Pellet Stoves

[CarlS]

Just curious to see if people on the board have any experience with pellet stoves - good, bad or indifferent. I have a chance to pick up a used one for a decent price and I have a contractor who will install it in the basement for free (as long as i assist). This would not be the primary heat source, but would be in addition to.
The model is an Avalon Astoria freestanding, holds 115 lbs. in the hopper, rated to 2,250 sq ft. Thanks for any info.

 

[Runsub5]

Re: Pellet Stoves

Just curious to see if people on the board have any experience with pellet stoves - good, bad or indifferent. I have a chance to pick up a used one for a decent price and I have a contractor who will install it in the basement for free (as long as i assist). This would not be the primary heat source, but would be in addition to.
The model is an Avalon Astoria freestanding, holds 115 lbs. in the hopper, rated to 2,250 sq ft. Thanks for any info.

Not familiar with Avalon, that's a very large hopper. I have a Quadrafire insert that holds 40 lbs. I've had it for two seasons and it has been trouble free. I have also used corn as a fuel. Be sure it is connected properly to the correct size flu. If it has a room thermostat that's a plus. Having it start and stop automatically is more efficint and maintains a comfort level. Good luck with it.

 

[SteveP]

Re: Pellet Stoves

We had one when we lived in Canada -- it worked great until the power went out in the middle of a blizzard.

No electricity = no hopper to automatically feed the pellets!

 

[CarlS]

Re: Pellet Stoves

Runsub5 - It does have a separate room thermostat and does have an auto start/stop feature. What type of pellets do you burn?

 

[Runsub5]

Re: Pellet Stoves

Runsub5 - It does have a separate room thermostat and does have an auto start/stop feature. What type of pellets do you burn?

It's a hardwood/softwood blend. A premium pellet made by Maine's Choice. The ash content is .5%. It's not as expensive as some others. I haven't tried Energex (canadian pellet), I believe it's softwood and costs a little more. I have also used a softwood pellet made in Athens, Maine,(Maine Woods Pellet,I think). I was pleased with that one as well. Look for a premium pellet, that's the key. You will like the thermostat feature.

 

[walrus]

Re: Pellet Stoves

First do you use the basement as a family room?, the best possible fit for a pellet stove or wood stove is in the room you live in, you want it near you in other words. It will heat in a basement and it will help your heating bill in the basement but its best near you.
Second, pellets are a crap shoot. Certain stoves burn best with certain pellets, hardwood, softwood, in theory doesn't matter, all wood is the same per pound. Hardwood is denser so a smaller stick weighs the same as a huge stick of pine but you're buying pellets in a 40 lb bag. In reality some stoves like one brand, some will throw more heat, some will have more ash , some will have more clinkers. I'd buy a few bags of one kind and try them before I bought tons of them. I've heard more ranting about lousy pellets but when you get a good one, people love their pellet stoves. Don't expect it to be an oil burner, as in set it and forget it, they aren't. You have to get used to running it, it ain't rocket science but you run it

 

[Carter]

Re: Pellet Stoves

Certain stoves burn best with certain pellets, hardwood, softwood, in theory doesn't matter, all wood is the same per pound. Hardwood is denser so a smaller stick weighs the same as a huge stick of pine but you're buying pellets in a 40 lb bag.

I might actually learn something here. I don't burn wood, but I've cut and split an awful lot with a friend who heats with wood. I've seen the chart that shows which woods contain the most BTUs, with hickory at the top and various oaks and maples trailing that. Softer woods equal less BTUs. Or so I thought. Are you saying it correlates directly to weight, and that 40 pounds of white pine would have the same BTUs as 40 pounds of oak? If so, I'm amazed.

 

[geezer]

Re: Pellet Stoves

I might actually learn something here. I don't burn wood, but I've cut and split an awful lot with a friend who heats with wood. I've seen the chart that shows which woods contain the most BTUs, with hickory at the top and various oaks and maples trailing that. Softer woods equal less BTUs. Or so I thought. Are you saying it correlates directly to weight, and that 40 pounds of white pine would have the same BTUs as 40 pounds of oak? If so, I'm amazed.

that's true. It's also true that a cord of oak equals about two cords of pine in weight, and that pine (with its pitch) burns a lot dirtier and will foul up a chimney much faster (in a normal wood stove)
my point being that a cord of pine or aspen has about half the BTUs of a cord of hardwood.

