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 .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...


229236
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

[bob208]

we have a Harman coal stove it will burn wood too only the grates move so you shake it down. I get slab wood $30.00 a bundle which is almost a cord. nice thing about our system is if the electric goes out we have heat and can cook on it too.

it is a little late for pellets now. most people buy them in the summer.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Also, since we are talking about cutting/gathering firewood.
I cut most of my firewood at a municipal compost site. The city will cut and drag whole trees from the boulevards or parks to the compost site and just leave them for people to cutup and haul away. Most trees that are brought there, usually are gone in less than 24 hours, so you have to be "Johnny on the spot" to get the opportunity to cut them up...luckily for me, I live at that end of town, and the city tends to drag them down my street with a payloader going in reverse to get them to the compost site. I am like Pavlov's Dog when I hear the payloader reverse beeper, LOL.

[Markopolo]

229243

This is what I call a full cord... I don’t worry about measurements. A good truckload of hemlock in my flatbed 1 ton is a truckload.. that is my unit of measure

[Battis]

I worry about measurements when I pay alot for 128 cubic ft and get 110 cubic ft. According to the Mass bureau/division of weights and measures, 110 cubic ft is a "Face Cord" and perfectly legal. But you can tell the difference when it's dropped.

[bikerbeans]

I bought a pellet stove in 2009 and used it for 6 or 7 years. I gave up on this stove because the quality of the pellets declined every year, more ash, lower BTUs. I live in NW Ohio and the pellets were from Menards and TSC. Early on the pellets were mostly hardwood. Last time i bought pellets they were made from dead lodge pole pines from out west.

BB

[Adam20]

I have a Harman pellet boiler, heat house, attracted garage and shop have radiant heat 4200 sqft total for 3 areas, around 7 ton of pellets a year. Almost bought wood boiler but i dread cutting wood, handling it three times.

[ascast]

I looked into buying a "pellet maker" as a side business. Apparently you can make them from any wood, leaves, grass, cardboard, etc. You might look into a corn stove. Not recomending, my cousin has one and they like it.

[MaryB]

I went corn/pellet stove long ago. On my third stove. Baby Countryside DC model(12 volt) that they no longer make.

For the 120 volt pellet stoves get an inverter and a deep cycle boat battery. Will run it for hours! Once lit they use little power.

[TreeKiller]

As i got older I went to a duel fuel stove. A Toyotomi diesel or kerosene. The price of fuel id up since the first one but they use an average if 1 gal in a 24 hr period. Went from a pellet stove fuel and do not have to carry any pellets.
Dan

[Mr_Sheesh]

I had a pellet stove for many years. I haven't looked into them for years, had a used one back then - It worked pretty well mostly.

If you get a pellet stove, you want a top feeder, not a bottom feeder (i.e. the augur that feeds pellets should pull them up and drop them downwards into the burning box - Not feed them directly into the bottom of the burning box) as otherwise the heat from the burning pellets will do its' best to warp your auger, the neighbor had a bottom feed stove and it was always having to be rebuilt, about yearly.

The other thing is, don't lazily drop parts of the plastic wrapper from bags of pellets if you buy the 40# bags - As inside the augur's tube, it is quite hot - so that plastic will very happily melt, and then seize up your augur. Mine had some plastic left in it from the previous owner apparently, fixing that was ANNOYING, at least I only had to do that once!

[FISH4BUGS]

Wood stove all the way.
We burn 6 or more cords a year. Since my office is in the house, and the wood stove is our primary source of heat, it goes 24x7 and we burn a fair amount of wood.
The kid across the road stacks it for me. We have 9 cords on the ground ready for winter.
Pellets have to have some mechanism for feeding them, usually some electric auger. If the electricity goes out, you can't feed the stove. You are at the mercy of pellet suppliers.
No problem with the wood stove. Heat 24x7 regardless.
You have a choice - heat with propane, fuel oil, coal, wood, pellets or something else. You are going to pay one way or the other.

