Fireplaces, Heating Stoves, Flues and Chimneys - Wood stove or pellet stove?

What would you recommend. I have a 1600 Sq ft house and I want this to supplement my furnace. I would have to buy wood or buy pellets. I do not have existing fireplace. Thanks

pellet stove any day over a wood stove... no chopping, splitting, mess, storage of wood... all you have to do with a pellet is store the 40lb bags, drag one in every other day (for a 1600' home), clean it once every couple of weeks or more.. and enjoy.. no muss, no fuss, and plenty of heat!

Could you recommend a brand? It seems like they are over priced 2000-3000 I am not looking to spend that much. Is that the going rate for them?? If so then I guess I will do it because I do not have accessible wood. Thanks for your help

Could you recommend a brand? It seems like they are over priced 2000-3000 I am not looking to spend that much. Is that the going rate for them?? If so then I guess I will do it because I do not have accessible wood. Thanks for your help


One you might consider is Englander. Auto ignite with remote thermostat for $900.00. You will need to buy pipe wall/ceiling jack depending on your installation. Check your building codes carefully. As well as the install instructions. Fresh air intake is required. But not on all brands.
I've got a Lopi an Englander and a woodstove. I like them all, but, they're used for different reasons.
The neat thing about the Englander is I havnt found a pellet it wont burn. Which is something to consider. Many pellet stoves run poorly on various pellets. They seem to "like" some better then others.
Lignetics is a brand I use, but, they're pricey.
The $900.00 quote was from a recent Sutherlands ad.
Okay, the other thing to consider in the long run is replacement parts. Blower motors, auger bearings, auger motors. They are costly.
I've repaired many brands, and it always is a surprise to the owner what parts cost plus labor.
Oh, and remember the average pellet stoves are a bit loud. However the good thing is the clearance needed to walls and such are minimal.
Going into the spring/summer I'm sure you would find a great buy, but be patient.

Good Luck!


BB

never heard of Englander.. Whitfield is the inventor of the pellet stove, and is a pretty good choice..

never heard of Englander.. Whitfield is the inventor of the pellet stove, and is a pretty good choice..

Whitfields are great...but the cost.


BB

well, you could go to Enviro and use 2bags of pellets a day... not sure what that stove costs, but if cost is that important you'd better stick with a wood burning stove..

no I think I will go with the englander its not overpriced like the others and it burns just as well as far as I can tell from what I am told from people who own them. Just doesnt have all the bells and whistles. I think the prices of some of these places are ridiculous. Mostly paying for the name. Cost is important to me. I dont like getting ripped off

I agree.. I don't like the inflated prices either.. I shopped the internet for outlets with the Whitfield.. then called each one to get a price on the model I wanted.. I had to drive 150 miles down to Corvallis Oregon, but save $800 on the price of the stove plus the sales tax!.. thats a LOT of markup for the Washington stores... so, you just have to let your fingers type in what you want and do some calling around to find a better deal..

Well, I'll have to disagree with the others here. I've had both an airtight woodstove and a pellet stove, and far preferred the woodstove. The pellet stove was noisy, didn't put out nearly enough heat, and wouldn't work at all if the power was out. They are also way more expensive that a woodstove. For ambience, I rank them only slightly above a kerosene heater. I love the smell of wood smoke, and have no problems cutting and splitting my own wood.

yep, your right.. each has a preference.. the pellet would of course require the smallest of generators to keep it running, a couple amps at the very most... and the pellets stack and store a heck of alot neater and "cleaner" than wood does... and you don't have to cut, split, stack, and kindle the fire to get a pellet stove going... then theres the mess, the wood stove always has a lot of ash and droppings from the wood you haul in to put in them... don't say they don't, I've had many a wood burning fireplace and stoves.. but, they do put out the heat, granted.. and they do smell good, granted... I'll burn a pine scented candle and watch my pellets burn.. and it keeps the house at a 75 to 80 degree range on low.. so, that's good enough for me.. variety is the spice of life, and without it, we'd all be a pretty boring bunch.. so, whatever fits your needs and likes are fine and acceptable.. :thumbup:

Check out the Harman line of pellet stoves, not cheap but a good quality stove with a good warranty, a couple of their models (such as mine, the Advance) can go about 1 ton of pellets before you need to empty the ash pan.

In addition to the looking at the relative merits of any alternate fuel heating units you are considering, regardless of type, also consider the manufacturer’s service and support policies. I didn’t do this when I bought a Harman Model 2600 multi-fuel central furnace in 2000 to replace an ancient wood and oil burning furnace that we had had for many years. I now regret the choice. Three seasons ago I decided to run the furnace on oil only until my wife recovered from her lung cancer surgery, so that there would be no chance of even a whiff of wood smoke entering the house. When the furnace fired we smelled oil. This has continued right up to this season and we’ve tried everything to get it repaired, complete cleaning and resealing of the oil heat exchanger (twice), various adjustment to the oil burner, chimney cleaning, etc. We even had the air conditioning oil pulled so that the heat exchanger could be inspected for cracks (none found). My heating technician is at his wit’s end and blames it on poor furnace design. Emails, telephone calls, and faxed and snail mailed messages to Harman asking for technical help or referral to a technician who could solve the problem have been unanswered. They won’t even send me a replacement manual. Their standard reply is that all service and parts orders must go through the dealer who sold me the furnace. I of course called the dealer from whom I bought the furnace and was told by the owner’s widow that when her husband died, Harmon pulled her dealership and gave it to someone else, even though they sold 84 Harman units a year. She said her very experienced and qualified service technician would no longer service Harmon products because of the way Dane Harman and his company treated her. The two Harman Dealers within reasonable driving distance from me do not handle furnaces, only stoves, and do not have service technicians qualified in the oil heat part. The bottom line – Do not purchase ANY Harmon product unless you are absolutely sure that your dealer will remain in business for as long as you own the stove and will be willing to provide service and parts when needed.

Jack Jennings
Sicklerville, NJ