Wood Pellet Stoves Are Hot

So what do you do with these stoves when there is a sudden "pellet shortage" and the pellet manufacturers start their price gouging?

I know that burning wood is considerable less expensive than using oil heat, but it also pollutes WAY more. Is the situation with wood pellets the same?

Wood pellet Shortage

Time and fuel are running out on those who want to save money on home heating costs this winter.

Fireplace shops are backlogged up to 10 weeks to deliver wood and pellet stoves, and finding affordable firewood may soon be a matter of scrounging around the countryside for landscapers and farmers with stacks in their back yards.

Finding wood pellets -- a compressed sawdust fuel used for pellet stoves -- may be a matter of timing deliveries to local home improvement stores or hoarding whatever stocks are left. Already, the largest manufacturer of wood pellets in North America and also the supplier to Home Depot stores warns that premium grade pellets will be in short supply and at higher prices.

"There's a lot of panic buying. Many consumers are buying a winter's worth of fuel, and that is helping to cause the (pellet) fuel shortage," said Darryl Rose, vice president of marketing for Energex Pellet Fuel Inc. "Whether we'll have enough is hard to say. We are taking steps by putting a high ash pellet (which is cheaper and can be made from junk wood and paper waste materials) on the market as well as bringing in fuel from the West Coast."


Rose, whose company has plants in Pennsylvania and Quebec, and others said the panic buying is being pushed by anticipated high heating costs this winter as well as a spike in heating cost projections because of damage from Hurricane Katrina.

Home Depot officials confirmed they are seeing some stores already sold out of pellets.


"We are seeing very strong early season sales and are seeing some short-term shortages," said Home Depot spokesman Yancie Casey from the company's Atlanta headquarters. "For the long-term forecasts, we look to be OK. We don't expect it to continue to sell at the rate it is."

For example, the Bellingham Home Depot never received a Sept. 19 shipment of wood pellets and does not anticipate a shipment until Oct. 11, according to store employees.

It's no different at Lowe's in Worcester, where whatever pellets they had sold out quickly, and the next shipment of trucks might arrive sometime next week, an employee said.

I have two friends that have pellet stoves, and appreciate them in every way, except the noise they make--a constant, dull, mechanical rumble.
Are there any models that are as quiet as wood-burning stoves?

hey-- hot tip (pun intended)
if you are lookinmg for a pellet stove-- check out these ones from Delpoint technologies, not only do they totally fit in the pricerange you mention ($2000 CAD) but these ones in particular are 98% efficient! seriously, top that. you don't even need to install a chimney, with 2% waste heat, a dryer outlet will do... oh and added TH points-- he has an emergency backup that gets its trickle charge from a solar panel

Ben,

From what I have seen wood pellets produce much less pollution than traditional wood stoves but still more than natural gas.

Of course, wood pellets are CO2 neutral compared to natural gas which is not.

You could always buy a stove that burn corn.
http://www.goldengrainstove.com/

I installed a pellet stove several years ago and heated my old farmhouse with it for three years. Some of the drawbacks are: You can only fill the hopper with about 8 to 12 hours burning time worth of pellets. This means that you can't leave for the weekend in cold weather without having another source of heat. You also need a dry place to store the bags of pellets. Hauling the pellets around is kind of a pain but far better than dealing with wood for a stove. The noise from the fan was never a problem for me. The stoves are quite efficient and produce very little emissions. Obtaining a reliable source of pellets will become a problem as more people install the stoves.

Pollution caused by burning wood greatly depends on the type of wood burner being used. For instance, properly designed and constructed masonry stoves produce negligible levels of pollutants. Tulikivi stoves (one brand of masonry stoves) for example are one of the very few types of wood burning stoves allowed to operate within German city centers, which happen to have amongst the world's most demanding air quality regulations. I have serious doubts that masonry stoves pollute more than fossil fuels. Not to mention what one reader commented already - proper wood burning is CO2 neutral.

