Great Lakes 4x4. The largest offroad forum in the Midwest banner

Pellet stove say what! Learn me some please

22K views 161 replies 42 participants last post by  kmanxj5011 
#1 ·
Just like headless Ned said, winter is comming! I would like to stay warm. In my houses basement I have a previously drilled 6" hole through the concrete & brick wall and marks on the floor from some type of burner.

I thought about installing a wood burning stove in this spot but don't want an ugly chimney going up an odd side of the front of my house. Just dicking around I started looking at pellet burners and I have a few questions.

Is my understanding correct that almost no chimney and a vent type cover can be used with a pellet burner due to the higher efficiency combustion of the burning media? What the fuel consumption like for those that have one? My thoughts would be to heat my basement with the heater as to not Have to use so much fuel oil. Would a correctly sized unit :teehee: be able to heat about 2500 sq.ft. of house?

Just fact finding and exploring options :thumb:
 
#4 ·
My uncle in law has a pellet stove and really likes it. It vents the way you are describing. It goes up one foot and then out the back of the house. If it's the same as a fireplace it's call direct vent.

Do you have natural gas? You could install a direct vent NG fireplace. Direct vent FP's can be vented out the back of the fireplace and are 60%-80% efficient.
 
#5 ·
No natural gas, no one since '64 decided to have it installed. I've looked into getting gas installed, no clear info on how much for a 300' run off the road main.

I'll look more into direct venting :thumb:
 
#7 ·
I love my pellet stove. Just one hole through the wall and a 120v plug. It is way cleaner than a wood stove but won't put out as much heat. The thing I like about the pellet stove is its consistent and you can leave it all day and it keeps running. I am going to put it in the basement of my new house. I like watching the fire while I am relaxing.
 
#8 ·
A friend of min bought a pellet stove, installed it, and it ran great. Until he went to Vegas for the winter. Came home, his windows were black. Long story short, the stove malfunctioned, and he ended up replacing almost all of his carpet and drywall, and had a service come in twice to clean... it still has a slight odor in there.
 
#11 ·
I've been impressed with the few pellet stoves I've been around and love the consistent heat from them, but I also love the fact that my firewood has all been free rather than having to buy pellets or cherry pits.
 
#15 ·
I have one of the tsc 1000 $ stoves. Love the stove when it was new, wish now i had bought a better one. Its my 5th year with it, next year it moves to the barn and i buy a nicer one for the house. In the colder parts of winter use 60-80 lb each 24 hours. But itsin my basement and keeps my entire ranch warm. Its cheaper than propane, but more than nat gas. I use about 3 ton fuel a season.
 
#20 ·
My pellet stove cost the same for me to heat my house as wood did paying $150 a cord cut and split. The pellet stove is cleaner, more consistent and easier for my girlfriend to work while I was out of town. I had no other source of heat in the house so it worked very well. It is also nice because you can leave for a couple days and it will maintain on its own. I have natural gas at my new house so I am going to put my pellet stove in the basement because I already have it and I like the added heat and watching the fire. If I didn't own one I would buy one for this house. It is a great alternative to propane or wood.
 
#18 ·
Last year I heated my 1500sq ft house for less then $800.00 all winter and my stat was set at 72 for my stove.
 
#26 ·
So what you are saying is they are expensive to get any heat out of, you still have to purchase, pick up/have delivered, Store/stack, and load into the burner and clean up the mess they leave behind (no better or worse than a wood burner).....so....in other words, it costs a shit ton of money to get any heat out of it and you're not saving any money.
 
#35 ·
Been running a pellet stove for 8 years now.I burn cherry pits though.have been for 4 years. I burn around 3 ton a year. Have a wood burner in the corner..don't use at all. I pay 150 to 180 a ton for pits.I have no complaints.
 
#36 ·
Kickstand is starting to sound more and more like Hancho with all his knowledge.

I have natural gas and a pellet insert. I've heated the house on gas alone and on pellets alone and it's a wash either way I go. The difference is the way my house is designed, if I run just the gas, my lower level is quite cool. With the pellet stove, which is located in the lower level, the whole house heats pretty evenly so the pellets win right there.

As for work, chadcooper pretty much nailed it. It's not self sufficient, but it surely isn't the amount of work a wood stove is either.

For me, we run the pellet stove in the afternoon through evenings when we are using the lower level. We all sleep in the upper levels of the house, so the furnace has no problem keeping those areas warm. This also means less work as I don't have to clean my pellet stove as often (takes about 2 minutes twice a week, and about 15 minutes every ton of pellets) and I don't have to move as many pellets.
 
#38 ·
Good info everyone! Right now for me I think pellet heat sounds like a good way to go even though cost wise all options may be around the same.

If I heat on fuel oil only (my only heat source currently) I could estimate around 2 tank fills so $1600-$2000ish. 3 tons of TSC pellets at $5 a 40lb. bag is $750 before tax. Then buying a burner ($500-1500). Plus side for pellets would be easy install and overall use. I would love an outdoor wood boiler but the initial purchase, install into my current boiler system and sourcing enough wood is to much for this year.
 
#43 ·
So instead of looking long term, on a place you likely signed a 30 year mortgage. You are going to plan for only this winter? Especially as your estimate for a burner is a little low unless your going to buy a cheap POS.

Based on your estimate it would be almost a wash to heat with the fuel oil. Why not do that for this season and save the money toward the wood boiler for a long term use?
 
#44 ·
I made the mistake of buying cheap vent free logs from Home Depot to put in my fireplaces. After three years they are not burning properly and are producing soot on the walls.

Do this project once and buy a nice heater.

I am now ripping out that fireplace and installing a nice Napoleon fireplace.
 
#56 ·
I was in TSC yesterday and looked at pellets seeing as I fucked uo and didnt preorder pellets this year. Fenton TSC has Pro Pellets for $200 a ton. This was the same as last year.

Ive ordered from a place uo north though that delivers for about the same price. Different brands can vary the price. Ive found some cheaper pellets that seem to be more ashy and bot give off as much heat. The Pro Pellet brand ive had real good luck with considering the price. Ive run some more expensive ones which were nice (hotter / less ash) but they were about $40 more a ton. I used less but it was marginal and didnt make up for the cost difference.
 
#57 ·
X2 on the pros. If I can find somersets at Menards for 180 a ton I will snag a few ton of them also. Man I love burning the sets.
 
#61 ·
I have no doubt I would in the lifetime of the home. This year its totally out of the budget. A pellet stove is a cost effective bandaid for this season.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top