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Boz330
02-25-2014, 09:21 AM
Is there anybody out there with experience with this type of stove. I tried to find a cost comparison between pellet stoves and propane but had no luck. I was thinking of using one as supplemental heat to stretch my summer fill. This winter our LP went from $1.19 per gallon summer fill rate to $3.34 per gallon now. Fortunately for me I have a friend with a bulk tank and is on contract price and he took care of me.
There is a window/door company locally that makes pellets from there saw dust and sells them which means there wouldn't be any shipping.
Your experiences would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Bob

Bullshop Junior
02-25-2014, 09:57 AM
They suck. I was burning three to four bags a day at my last house and at 5-8 bucks a bag ....

6bg6ga
02-25-2014, 10:00 AM
How about a converted oil furnace that uses used motor oil?

Bullshop Junior
02-25-2014, 10:02 AM
My FIL had one of those. Motor oil is extremely dirty to burn, he have up on it and buys used cooking oil.

6bg6ga
02-25-2014, 10:04 AM
Yes it is but its cheap. Cooking oil is better. anything along this line would work to offset the heating bill.

HeavyMetal
02-25-2014, 11:00 AM
Most of my family lives in Northern Nevada and pellet stoves are in every place I visit, mostly.

Mom still uses propane simply because she can't left the bag of pellets any more and doesn't want to ask for anyones help.

Sister buys by the ton every October with several friends and says the quaility of the stove makes a big difference in cost versus heat but it is still cheaper than propane.

Look hard at the stove you want to buy some have options to move the heat around the house. wish I knew more but heating here in LA just isn't an issue.

6bg6ga
02-25-2014, 11:01 AM
Nuclear furnaces......thats the answer. produce your own power and heat your home and water at the same time.

Bullshop Junior
02-25-2014, 11:10 AM
Some of the pellet stoves heat water as well.

Westwindmike
02-25-2014, 11:29 AM
I looked at a pellet stove, but they did not work in a power outage!

snowwolfe
02-25-2014, 11:30 AM
Sort of off the track but I been reading about outdoor wood stoves that are connected to your home heating system. All the mess and smell of wood is outside yet the heat goes to whatever form of heat is in your home. Can be forced air, radiant floor heat, radiators, etc. Also heats your hot water.
Seems to be a great way to supplement your main heating system anytime the temperature dips. If you are energetic you could just use wood all the time. I plan on having one installed when we build our home in Tennessee.
http://www.centralboiler.com/applications.php

thekidd76
02-25-2014, 11:34 AM
I looked at a pellet stove, but they did not work in a power outage!

Most make a battery backup you can purchase, or just use a jumpbox in a pinch.

ShooterAZ
02-25-2014, 11:48 AM
While pellet stoves work well, you are limited to supply. Earlier this winter we had a severe shortage in my area.

Firebricker
02-25-2014, 11:53 AM
I just helped a friend pick his new pellet stove up lots of places have them on sale now. He bought his based on what friends had told him after a few days he is happy with it but that is not much time. I will be over there later and I will ask more specific questions on pellet consumption and heat output ect and post back. FB

Dale53
02-25-2014, 11:55 AM
There is a move in Congress right now to put serious regulations on wood burning stoves. Isn't that just "too thrilling for words?":evil:

Let's see - they are hindering the Canadian pipe line so we'll have to pay more for gas and heating oil. They are bound and determined to eliminate coal fired power plants. The "solution" (wind turbines that cost the taxpayer out the kazoo, horribly increase our fuel costs, and are killing our birds including eagles) are hardly the answer. Our energy costs are going through the roof and THIS is what we get?:groner:

Bah-Humbug!!

Back on topic. The wood pellet cost will be determined by whether or not you can get local supply for a reasonable cost and whether you can live with the fact it needs electricity to run it (power outages will require a generator, etc.). Consumption rate will vary between brands (and quality) of stoves. Some pellet stoves are more efficient than others. I have no clue which is best.

