Fireplaces, Heating Stoves, Flues and Chimneys - Please post experiences with PELLET STOVES.
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RenoAndrea
09-06-02, 08:09 AM
Hi all! :) The house we are currently renovating has a new pellet stove in the corner of the living room. We have never used one before and don't know much about them. I have heard they can be dusty, but that's about it. Our house is heated with a high efficiency oil furnace. The pellet stove is for secondary heat and aesthetics.
How much pellet should we get? Is it dusty? How do we store the pellet?
Any other information or experience is welcomed and encouraged. :D
How much pellet should we get? Is it dusty? How do we store the pellet?
Any other information or experience is welcomed and encouraged. :D
CTsang1234
09-11-02, 10:28 AM
We have a small pellet stove to be supplemental to the Gas Furnace that we have. We love the stove. Yes, it does get dusty, but for the amount of money that we are saving with heating via pellets, it's well worth it. During the winter time, a 40lb sack will last 2-3 days, that's burning from 6pm through the morning. You can get a thermostat for some of the pellet stoves which will control the burn, but if it's too warm at night, we'll shut it off.
jukes07840
09-19-02, 11:51 PM
We have used a pellet stove for about 6 years now, as a suppliment to our Propane furnace. We run the stove 24 hours a day during the heating season, and burn about 1 bag [40 lbs] per day. it is in the basement of our ranch and heats the whole 1600 sqft house. It has saved us a lot of money. The stove does produce ash/dust, but compared to a traditional wood stove the ash is minimal. A ton of pellets is about equal to a cord of wood, as far as heat is concerned, but only produces about 2 shoeboxes worth of ash.
There are diferent qualities of pellets on the market, you want to check that they are LOW ASH, and hardwood. You can use the soft wood pellets only in a bottom feed stove, the top feeders dont like them, too much ash.
You will also need to clean out the blowers and exhaust pipe, as they will accumulate "fly ash" this can clog the exhaust and shorten the life of the blowers. A good investment is a flue cleaning brush with extension rods, if you have a long flue pipe, ours is about 22 feet inside an existing chimmny.
Hope this helps with the basics.
If you have a Walmart, they usually beat everyone elses price on pellets. last year we paid about $3.00 US a bag, Home depot carried two brands of pellets, one hardwood $4.20 a bag, and one softwood about 3.50 a bag.
Store the bags in a dry location [very important] indoors is best. Wet pellets are useless, and when wet return to sawdust.
Greg
There are diferent qualities of pellets on the market, you want to check that they are LOW ASH, and hardwood. You can use the soft wood pellets only in a bottom feed stove, the top feeders dont like them, too much ash.
You will also need to clean out the blowers and exhaust pipe, as they will accumulate "fly ash" this can clog the exhaust and shorten the life of the blowers. A good investment is a flue cleaning brush with extension rods, if you have a long flue pipe, ours is about 22 feet inside an existing chimmny.
Hope this helps with the basics.
If you have a Walmart, they usually beat everyone elses price on pellets. last year we paid about $3.00 US a bag, Home depot carried two brands of pellets, one hardwood $4.20 a bag, and one softwood about 3.50 a bag.
Store the bags in a dry location [very important] indoors is best. Wet pellets are useless, and when wet return to sawdust.
Greg