Modern wood stoves with catalytic converters (CC) will give you about 75% efficiency - about the same as low-end pellet stoves. The CC reduces particulate emissions to almost zero since most of the smoke (smoke = unburned fuel) gets burned up in the CC before it leaves the stove, unlike a non-CC stove or fireplace. Often I can't tell my stove is lit by looking at the top of the chimney. The output is that clear. From a carbon standpoint it is environmentally sound. You get the same amount of carbon whether you burn the wood or let it rot on the ground, and you aren't releasing carbon that has been stored in the ground for a million years like with oil or gas. The bonus to your wallet is you can often get sectioned wood from the dump-lot at your local tree trimmer, cheaply or sometimes free. I get mine for $25 a cord, but they often tell me to take as much as I want. I must move it and split it, but that's good exercise.

hello??
there are many people growing Switchgrass now to make into pellets. that is happening in the USA and Canada A local economic boon to farmers who can grow it as a secondary crop... sorta like people growing biodiesel.... oh and in europe there are many people making help pellets oh and you can also get pellet making machinery to turn your farm-waste into pellets... it doesn't have to be sawdust!

oh and many of them (like the one i mentioned up there) turns the pelets into gas and then burns that at 2000 degrees... makes some noise, so does a fireplace, forced air heater....

oh and D, to teh quatiosn of what one does when teh pellet manufacturers start their price gouging-- well, you have 2 options 1) reality. as it can be locally produced and there is no cartel it would be very hard for any one agent to start the gouging... or 2) you can just take another cynic/pessimist pill to refill up on snootyness, and then just go aroudn telling everybody that you told em so

Just out of curiosity, while I understand that in their combustion capacity, these are more efficient than traditional wood, and less expensive than oil, does that take into consideration the energy required to produce, package, and transport the pellet fuel? Do the efficiency stats also consider that these use both pellets and electricity?

to burn wood pellets is unquestionable better than burning oil or gas. but keep in mind..: they haul the wood wood/chips/dust to the factory - press them together - fill them in (mostly platic) bags - haul them back to the store. i rather burn my wood.

hey i have those exact same pellets for kitty litter!! so... recycle used kitty litter as winter fire fuel?? Space saver: put kitty litter tray inside stove?

"A homeowner can expect to go through up to three tons of pellets a season, or $560 worth. In contrast, heating oil will likely cost owners of bigger homes in the Northeast several thousand dollars this winter."

Is this an apples to apples comparison? Why do you give the cost for a "homeowner" for the pellet stove vs a "bigger home in the NE" for an oil stove? I hate when environmentalists hurt their credibility with fuzzy math.

Ok, My wifes Aunt & Uncle bought a pellet stove two years ago from a local dealer. They have a Ranch house that is approximately 1800 SqFt. The stove is in the finished basement and heats the entire house. I was told by them that they go through about 1 40lb bag every two days here in Wisconsin. So, after pay severl $300 natural gas bills last winter I bought a pellet stove myself this year at a local retailer. I have had it installed since the 2nd week of september and just started running it a little over a week ago at the very lowest setting. I have been running it the entire day at this setting and only turning it off long enough to vaccuum out the ash from the fire box which is about every two days or so. I could probably do it less frequently but it seems to perform better when I clean it more often. So far it has been using just a little over a half a bag daily running non stop. I have a 100+ year old house and the average daily temperatur has been between 78-80 degrees F. I figure the temperature will drop a little as it gets colder outside. We have only seen low 40's so far. I bought a 60 bag pallet worth of pellets at another local retailer for $180. So, in my opinion it has so far been a Very worthwhile investment. Incidentally I bought the model 5500 made by US Stove (www.usstove.com) for $950 locally. It has been very queit and produced a tremendous amount of heat thus far.

Does anyone know if wood pellets can be used in tandem with some sort of apparatus in a traditional fireplace?

I have an unfinished basement (cement floors, fieldstone and brick foundation) with a ceiling height of appx. 5'10". My current source of heat is nat. gas/forced hot air.

