woodstove or pellet stove

[Battis]

I've been heating with wood since 1984. I buy green wood in the spring. This year it was $260 a cord, which is cheap for this area. Lately, the past few years, I've been thinking about switching to a pellet stove. I know that there are pros and cons to each.
Any opinions?

[rancher1913]

the pellet stoves are a more consistent, cleaner (smoke, dust, etc) heat and most will go 12 hours on a bin easy. if you buy pellets when they are sale it can be cheaper than buying wood. we have gobs of dead trees on our property so we still burn wood but if I had to buy wood, the pellet stove is the way I would go. you might look into the corn/pellet stoves, they can burn either so you use which ever is cheaper that year. the corn burns hotter than the pellets.

[buckwheatpaul]

We use both. We cut and split our own wood yet we have three pellet stoves. The pellet stoves are great. Two are on a thermostat and you set the temp and the pellet stove will turn on when it needs to warm up to the set temp. It will turn off and when the temp drops 5 degrees it will reignite. They have been very low maintenance. They are extremely fuel efficient. The only downside for us is the power it takes to run them. They use very little power but if the power goes out the stoves will not work. We put ours on a generator circuit so we always have a power source. The third stove is in the man cave and it is plain ol' one that you have 5 power sets with three different heat levels. Works great as well.

One ton of pellets equal 1-1/2 cords of wood and runs about $190.00 on sale in our part of the country......so good luck and good hunting.....Paul

[bdicki]

Check out rice coal stoves, they work like a pellet stove.

[smoked turkey]

Battis, I can only speak from having a wood stove for the last 40 years or so. Our wood is "free" in that it is here on property for our taking but it does take a lot of fairly hard work. and requires lots of time as well for the chain sawing, splitting, hauling, storing, moving from the pile to our "holding" near the wood stove. I can store about a cord of wood in this protected area at a time. It is a simple matter to keep the small wood stove stoked up with the dry wood which has seasoned for a year ahead if I can possibly get it done. The clean up during the process requires the ashes to be removed from the stove, and taken outside and dumped on our burn pile. There is also the process of cleaning the flu using a properly sized brush. I also take my inside flu pipe down once a year to inspect it and while it is down, I also apply the brush to it to clean it as well. What I have described is the process that everyone is accustomed to that burns wood as a primary source of heat. In my case I don't mind the work and actually enjoy most of the process. In my opinion wood heat can't be beat. It will produce heat that is very satisfying. What I see here that folks like me who like to burn wood will in time gravitate to a pellet stove when the process I have described for wood requires more work than they can physically do. If I had to pay actual money for my wood I would probably go to a pellet stove and not have to be so involved in the wood preparation process because it is physically hard and is time consuming as well. I wish you the best in making your decision as to which in best. There are many factors to consider and I think from what you have to pay for your wood would make the decision much easier to make.

[hc18flyer]

I'm with 'Smoked Turkey' above. I've had a wood stove since 1982, in a small well insulated house. 2 or 3 cords will heat our house all season. I am a bit of a wood cutting addict, over 3 years ahead. I am starting to get picky about which trees I will tackle. If I had to buy wood, I would likely have the pellet stove? I love the independence of having a wood stove, and don't mind the hassle. hc18flyer

[bdicki]

I burned wood as my only heat for 20 years, the wood pile attracts many varmints, and you must be carful to not bring any carpenter ants home with the wood. They are hard to get rid of once they get into your house.

[PaulG67]

Many moons ago I heated with wood, we would buy wood in log length and then I would cut and split, big pain in the *** but I did for about 20 years. One year I said no more but the wife still wanted to watch a fire burning in the den, so pellet stove came home. That was almost 25 years ago and I have never regretted it. Still using the same stove. I also have a coal stove in the basement and I burn about 2/3 tons of each per year. What I though about most when deciding on a pellet stove was will I be able to cut and split wood in years to come, as it turns out I can't but I can still carry a bag of pellets up the stairs once a day. We pay about $280 per ton for coal or pellets, They are more expensive here in the NE, worth every dime. So in essence I say it is a no brainer on the pellet stove.

[bdicki]

I would put some strong ammonia, that I got from the copy machine guy, in a pan in the cleanout door of the chimney and cover the top of the chimney with a piece of slate. The creosol would curl up and look like potato chips, one swipe with a brush and the tiles would look orange again.

[FLINTNFIRE]

Well I have cut and burned wood since I was young but wood has got hard to get here now that I do not live in country or log anymore . I put in a pellet stove last year has 130 lb. hopper has thermostat starts and runs shuts down and restarts as needed. have 2 heatalator fireplaces they put out a lot of heat and do good , when I can get wood and for burning my construction scraps , like wood the best but pellet is a convenient and useful tool , my advice is keep a wood stove and install a pellet stove also I look for mill ends and sawmill slabs . Buy the pellet stove install it and keep the wood stove .

