Pellet Stoves!

[birchbark]

We're looking into getting a pellet stove this year and would love to hear from others who have had experience with them. We are particularly interested in brand recommendations.

[Parrothead]

I've got a Harmon. It was already in the house we are in There were no instructions so we had to figure out how to work it via trial and error. Once we got it figured out (about January) we went through less pellets and got great heat out of it. We are in a 2400 sq. ft. house and only use the pellet stove to heat.

 

If we move I'd look into another Harmon.

[elinnea]

Is there anything specifically that you'd like to know? Are you using it as a primary heat source or in addition to something else. That will help me give you the pros and cons better. We used a pellet stove to heat our previous home (under 1000 sq. ft.). Make sure you get one that is self igniting. The first one we had that came with the house we had to light each morning. Also if you are using it as a main heat source get one with a large hopper capacity.

[Plink]

We love Harmon stoves too! We found through experience that the cheaper (Home Depot/Lowes) versions are prone to breaking (and who wants to be searching for replacement parts in the middle of winter). They also don't heat as efficiently and will cost you lots more in pellets.

 

We use our stove as our primary source of heat in our 4000 sq ft house. We use no more than 1 bag of pellets per day here in NH (fill it every morning and walk away) and the first floor of our house stays a comfy 68 degrees. In addition, we have small toe-kick heaters in our bathrooms simply because we don't leave the doors open, so the air doesn't circulate well there. The upstairs is cooler by a few degrees, which we like for sleeping.

Edited September 3, 2010 by LibertyH

[RegGuheert]

We have a 12yo Harmon pellet stove that still works great! In the past, we used it to heat our ~3000 sq. ft. home. Here in northern VA, the stove consumes 4 to 5 TONS of pellets each winter to heat our home. On the coldest days, it takes about three bags of wood pellets, on warmer days, maybe a bag or even less.

 

About 4 years ago we purchased an extremely efficient heat pump (SEER 17, HSPF 8.2) to replace the old one that died. Now that we have the new heat pump, I believe it is less costly to heat using that and I KNOW that it is much easier. In addition to the improved efficiency of our heat pump, the price of pellets has gone way up. When we purchased our stove, we were gettting pellets for $140.00/ton. These days, we are lucky when we can find them for less than $200.00/ton.

 

Still the pellet stove provides nicer heat and it's great to be able to see the fire. We use it on occasion, burning 1 to 1.5 tons of pellets each winter.

 

You should expect the following:

 

- Purchasing, hauling, stacking and dumping LOTS of 40 lb. bags of pellets.

- Hauling heavy loads of pellets. On many occasions over the years we have overloaded our minivan with 1/2 ton of pellets. If you do not have a minivan or something larger, you will probably need to borrow a vehicle or have pellets delivered to you

- Spending time trying to find the best deal. Once the price of pellets started going up, we found that different dealers had the best deal every year.

- Lots of sawdust and pellets in your home around the pellet stove.

- You need to clean out the stove at least twice each winter. This is not overly difficult, but it is a messy job.

 

Good luck with your decision!

[birchbark]

Thanks for the replies! This is really helpful. We live in a 2000 sq ft. home in northern WI which already has central (LP) heat. We moved out of a home last year that had a wood-burning stove and I miss it TERRIBLY. As they say, building a fire in the hearth is compensation for the fact that summer is over. And we have such long winters here. DH promised me a stove when we moved into a new place and the home inspector recommended a pellet stove as we have neither a chimney nor a good place to put a stovepipe.

 

All that to say that some of the reason for getting a pellet stove is atmosphere; therefore I don't want one that is ugly or too loud. Also since we had a woodburner before, we are used to hauling and cleanup. :)

 

I would love for the stove to be the primary source of heat but it doesn't have to be.

Edited September 3, 2010 by birchbark

[birchbark]

:lurk5:

[Impish]

I'm curious how it stacks up to a regular woodstove. Wolf and I talk about a wood furnace w/electric back up like my parents had at their farm. :bigear:

[Chris in VA]

My brother in law sells them at his store in Murphy, NC (and he ships, too! lol). He really is an expert, and if you tell him you "met" me on WTM boards, he will advise your head off.:D His website is here. You can send him a message at his site and he'll get right back to you.

(He really is a great guy--Christian, totally ethical, and has a nice family, too)