[Lloyd Smale]

I live where its COLD in the winter and winters are LONG. Most people up here know that if you don't have access to your own wood and the equipment to process it (saw, spliter ect) and aren't a healthy young man that burning wood just doesn't save that much over a high efficiency gas furnace. I heat my home, my pole barn loading room 20x20. My learning disabled sons small apartment in the pole barn 20x30 and my gas bill last year (and it was a very cold winter) was 1800 bucks. I have an outside wood boiler I used for about 10 years and because I worked and didn't have time I had to buy my wood. I had to walk out every morning and evening in the cold and sometimes storms to fill it and when I gave up on it is when I sat down and figured the difference and found I saved about 500 dollars a winter burning wood. I had a back operation that year and just couldn't go out and even load it. For 500 dollars I can walk to the hall and turn up or down the thermostat. have no smoky smell or ash to haul. don't have to even stack firewood. No brainer to me. Now that im retired and have the time my body wouldn't allow me to cut my own wood anyway. I know a few that went pellet stoves and just about all of them say its a bit more expensive but a bit less work. Fill the hopper and pull the ash. But then you still have to go to the supplier and haul it home and store it. then I don't know about where you live but if your insurance company finds out you have anything but a outside boiler your insurance rates will go up and if you don't report it and you have a fire caused by it they will not cover your damage. I paid 3k for that wood boiler and water coils and that's with me installing it. If I factored that 3k over 10 years of burning wood gas would be as cheap. By the time your outside boiler is 10 years old you have to factor in maintained on the unit. Last gas furnace I had was 20 years old and never cost me a dime of repair and was only replaced to get a higher efficiency unit. I actually could make out today burning wood with my boiler. my son in law sells cut and split wood and would probably give me wood for free but he cant come over when its 10 below or theres a whiteout outside to fill it so I think ill just continue to use gas. As a matter of fact he told me last week that he had a guy looking for a boiler and I told him get me a grand for it and haul it off and its his. Im to old to bother and would rather spend the time and effort out in my warm reloading room.

[Tackleberry41]

Yow $260 a cord. Last year I filled the bed of my dodge full size for $50. Cheaper than cutting and splitting myself.

[FISH4BUGS]

Yow $260 a cord. Last year I filled the bed of my dodge full size for $50. Cheaper than cutting and splitting myself.
Hey...I just spent $1750 on 7 cords ($250 per cord) for 2 year old seasoned wood delivered.
But I pay him for the wood in March, April and May for delivery in the fall. It helps his cash flow and I get great service.
Here in NH winters are long and hard. We get ready for winter just like the critters do.
Freezer full of veggies, freezer full of chickens, burger and bacon, and 9 cords on the ground covered.
BRING IT ON!

[MaryB]

I live where its COLD in the winter and winters are LONG. Most people up here know that if you don't have access to your own wood and the equipment to process it (saw, spliter ect) and aren't a healthy young man that burning wood just doesn't save that much over a high efficiency gas furnace. I heat my home, my pole barn loading room 20x20. My learning disabled sons small apartment in the pole barn 20x30 and my gas bill last year (and it was a very cold winter) was 1800 bucks. I have an outside wood boiler I used for about 10 years and because I worked and didn't have time I had to buy my wood. I had to walk out every morning and evening in the cold and sometimes storms to fill it and when I gave up on it is when I sat down and figured the difference and found I saved about 500 dollars a winter burning wood. I had a back operation that year and just couldn't go out and even load it. For 500 dollars I can walk to the hall and turn up or down the thermostat. have no smoky smell or ash to haul. don't have to even stack firewood. No brainer to me. Now that im retired and have the time my body wouldn't allow me to cut my own wood anyway. I know a few that went pellet stoves and just about all of them say its a bit more expensive but a bit less work. Fill the hopper and pull the ash. But then you still have to go to the supplier and haul it home and store it. then I don't know about where you live but if your insurance company finds out you have anything but a outside boiler your insurance rates will go up and if you don't report it and you have a fire caused by it they will not cover your damage. I paid 3k for that wood boiler and water coils and that's with me installing it. If I factored that 3k over 10 years of burning wood gas would be as cheap. By the time your outside boiler is 10 years old you have to factor in maintained on the unit. Last gas furnace I had was 20 years old and never cost me a dime of repair and was only replaced to get a higher efficiency unit. I actually could make out today burning wood with my boiler. my son in law sells cut and split wood and would probably give me wood for free but he cant come over when its 10 below or theres a whiteout outside to fill it so I think ill just continue to use gas. As a matter of fact he told me last week that he had a guy looking for a boiler and I told him get me a grand for it and haul it off and its his. Im to old to bother and would rather spend the time and effort out in my warm reloading room.