FWIW
Dale53

Cmm_3940
02-25-2014, 12:00 PM
Years ago when the price of corn was down below $1 a bushel, lots of farmers around here were buying pellet stoves because you can burn dried shelled corn in them. At the time it made better economic sense to burn the corn they grew for heat than to sell it. A few years later when the price of corn went back up, this didn't work out so well.

jeepyj
02-25-2014, 12:04 PM
I added a mini split heat pump this year. It easily takes care of my entire downstairs 1230sq' my furnace thinks it's on vacation. IMHO it flat out beats all of the above hands down with Zero mess or fuss. Plus it is a A/C unit in the summer. Mine is a medium sized one at 15,000btu's the cost ended up being around $2100.00 including installation.
jeepyj

rockrat
02-25-2014, 12:34 PM
I had one for a year. Got rid of it. Had it downstairs, but with it running, couldn't hardly hear the TV. And it was a pain to get it lit.

Boz330
02-25-2014, 12:44 PM
I wanted a wood stove when I built the house but was over ruled. Pellets are available locally and my intention was to stock up in the summer. Sounds like a lot less mess than a wood stove. As I get older cutting wood isn't as appealing as when I was younger. Dumping pellets in a hopper isn't quite as difficult.

When I had my water well drilled it came up dry but did hit natural gas. If I could find a company that would ascertain the quality of the gas and develop it I would go that route. Even if the cost was $10,000 it would amortize pretty quick at the current price of LP and I could run a generator off of it as well. I have done searches about private well development and come up with nothing. The driller told me how to do it but without knowing the BTU content of the gas it could be an expensive project to undertake with no reward.

Bob

CastingFool
02-25-2014, 01:27 PM
we bought and installed a pellet stove as an fireplace insert, a few years ago. It was expensive, but we figured we had a cheap source of corn. Corn got expensive, plus it's a pain to burn. if it contains too much moisture, it doesn't burn right, and you have to clean the stove more often. We tried pellets and it was much better. Cleaner burning. the other problem with the stove is that it doesn't heat as much area as advertised. Now, we simply use it as a comfort heater. It's nice to have something to warm up the room with but doesn't do much for the rest of the house. Also, if power goes out, the insert doesn't work. We also bought a wood burning fireplace insert for our fireplace in the basement, but I haven't hooked up yet. That one does have a distribution fan, but in the case of a power outage, you can still use it.

Alstep
02-25-2014, 02:17 PM
A friend here has a Harmon pellet stove and is very happy with it. All automatic, self igniting, thermostat controlled. Nice clean heat. He has a car battery and inverter backup in case the power goes out.
I heat with coal, the only way to go in my opinion. Coal gives the most BTU's for the buck. My main furnace is a EFM automatic stoker. I run it all year round for heat and hot water. Clean burning, have to tend it once a day in winter, twice a week in summer. Only shut it down once a year for cleaning, and it's real easy to clean compared to my old oil burner. I also have an Alaska stoker stove in the shop, and am very happy with it as well. Both units burn rice coal. Another friend has a Leasure Line stoker, very similar to my Alaska, and works just as well. Here's a site that's all about burning coal. http://nepacrossroads.com/

Grumpy Joe
02-25-2014, 02:38 PM
I have been playing between another wood stove and a pellet stove. Great on pellets between 3000' and 7000' Over that they are not good. The pellets are available out here for about $4.50 a bag and it is cleaner than hauling in the wood from the forest. Home Depot Lowes and Costco all sell it by the pallet. With a truck or trailer buying in bulk is easy storage is clean and simple. It is just the initial cost of $4000 vs $1500-2000.

With a wood stove I can get a wood permit and gather my own wood at $15 a cord. Even some old folks out here get 1/4-1/2 a cord in a day with a small pick up or trailer. If done right 3 cords last all winter with 1 cord of eucalyptus bought at $200. For me this works out much better. To get the same in pellets would be almost $500 a cord. Home Depot sells a pallet for $244 and each pallet has 50 bags with 600 hours burn time. That is 12 hours a bag. For me about 2 months of wood in mild weather and 1 month when it is real cold/wet.

