seen pretty big houses make this load last a couple of years. Depends on the efficiency of your stove and the energy efficiency of your house.

 

[curly_kate]

I'm partial to the idea of a woodstove b/c it wouldn't need electricity. Unfortunately, DH works 60-70 hours a week in the winter, and wouldn't have time to chop enough firewood to keep it going. We're looking for something to supplement the oil heat so we use less of it. Unfortunately, w/our old, drafty house, I have a hard time imagining being able to depend solely on a pellet or woodstove. It's a nice thought, tho. Thanks for the advice!!

 

[Beekissed]

Do you have a basement? I was reading a thread over on the BYC and one of the guys had a real good idea about distributing heat in a house. He puts his stove in the basement and installed vent fans, like one would find in a bathroom ceiling, in the floor. As heat rises, the stove would naturally heat the upper floor but with the vent fans, this woud be even to greater effect.