Told my insurance I put in a pellet stove, they asked for a copy of the certification and said fine, no premium change because pellet stoves are pretty dang safe with a lot of fail safe switches on them.

[Handloader109]

Well, here in NW Arkansas, it's a Rick, face cord. 16"widex 4ft high x 8ft long. Minimum this time of year is $50 if you pick up, commonly 60 to 65 and another 10 to 20 delivered. I just picked up a Rick for $55 today, red oak, split, about half dry.... I easily burn 2 to 3 in my big stove, has two blowers and heats great. Basement gets cold though, have a small stove down there that I havent used. But will this year. Wish it was a pellet.. May change it in a year or two. Would be nice to set it at 65 and keep it warm down there. I don't have anything left to cut on my three acres. Prior owner did that a decade ago. So no cutting here for me. Don't see many pellets offered for sale, so feeding one might be hard.

[shdwlkr]

A face cord of wood can be anything from 12 inches long all the way up to anything short of 48 inches long. At 48 inches long you are into a real cord of wood if it is 48 inches long, by 48 inches high and 96 inches long. Used to burn a lot of wood and coal when I lived in NYS many many decades ago.

[Shawlerbrook]

Been heating with wood since 1995. Since I live on 120 acres, the wood is “free” not withstanding the time and cost of fuels and equipment for processing. Lucky to have the wife helping. My opinion is wood is good if you have the ability to cut your own on your own property, but if you must buy, then pellet, corn, propane, oil, etc....or whatever is the cheapest and most available.
229334

[jonp]

Pellet stoves are fantastic and you can even buy a pellet grill but if your still able I'd go with wood. I've never seen a pellet tree in the wild.

[redneck1]

Something to think about as you are buying wood is how efficient your stove is .
If you have an older stove it could be worthwhile to upgrade to a more efficient stove .
The epa rated Napoleon stove I have uses a preheated secondary air supply to burn off the soot and any unburned gasses .
It really does a good job of making heat , I don't get any creosote in the chimney and as long as it's over 20 degrees outside I get about 8 hours before having to stoke the fire .
The stove holds about 1.5 cubic feet stuffed full , below 20 degrees I have to add wood about every 6 hours and maintaining 75-80 degrees is pretty easy in my 1400 sf house all winter .

[dverna]

Hardwood firewood is about $50-70 per face cord here. I use a wood fireplace and propane furnace for normal heating. In addition, there is a propane fireplace in the basement in case the power goes out and we are not home. I heat a 450 sq ft shop and 1600 sg ft house.

A pellet or wood heater is not a good choice if you are absent for even two days. You need to keep the water lines from freezing.