Then we have to think about stove works. Do we want computer controlled, 12v or 120v, lever action or full manual? Cost ranges from $3000 to 5000. Then hopper sizes, epa ratings depending on where you are, wall clearances................ With my wood stove it is $1200 plus the stove pipes. Wood is simple to get and even the 82 year old man down the street gathers the wood and splits it. For me it will be another Regency stove.

Hope this helps out. Other than price it gets down to noise and appearance. Then compare to soapstone stoves and how much you will invest. For just simple costs wood stoves are cheapest when you gather your own wood. Propane is the cleanest but out here we went from $3.73 to $4.99 a gallon and it will go up again later. Some areas are up to $5.99 a gallon. Not so cheap anymore.

Love Life
02-25-2014, 03:32 PM
I hate my pellet stove. Hailing from the southeast we always had wood stoves or fireplaces and burned hardwoods. My pellet stove does not produce as much heat, requires electricity, and the pellets cost more than hardwood. I will never have a pellet stove again...ever.

3006guns
02-25-2014, 03:44 PM
^^^^^

What he said. I've never personally owned a pellet stove but have heard all the complaints from people who did. I've stuck with a simple wood stove for over thirty years now. In fact my latest shop stove is made from a completely politically incorrect 55 gallon drum which always works and doesn't need electricity to do so. As for fuel costs, if you don't want to cut it yourself see if you can make a deal with a local woodcutter on some sort of volume basis. He might cut you a per cord discount if he's assured of a continuing volume customer, so all you need is a place to store it.

The EPA is trying to get completely rule over wood stoves in the future and want to dictate what you can buy. Learn to weld. :)

wch
02-25-2014, 03:52 PM
I've had a pellet stove for 3 years and have used it along with oil forced air heat in PA; I find that the cost of heating my home has gone down because oil is more expensive every year but pellets have remained stable, and the stove heats my 1700 sq ft home quite nicely.

buckwheatpaul
02-25-2014, 03:59 PM
We have 3...two in our home and one in my new man cave.....one ton of pellets = 1-1/2 cords of wood. When we built our home we were going to put a wood burning stove in the master bedroom.....we were talked out of it by the seller saying that the room would be too warm...he suggested propane but during the building of the house propane went out of sight.....we went with the pellet stove because we could put a thermostat on it and it keeps the bedroom warm. The second stove is in the screened in porch and it works great as well.....We did have some problems with the bedroom stove but those have been resolved....we love them.....the two in the home were on the high end .... the one in my man cave has yet to be installed....running the wire now so it will be on line in a few days.....it came from Lowes......if you have any quesrtions please feel free to pm me......your servant, Paul

nekshot
02-25-2014, 04:24 PM
Back in pa we had hard anthracite coal. You guys with that are blessed! I have been leaning towards a pellet/corn stove as I would have the corn and I am losing my wood splitter to college in a year. I am interested in hearing more of that funny sounding heat stoves the alaskan blokes were talking about , every where I looked they did not give a price just blew hot air how wonderful it is.

Boz330
02-25-2014, 05:31 PM
A friend here has a Harmon pellet stove and is very happy with it. All automatic, self igniting, thermostat controlled. Nice clean heat. He has a car battery and inverter backup in case the power goes out.
I heat with coal, the only way to go in my opinion. Coal gives the most BTU's for the buck. My main furnace is a EFM automatic stoker. I run it all year round for heat and hot water. Clean burning, have to tend it once a day in winter, twice a week in summer. Only shut it down once a year for cleaning, and it's real easy to clean compared to my old oil burner. I also have an Alaska stoker stove in the shop, and am very happy with it as well. Both units burn rice coal. Another friend has a Leasure Line stoker, very similar to my Alaska, and works just as well. Here's a site that's all about burning coal. http://nepacrossroads.com/

Thanks for the link. KY has the largest coal reserve in the world but I don't know where to get it around me. Thirty years ago it was everywhere but I don't know of anyone that sells it anywhere close to me now. You would think that with Obama ruining the coal industry that it would make a comeback for heating since it can't be used for electricity. The bulk of electric power in KY comes from coal and it has doubled in price in the last 10 years. This winter the power companies were begging users to lower their thermostats so the system wouldn't crash. What does that tell you? We had some really bad winters back in the 70s and I don't recall that being and issue. Although the water companies were asking folks to let there water faucets run overnight so the in ground pipes wouldn't freeze and burst.

