Who Runs A Pellet Stove?

[WHX?? 48,771]

I do ...with all this talk about polar whatevers I figure this would be a good non tractor topic. 

I bought this stove in 2000 when I was thinking about dabbling in selling pellet stoves. I have a vintage 2000 year Lennox model Profile 30. Was the best thing since sliced bread at the time. Now they have them with usb ports!?! I got this one for dealer cost as I was in the HVAC biz and aside from the myriad of parts and mods I have put in it over the years it has served me fairly well. 

Back then the pellet stove was a novelty till they caught on and the masses got prices of stoves (and pellets) jacked way out of hand. 

I burn anywhere between 2 1/2 to 3 tons of pellets a year. More in the year they upped propane up to what it seems like  $90 a gallon. 

I burned wood for years figuring this would be a cleaner, easier alternative. Like the old Lynyrd Skynyrd song was I right or wrong?

Lucy sure likes it!

 

Edited January 31, 2019 by WHX21

[ACman 7,618]

No , but sure wish I did right know  .... it’s down right bitter cold outside and I think the wife could take care of it  ! I used to loved to cut and chop wood plus it was free besides fuel, oil, chains, etc.  Jim you get your pellets wholesale ? My uncle gets pellets in the fall this way for anyone in the family through his HVAC dealer . 

 

Like your setup @WHX21  . My old house the wood stove was on the far end of the house stuck in a small room and the heat would just stay in there. I took a fan, 120v/24v transformer from a trashed furnace and bought a cheap 24v/12v Contactor ($8 but I could’ve grabbed one off a old condenser) . I Built a sheet metal box around it all and mounted on the ceiling and pointed down the hallway . The thermostat I mounted near the wood stove and ran it in the cool mode . That way I could set the temperature (usually 70 degrees) to come on and shut off if the fire went out. 

Edited January 31, 2019 by ACman

[cleat 5,809]

For years I ran an old Whitfield Advantage and it worked OK.

 

Then a few years ago I bought a Harman P43.

I love it. Lights itself, controls temperature very well and runs fairly quiet.

 

Best thing though is the large ash pail built into the base that only needs to get dumped once a month or so.

Also the glass stays nice and clean.

 

 

Cleat

 

 

[cleat 5,809]

I buy my pellets from a company just up the road that delivers by the pallet (1.5 ton) and can sit it anywhere with the fork lift that attaches to their delivery truck.

 

I bought the stove from the same people.

 

[Chris G 3,296]

I don't have one in my own home. But my dad has two of them and he loves them. His dog does to LOL. But he buys his pellets from a Amish family near him. Not sure what he's paying,  but I know he says it beets the price he was paying when he had 2 coal burners before the pellet stoves.

[bc.gold 3,403]

34 minutes ago, ACman said:

No but sure wish I did right know  .... it’s down right bitter cold outside  ! Jim you get your pellets wholesale ? My uncle gets pellets in the fall this way for anyone in the family through his HVAC dealer . 

 

Like your setup  . My old house the wood stove was on the far end of the house stuck in a small room . I ran my fan of a thermostat in the cool mode so when the room got hot the fan run. 

 My buddy working the winter months on a pipe line build riding the crew bus would crack a window open which would draw the heat towards him as it exited the window.

 

Another funny story, a Teamster drove the bus but when passage at the work site no longer enabled to bus to travel through the mud and ruts the foreman sent a dozer with a float to transport the crew on the last leg of the trip.

 

But bus driver would not allow the cat operator who belonged to the Operating Engineers Union to transport his charges said it was his responsibility, so the  cat operator disconnected the float then hooked a cable onto the bus. Wayne told me that after a week of dragging this buss through the muskeg it was no longer road worthy and the company had to get another bus for the public road.

 

[Ed Kennell 38,022]

Never had a pellet stove.   My Alaska burns 20" logs that are free.     

I have no idea what pellets cost, but there is a company here that delivers bulk pellets.   They give you a collapsible canvas bin that they pump the pellets into.

[PeacemakerJack 10,738]

Back in 2006 they jacked the price of LP up to about $3.50 a gallon around here.  At that time I could buy 60 bags of premium softwood pellets for $135.  Multiply that by 3 and I could heat my house for a whole winter.  I bought a Harman P61 in February 2007.  It was the best investment that I ever put into our house.  It has about 55,000 hours of run time on it now and I have never replaced a functional part on it—mechanical or electrical.  No other appliance in my house has that kind of run time on it except for my fridge and that seems to need repairs about every four years or so.  I love the fact that it gives a heat quite similar to a wood stove but without all the additional work.  These last couple of days it has felt especially good.  Unfortunately pellets are far more expensive now than they were back then but I’m hooked on the heat that it provides...

the kids love it too!