[Lloyd Smale]

brings up a valid point. If you aren't home every day you need a back up source of heat. So you not only have to factor in the price of your wood stove but also a propane/natural gas furnace or at least some electric heat. Up here it gets COLD and 12 hours without heat and you can start freezing up. Even using my high effiecentcy gas furnace I keep one of the cheap non vented wall furnaces on a stand with an adapter the will go on a grill propane bottle so if the power goes out I can keep some heat in the house. Don't use it much anymore since I put in the back up generator. But if were going to be away for a couple days I put that unit in the living room with the thermostat down low so if the power does go out it will kick on because I don't have one of those fancy automatic generators.
Hardwood firewood is about $50-70 per face cord here. I use a wood fireplace and propane furnace for normal heating. In addition, there is a propane fireplace in the basement in case the power goes out and we are not home. I heat a 450 sq ft shop and 1600 sg ft house.

A pellet or wood heater is not a good choice if you are absent for even two days. You need to keep the water lines from freezing.

[Mk42gunner]

Pellet stoves are noisy.

I heated with a multi fuel stove for four or five years; when corn was cheap I used that, when pellets were cheaper I used them. I got more useable heat out of corn, after learning its burning idiosyncrasies. A bag of pellets or a five gallon bucket of corn is easier than carrying firewood inside.

I usually saved a bit of money over using propane, until you factor in having to replace one of four electric motors on the stove every year at from $100-130 a pop.

I finally got tired of it and went back to using propane for my primary heat, much easier and quieter.

Robert

[Battis]

I have an oil furnace that's less than 10 yrs old. I have steam radiators in the house but the wood has been the primary heat source since 1984. I bought a new oil tank last spring - tanks aren't cheap but a leaking tank can be expensive. Anyways, I like the wood stove but the price of wood is actually more than oil. I can see wood going over $300 a cord in the near future. I have enough for this winter but I'll take another look at pellet stoves in the spring. Harmon is the best from what I've been told, but expensive. There's some used ones on Craigslist.
Many loggers around here were taking their wood to the mills in northern NH, probably Berlin, where they could get top dollar. There's a local wood supplier that deals only with a pizza place that uses a wood fired oven. He charges them about $360 a cord.
Bring on global warming. Five or so miles to go and I'll have beach front property.

[dverna]

It is a bit silly, but I like heating with wood. I like building a fire in the morning and keeping it going. Enjoy the smell when I go outside and enjoy viewing the flames through the glass door and the smoke rising out of the chimney. I have a Xtraordinair insert and it works very well.

Doing firewood helps keep me in shape but at 68 I know I cannot do it forever.....maybe another 10 years? I needed to replace my furnace this year and came close to getting a pellet furnace but decided to install a new propane HE unit. Lugging around bags of pellets is in some ways worse than firewood. Bags are 40 lbs and I would need to haul them down to the basement then carry the ash upstairs. My wood rack is in the garage about 40 ft from the fireplace and I can carry less than 40 lbs at a trip. During breaks in the weather, I move wood from storage to the garage.

A few weeks ago, I experimented with a wood storage rack made from pallets (I get them free). It holds just under 2/3 of a face cord and I can move the unit with a carry all on the 3pt hitch on my tractor. The plan is to make up 25 of these units next year. They will be filled as the wood is split and the pallet will be placed on cinder blocks so it does not freeze to the ground. The pallets will be staged outdoors and tarped to season the wood and I will move a months worth (6 units - four face cords ) into the garage as needed.

This will eliminate a lot of handling. Currently, I move wood from where it is cut, split it near the storage area, and stack it. Then it is loaded into the bed of the pick up and stacked again in the garage. With the pallet system, I can split wood anywhere I can get the tractor to (no need to move rounds), stack it in the pallets once, and use the tractor to move them into the garage.

Another option I looked at was using IBC tote cages. I cannot find a local source and most cost about $35-50. I made the wooden pallet unit in about 1/2 hr using scrap and a handful of screws. Now that I know what I want, they should take about 15 minutes to make. They should last at least 4-5 years.

[MrWolf]

Nice idea with using pallets. Thanks.

[KCSO]

Downside Pellets are not free, Upside you don't have to split pellets.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Or if you do, you can split 'em fast and easy, and a butter knife will do the job :)

[Hossfly]

And after the pallets wear out just bust them up and burn them to.