Bob
.

MtGun44
02-25-2014, 07:32 PM
Also, some NG is "sour" - meaning it has sulphur in it which will make acid in the exhaust of anything that
burns it. It will rot out a system so fast you wouldn't believe it unless it is all plastic. Some of the newer
furnaces can deal with this better, but make sure you find out if you have sour gas.

Bill

Alstep
02-25-2014, 07:57 PM
Oh, I forgot to mention another use for my Alaska stove. I hook my lead pot over the fire to melt lead. Another good reason to justify getting a stove that burns coal!

bikerbeans
02-25-2014, 08:08 PM
I have been using a pellet stove since for the last six winters. I bought it used for $600 bucks and installed it myself. I saved enough off my propane bill to pay for it the first year, it cuts my winter propane bill by about half. I don't run it wide open and it burns a 40 lb bag of hardwood pellets in about 30 hours. Pellets cost a little under $4 for a 40 lb bag but you have to have to learn the hard way which ones to buy. The ash content and BTU values very a lot, regardless of what they print on the bag.

BB

Rattlesnake Charlie
02-25-2014, 08:14 PM
Boz330

Your thread went astray. You did not get too many answers to your question.

While I do not own a pellet stove, I have been around a few at the homes of acquaintances. They seem cleaner than a wood burner, easier to stoke, and maintain a constant temperature. The ones I was around were quiet. I slept in the same room and they did not bother me.

I would suggest you give them serious consideration. Things I consider drawbacks are they require electricity to run, are limited to a specific fuel source/type (I can burn anything I can get in the door of my stove). Consider your health and physical capabilities. I can heft some pretty big chunks of fuel, but my wife cannot. Take some time to think big picture and long term.

Stay warm.

mwest
02-25-2014, 09:13 PM
Burned wood for 40 years, switched to pellets 4 years ago and haven't looked back. 1,800 sqft home heats it no problem, gets down to -40 in my neck of the woods. I use 3 too 4 pallets a year, 220.00 a pallet, less than 900.00 to heat my house for the whole year. My only heat source, mine has battery back up. Buy a good one, 2,500-4,000.

OBIII
02-25-2014, 09:44 PM
I have been running pellet stoves now for almost 10 years. The first question would be, how well insulated is your house? If it is excellent, then it becomes a question of which fuel would provide the best, constant heat, at the best price. Currently, I have one pellet stove, heating 1 end of the house (about 3800 sq ft). Most pellet stoves have a 5 position feed setting, a 1 would be 1 lb per hour, a 2 would be 2 lbs and so on. Depending on how well insulated your house is, if a setting of 1 would suffice for the majority of the winter, then you might be good to go with 2 tons or less. At higher settings, more pellets. The really nice thing about pellet stoves, is the burn time between feeding. You can also buy or manufacture extenders to increase the amount of pellets your stove holds. Most wood stoves (note I said most, not all) require stoking every three hours or so, unless it's bedtime, in which case the coals should be good to resurrect in the morning. Wood has to be found, cut, split, stacked, moved to the stove, lot's of ash, wood chips, bark, etc. Don't get me wrong: I have a small wood stove heating the kitchen area of my house. It's really nice when the electricity goes out because it does not require it. Most fuel/btu charts are similar, a lot depends on what is cheapest in your area. Rice coal stoves are very nice, good woodstoves are good and can serve multiple purposes, propane depends on price and usage, and if your NG is good that would be the way I would go.

Unfortunately, much will depend on how much it takes to keep your house comfortable, what is readily available in your area. I have not seen the burn times for the newer hight dollar wood stoves, but I would imagine it is up to M6-8 hours or so. My pellet stove on a setting of 1, means I have to add a bag of pellets a day. I have bought my stoves used, installed them myself, and have kept them running for a few years. Outside maintenance will be a big issue depending on where you live. I have several different pellet stoves, and have manged to keep them running on my own, at a much lower cost than to have service or buy factory parts. If you have any questions feel free to PM me. Good luck, and if your NG is usable, I will be very jealous.