Are there kits for pellet stoves which you can vent into the existing duct work of a home so the house can be heated via the existing forced hot air duct work? In other words, take advantage of the fact that I have ducts throughout my 2100' sq foot home that can distribute the pellet stove generated heat more efficiently? Thank you

My two bits on the price of pellet fuel and advantages from all those nay sayers is this.
I have been heating my home for the last 7 years with pellets .I also started to sell pellets 5 years ago to offset my cost .on average i burn the norm of 3 ton per year my costs have gone up a total of $15 dollers per ton cdn. in 7 years .here in B.C there is a lot of competition from Pellet fuel makers . so shopping around pays off and i am able to keep my costs down to the user.the main cause for price increases is bags are made from oil and pallets are getting costly.Plus it take electricity to power the plants .but as long as lumber is being produced the pellets are a waste product .shop around and check the quality of your pellets you will save mony.

for LT ,there are in fact forced air pellet powered furnaces, on the market that are very efficeint .

i have a pellet stove (that i can mix 50/50 with waste corn) & i live in philadelphia and have been told lancaster county is a good place to go get pellets. is anyone on this board from around here? if so can you email me with any info? thanks!

For fireplaces you can get a pellet stove insert that goes in the normal wood burning space & vents through the existing chimney. Here is the link to a dealer inmy local area, I am pasting them on here because they carry a good variety of the major brands both the forced air furnace type & fireplace inserts. It will make it easy for you to search the manufacturers. http://www.pellethead.com/product_line.htm

I live in the foothills outside Sacramento Ca. I have heated my 2100 sf home with the same pellet stove for the last 10 years. Can't afford to run the heat pump. I burn about 1 40 lb bag every 28 hrs, keep it on the low setting 99% of the time. The stove is either on the lowest setting or just turned off. I considered going to propane, but no room for a tank on my tiny lot. Now with the prices for propane going up, I am glad I stuck with it. Pellets are the way to go!

Okay--yes I want to buy a pellet stove for my Virginia home. I had one in Oklahoma and loved it. I also never had any problems finding pellets there.
BUT I cannot find any pellet fuel suppliers in the Tidewater or Richmond, Virginia area. Lowes and Home Depot act as if they never heard of them. So does anyone know of any sources of pellets in Virginia?
Thanks!

Hi--I'm considering buying a pellet stove. Is there any way to make your own pellets?

Well I am from Northern part of India were we have been installing central heating boilers(Oil & LPG). Now as fuel cost have increased we are staring a Biomass briquetting factory so that our Max. future systems runs on it. I would like to have more informayion about manufacturing of Pellets as well as the stove manufacturers.
Thanks

My name is Rick Hippe and I own and operate Eagle Enterprises in Wausau, Wi 54403 I am interested in becoming a dealer for woodstoves and for woodpellets. Any information that you could send me would be greatly appreciated. Rick Hippe 1-715-845-8168 fax 1-715-848-0834

Factor in the electrical cost of running your stove. Some use 350 watts, the brand i own uses 27 watts. what i used to pay in one month for electricity now pays for the entire heating season

Ok, here is the list of major wood pellet producers by region: http://www.pelletheat.org/3/residential/fuelAvailability.cfm
I would think tha teven if you had to pay a little for shippig or delivery from one closest to you; you'll still end up paying less than natural gas or straight electric heat.

I want to buy two tons of pellets; I live in Aurora Colorado. Finding quality pellets is the catch most are made of pine, which is not my firs choice.