[rancher1913]

I use the ibc totes to store wood, local factory gives them away. started out removing the liner and just using the cages but found that wood slips through the wire cages sometimes, so now just cut out the top and fill. I can stack 2 high with no problems and move one to the back door as needed.

[FISH4BUGS]

It is a bit silly, but I like heating with wood. I like building a fire in the morning and keeping it going. Enjoy the smell when I go outside and enjoy viewing the flames through the glass door and the smoke rising out of the chimney. .
Gee.....nice to know I'm not the only one :)

[Down South]

I never had the pleasure of having a pellet heater. I used wood all the yrs that I had a fireplace. My wood was free as I owned the property and cut it myself. I even upgraded to a hydraulic wood splitter as I got older.
I lost that house to a lightening strike several yrs ago and now live in another house I own. It has one of those fake propane fireplaces in it but it will warm the entire downstairs of my house.

[Down South]

brings up a valid point. If you aren't home every day you need a back up source of heat. So you not only have to factor in the price of your wood stove but also a propane/natural gas furnace or at least some electric heat. Up here it gets COLD and 12 hours without heat and you can start freezing up. Even using my high effiecentcy gas furnace I keep one of the cheap non vented wall furnaces on a stand with an adapter the will go on a grill propane bottle so if the power goes out I can keep some heat in the house. Don't use it much anymore since I put in the back up generator. But if were going to be away for a couple days I put that unit in the living room with the thermostat down low so if the power does go out it will kick on because I don't have one of those fancy automatic generators.

I used to be gone for a month at a time every month, just coming in one weekend each month. I have electric central heat that I could control through a WiFi thermostat. We don't have much freezing weather but when we do and I was away from home, I could turn the unit on and set the temp down low from a remote location.
I have a whole home generator now since I retired and I'm at home most all the time now. It is automatic on/off. I ran a few nights ago when we had a storm come come through and knocked the power out.

[Lloyd Smale]

How many square feet and how long about could you heat your home on a 100lb bag of corn in 0 F?
Pellet stoves are noisy.

I heated with a multi fuel stove for four or five years; when corn was cheap I used that, when pellets were cheaper I used them. I got more useable heat out of corn, after learning its burning idiosyncrasies. A bag of pellets or a five gallon bucket of corn is easier than carrying firewood inside.

I usually saved a bit of money over using propane, until you factor in having to replace one of four electric motors on the stove every year at from $100-130 a pop.

I finally got tired of it and went back to using propane for my primary heat, much easier and quieter.

Robert

[justashooter]

i have a 200 year old farmhouse in the Harrisburg PA area. it has baseboard electric in zones that i got for free and installed 20 years ago as a stopgap, a propane 98% forced air that costs about $2500 a year, if i am stupid enuf to run it, and a hand fired Warm Morning hard coal stove that i use for 90% of my heating needs. local anthracite is $210 a ton delivered, and i have a feed chute next to the kitchen porch into a 6X6X6 (4 ton) sheet metal coal bin 5 steps from the stove in the back basement that gravity gates into a scuttle. i feed it twice a day, and remove ash every other day. otherwise, forget about it, until you walk over the draft grate...$800 a year for a drafty old 3000 square foot 3 story farmhouse with 37 leaky windows and 7 doors.

coal is not great when the temp stays above 55* in the daytime, and takes some understanding to run correctly, but it's much less work than any other solid fuel, with a much higher BTU value per ton. if you have it trucked to site and power-fed into your bin right next to the stove, it's easy to use. it also eats galvanized exhaust pipe if you leave it in place over the summer months when the humidity allows the sulphur in the coal dust to rot right thru your pipe.

hard coal ash is mostly calcium, sulphur, and silica powder, so it's great for traction on the icy winter driveway. 4 tons of hard coal (anthracite) makes about 60 gallons of ash, give or take.

the downside is that you have to live within economical trucking of a breaker, and that EPA regs have made coal fired heat equipment expensive. lots of 1970 or earlier hand feds are still in use and can occasionally be bought for a song. i paid $200 for mine 10 years ago.