OB

dragonrider
02-25-2014, 09:56 PM
Got my pellet stove back in 94 or 95, been burning 3 tons of pellets every year since and I love it. Depending on temp it will burn one bag a day, with the cold we have had this year it has been 1.5-2 bags a day, might reach 4 tons this year. Saves me a lot on natural gas.

MT Gianni
02-25-2014, 11:02 PM
Back to the gas well, you can have a sample analyzed which will tell you btu content, specific gravity and sulfur content. Sulfur needs to be scrubbed, I have no idea how for a home unit, the rest is simple calculations. For a generator the equation is easier than a furnace as most of them are more easily tuned than a burner is.

Randy C
02-25-2014, 11:10 PM
I think if you buy a good one It will burn coal corn wood or peas there is several quality company's that will run on car battery if power goes out get you a little generator. They use to make a small coal for stoves like what you want and if there is a coal mind there you should get a quality stove that can burn everything.

GaryN
02-26-2014, 01:08 AM
I was buying some coal near Nephi, Utah this last fall and the guy had a bunch of cherry pits he was selling. He said they use them in pellet stoves. He said he would fill up my truck for twenty bucks. I have a friend who runs a pellet stove and really likes it.

MaryB
02-26-2014, 01:34 AM
I pay $200 a ton for pellets, my little American Energy System Baby Countryside DC will heat my 1400 sq ft home down to -20. It is 12 volt(comes with a 120-12 converter) so easy power backup. I ran it off my solar battery for 4 days before battery went down to where it absolutely had to be charged(had a nice 5 days of cloud cover and snow on he solar panels). Plugged in the battery charger and brought them back up. I run about 60 pounds of pellets on the coldest days, stove idles on 20-30 degree days and a bag lasts 2 days.

Pellet/corn stoves are not hands off like a wood stove, you need to tweak one to get it to run right for YOUR house. Every install is different. They need more thorough cleaning too than a wood stove.

Lloyd Smale
02-26-2014, 07:33 AM
in kentucky it would probably do fine but I know a few freinds up here that tried them and were dissapointed. Wood was more expensive. They claimed at first it was cheaper but that was going by how much the instructiions said the thing would burn and they burned about twice that much. I told them when they got them that i couldnt see how taking wood and processing it into pellets could be cheaper then buy the wood and burning it as is. Personaly if i was going back to wood id just buy a good air tight stove with an air jacked and a blower. If I had money to buy what i really wanted it would be an outside wood boiler. Granted many of you that live down south have differnt needs then i do and something like one of these little stoves might be all you need to heat your home where cold is considered 40 degrees not -20

6bg6ga
02-26-2014, 07:44 AM
My worst gas bill since buying a new energy efficient home in 09 has been $140 and that was this winter. The basement with a walk out is helped out by the use of a electric heater which costs $20 a month. My suggestion is to insulate the heck out of your home and the result will be more heat retention and comfort.

Boz330
02-26-2014, 09:35 AM
When I built my house I used 2x6s so the outside walls are very good. The SE wall is mostly windows and when the sun is shining the furnace hardly runs. Before the furnace was installed I was working in the house doing trim work on a 2* day and could work in a long sleeve shirt reasonably comfortable.
The last few winters the LP use has been 600gal a year. I have a 500gal tank which means a fill is 400gal and we normally need gas in late Jan or early Feb. This year we called in early Jan and they would only give us 150gal. That was gone in 1 month (coldest month of the winter). When I heard the price I got another 140gal from my friend with a bulk tank and transferred it. My guess is I will use 800+gal this year.
On the natural gas, I got a lead on a retired state inspector in the next county over who's job was inspecting gas wells so I'm going to see if I can pick his brain on private well development. Thanks for all of the info.

