Anyone use wood pellet stoves?

[pnuner]

I'm starting a major remodel and am considering replacing a wood burning stove with a pellet stove. Honestly I just don't have time to cut, split, and haul two cord of wood each year. I know all the pro's and cons of the pellet stove I was just wondering how available the pellets are? I've only seen them in the local Tractor Supply and from what I read there quality is poor at best.

Cons:

1. Needs power to run (can run from a generator or battery backup but time is limited on those)
2. Cost of pellets is more than wood (but less than propane or electric)
3. Availability of pellets.
4. Can't cook on the stove.
5. The type of heat they put out is not the same as a wood stove. So even though it looks pretty like a wood stove it doesn't heat the same.

Pros:

1. Get one with a large enough hopper and only fill it every couple of days and it can run 24 hours without letting it go out.
2. Use quality pellets and only have to clean it every few days (instead of every day with a wood stove).
3. At least right now pellets cost less than propane although the price has sharply increased in the last few years so the difference isn't that great anymore.
4. Some models can be thermostat controlled.
5. They don't require an actual chimney, only a through the wall vent.

 

[Oklahomabassin]

I know of one farmer who bought a model that would run on wood pellets or whole field corn. He had several acres of irrigated corn, but he always had a few fields that were dry land. When weather conditions were right, his dry land corn would have alfatoxin levels too high to be sold to the Co-Op. He would save a grain trailer of it in his barn, that he would use in the winter. (He saved back corn for this regardless of alfatoxin levels.) He could easily open the hopper door and fill 5 gallon buckets to carry to his stove.

Originally, he was just a corn farmer and when he had his first load of corn rejected and had to dispose of a semi load of corn, plus not harvest the rest of his dry land corn, he researched other options.

 

[Crash Gordon]

I buy most of mine from Atwoods in Norman because they have a good supply of Indiana hardwood pellets at reasonable prices.

 

[CHenry]

I'm starting a major remodel and am considering replacing a wood burning stove with a pellet stove. Honestly I just don't have time to cut, split, and haul two cord of wood each year. I know all the pro's and cons of the pellet stove I was just wondering how available the pellets are? I've only seen them in the local Tractor Supply and from what I read there quality is poor at best.

Cons:

1. Needs power to run (can run from a generator or battery backup but time is limited on those) Uses less than a 100 w light bulb
2. Cost of pellets is more than wood (but less than propane or electric) $500 will heat my house from Oct. to April
3. Availability of pellets. I buy them at Lowes by the ton but there are several places to get them. Learn the brands for the quality and buy those.
4. Can't cook on the stove. Why would you want to?
5. The type of heat they put out is not the same as a wood stove. So even though it looks pretty like a wood stove it doesn't heat the same. Explain this? Its exactly the same kinda heat. Wood heat is wood heat.

Pros:

1. Get one with a large enough hopper and only fill it every couple of days and it can run 24 hours without letting it go out. a 40 lb hopper will run 40 hours on a low setting. In Jan. you will have to fill it every day. They have thermostat control now so they will turn off when the desired temp is reached on those mild days. And relight when it cools off.
2. Use quality pellets and only have to clean it every few days (instead of every day with a wood stove). I clean mine once a week
3. At least right now pellets cost less than propane although the price has sharply increased in the last few years so the difference isn't that great anymore. Pellets have not risen more than .50 per bag in 10 years. Fact. Propane took a 200% increase last winter when there was a shortage.
4. Some models can be thermostat controlled. All quality models can be.
5. They don't require an actual chimney, only a through the wall vent. Correct

I love my pellet stove and will always have one.

 

[pnuner]

Thanks for the info CHenry. Really helps make up my mind. As far as price per bag, I saw them here 4 or 5 years ago for about $2 a bag. Last winter they were almost $5. Still that's only $250 a ton. How many ton do you use in an average winter? The one I'm looking at has a 120lb hopper so it should go several days on low without refilling. And yes propane is in the category of STUPID expensive. I haven't priced it recently but paid $2.25 a gallon last spring and thought I got a bargain.

As far as the heat difference it's just what I've read from people that have changed from cord wood heat to pellet heat. I think it has something to do with a pellet stove is only a radiant heater where a wood stove both radiates and conducts heat.

Oh and cooking on a wood stove? Just think of it as a dual purpose slow cooker. Set a pot of stew/chili on the top and let it go for a few hours

 

[CHenry]

I paid $4.50 a bag 10 years ago for good quality oak pellets. Now I get them for $5.00. I never saw any for $2.00. I have never seen a 120 lb hopper either. Mine is a St. Croix insert and holds 40 lbs. I'm due for an upgrade soon. Mine is old and newer more efficient stoves are out there.
I normally buy a ton in Oct. And another after Christmas then if the cold last much past March, I'll buy a few more bags.

 

[dennishoddy]

Interesting.

My air tight stove can melt lead in the front room if I feed it enough split wood. After 25 years of heating the house, I'm really considering a pellet stove. Not getting any younger and I've normally cut, split and burned 9-10 ricks in a winter.

I'm assuming they have inserts that go into a standard fireplace opening?

 

[streak]

Interesting.

My air tight stove can melt lead in the front room if I feed it enough split wood. After 25 years of heating the house, I'm really considering a pellet stove. Not getting any younger and I've normally cut, split and burned 9-10 ricks in a winter.

I'm assuming they have inserts that go into a standard fireplace opening?

If you do can I have your splitter rig?

 

[dennishoddy]

If you do can I have your splitter rig?

LOL, your way down on the waiting list for that beast.

 

[streak]

LOL, your way down on the waiting list for that beast.

Kinda figured so. But I could re gift mine to someone else....Pay it forward!