Pellet stoves

[bubba]

anyone eklse have one. I put in a new one in the early fall. Soi far I love it. Heating my house for 300 a month is awesome and the heat is tremendous.

[SweetMike]

I also use a pellet stove. It works pretty well for me until it gets down into the teens. Then i seem to get cold spots in my house but my house is also 3600sf. Also i find that there is a big difference in pellets. Try barefoot pellets if you have them available, in my opinion they are the best.

[SteveB]

Curran pellets should be readily available up by you Bubba - mill is in Massena.

Their softwood is one of the best on the market.

[First-light]

anyone eklse have one. I put in a new one in the early fall. Soi far I love it. Heating my house for 300 a month is awesome and the heat is tremendous.

Don't have one but been meaning to tell you I really like your new picture, I mean that.

[Deerthug]

I have a Vermont Castings wood burning stove for 18 yrs now and it puts out 39,000 btus of heat. I get free wood every August and rarely run the boiler in my house. I looked at the pellet stoves but there is nothing better than the smell of wood burning while taking a stroll outside.

[New York Hillbilly]

I have not purchased a gallon of oil in 5 years now. It was not only about the freaking money but about making the criminal oil companies richer. Yup how often do we hear "drill baby drill" but then see our oil being sold to the highest bidder over seas. Just like the insurance companies, the oil companies have lots of money to buy lots of time on the TV to portray themselves as our "friends", "neighbors" and about doing good. Yeh.....right! Keep puking down everyone's throats and winning them over.

In the meantime we can talk to each other from our deer stands, send pictures to our computers from the darkest most remote places on earth (and off earth), yet we still need to scour the woods or carry forty pound bags of wood pellets on our backs to heat our homes. When it comes to heating our homes how is this any different than a third world country? On one hand I love my pellet stoves because it shoves it up the A$$ of the oil companies (even if only in a very small way) and on the other it infuriates me because of the grip they have over us on keeping us dependent on them.

I worked on boilers and furnaces for years and can tell you getting them to burn alternative fuel is easy and is the way to go rather than making fuel for highly computerized cars. Make a cheap bio based fuel for heating and you would glut the market with oil and force them to take the next couple steps to refine it to gas to get rid of it. In effect you could knock the bottom right out from under them. Stop worrying about making bio gas for cars, just make it for heating and running industrial boilers and watch what would happen. Anyway, in the meantime I guess I'll stick with my pellet stove to stay warm and grumble about my sore back while lugging the bags into the house.

Sorry about the venting!

Edited January 7, 2012 by New York Hillbilly

[Geno C]

i have a 50,000 BTU i love mine... i use 3 tons of pellets a season on a 2100sq house. 950 for months, cant beat it! Ive had mine for almost 3 years now, great stove, i dont use my base board anymore. i run one zone once in awhile to keep warm cause it runs through the slab but thats it. i can crank my house up to 90 if i want lol

[Geno C]

BTW i only use hardwood... VERY BIG difference in pellets compared to the pine. I use the Oakanogans, very low ash and burns so clean.

[sg0331]

You guys should look into masonry heaters. You can heat your house with about 3 face cords of wood a year ( aprox. $250) by burning only 2 fires a day. Check out empiremasonryheaters.com they are the most efficient and cleanest burning.

[bubba]

I use curran pellets amd they are very good. I also get carex hardwood pellets and they seem to heat better. 220 a ton. This is my first year and it has been unusually warm, but I have only burned about a ton and a half so far.

[New York Hillbilly]

Yup........big difference with the hardwood. Usually 3 1/2 tons a year for me as well, to heat just under 2400 SQ FT. Pretty cheap compared to oil, but still a lot of work for the pleasure of flipping off the oil companies.

Edited January 7, 2012 by New York Hillbilly

[Paula]

Don't have one but been meaning to tell you I really like your new picture, I mean that.

Me too

[bubba]

it is just a mountin man avatar I found. But it more or less represents who I wish I had been in the past

[Geno C]

I got 3 tons delivered for 950. It was close to the season... Ive burned a ton so far, the house is always warm, really warm. The wife hates cold lol

[bubba]

my wife hates cold too. That is why she moved to Florida,well that was part of the reason lol

[New York Hillbilly]

lol..............good one Bubba....lol

[Dave]

How does the pellet stove compare to a wood stove, in price and work?