[bc.gold 3,403]

Love them socks.

 

[bc.gold 3,403]

1 hour ago, Ed Kennell said:

Never had a pellet stove.   My Alaska burns 20" logs that are free.     

I have no idea what pellets cost, but there is a company here that delivers bulk pellets.   They give you a collapsible canvas bin that they pump the pellets into.

 

Do you have a layer of sand on the bottom of your wood heater to keep the bottom from burning out.

 

I use this diesel heater saved from my sailboat to heat my shop.

 

[JoeM 7,871]

Never got into wood or pellet stoves, always working morning to night at least 6 a week no time to fuss with wood.

Those stoves seem like they are very efficient. There is a big pellet plant about 10 miles from here, always passed it on the way work. I hear its by pallet, cash and carry only.

I am right in the middle of marcellus shale gas country. Right now I heat the house, water, my pool when its open, and my garage man cave, for less than $100 average an month. Just a little less than half of the cable TV bill! Gas is a good value for us right now.

 

[WVHillbilly520H 10,373]

7 hours ago, WHX21 said:

 

I burned wood for years figuring this would be a cleaner, easier alternative. Like the old Lynyrd Skynyrd song was I right or wrong?

 

 

 

 

Is it really cheaper? For my parents 2-3 cord of firewood if I don't cut it costs and average of $250/cord vs what are you paying for a ton Jim?   Now cleaner I can believe that, what about ease of carrying pellets and loading the stove vs cordwood? Do you need electricity to keep the stove going vs a conventional wood stove? School this ole hillbilly just trying to get an idea about switching out my parents or adding this for our home, Jim thanks for any input , Jeff.

[Ed Kennell 38,022]

6 hours ago, bcgold said:

 

Do you have a layer of sand on the bottom of your wood heater to keep the bottom from burning out.

 

 

 

My Alaska Stove is made with 3/8" boiler plate and is lined with fire brick on the bottom, sides, and back.  The  two doors are cast steel. 

I bought it in 1967 as a back up for the oil burner as we were without electric for several weeks that winter.   It became my primary heat for the next 50+ years.

It is comforting to know you still have heat and can cook w/o the AC.     Of course now everyone has a generator to keep their phones charged when the power is off.

 

[JoeM 7,871]

hey Jeff found this chart, plugged some numbers, think they are pretty close. Looks like if you heat with electric, oil or propane, pellets can save some money. The natural gas price low is but based on long term contact agreements. Same with Propane. I put some money in for cord wood cause a man's time is worth something plus other expenses hauling , saw etc.

There are other factors like equipment efficiencies. What percent of the BTU goes up the flu? But that is a different story. Maybe the pellet stove gains here through better than wood stove efficiency???

This pretty much struck my interest cause my son partitioned off part of his pole building for a man cave and talked about using a pellet stove to keep It heated. He uses propane for the house.

I am sure there is some hear that can shed better light.

 

[PeacemakerJack 10,738]

8 hours ago, bcgold said:

Love them socks.

 

Claud loves crazy socks.  Most days she wears a mismatched set on purpose. Kinda funny because she dresses really nice when going to school and town but often has on the crazy socks!

 

Jeff—my observations on heating with pellets:

 

—Much less ash! 2000 pounds of pellets creates about a 2 gallon pail of ash.  Put this way...I clean my ash pan out once a month in the burn season.

 

—Efficient.  I have a bi-level home and the stove is in the lower level.  I have about 6’ of chimney and even on a bitter cold day like today with the stove burning hot to keep the house warm, the exhaust coming out is only warm.  That tells me that the stove design is capturing much of the heat and sending it into the house versus up the chimney.  A lot has to do with the combustion and the distribution fans.

Electrical—unfortunately here is one place that the pellet stove takes a solid second seat to the wood stove.  Mine runs off of a standard 110V plug but if the power goes out, it shuts off and the fire goes out within minutes because the fans are required to keep the downdraft exhaust working.  If you live in a place where power goes out regularly but you need heat—I’d recommend a different heat source or a generator backup. 