My stove will be installed in roughly 4 weeks. I need to get pellets and I was thinking of buying two pallets. Where, if at all are the price breaks and wher can I can them? I'm in the Philadelphia,Pa area and would consider splitting an order with a few people to save a few $. I have a forklift and can accept tractor trailer loads. I've been heating with wood for years and love it, but I recently moved and won't have time this year to get my wood stove installed. Drop me a note if interested @ k.pagurek@cenovainc.com

I bought pellet stove (older style, but basically new). It has been sitting unused and uninstalled in my friends garage. I can not find any manuals for it.
My question is: Can I burn corn? or Can I burn a mix of corn and pellets? Any ideas about finding out.
I live in the center of Iowa where corn is very available and wood pellets are hard to get.
Thank you very much!
Henry

If you are looking for pellets, check out this site. Lists 4 pages of pellet makers.

http://www.aer-online.com/aer/ar-pellet2005.pdf

hey where can i buy wood pellets in bulk in michigan the lower part

Hi,
I have 6 Whitfield pellet stoves new in the box and would like to sell them to someone who is in the southern states, due to freight chargesgoing through the roof. Like I said, they are new in the box, and from what I have found on Whitfield they are very good heaters. I will take 1500.00 for each and that can be with or without the pedistal stand. I also have many pipe components for pellet stoves. If anyone is interested Please E-mail me at RJones6865@aol.com

Thanks

I own a brick building in western New England built in 1844 that I use as a law office and a rental apartment. It has 2900 sq. ft. of floor space. Even with replacement vinyl windows the oil/Steam boiler was averaging 2000 gallons of oil per year.

Last winter in January I purchased a cast iron Harman Accentra for my waiting room. The clients love watching the fire. I have an antique ceiling register to help heat the upstairs apt. I used 3 tons of pellets at $175/ton and only had to empty the ash pan twice. It is very efficient. I used less than 1000 gallons last winter and expect more savings this year.

The only complaint is that Harman does not have a pellet hopper extension for their the cast iron Accentra like they do for the steel models so if I don't stop at th eoffice on weekends to load it will go out.

In Europe most governments give tax incentives to purchase the stoves and pellet hot water boilers to reduce their dependence on foreign oil. There are over 30 manufacturers in Europe producing pellet boilers but none in the United States. Perhaps if we did the same we could save $200 billion dollars averting the next war over oil.

we have a 2 story expanded cape cod and just had a quadra-fire (mount vernon model) installed over the weekend. Its burned more pellets then I initally thought, I'm going through about 3/4 of a bag a day but I might have to do some tweaking. It heats the first floor VERY nicely, I'm thinking of installing an antique style heat exchange in the ceiling to get some more heat upstairs.

I bought 3 tons of pellets at 170 dollars per ton grand total of 510 dollars.

Mounting the thermostat or rather finding the right location is a little tricky, right now I think its a little to far way from the stove and around a corner - I might have to remount it in a spot closer to the stove.

The stove does make mechanical hum at all blower settings, but I find that the noise has become "white noise" rahter then an annoyance.

How is it that, at least in Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, there isn't a pellet to be found? From Home depot, Lowes, True Value, Sams, Costco, etc. no one has pellets and no one seems to know when any pellets will arrive? I know that pellets aren't anything new, so how could corporations not ordered them? I've called manufacturers in the south and NW and they say they are pumping them out and shipping them out and their factorys are open 24/7. Is there a lock out for Massachusetts?

We've had a pellet stove for two years now - an Enviro-fire. Although in Canada, the best pellets are the American "Dry Creek" brand at $275 per ton.

We've been told there might be a shortage of pellets this winter too but are trying to avoid panic buying our second ton.

For the guy who bought an old one I suggest that you get a professional installer to do it - your house insurance may be voided otherwise. The companies that do your annual chimney sweeping are usually also qualified to install the pellet stoves for insurance purposes.

We love our stove - doesn't save as much money over electic baseboard as I hoped though. Payback likely ten years instead of the five originally thought.

I'm glad I bought my winter's supply of pellets in May for $175/ton when there was little demand. I think the pellet shortage is do to the manufacturers not anticipating the spike in oil prices this year and the unusually large demand for pellets. Most producers are working round the clock trying to satisfy a 35% increase in demand this winter. My local retailer in Western MA ran out yesterday and has been unable to get producers to answer the telephone they are so busy. Some manufacturers are promising expanded capacity for next year. I wish I owned a pellet mill this year.