 

[walrus]

Re: Pellet Stoves

I might actually learn something here. I don't burn wood, but I've cut and split an awful lot with a friend who heats with wood. I've seen the chart that shows which woods contain the most BTUs, with hickory at the top and various oaks and maples trailing that. Softer woods equal less BTUs. Or so I thought. Are you saying it correlates directly to weight, and that 40 pounds of white pine would have the same BTUs as 40 pounds of oak? If so, I'm amazed.

In Theory, a lb of wood is a lb of wood. Pick up a piece of dry pine and pick a equal sized piece of dry red oak and you'll see why folks want red oak for their wood stove and not pine. In real life, burning wood has so many variables its not that simple. I can make a new EPA stove belch smoke and I can make a old pre EPA stove burn clean, alot depends on the operator.

 

[CarlS]

Re: Pellet Stoves

Walrus - this would be a basement install. The basement is unfinished. Venting on the first floor outside walls. Approx 1,700 sq feet to be heated. Certainly don 't mind doing the maintenance. Not sure that the pellet stove is the end all my brother in-law has suggested. He uses a Whitfield stove in the basement and claims he has significantly reduced his fuel costs the last two years.

 

[walrus]

Re: Pellet Stoves

Walrus - this would be a basement install. The basement is unfinished. Venting on the first floor outside walls. Approx 1,700 sq feet to be heated. Certainly don 't mind doing the maintenance. Not sure that the pellet stove is the end all my brother in-law has suggested. He uses a Whitfield stove in the basement and claims he has significantly reduced his fuel costs the last two years.

Are your basement wall insulated? What is your primary heat source?

 

[huskyfan]

Re: Pellet Stoves

we call aspen gopher wood. you have to go for more all the time. but it is great for taking the chill off the house in spring and fall.

oak is the best IMHO, followed by yellow birch (which I love for the smell)

 

[huskyfan]

Re: Pellet Stoves

Yooper's are spoiled by the abundance of wood. every so often I'll pick up some maple and go ... **** ... we are burning Bird's Eye! we keep several bins full of birch bark ... best fire starter ever.

 

[BassAle]

Re: Pellet Stoves

I have a pellet stove in my living room which is open to my dining room and kitchen, my oil heat almost never runs. I don't think it would be as helpful in your basement. You want it somewhere you can sit and read a book by the warmth on a cold night!

 

[Runsub5]

Re: Pellet Stoves

Wood is ground up, water is added, and the product is compressed and extruded to a uniform density. Then it's dried to a relatively consistent moisture content. Theoretically, the wood is compressed to a uniform density , so the btu content should be the same no matter what species of wood (hard or soft), is used in the process.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: Pellet Stoves

My parents have one, burning corn, not pellets. I'll agree that the major draw of the thing is that it is in the living room and it does a great job of keeping the essential living areas of their house very warm in the winter. I don't know how much it would do if it was away from the main living areas, like in the basement, but I'm guessing if the heated air is fed into your ductwork, it would have to help a bit. You just lose the ability to sit around the fire, like you'd have if the actual stove was in the living room.

 

[True Blue Fan]

Re: Pellet Stoves

I had a pellet stove in my large basement family room (900 sq feet) for the past 4 years and it was a great heat source. I just last week replaced it with a nice gas woodstove. The reason I did that is both of my son's are into sports and we do not get home a lot of nights until 6-8 and the pellet stove would have run out of pellets by then. The switch for me was purley for convenience .

 

[Runsub5]

Re: Pellet Stoves

My parents have one, burning corn, not pellets. I'll agree that the major draw of the thing is that it is in the living room and it does a great job of keeping the essential living areas of their house very warm in the winter. I don't know how much it would do if it was away from the main living areas, like in the basement, but I'm guessing if the heated air is fed into your ductwork, it would have to help a bit. You just lose the ability to sit around the fire, like you'd have if the actual stove was in the living room.

A pellet stove or any other heating device helps heat the above living area. Warm air rises and would warm the floors and make it's way up through stairways. If you don't have a finished family room in your basement, you lose the personal comfort and benefit of sitting around the stove and watching the flame.