I would suggest that you look at a Rinnai ES38. 82%, modulating burner and fan, sealed combustion. You live in the biggest market in the country for Energysavers. There are close to 190,000 of them in New England. Built in programmable t-stat. Also, a feature of the stat is that it's standard range is 55-94f. There is a feature Rinnai added for those who do not want to maintain that min of 55. It is called the Frost timer and allows you to program a maintenance temp from 38* up. Best warranty in the business. 2yr labor, 5yr parts, 10yr HX.
Rinnai.us
I'll take a look at that unit. My dad is now retired, but he was a very good plumbing and HVAC business owner for about fifty years. He can help me install whatever I get. But, propane scares me a bit. I am also not sure how economical it is. Pellets are CHEAP. My folks heated their house with propane for years and it was extremely expensive. One other big concern is that I might or might not pull a permit for my heat install. I'd be far more uncomfortable with a unpermitted propane furnace than a pellet stove. Am I not thinking clearly here?
Both are excellent ideas !
Any liquid combustibles can not get to a hot surface and most combustible vapors are heavier than air.
Hard to make heat go down !
You are better off buying a combustibles storage cabinet and using it religiously. Same thing about using combustibles near the stove but much less of an issue if you are using outside air for combustion. Some kind of fan to keep the air moving is a good idea.
The cabinet is a good idea, probably should have one even if I don't have a stove out there. What if I want to paint something out there? If the stove is off the ground and piped for fresh combustion air, and I **** the stove down before painting, am I taking unnecessary risks with my safety?
why not?
I heat over 15 years with pellet stoves. had some different models in the houses we lived in. from budget model to verry expensive top brands.
As long as you buy a brand where you can find parts for. there is no reason why you shouldn't
take a good look at the exhaust fan (give it a good clean)
Make sure you get the code to get into the advanced settings menu.
The chimney don't need to be stainles. a lot of fables by pellet stove story tellers.
it don't NEED to be stainles it don't NEED to be insulated. it will not effect the function of your stove. Most of the installers tell you the problem comes from the chimney, but they don't know how, and don't take the time to get the stove settings right.
settings are dfferent for every setup. your neighbour can have same stove model and same pellets. but his settings could be worthless in your stove.
I make my own pellets now with the ecoworxx pelletmaker. verry happy with it. keeps the garden clean and the house warm.
Also looking for a nice secondhand pellet stove for the barn.
Pellet stoves are great, aren't they? I've only had the one in my house for one season, but I paid less for heat and was warmer last winter than at any time since moving in to this house in 1999. I am going to have t Google that pellet maker you mentioned; I'd love to make my own pellets!
The stove for my house doesn't even have a chimney, in the sense of a vertical pipe that goes up above the roof. It on;y required drilling something like a 3" hole through my house, and a short pipe sticks straight through that. The pipe has a wide mesh on the end to keep critters out. That's it.