Craig Robinson

I've used a woodstove for 19 years to supplement our electric heating. Last year, a pellet company called Energex started selling a steel basket which allowed me to burn pellets in our woodstove. It doesn't have the automatic auger to feed the pellets into the chamber, but now we can burn pellets or wood in our woodstove. This sure helps right now when pellet supplies are tight. I just remove the pellet basket and burn logs.

I'm kindof concerned as to whether chemicals are used in the production of the pellets. I'm considering getting a pellet stove but don't want to be burning something in my home which could be harmful for us to breathe.

To Mike who has his pellet stove in the basement and heats his whole house. We have a ranch and we are contemplating exactly how to heat the upstairs. How did you set yours up?
persia777@yahoo.com

Scott, the pine pellets could actually be better quality than pellets that are made from hardwoods, because the softer woods can be compressed more densely and supposedly produce less ash.

We just installed a pellet stove a week ago here in Northern Wisconsin. At the low setting we're burning MORE than a bag per 24 hrs. This is a shop heater with a 300 lb. hopper so one filling will last 5-6 days - I'm hoping. The dealer was vague on electrical usage but when it needs to be replaced the blower motor is an off-the-shelf unit from Grainger. Our fan motor motor will run constantly at low speed but according to the dealer a typical furnace uses an equal amount of electricity cycling on and off. Local pellets are produced in Marathon WI from hardwoods that our dealer claims cause more problems with the auger because they fall apart. There is relatively more wood dust at the bottom of a 40 lb bag of "Marthwood" (I've seen them sold as oak pellets at Home Depot) than the softwood pellets our dealer gets from Canada. No one is willing to get into bulk supply and delivery of pellets in this area due to the lack of profit compared to 40 lb bags. Maybe someday we'll see pellet delivery trucks as often as LP gas or oil trucks.

Sure "wood" like to make my own pellets-there is a lot of wood in this area. I see there is a big efficient dryer/processor from Sweden. Any investors out there? Heather, if you google you'll find a home-made set-up and info on the die s required. Looks like a lot of monkeying around and you'll need a lot of electricity. That's the problem, it takes a lot of electricity and gas to make and transport pellets. Getting our oil from around the world, natural gas from Canada, our electricity from the big new dam projects in Canada - it's all no better. It's all insane. When you look across the city in the evening and see all the unnecessary lighting, when you walk into a big home improvement shop and see every friggin display light turned ON in the middle of July, while there are news stories about keeping electrical demand down to prevent brownouts, while the air conditioning is working hard to cancel out the heat from all those lighting displays, when your fellow worker in shorts and t-shirt in January says turn up the heat, you just gotta lift up your head and say ain't I grand to be a part of all this? We're sitting on top of the world! God Bless America!

We installed our Whitfield Advantage 2T pellet insert about a month ago. Couldn't be happier. We have a large house and spent over $3K in oil last winter (in New England) so this is going to pay for itself in one year. We've tried several brands of pellets (Energex, New England Wood Pellet, the ones from Home Depot and the ones from Walmart). So far, the Walmart ones are the lowest ash and seem to be the cheapest ($3.77 per bag or $188 per ton). Many places like Lowes and Home Depot are out of pellets - but the Walmart near me had over 10 tons in back.

I currently have only electric baseboard and given the rising price of natural gas and cost of conversion it sounds like a pellet stove may be a better option for me. I too have an unfinished basement with a fireplace. The upstairs has a fireplace too. Can someone tell me if I need two pellet stoves or could I get away with only having one. We primarily use the upstairs, but it would be cool if the stove could be downstairs and heat the whole house. Could anyone offer advice? My house is about 2400 sqft.
Great thread!

A single stove might work - but it wouldn't be terribly effecient to wait for the heat to rise. If you can afford two smaller units - that would be the most efficient since the one downstairs could run on a lower setting (or not at all if not needed) while the upstairs runs most of the time. Or - if you don't use the basement much, just go with one unit upstairs and insulate as much as possible downstairs and let the electric baseboard only kick on when it gets below 55 or 60 (to keep pipes from freezing).

