Wood Pellet Stoves

[Bumper]

I am looking for options to my oil heat this winter and came across wood pellet stoves. Does anyone have experience with one? Do they work well? Are they easy to use? Are they child safe? Are they efficient and clean? Anything else I should know about them prior to purchasing one?

Thanks in advance for all the advice.

[cashflyer]

Pellet stoves (like most other heaters) require a blower, which is electric powered.
If power goes out, so does your heat.

Do you have a ready source of pellets, or are you getting them shipped in?

[TimT]

As mentioned above, they need a source of power to operate, and will you have a steady supply of pellets?

I think a better way would be to get a traditional wood burning stove. Some of the newer ones are quite high efficiency and clean burning. I have three Vermont Castings stoves in two houses.

In my Vermont house I can get the house 80+ just using the wood stove, when the outside temp is 0 deg.

[The Gaijin]

Could never figure out that pellet thing. Is it processed waste wood? I guess it is easier to load and feed..

How about coal? When is that going to make a comeback in heating homes?

Since the end of the first oil "crisis" I wonder how many homes where built barely to code as regards to insulation??

We have a ton of housing stock built during eras of cheap oil.

Maybe by 2050 we will build things properly.

[Mule]

It's compressed sawdust. They feed automatically, dump in a bag & the trickle down into the "crucible."

[Flatbutt1]

I've been running a Harman for 5 years now. Not a moment of trouble. Convenient to load, constant temperature (no banking the coals at night), no creosote in the chimney, very,very,very low danger of chimney fire.

Downsides....you need electricity(my house has a gererator), they are not the most attractive constructs, they make noise, and you can't cook on them.

I heated with cord wood for 25 years but can't physically handle 6 cords a year anymore.

[stomachmonkey]

We had a nice Wood Burning stove in our den.

Den ceiling was vaulted cathedral so matched the height of the second floor ceiling.

All the heat would naturally rise and it would get hot as a m'fr upstairs.

On occasion I had to open a window it'd get so hot.

[chuckw951]

I live in MD and we have a heat pump. Works fine for 3 seasons of the year but when its 20 degrees outside our house just wasn't warm enough. I researched wood stoves, pellet stoves and gas stoves a couple of years ago.

I ended up installing a "direct vent" gas stove made by Jotul.
http://www.jotul.com/en-us/wwwjotulus/Main-menu/Products/Gas/Gas-stoves/Jotul-GF-400-DV-Sebago/

I have a 100 gallon propane tank buried outside. The last time I filled it up it cost $250 with delivery, not sure what it will cost this year. That much propane lasts me about 2 months of frequent use.

With the price of gas going up a pellet stove may have been a better choice. But at the same time you have fill the stove periodically and deal with obtaining and storing those pellets. I believe with a pellet stove there is more cleaning involved. With a gas stove you just flip the switch and it comes on. Ideal for the lazy man that wants heat. You might want to find a dealer and get a full education. There are so many choices. Interestingly the guys at my local stove store are fanatics. They'll talk about stoves for hours. This company makes some interesting stoves: http://www.hearthstonestoves.com/

Good luck and stay warm!

[LakeCleElum]

All good advise above. I would only add one item:
A pellet stove is not very effective at warming up a cold house quickly. They work best at maintaining a constant heat.

I have traditional wood stoves in all 3 homes. With firewood (and a little used motor oil), I can warm up a cold house pretty quickly.

[NICKG]

i have a jotul stove in my living room...it keeps the better part of my house warm. I put it on a concrete slap (tiled) so when it gets hot it really keeps warm. I am completely freaked out by what i should do going into this winter as my hot water and normal heat is oil. I am thinking of adding an electric hot water heater and some smaller electric heater to the back of the house to warm the rooms the stove doesn't
I am tossed between propane for the hot water or electric. I looked into tankless, but no one will install one near me(they say they suck in the winter) so I have some things to do.
cord wood is already over 200 split and delivered here and people are beginning to panic about winter...(it's all oil heat around here)

[Flatbutt1]

tankless sux in winter? unless its outside I dont see why that should be?

[Hawktel]

My father has had a pellet stove for years. He never had anything bad to say about it.

Last time I was there he had even worked up some rube goldberg arrangement where it was all covered with copper pipes and he was using it as a preheater for the water heater. Said it was cutting 20-30 bucks a month off his electric bill.

[targa911S]

Both my brother in laws have outdoor furnaces. http://www.hawkenenergy.com/?gclid=CNWhn_WawJQCFQOeFQod-lIMUQ. They totally rock but you still need to fill them 2X a day in winter.