[redneck1]

I have two wood stoves to feed , a nice little Napoleon stove in the house and another not as nice stove out in my shop .
I cut about 12 cords a year to keep them both fed and not worry about running out of wood .
I'll probably always have a wood stove in the shop for economy.

But for my house , once I get old enough that the work needed becomes a burden I'll go back to using my heat pump full time .
And a pellet stove for the real cold days or if I just feel like it .

Even if you have a fairly efficient stove I can't see buying wood @ $260 a cord being cheaper then pellets .
And as a plus , you'll have a cleaner house to .Attachment 229213

[Battis]

I used to buy the wood in 4' lengths then cut and split, then I started getting the wood cut. I don't mind the stacking, but the wood does take up a lot of yard. I run a brush up the chimney and clean the pipe from the stove to the hearth once a month. Last winter the power went out for a few days and the woodstove was great.
A few years ago I was all set to switch to pellet, then the salesman at the store said that my chimney was too high to vent the pellet stove - it's about 25' high. He said I'd have to vent through the wall next to the chimney but there's a window above.
I do have a another chimney (center fireplace chimney) but it would have to be lined to be used, which might not be bad - keep the wood stove at the other chimney and use this one for pellet.
I'm all set with wood for this winter but my wood supplier is older than I am and when he retires, I'll probably make the switch (maybe next spring). Other sellers around here are getting $360 for seasoned.
A new Harmon pellet stove runs about $3000.

[725]

when we bought this house, it had a pellet stove. gave heat, but we hated it. loud motor drive, dependent on purchasing / delivering / storing the pellets (which soak up moisture if exposed to wet), didn't work during power outages -- other than that, it gave heat. got rid of it and now have a traditional fireplace in it's stead. our primary (only) source of heat, now, is coal. we have a hand fired in the basement, which will also burn wood. generally takes two tons of coal per heating season. sometime more, sometimes less when mixed with wood cut off the farm. we love it. no electricity required - quiet - clean - no duct work - no fans. I built a 4+ ton bin, so we aren't dependent on any outside support for years at a time.

[rancher1913]

you can add a draft inducer to your stack to overcome the height but I would try it with out first and see how it does.

[Ed K]

I think you can see the consensus among the aging wood burners here is both! I still have my 1976 Stihl 041 Farm Boss and even though I haven't much time (not yet retired) I can see the beneficial exercise, economy and self sufficiency factors of felling and prepping traditional wood always being a plus. On the other hand (addressing the haven't much time of today) I'm about to go out the door for 10 hours and the pellet stove will be as warm as I left it upon my return. I really like it in the shoulder seasons upto the point where I run the wood stove 24/7.

BTW my chimney is 30+ ft and drafts fantastic. I ran 3" pellet vent horizontal to a cleanout "T" which is a 3-4" transition type and then vertical with 4" which overcomes the limitations of the smaller pipe. With no fire I can still feel a mild suction on my hand at the chimney inlet at the back of the pellet stove.

[Markopolo]

I burn wood as the only source of heat. Go through 10 cords in the 2 wood stoves over the winter. Pellet stoves are cleaner, more convenient by far.. but I love the work even as I get older. Helps me stay limber, stronger, and it is a spring time “rite of passage” around. No other projects get done until the spring wood is in the sheds. At times I dread it, especially when I am hurting, but the work heals more then anything for me.... especially after a long winter of semi stagnant inside stuff...



Marko

[lightman]

I use an old fashioned fireplace for auxiliary heat. Truthfully its more for looks and the ambiance than function. The efficiency that you guys are getting with your stoves is impressive! A fireplace full of wood last a couple of hours at most and sometimes I think that I build up more heat fetching wood than from the heat itself! I did enjoy cutting my own wood until I physically got to where I couldn't do it. They just cut some timber on our lease and there is a huge pile of butts just laying there. Pieces of Red Oak, White Oak, Pin Oak and Hickory 4 ft to 10 ft long. Fairly makes a guys mouth water, seeing it piled up there.

[MrWolf]

Was cutting my own wood here but my back kept saying nope. Just bought 5 cords at $140 a cord delivered. Seasoned oak. Sounds like I've gotten a really good deal and I have 81 acres of woods.

[Battis]

A few years ago the wood sellers jacked their prices way up, over $300 a cord, and most stopped selling green wood at a discount. Well, people got ticked off and went to pellet stoves. The wood sellers couldn't give the wood away after that. But prices are creeping up again. And, here in communist MA, you have to be careful who you buy from. It's legal to sell a "face cord" which is 110 cubic ft instead of 128 cubic ft. Crooks...

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I thought a Face cord is 1/3 of a full cord ?
full cord = 4'x4'x8'
face cord = 16"x4'x8' (as sold in MN).

BTW, almost all sellers in MN advertise face cord (also nicknamed a fireplace cord) and the going rate is around $125