Bob

Freightman
02-26-2014, 11:48 AM
I hav burnt more wood this winter than I have in the past ten winters, but got my latest natural gas bill and it was the highest I have ever paid $72

MaryB
02-27-2014, 01:46 AM
Almost everyone I know who hated their pellet stove bought a piece of junk from the local Menards/Lowes/Home Depot. They sell **** stoves with no support.


in kentucky it would probably do fine but I know a few freinds up here that tried them and were dissapointed. Wood was more expensive. They claimed at first it was cheaper but that was going by how much the instructiions said the thing would burn and they burned about twice that much. I told them when they got them that i couldnt see how taking wood and processing it into pellets could be cheaper then buy the wood and burning it as is. Personaly if i was going back to wood id just buy a good air tight stove with an air jacked and a blower. If I had money to buy what i really wanted it would be an outside wood boiler. Granted many of you that live down south have differnt needs then i do and something like one of these little stoves might be all you need to heat your home where cold is considered 40 degrees not -20

Moondawg
02-27-2014, 03:15 AM
The EPA is in the process of outlawing any type of wood burning stove. Their new regulations on stoves should be in effect within the next year. I don't think they are grandfathering anything.

Jr.
02-27-2014, 03:32 AM
Get a good stove quadrafire makes self igniting stoves that run off of battery backup in case of power outages and are pretty efficient I modified my old one to have a pulsating auger and a lower kick on temperature for the room air blower more than doubled the efficiency.... also if you are looking for a non electric stove check out some YouTube videos on wise way pellet stoves pretty interesting

Blacksmith
02-27-2014, 04:46 AM
Is there anybody out there with experience with this type of stove. I tried to find a cost comparison between pellet stoves and propane but had no luck. I was thinking of using one as supplemental heat to stretch my summer fill. This winter our LP went from $1.19 per gallon summer fill rate to $3.34 per gallon now. Fortunately for me I have a friend with a bulk tank and is on contract price and he took care of me.
There is a window/door company locally that makes pellets from there saw dust and sells them which means there wouldn't be any shipping.
Your experiences would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Bob

To answer your original question it all depends. There is no simple way to make a price comparison that would be accurate in every situation so you will have to do the math for your own set of facts. What you need to do is look at the cost per BTU (British Thermal Unit) that goes into the house. Each fuel type has a BTU content per unit of measure i.e. pound, gallon, cubic foot, etc. Each heating device has a efficiency rating which is how well that particular device can extract the BTU's available in the fuel and turn them into usable heat, some heat goes up the chimney. So different fuels have a cost per BTU which depends on the delivered cost of that fuel where you live and each make and model of heating device has an efficiency of how well it burns the fuel it uses and it gets further complicated when you look at using combinations of heat sources. The complete picture is then overlaid on the basic question of how energy efficient your home is.

Most sources say that the biggest bang for the buck comes from first improving the energy efficiency of the home, at least the easy fixes. Things like adding insulation to houses that have less than what is recommended for the area, cutting down on air infiltration with caulking, adding permanent or temporary storm windows, and so on. Next is to make certain existing heaters are working properly and are tuned for efficiency. Then look at adjusting your lifestyle if possible, for example are there unused parts of the home that could be closed off and not heated for part of the year or part of the day or you could turn your thermostat down and put on a sweater type of action.

When those remedies are exhausted then look to the heating system. The whole heating system both current and proposed needs to be considered. First is the current system the right size and type for the house, some houses have been changed over the years but the heating system never updated or the system is old and should be replaced with a more efficient one or the type of fuel is no longer cost effective. Then it is time to consider supplemental heating and what you want to accomplish with the additional heat. For some people it is as simple as they use a heat pump system which works well and is efficient until it gets really cold and the built in resistance heaters kick in so they want temporary supplemental heat on really cold nights to keep the resistance heaters from going on. Other people want to heat the whole house with a less expensive fuel. So the answer for one may be a small wood stove for occasional use and the other it may be better to completely replace the main furnace.

The bottom line is do the simple things first, I saved a ton of money through caulking and insulating in one house I had. Then take a look at the whole system with a clean sheet of paper and figure out what the ideal system for your house and where you live. Finally look at the costs of either changing the existing system or adding supplemental units to achieve your goals. The right answers will depend on your particular house and what part of the country you live in.