[New York Hillbilly]

Prices vary a great deal. Less work than a wood stove. If power goes out you're sunk with the pellet stove. Can vent them easily and easier to clean than wood in my opinion. Biggest downside as far as I'm concerned is the mechanical/electrical aspect of them. If you are handy and can fix things on your own (I do) it takes the bite out, but parts are pricey, and if you use as your only source you might consider keeping a few spare parts around. For my models the augar motors have been the weakest link. Both are better than oil though as far as I'm concerned if only for the shove it factor.

[Geno C]

my wife hates cold too. That is why she moved to Florida,well that was part of the reason lol

Lol!!!

[SteveB]

Premium pellets made from pine are denser, have more btu's per lb, and produce less ash.

It is fact - read any of the test reports done by accredited labs to the PFI (pellet fuels institute).

Any manufacturer belonging to the PFI will have the reports available and the PFI logo on the bags.

30 years in the hearth/alternate energy business - I only use the softwood pellets.

We only sell hardwood at my store because the average customer cannot understand that the processed pellet is far different then burning cordwood where hardwood is far superior.

[Deerthug]

I have not purchased a gallon of oil in 5 years now. It was not only about the freaking money but about making the criminal oil companies richer. Yup how often do we hear "drill baby drill" but then see our oil being sold to the highest bidder over seas. Just like the insurance companies, the oil companies have lots of money to buy lots of time on the TV to portray themselves as our "friends", "neighbors" and about doing good. Yeh.....right! Keep puking down everyone's throats and winning them over.

In the meantime we can talk to each other from our deer stands, send pictures to our computers from the darkest most remote places on earth (and off earth), yet we still need to scour the woods or carry forty pound bags of wood pellets on our backs to heat our homes. When it comes to heating our homes how is this any different than a third world country? On one hand I love my pellet stoves because it shoves it up the A$$ of the oil companies (even if only in a very small way) and on the other it infuriates me because of the grip they have over us on keeping us dependent on them.

I worked on boilers and furnaces for years and can tell you getting them to burn alternative fuel is easy and is the way to go rather than making fuel for highly computerized cars. Make a cheap bio based fuel for heating and you would glut the market with oil and force them to take the next couple steps to refine it to gas to get rid of it. In effect you could knock the bottom right out from under them. Stop worrying about making bio gas for cars, just make it for heating and running industrial boilers and watch what would happen. Anyway, in the meantime I guess I'll stick with my pellet stove to stay warm and grumble about my sore back while lugging the bags into the house.

Sorry about the venting!

After 20 years of having to fight with oil companies to get better prices for the heating season I just told my oil company... "see ya don't need ya anymore". I'm converting to gas this spring. They called me back yesterday to try to "win my business back". I told them drop the price to my last one $3.13/gal. . They said best they can do is $3.99/gal. Told them thanks but no thanks. Going to be buying COD until then. Good riddance.

[Dave]

After 20 years of having to fight with oil companies to get better prices for the heating season I just told my oil company... "see ya don't need ya anymore". I'm converting to gas this spring. They called me back yesterday to try to "win my business back". I told them drop the price to my last one $3.13/gal. . They said best they can do is $3.99/gal. Told them thanks but no thanks. Going to be buying COD until then. Good riddance.

At least with gas you pay as you go or get on the budget plan. No one comes and fills up your oil tank in the spring charging you hundreds of dollars. Plus the fact you have to get rid of your old oil tank which if it leaks could cost thousands to clean up.

[ELMER J. FUDD]

Hey, I'm selling a wood stove in the classified section...

Check out hearth.com for loads of helpful information.

Edited January 10, 2012 by ELMER J. FUDD

[First-light]

Hey, I'm selling a wood stove in the classified section...

I'll check it out, I'm in the market.

[Daveboone]

We have had a Breckwell stove for about 18 years as our primary heat. From mid december through the beginning of march we run our oil boiler, as we have a very big and old house, not the most conducive to a pellet stove. The hot water is set about 60, and just helps keep the corners warmer. We have burned both soft and hardwood pellets. As has been mentioned, if they are rated premium the heat output is basically the same. Quality of the pellet manufacturer will make more difference. We like the ligher ash of the soft wood premium though. Locally, we have been buying our pellets for about 215. a ton, delivered in july. I saw Home Depot has them for 195 right now. We have burned theiir brand before, and they are ok.