Wood pellet stove

[kooldino]

I'm sick of the high oil and propane prices I pay for heating both my house and my shop (two different structures).

I'm considering purchasing two pellet stoves (one for the house, one for the shop).

For the house: After the addition, it will be 2000 square feet. I'm currently running oil with baseboard heat.

My original plan was to run pex heating in the floors of the addition, but between the 2" mud job, the pex, and the plumbing, I'd be looking at about $6K, plus higher monthly oil bills.

I am now thinking of putting a pellet stove near where the addition will be (which will end up being the center of the house). I would want to use this in combination with my baseboard heat system so I had a lower monthly bill as well as more comfortable heat.

Questions:

1. What size/quality stove will I need to heat the house? I'd prefer to err on the side of caution here.
2. I wouldn't want to fill the stove will pellets more than once a day tops. What size hopper will I need?
3. Are there brands I want to look for and/or avoid?
4. How do I tend to the stove? Does the hopper automatically feed the stove, or will I have to fool with it often? What about starting the fire?
5. Should I put a register near the stove, or is it worthwhile to tie it into my AC ducting somehow?

For the shop: I have a forced air propane unit. It's extremely costly to run. The shop is about 1700 sq/ft and has 14' ceilings, so it's a lot of space to heat. I wouldn't need as nice of a unit here, and may even consider a traditional wood stove, although I like the simplicity of a pellet stove. The important thing here is that it's usually around 43* when I'm not working in there, so I'd want something that could start putting out some nice heat in under an hour.

Sorry for all of the questions, but I have no experience with this and could use some good input.

 

[dlenkewich]

I don't know much about the stoves, but if you want to get more out of your heat in the shop, put up a few ceiling fans. Hot air rises. If you can get it back down you'll use less energy trying to stay comfortable.

 

[kooldino]

Possibly a good solution for the house?

http://www.lowes.com/pd_213081-76845-49-SHCPM_0__?productId=3024465

 

[kooldino]

I don't know much about the stoves, but if you want to get more out of your heat in the shop, put up a few ceiling fans. Hot air rises. If you can get it back down you'll use less energy trying to stay comfortable.

Yup, we're already working on that. I have two used ceiling fans that I'm going to put up, I just have to get some poles to hang them from so they sit a bit lower.

 

[kooldino]

I'm reading good things about the Cumberland MF3800, however I can't find where to purchase one.

I found one on ebay, but they will not ship to my state.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Cumberland-MF38...957?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b7affe3d

 

[kooldino]

This looks like a decent unit, but I think I'd prefer something with a self igniter...

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200394625_200394625

 

[Hogan's Hero]

I have an Enviro pellet stove in my basement and it is simply not enough. I know there are bigger units out there, but I believe filling the hopper only once a day and getting enough heat my be only wishful thinking. I have a friend that heats his shop [about the same size as yours] with a bigger pellet stove but am not sure how often he has to pour in pellets...it seems he always buying. I like the stove, just not sure it what you are looking for.

 

[kooldino]

How many BTUs/sq feet is your stove rated for?

How is your overall experience with the pellet stove setup?

 

[moparfun340]

I have a pellet stove in my shop that is 1,100 square feet with 10' ceilings. It works great and I love it. I leave the temp at 50 when I not out there and if I go out then I turn it up and it does not take long. It only cost me $150 in pellets all last year. Buy a good stove and not one from the Big Box stores.

 

[Addrock]

I have one in the house, it is awesome, inexpensive, even compared to 90+% Nat gas furnace. We buy a ton every year (about $220) and use it when we are home. I opted for infloor for my 24 X 36, but seriously thought about another pellet stove!

 

[kooldino]

I have a pellet stove in my shop that is 1,100 square feet with 10' ceilings. It works great and I love it. I leave the temp at 50 when I not out there and if I go out then I turn it up and it does not take long. It only cost me $150 in pellets all last year. Buy a good stove and not one from the Big Box stores.

Could you recommend a stove to me?

 

[kooldino]

I have one in the house, it is awesome, inexpensive, even compared to 90+% Nat gas furnace. We buy a ton every year (about $220) and use it when we are home. I opted for infloor for my 24 X 36, but seriously thought about another pellet stove!

Is it your primary source of heat in the house?

 

[kb2tha]

Would recommend a Harman. We have two, Accentra models. One at the house and one at a camp. Auto ignition, room temp setting with thermostat wire and stove temp setting. Total cast iron quality. Only drawback from your requirement is hopper on this model holds only 40 lbs. Still goes 24 hrs. or more.
Ken

 

[LEVE]

I have a Quadrafire 1200 QB and it's heating a 2200 sqft 1 level house with one 40 lb bag a day.