With combination systems some things to consider are how you will circulate the heat to other areas of the house, how to balance the total "system" consisting of different units, and how you will store and handle the supplemental fuel and waste it produces. Good luck and keep us posted on progress.

Boz330
02-27-2014, 09:36 AM
The EPA is in the process of outlawing any type of wood burning stove. Their new regulations on stoves should be in effect within the next year. I don't think they are grandfathering anything.

It will be interesting to see how they are going to enforce that. Where I live the folks would be subject to tell any inspector to shove his regulation where the sun don't shine. There are a lot of places that have no other way of heating. My old house was that way. As our situation improved we went to gas heat in the new house we built. If not for the objections of my wife we would still be heating with wood.

Bob

MaryB
02-27-2014, 11:57 PM
Fuel comparison spreadsheet http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eia.gov%2Fneic%2Fexperts%2Fhe atcalc.xls&ei=_ggQU5r2FoakyQHS_YDoAg&usg=AFQjCNEI3O4-27x7XDhiFFJKOpjvhEZHsA&sig2=z4NqlFfPnNgV60uU0FdfAw&bvm=bv.61965928,d.aWc&cad=rja

Rich/WIS
02-28-2014, 12:02 AM
Have a pellet stove in my greenhouse to supplement the regular heat. Burn it on the 2 of the five settings and it is reasonably quiet, use about a bag a night this time of year (0 or lower at night), buy two tons a year (about $200/ton delivered). Heat the house and greenhouse with a Central Boiler outside wood furnace, needs about 20 cords a year, usually cut it myself (mostly birch), and buy some oak logs as a reserve ($85-100 a full cord delivered). The house has an LP furnace for emergencies, had to use it a few weeks this year when the fan that the wood furnace runs on crapped out, otherwise only fire it once a month to be sure it works. The outdoor furnace is hard to beat, even if you buy wood. Don't need to split unless the log is too heavy to lift, mess is outside. Pellet stove is also great, keep it cleaned and it runs problem free, and despite what some people will tell you they are not hard to keep clean. Have a wood insert in our fireplace that we used before the outdoor furnace as a supplemental system, only fire it now for special occasions, and a as a last ditch system in case if DIRE emergency.
My buddy buys his wood and heats his house (3200sqft) with an outdoor boiler and figures he spends about $1000 a year on wood and propane. I am heating 3200sqft of house, 600sqft of greenhouse and 2000sqft of basement (man cave and workshop) and it will cost me about $15-1600 this year. These systems are not cheap but even with the lower price of LP when I installed them they paid for themselves in about 4-5 years. Mine is an old and much remodeled house, and although upgraded and insulated is not the level of sealed and insulated as new homes are today. If I were building a new home now I think I would look at geothermal and maybe a freestanding wood stove as back up, but I'm in my 60s and not likely to move or build.

MT Gianni
02-28-2014, 07:12 PM
It will be interesting to see how they are going to enforce that. Where I live the folks would be subject to tell any inspector to shove his regulation where the sun don't shine. There are a lot of places that have no other way of heating. My old house was that way. As our situation improved we went to gas heat in the new house we built. If not for the objections of my wife we would still be heating with wood.

Bob
It is reinforced when the home is sold, no financing if a wood stove is in place. Thankfully no local restriction where i live.

bearcove
02-28-2014, 07:48 PM
My gas bill in winter with a wood stove is $25 instead of a peak bill of $250 A LOT OF IT IS SCRAP FROM THE SHOP OR NEIGHBORS. Sorry about caps but it was an accident but right.

ALL FREE

perotter
02-28-2014, 09:15 PM
Years ago when the price of corn was down below $1 a bushel, lots of farmers around here were buying pellet stoves because you can burn dried shelled corn in them. At the time it made better economic sense to burn the corn they grew for heat than to sell it. A few years later when the price of corn went back up, this didn't work out so well.

Corn is cheap enough now that some are burning it again this year.

PS

In the past my brothers burned soybeans and barley in their pellet stoves. Both worked better than corn for them. They really loved burning soybeans. A lot of heat and burned very well.