Another option is to get a new one for upstairs and find a used one for downstairs - that would save money. Places like craigslist and local papers are a good place to find them.

Question to Guy--

You said that you've been using the basket from Energex that allows you to burn pellets in your woodstove. We've just ordered one. Does it work well for you? Do you need to use a special starter for the pellets? Any hints? Thanks!

Guys and Gals.. don't forget this gets down to
the cost of fuel per BTU
(you'll need to factor in cost of the @#$#@ furnace too.. that thats another problem)

Best Site for quick calculations.
http://energy.cas.psu.edu/energyselector/gaspellet.html
or http://energy.cas.psu.edu/energyselector

Natural Gas used to be cheapest until a Harvard MBA told the Board of Directors that they were charging way to little for their fuel when compared to the energy it produced

I can not find the basket from Energex that allows you to burn pellets in your woodstove. I actually would like to burn them in my fireplace but the appliction should be the same. Any help locating would be greatly appreciated. mastw4@adelphia.net

Energex basket:

Type in energex.com. It's a large pellet company in Pennsylvania. Immediately you will see a link on the page to the "Prometheus Basket." They have six models, but only one is now in stock--one for a large wood stove. According to the site, it is is very important to order the correct size basket (to make sure the exhaust gases rise, I think). The baskets can also be used in fireplaces. Hit "order" on the basket (this won't commit you to ordering), and you can find FAQ on the basket.

Can anyone out there testify as to their efficacy?

If I could comment on the basket, I tried using one in a wood-burning stove. They do provide a fair bit of heat but are nothing against real oak logs. I would also say that they are much less efficient in the basket than in a pellet stove and do need a fair bit of tending to keep the heat at a comfortable level. My Prometheus basket now sits on a shelf in the garage.

check out iburncorn.com they have loads of cool info. Corn is cheaper than pellets and some stoves and furnaces burn corn and / or pellets.

I heat my 1850 sq ft house and a full basement with one countryside corn stove!
iburncorn.com

does anybody know of any publicly traded companies that I can invest in relating to wood pellets or stove manufacturers?

Thought I would relate my experience.

I bought a US Stove #6039 from a local dealer. I got it cheap $1450 plus $150 for a Simpson vent kit.

My nickname for this stove is "The Reactor" it pumps out the heat. At the lowest setting it keeps my 1400sq ft 2 storey house at 75F (70F upstairs) when outside it is 40F.

I'm burning pure corn at this point. I knew that wood pellets would be a problem with both supply and cost, so I looked specifically for corn stoves. Corn also produces 10 to 20% more heat per pound. A ton of corn cost me $150 from the local feed lot. This cost will likely go up because there have been record corn harvests in the midwest in the past two years, and the cost of corn is presently low. Shortages are highly unlikely though as no one wants their cattle to die of lack of food.

My opinion of the stove is less than stellar. It has two major design flaws. The first is the agitator shaft. It has a slotted end and it is spreading apart because the shaft is too short and allows it to come under pressure and bend the wrong way. Second: The front, lower panel (at the door seal) has now warped from the heat and I am worried that it will begin leaking gases past the gasket and into my house.

I have attempted contact with US Stove 6 times in the past 4 weeks. They completely ignore me, with a lame message on the phone about how busy they are. In my opinion they are not worth dealing with until they solve these problems.

I bought a pellet stove on 9/21. It is installed. I also bought and paid for 2 tons of pellets that were in stock at Lowes on 10/12. Three times I was promised delivery. Three times no delivery came. I still have NOT received my pellets. The National office at Lowes has been notified numerous times. Nobody responds. My pellets are paid for. Somebody apparently ordered 22 tons in September and is now selling them for $8.00 a bag. On Long island, Home Depot, Agway , Walmart and Sams all have no pellets. Any recommendations on what I should do. If I can't get any pellets by next week I am thinking about returning the $2000 paperweight. I am very frustrated with Lowes which claims it hasnt had a delivery since october 7th. I refuse to pay $8.00 a bag. Any suggestions??