I have another Quadrafire 1000 heating a 1100 sqft detached insulated garage. I fill as needed.

I bought both used, fixed 'em up and they're working great. They really cut down on the electric bill and still adequately heat the house and garage.

The 1200 hopper holds about 50 - 60 lbs. I clean the fire pit and glass each day when I fire it up in the morning. Nothing exotic. Twice a year I clean out the flue and do general maintenance on the stove, lube bearings, check insulation on the wiring, etc., and since they're used... repaint the outside panels.

I do have a thermostat on my AC/Furnace that lets me run just the fans for X% of the day every so many minutes/hours. I didn't find that it helped to heat the far part of the house.

Two drawbacks:

• You need power, or a battery/inverter or generator if the power goes out.
• It does take time to heat up the house if you've been away.

 

[moparfun340]

I have a Quadra-Fire Classic Bay 1200 Pellet Stove. You can google it and find out more about it. Let me know if you want more info.
Thanks

 

[kooldino]

Looks like Harman is the way to go.

I'm looking at the Advance:
http://www.harmanstoves.com/products/details.asp?f=ADVPSTV&nav=overview

More info here:

http://forums.thathomesite.com/forums/load/firepl/msg0118115531758.html?30

 

[LEVE]

So... why did you decide on the Harman Stove?

 

[walrus]

I've heard nothing but good things about Harmon pellet stoves, there are tons of them being used every day around me in Maine. I almost pulled the trigger on one but I figured my woodstoves work pretty well. When I get older I can see the ease of pellet stoves being a good thing.

 

[kooldino]

So... why did you decide on the Harman Stove?

A few reasons...

• Owners are very happy with them
• Lower maintenance than some other brands
• Bottom feed requires less cleaning
• Looks nice
• There is a dealer in my area
• Large hopper
• Good controls
• Efficient burn

 

[kooldino]

Issues and solutions with the Harman Advance:

http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/14755/#168669

 

[Tom2]

I've researched pellet stoves quite a bit, and I also heard mostly nothing but good info about the Harmons. I probably wouldn't even bother with the cheap HD/Lowes units. You can read the reviews on their websites - lot's of issues with them. People replacing auger motors left and right, etc..

 

[kooldino]

Yeah, when i first started looking around, I checked HD and Lowes first and saw a bunch of so-so reviews.

That said, I just checked out a stove my buddy got on clearance at Lowes 2 years ago for $600, and while it's basic, it works well and gave him no issues.

 

[waltmcq]

I've bought my mother a few in the last twenty year. Both whitfield stoves. The first one lasted about 15 years heating a 1500 sf Victorian house with single pane windows. The second one is self igniting and hooked up to a thermostat. It was the only means of heat in the house and my mother was small and loved her house very warm. Just remember the quality of the pellets is major in the amount of heat the stove puts out.

 

[jdaallen]

I live at 8200 ft. elevation in Colorado mtns. We see below zero regularly. Our main heater is the Quadrafire heating 2600 sq ft. very comfortably. The Thelin is in the basement family/theater room more for estetics but it will run you out of the room if you let it. Both are very high quality prducts and so for for 4 years have worked flawlessly.

http://www.quadrafire.com/Products/Castile-Pellet-Insert.aspx

http://www.thelinco.com/stoves.php?Parlour-3000-Pellet-Stove-6

 

[cwroth]

Quadrafire 1200 here been using it for 10-12 years lost count very dependable use a bag a day this thing goes 24/7 4 months a year nice 80 lb hopper also holds 2 full bags.

 

[jomobco]

I have a pellet stove in my shop that is 1,100 square feet with 10' ceilings. It works great and I love it. I leave the temp at 50 when I not out there and if I go out then I turn it up and it does not take long. It only cost me $150 in pellets all last year. Buy a good stove and not one from the Big Box stores.

Where are you? South Florida? Fill out your sig

 

[kooldino]

I also heard that they have pellet stoves that hook up to your ducting...I guess in that case would it be called a pellet furnace?

 

[Bull]

Did you end up pulling the trigger on a stove?

 

[Jackfre]

I think you are correct in getting off oil. There is no more price sensitive fuel in today's world market.

Another alternative is to look at mini-split heat pumps. I had a friend in N VT who lived in a large old VT farmhouse. He ran his mshp's down to 20* and then turned on his oil. For the past 4 yrs he has reduced his heating bill by 60-70% $. You have many fewer cold days than VT.

You are looking at spending some cake here. Look at all of your options.

 

[jumpingryan]

I love the technology with the pellet stoves myself... Harmon is the brand to go with around here....

I am on oil now which is popular for my area. I see cold temperatures as low as minus 40 celcuis here.... I currently do oil, and I have a sources of wood for the next two years as I clear my one acre property far more than the previous owner.. I also got the wood-stove as a part of the house.