[MaryB]

How many square feet and how long about could you heat your home on a 100lb bag of corn in 0 F?

My 1600 square foot house uses ~ 50 pounds of corn a day at -20f. Natural gas furnace may cycle 3-4 times during the day just to make sure pipes don't freeze(I have a timer setting on the thermostat).

[popper]

Rock salt is supposed to reduce the creosote buildup.

[Lloyd Smale]

that's not bad for that many square feet. Figure corn is about 12 bucks a 100 here and a bit of electricity and your probably spending about 7 bucks a day to heat. I would have guessed at least twice that. I heat about the same square footage if you include my sons apartment. I use propane and am on a budget plan that cost me about 1500 bucks a year. So even if you figure 6 months of the year that I need heat that comes to about 250 a month during the cold season which works out to about the same but im sure on -20 days im using more and 40 degree days your using much less corn. Whats a years worth of corn set you back for an average winter?
My 1600 square foot house uses ~ 50 pounds of corn a day at -20f. Natural gas furnace may cycle 3-4 times during the day just to make sure pipes don't freeze(I have a timer setting on the thermostat).

[snowwolfe]

We use wood from our property. I have never had to cut down a tree as mother nature seems to push over a few big oaks every year. I buck it and wife helps me split and stack it. We have at least a 3 years supply. Not sure if we would use pellets if we had to buy fuel as wood just smells nice and like looking at the flames through the clear door.
Funny how the price varies so much from location to location. There are at least a dozen mature oaks that are down right now and all within driving distance of a ATV or UTV yet we can't even give it away.

[yeahbub]

We have a wood furnace that is integrated into the forced air system for the heat pump. Close off two ducts and open two others and fire up the furnace. Been doing that since 1975, just in time for those crazy cold winters and it kept the house toasty. We have some acreage and the wood is ours for the work involved, which we enjoy. Until it's at freezing or below, the heat pump can handle it, but after that it seems to run all the time, so wood heat is the answer. Very satisfying to feel that hot air coming out of the vents. We clean the flue with that "chimney sweep" stuff that comes in a sour cream tub, throw a scoop on the embers and all the creosote peels like old paint and falls into the flue pit. The furnace is capable of convection heat and will warm the house even should the power fail but without the blower or thermostat control so someone would have to be there. That said, I wonder about the greater automation of a pellet system. At the same time, I wouldn't want to be dependent on a supply I'm not in charge of. I hear about these price swings for pellets, but I guess it's like groceries or other things. There was once "chip stoves", which handled and burned wood that had been run through a chipper instead of pellets, often free for the taking rom the vast piles at city or county dumps. I don't hear much about them anymore, but it would save a heap of cutting/splitting/hauling/stacking, etc to get a truck-bed of chipped Christmas trees free and fill the hopper. Is anyone familiar with these? It might be another option.

[MaryB]

that's not bad for that many square feet. Figure corn is about 12 bucks a 100 here and a bit of electricity and your probably spending about 7 bucks a day to heat. I would have guessed at least twice that. I heat about the same square footage if you include my sons apartment. I use propane and am on a budget plan that cost me about 1500 bucks a year. So even if you figure 6 months of the year that I need heat that comes to about 250 a month during the cold season which works out to about the same but im sure on -20 days im using more and 40 degree days your using much less corn. Whats a years worth of corn set you back for an average winter?

$3.75 a bushel(55 pounds give or take) at today's price... corn is cheap but it is very hard on equipment. When it burns it emits nitric acid... last year I burned corn it was $500 and I had corn leftover...

