Pellet stove

[Jay Jolliffe]

We have a wood stove & have to tend to getting, splitting and storing the wood. Getting on in age and were thinking on a pellet stove. Have no experience with one & was wondering what would be the best one to get . I'd like to say money is not an issue but don't want to spend 3-4 thousand for one either. We have a two story house that's 2,100sq'...The wood stove we have now say's it's a 50,000 btu output...

[John Lanciani]

I have had a Harman Accentra for 7 or 8 years and I’ve been completely happy with it but you might not like the price. Two things would be important to me if I was buying today; how easy is it to clean, and is there a solid dealer nearby that stocks parts. After that, look for appearance, hopper size and low noise. Picking pellets is another can of worms...

[Art Mann]

I investigated pellets briefly and it looked to me like the heat content of the pellets cost more than an equivalent amount of propane. If that is true then there is no advantage to it.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

If indeed, you shop wisely for your propane and your house is not a drafty old farm house, propane can be cheaper. We heated a small 800 sq ft house with a pellet stove the winter of 2015 into 2016, we used about five bags more than 2 tons of pellets. For the winter of 2016 into 2017 we heated the entire new 2700 sq ft house for $479 dollars of propane, at 84 cents a gallon to fill the tank in July 2016. . We also had the additional expense of buying and burying our 1,000 gal propane tank. If you rent a tank, you will be gouged because you are at that company's mercy for refills. My in laws rented their tank and paid over $4.00 a gallon during the same 2015 to 2016 heating season. That would have been almost $2,000 dollars for the same amount of propane. We shop around and fill up in June or early July. In June 2017, we filled up for 90.5 cents a gallon. My wife misses the pellet stove. She liked the fire glow it gave off and liked to sit close to the heat in the evening when watching TV. We had an extremely cheap bare bones pellet stove $1,50 from TSC) that had to be shut down and cleaned daily. An acquaintance had a pellet stove that set him back close to $6,000 that heated a huge open showroom of his business, (about 1,500 sq ft.) That stove had an automatic thermostat and could shut it self down and restart again on it's own when the temperature dropped. He left it run even on weekends when no one was there. He swore he only needed to clean it once a week. He moved away a few years ago and I do not know where he got to. Most of the cheaper ones can slow down when room temps go up, but can't shut themselves down and restart automatically.

[Bill Dufour]

Pellets cost more then propane per BTU, and pellet stoves have a lot of moving parts. I have heard that dry corn is cheaper per btu then pellets.
Bil lD

[Jerry Bruette]

When I was in the planning stages of my cabin I thought a pellet stove would be the way to heat it. So I talked to some owners of pellet stoves and to two different vendors. They all talked me out of the deal and into a propane stove. As stated above, the cost of propane versus pellets, corn or even cherry pits is a wash.

Both vendors warned me of the problems with the pellets, bridging caused by fines, burned out auger motors from being jammed with foreign material, and the cleaning of the fire pot and the heat exchanger. Then you have the extra cost of special vent pipe if you burn the corn or cherry pits.

So I bought a propane fireplace and haven't regretted it at all. I know a propane furnace is different than my fireplace but I need no electricity to run mine, and I would have needed electricity to run the auger for the pellet stove. I also don't have to mess with hauling, storing and loading the pellets. One tank out back a battery operated thermostat and a call to the gas company when I need a refill, easy peasy.

[Bill Dufour]

Why do you need a battery for a gas stove thermostat? Many 70 year old gas furnaces in California still running strong on millivolt thermostats. Of course then you have a standing pilot which I do not think is really an issue in winter time. I turn ours off in summer, relight it in the fall
Bill D.

[Jerry Bruette]

Why do you need a battery for a gas stove thermostat? Many 70 year old gas furnaces in California still running strong on millivolt thermostats. Of course then you have a standing pilot which I do not think is really an issue in winter time. I turn ours off in summer, relight it in the fall
Bill D.

It's a programmable thermostat. I leave the pilot on during the summer, I was told it will keep the spiders and bugs out.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

The 1930's house I lived in Arlington VA, had a completely gravity operated natural gas boiler system with no circulator and a mechanical thermostat that went from the first floor to the basement below. However, nobody, NOBODY builds those anymore.

Gas fireplaces are real pigs at consuming gas compared to gas furnaces. And Propane is only cheaper than pellets, if you spend the upfront bucks on your own tank and shop for propane in the off season. Right now some propane suppliers are charging over $3.00 a gallon. At that price, pellets are cheaper. But you also need to balance the hassle of getting pellets, cleaning the stove etc. We have a bulk pellet supplier in this area. They bring a truck load of loose pellets and you have to store them. The local bulk pellet company is no real savings, ($240.00 per ton, but in the next county over, I understand a lumber yard has a large storage tank of pellets and they sell to folks who pick them up for $180 a ton. But then how many folks have such ability.

[Jerry Bruette]

Just paid 1.89 a gallon two weeks ago, and yes I have my own tank and get a discount.

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

$1.89 is twice what I pay, but I fill up in late June early july.