My policy on wood burning: if you have a source to cut for free.... Burn firewood. If you don't have free trees, there is value in wood burning when you buy tandem loads of logs to cut and split yourself... The caveat is that there is value compared to oil or propane.

Firewood vs wood pellet, when you have to buy either... Go wood pellet. It is about as close as you get to a natural gas fireplace without gas. Pellets vs wood seem comparable when buying, and bags of pellets are easy to store.

The real value to me is the ability to control the temperature in both as house and garage.

For me, I will be installing a wood pellet stove in my basement... The enclosed models inside a fireplace and mantle..

For the OP, I suggest you go with a medium priced model for areas where it is not your only source, or a detached garage with nothing freeze sensitive in it. If it is a only source of heat... And you are storing freeze sensitive stuff... Get the best model possible!

R

 

[Bull]

Is Harman still in business? I thought they were bought out by Quadra-Fire? I could be way off base on that, though.

We installed a Quadra-Fire Mt. Vernon last year, and it is one of the best things we ever did. Paying $600-900 for heat and having a WARM house vs. paying $2600 for oil and having a COLD house because we kept the t-state low is a no-brainer.

I believe that a pellet stove is the way to go for my detached 24x32, 2-story barn. But the stove we bought for our house is an upper-end model that was around $3600 IIRC. I'm not sure it makes sense to put such an expensive stove in a barn/garage, but I also don't want to install something low-end that will be nothing but a headache.

 

[3pedal]

I like the idea of a pellet stove, by concern is how often do you have to refill it with pellets? I travel some for work, and can be gone for several days in a row. When I am out, I don't need it warm in the shop, but do want to keep it above freezing. It would need to run for several days unattended.

 

[Bull]

I like the idea of a pellet stove, by concern is how often do you have to refill it with pellets? I travel some for work, and can be gone for several days in a row. When I am out, I don't need it warm in the shop, but do want to keep it above freezing. It would need to run for several days unattended.

I think the length of time it can run unattended will depend on factors like: size of the hopper on the stove; outside temp; desired indoor temp; insulation in the space.

On my Mt. Vernon, in a poorly insulated older house, I am certain that the stove could go a few days unattended if I set the t-stat way back just to keep things above freezing. Because it's a house and not a shop, if I do go away I tend to set it to 50-55 and then program it to start raising temps hours before I am scheduled to arrive back home. In a shop, dialing it back to 35 or 40, I bet it could go for a while. I think the hopper holds 60-80 lbs.

 

[kooldino]

Never ended up pulling the trigger, but I really want to now. Came across another brand - Napoleon, but they're about $3K and don't seem as good as the harman or quadrafire.

I'm looking for a bay window style.

 

[kooldino]

Got a quote for a Quadrafire CB1200 for $2599. Reasonable deal?

 

[bd8134]

We have had a Harman insert for about 5 years. Works well, only issue has been a replacement ignitor, easy to obtain and replace. Used it to heat most of our 2,000 sqft colonial house, used about 3 tons of pellets. Just installed a really nice pellet boiler and ditched the oil. The stove is now set to just come on early morning and evening to keep that room toasty and for overall effect. The fans can get noisy but I believe they have made changes in their newer models. Easy to clean and fill, used to burn firewood but these are so much easier and looks good. Make sure you follow recommendations on length and height of chimney. If you have a power cut and they are too short you can get smoke in the house. Try and visit a few stove shops and see them running.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Have you verified your source for pellets ? What is the delivery cost ?

You want a reliable source that has hardwood pellets. You will save a lot of money if you can buy them direct from the factory. Hardwood pellets burn longer, give of more heat and have less ash.

It is extremely important to keep your pellets dry. If they get wet, you will get a lot less heat out of them if they burn at all.

 

[bd8134]

There are many different suppliers of pellets nowadays, Lowes, HomeDepot, BigY, etc but the heat output, ash, etc also varies. I have been using a super premium softwood pellet, LaCrete from our friends across the border, . High output with very little ash and glass door stays cleaner longer, more expensive but they work great for me.

 

[kooldino]

Have you verified your source for pellets ? What is the delivery cost ?

I can get them from tractor supply. I can pick them up in my pickup truck with 8' bed. Not sure how much I can fit in at a time though.

You want a reliable source that has hardwood pellets. You will save a lot of money if you can buy them direct from the factory. Hardwood pellets burn longer, give of more heat and have less ash.

Know any places in NJ?

It is extremely important to keep your pellets dry. If they get wet, you will get a lot less heat out of them if they burn at all.

Noted.

 

[ronr80]

I have a HARMAN in the house for a second heat source and it's been great for 5 yrs plus .