Pellet Stoves

[chinchaga]

The time has come to replace my old freestanding fireplace. I've read up on the Pellet Stoves and like what they have to offer. But they are expensive and before a guy throws down that much money, I'd like to hear from others who own them and what they think of them. Anybody out there running a pellet stove and would you recommend them?

[jungleboy]

I have one , have had it for about 10 yrs They are good but not cheap to run. if you are planning to use it to try and heat your house they go through about a 40 to 50 lbs of pellets in a 24hr period depending how high you set the heat output. pellets will run you on average about $6 for a 40lb bag if you buy buy the pallet . I have found the pellet quality to be hi and miss . the better the quality the better the burn rate. They are much cleaner than a regular airtight but require electricity to run and make a certain amount of noise with the fan and the auger running. Ours has a self igniter but it was unreliable and I finally gave up on that and just started using a gel fuel to light it with.

Hope that helps

[mxz1997]

We had one at work for about 10 years. Its still going strong. No problems with it, but it will burn about a bag a day if your heating pretty good. At that rate it would prob heat a 1500sq ft house. Thats about $6 a day although you can buy it in mini-bulks for cheaper which is what we did. Just make sure you get one that has the pellet auger that pushes the pellets in from the bottom of the burn chamber, not one that drops them in from the top as those are a nightmare I've heard. I think it was a Harmon brand. Great stove!

[Sushi]

My parents have one. It throws a fantastic heat. Easy to maintain and keep filled with pellets. They love it.

Make sure the price of pellets makes it worthwhile. I would compare the price of pellets to wood (cut, split, delievered) and natural gas. Each has pros and cons. The decision is always how much work do you want to have to do, are you willing to haul, store, lug, pellets, etc.

[chinchaga]

I'm running propane out here on the ranch, it's expensive and delivery times are difficult as the local propane suppliers are busy running propane out to the oil production facilities. I'm spending about $350.00 month on propane. The rice of pellets is cheap comparatively. The cost of driving out to the back forty,dropping dead standing trees,bucking them up, hauling them in, splitting them and hauling it into the house is not cheap. Factor in what your time is worth plus what it cost to buy and run a chainsaw, well, I think pellets are cheaper actually.
I'm hearing Harmen is the go to manufacturer, and I'll have a good look at those. Thanks everyone for the advice and comments.

[Hawkhills]

put me solidly on the fence.I run both.I love a woodstove and the smell of a birch fire.But it is sure nice to have a pellet stove kick in without the 3am relighting sequence of a woodstove.

[REMINGTON JIM]

I have a Harmon Advance pellet stove - Its a Top Line Unit ! I have being heating my house in the BC Cariboo for going on 12 winters now and have never had a Problem with it - Burned up tons of pellets ! I Love it - Wood comes in a bag and is Very clean and Efficent !

Cheers RJ

[Artist]

If the power goes out, well... that's certainly something to think about

[medler]

i love my pellet stove,,very little maintence..Its an Enviro brand,,going on 4 years now,not a problem,heats my house very well..If the power does go out it wont work,but theres allways a generator to plug it into if needed.

i dont have to pack wood anymore,and deal with chimney pipe etc,

[Trailguy]

Had a pellet stove heated our 2500 sq ft 1 1/2 story house. It was a Whitfield stove. It was older model but worked great. Stoves have a bit of daily maintence required to clean up the burn pot area. Pellets are the most important issue here. If you buy cheap you get poor pellets. The best pellets we found were from BC. Get the pellets with a lot of hardwood in them. Pellets from places like Slave Lake are made of softwood such as Spruce and Pine. they don't burn as hot as hardwood. Moisture levels and type of fuel used to make the pellets really make a difference to how much heat you get from your pellets and how well they burn. Clean lowash fires are best.
Don't buy the cheapest pellets and make sure they have a hardwood base not softwood. Seen some from Quebec and Ontario at Canadian Tire that looked good.
If you like the feel of a wood fire and the smell of a wood fire you will love a pellet stove. Only negative is buying the right pellets for a good price. We used about 2 tons of pellets a year.

[Erik]

Have a pellet insert stove that I inherited with the purchase of our house. If I had the money I would replace it with a wood stove. Nothing beats plain old wood stoves IMO.

They sit above forced-air-furnace and below wood stove in my hierarchy of heating choices.