Pellet stoves

[manfred]

I know pellet stoves aren't popular here, but..
As a renewable resourse , I think in the near future they will be much more popular. I'm getting old and getting the fuel to the second floor of my 2 story house is easier with pellets. Who knows how much corn will likely cost.
Propane is constantly going up in price along with natural gas.
What do you think?

 

[begleytree]

I think the best time to buy the bags of pellets is in the summer

know a few ppl around here with them. they seem to work, but most folks dont like them. maybe because you cant get pellets for them here when you need them. stores are always out
-Ralph

 

[bassman]

I have a beat up pellet stove i bought from the local paper for $500 and i will be buying a new one this fall to replace my woodstove .
I burn one 40 lb bag of pellets in 14 hours to heat my home compared to just over a 100lbs of wood to do the same .
biggest difference is that my wife or I can fill it and start it and sit back and leave it alone.
I like burning wood but loading the wood bag then walking on the clean floor to the stove to put it down then opening the stove getting ashes all over bla bla bla .
then there is the deal with getting it going and it heating too much then its out at 1 am and i load it up again and wait so i can set the damper and back to bed .
wife then fills it in the morning and fills the house with smoke cause the damper is almost closed and the door is open .
I like the pellet stove.....
you can also burn corn and grain all of wich is cheaper than pellets.

 

[redprospector]

My dad bought one back in 91, I used it this year and there is no way you can get that much out of 40 lbs. of wood. The only problem I have with them is if you have a power outage, you have no heat. In our area we have frequent power outages, so there will always be a woodstove at my place.

Andy

 

[bassman]

mine runs 14 hours on pellets when auger is turned down to low.
about 8 hours on high .
I have a local farmer that will sell me a bushel of grain for 3 bucks about 60 lbs so i hope to get a bin and see what kind of mess i can get myself into .
when it gets to minus 40 c with wind I start burning anything that will burn to keep that gas meter from turning.

 

[blis]

IMO, stay away from pellets.... theyre so not ready for big market and theres always problem of getting good quality pellets...

 

[turnkey4099]

I have always wondered about the economics. I am in an oil burning area. How does the cost of the pellets comapre with oil for the same heat? Just looking at theprice of pellets (haven't looked in a few years) they seem awfully high.


Harry K

 

[A. Stanton]

I heard that corn draws mice. So if that is the case, you better be careful. Pellets are no bargain weightwise: don't they come in 50lb bags? Would it be easier to pay some neighborhood kids to lug the wood to some upstairs staging area, once a month? I also heard that corn is becoming a real cash crop because they are starting to burn more for ethanol fuel.

 

[046]

pellets sure sound handy... but regular old wood has one HUGE advantage. which is YOU have total control on how you acquire your wood.

folks that can put time into acquiring wood have labor invested but little hard cash out. this is assuming your saw, splitter, etc is paid for. if you've got to pay for all your wood. depending upon where, it starts getting close to cost of oil or gas.