[Lloyd Smale]

what is the lifetime of a pellet stove burning corn? How much does burning corn shorten the life of components and which ones. Another question Mary. Does moisture content of the corn you buy matter. I buy probably about a 1000lbs a year for camp. Sometimes you get high moisture corn that a 100lb bag looks about like a 75 lb bag of properly dried corn. Granted you would get less for your money but does it still burn well?

[MaryB]

Needs to be 15% or less moisture, 13 is best. I buy direct from the grain elevator by the pickup bed load(1500 pounds at a time) that I store in a shed. I use a vacuum system to move corn into the house to a smaller bin for use.

Major life shortening is exhaust vent where the nitric acid can mix with humidity. Mine needs replacing... outside end is rotted back an inch... That is after 5 years burning... I consider venting a wear item. If you have a stirrer style stove the stirrers don't last with corn... once a season at least to replace it. Might see a bit more rust scaling on the internals if you don't spray them down with pam every spring like I do... fired it up tonight for the first time and the neighbor called to ask if my house was on fire LOL as the pam burns off it smokes a wee bit...

[Lloyd Smale]

do you use a stainless vent pipe?

[MaryB]

Yes, Simpson Dura Vent makes a corn rated pipe but even then they rot... the acid precipitates out as the exhaust cools. I have mine running right now and stepped outside and got the burn of acid in the nose...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Simpson-Dura-Vent-Stainless-Steel-3-ft-L-x-3-in-Dia-Twistlock-Pellet-Stove-Pipe/332424941605?hash=item4d66121025:g:kiYAAOSwZPZZ7~~ V:rk:7:pf:0

[3856imp]

Have you been looking for the free wood, pallet wood is usually oak, cut it with a saw a pallet is a days fire or 2. I know cause we sell low grade wood for that.

[3856imp]

Find a sawmill they have slab wood that you can have for free. We can't get rid of it fast enough. I know cause I have a small mill.

[Lloyd Smale]

We used to have a big saw mill here that would give you all the center slugs you wanted after they cut boards but they were soft wood and burned hot and fast. Most of the hardwood cutting they did was custom work for customers that brought in there own wood to have cut.
Find a sawmill they have slab wood that you can have for free. We can't get rid of it fast enough. I know cause I have a small mill.

[Down South]

We used to have a big saw mill here that would give you all the center slugs you wanted after they cut boards but they were soft wood and burned hot and fast. Most of the hardwood cutting they did was custom work for customers that brought in there own wood to have cut.

True, I worked saw mill for about 10 yrs when I was young. Most lumber today is pine or other soft wood. It will work but is not ideal.
I always burned Oak with some Pecan since wild Pecan is plentiful here. I've burned Ash too but it's considered a soft wood. The good thing about Ash is you could cut it down today and use it in the fireplace tomorrow. Oak needs to cure for a few months. Red Oak was my favorite. I used to cut my wood around July ,"yeah hot weather".
I had a wood rack that would hold about 2-1/2 cords with a tin roof over it. I'd let it cure until needed, about November in our area.

[MaryB]

Red elm... very sweet smoke when burning, heavy and dense hard wood... and a massive pain to split! Tends to tear not split...

[Lloyd Smale]

Most around here burn maple mostly because there everywhere.

[Ed K]

Most around here burn maple mostly because there everywhere.

Same here in the Northeast. Technically oak which is pretty common as well might be the best for heat output when perfectly dry but that typically takes two years in this environment. So maple is the best compromise and probably the most common as well.

Just getting a UPS on my pellet stove this weekend to help ride out those power outages.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Find a sawmill they have slab wood that you can have for free. We can't get rid of it fast enough. I know cause I have a small mill.

WOW, slabwood is never free around here...but it usually does go for about half price as cut-split-seasoned firrewood.

as to wood choice?
I prefer Ash, it seasons quick and burns hot and makes a nice bed of coals. Oak if fine at add in the evening cuz it burns slow, but for the same reason, I won't start a fire with Oak for a cold house cuz it doesn't throw off enough heat quick enough.