Automatic—this varies some from stove to stove but many of the Harman’s Are completely automatic.  Fill the hopper with pellets, set the temperature, and flip the switch on and it does the rest.  Glow plug starts the fire, sensors make sure everything is functioning safely, pellets are metered out according to the heating demand.  As long as you keep the hopper filled the stove does the rest of the work.  

Costs—depends much on what you can score pellets for.  Right now a premium softwood pellet in our area goes for about $240 per ton.  I need 3.5 of those to make it through our 6 month burning season (Nov-April).  I have found cheaper prices or bulk deals that will get them to me cheaper and I try to take advantage.  Some pellet stoves are more prone to mechanical or electrical problems.  My Harman has been amazingly reliable. I always suggest people stay away from a box store cheap stove. It is a series of headaches that will make you hate pellet stoves in the long run.  Kinda like a box store lawn tractor compared to our wheel horse GT’s.  

 

Ease of use—the worst part is lugging the 40# bags around.  I’ve heard of older folks cutting open the bags and dumping some into a coal scuttle or 5 gallon pail and then fill the stove.  All stoves require a monthly cleaning which takes about 25-30 minutes. Dump the ashes, sweep and vacuum out the cold firebox, clean the fans, scrape out any clinker, etc.  Some stoves have lubrication points as well.  There is also an annual (off season) cleaning recommended.

Safe—they are equipped with a series of fail safes.  If you leave the door open, it will shut off or not start.  If you lose draft by a plug chimney, it will shut off.  If you leave the hopper lid open, it will shut off.  Because of the nature of system, you don’t have to worry about creosote build up and chimney fires.

 

Every person has to decide for themselves what works for them.  Pellet heat works great for us.  We have heated our house exclusively with it for 12 years now and couldn’t be happier.  Some folks won’t agree and I can respect that...

[pfrederi 17,663]

8 hours ago, OILUJ52 said:

Never got into wood or pellet stoves, always working morning to night at least 6 a week no time to fuss with wood.

Those stoves seem like they are very efficient. There is a big pellet plant about 10 miles from here, always passed it on the way work. I hear its by pallet, cash and carry only.

I am right in the middle of marcellus shale gas country. Right now I heat the house, water, my pool when its open, and my garage man cave, for less than $100 average an month. Just a little less than half of the cable TV bill! Gas is a good value for us right now.

 

  Me too

There areI have 11 gas wells on the next property and  over I can see at least 4 well pads.  But I burn coal all the gas is piped out of the area.

 

Have a Harman Coal stove, was here when we bought the place 18 years ago works great.  The fan will run off a WH battery and inverter for about 12 hours if necessary.  Harman makes good stuff

[WHX?? 48,771]

8 hours ago, WVHillbilly520H said:

what are you paying for a ton Jim?

I buy them by the semi load and split it with neighbors so it comes out to about 225 a ton. Plus I have a nephew who works at a big pellet stove retailer so he does a little better price. They bring them in by the rail car full and bag them to 40 lb bags with 50 bags per skid.

Back in '00 I was paying a little over a 100 a ton!

 

12 hours ago, PeacemakerJack said:

Back in 2006 they jacked the price of LP up to about $3.50 a gallon around here

With some folks paying over 5 dang near 6 a gallon. Claimed it was because of a severe winter shortage...bullroar.

 

 

15 hours ago, cleat said:

Then a few years ago I bought a Harman P43. 

I love it. Lights itself, controls temperature very well and runs fairly quiet.

Nice to hear Cleat I have a brand new P43 still in the  wrapper I traded said nephew an air conditioner for. Figure my old girl would really crap out or I move her to the garage and take out the wood stove there.

Not that I don't like burning wood I just don't have the time working to make wood. It might be awhile tho just something about burning wood out in the shop.

[WHX?? 48,771]

16 hours ago, ACman said:

Jim you get your pellets wholesale

No just stoves but even then not wholesale unless I become a dealer.

[timo4352 147]

We have a Harman wood/ coal burner. Been heating the house with it for close to 10 years now. When natural gas threatened to go sky high, I put in the stove.

We have burned mostly wood for the past few years because it has come in abundance for free. We buy 2 tons of coal at a time, when we get it.

Costs about $240 a ton for anthracite here.

Two tons lasts for 2 or 3 years depending on how much wood we burn.

I run the furnace blower to distribute the heat.