I'v owned a pellet stove for 4yrs it heats my whole house which is 1600 sq ft i also burn corn an pellets in my stove i mix them half an half they work just fine, orchard park n.y.

Hello. We have two pellet stoves. A Breckwell insert and an Evirofire freestanding model. I was one of the smart ones that ordered eight skid loads (8X50 bags) in August from Southern States here in Maryland. I split the order with a buddy. We are both set for the winter.

I have experience with wood fireplaces, gas fireplaces, wood stoves, gas stoves and prefer the pellet stoves. NOW,as an alternative to pellet stoves, Corn burns at a higher BTU per pound than pellets and is more readily available. One major drawback is that the corn attracts rats and mice! You need to store it in a METAL container as the vermin will chew through plastic containers. There is another choice available and that is the new coal stoves that burn rice coal. They have a hopper that you can load x amount of rice coal and burns like a pellet or corn stove would but with BTU's far greater than corn or pellet. If I ever replace a pellet stove, I would consider the coal version.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here is a great tip for the fellow pellet burners. I have started to "sift" my pellets before I pour them into the hopper(s). Since the "fines" or sawdust does not burn well, these particles will reduce the efficiency of your stove by clogging the holes in the burn pot. Also, these particles can inhibit the operation of the auger.

I pour about 1/2 to 3/4 of the bag into the hopper. I then use a large colander and a five gallon bucket to sift the remaining fines from the pellets. All you do is just agitate the pellets in the colander and be careful not to put too much in at a time as you can spill some pellets.

Try this and you will be amazed as to how much of these fines are removed (look in the bucket) and you will notice that the stove will burn better.

As for Mr. Robert Borowski, I would suggest that you contact a regional manager at Lowes and explain that you have been blown off. If you can, refuse to leave a voice mail and try to get to a live person. If that fails, Contact your local TV stations or newspaper. They love that kind of story and Lowes would deserve all the negative publicity. Good luck!

Wood Stoves are better, here's why:

Wood is cheaper or free.

Wood stoves work in a power outage and pellet stoves don't.

Wood stoves are less expensive than pellet stoves.

Wood stoves can heat a larger area more quickly.

Never heard of getting laid in front of a pellet stove.

You can clean up your yard and burn the branches.

Pellet stove efficiencies are false when you consider they use electricity and require manufacturing & fossil fuels more than cutting wood.

That annoying sound of the fan and conveyor!

Wood can be left outside pellets get soggy.

You can split wood by hand and avoid going to the gym to do phony exercising with generation X yuppies.

This will be my fourth year with a pellet stove. I will use it more once I find pellets, but am now using a mix of corn and sunflower seeds. I use two brickettes of charcoal to start it as the corn is a pain in the butt to start. I burn wood pellets, cherry pits and corn in mine, corn is the most difficult and must be mixed to aid i nthe burning process as it chunks up due to the sugars. Cherry pits have the least amount of ash and burn quite hot.

Those that complain about it in regards to pollution need to look at the big picture. The yare not cutting down any new trees to burn, they are using all the stuff they used to throw away and leave to rot such as leaves, little branches, dust and cherry pits. I wish they would make a home version of the pellet maker so I could use up some of the windfall trees.

I have a Englander pellet stove,and due to the pellet shortage I am mixing wood pellets 50/50 m with corn .I will stay with a corn mix unless pellets go back down to 140$ a ton.Corn burns hotter and the extra mess (clinkers) is more than made up for in extra heat.I beleive mixing the two results in a better burn any way ,the wood tempers the corn's blazing and prevents the nasty build up that 100% corn burners have to chisel off of their burn pots,or add oyster shell to try to minimise.

In the future I think people will look back on pellet stoves like they do on 8-track tapes. The makers of these fooled the Consumer Reports (pseudo-intellectuals) and even some normal thinking people. The pellett stove system just looked so sterile compared to the ant-filled spider covered logs. This generation with the stucco palaces really warmed up to that image. People just don't seem to have the outdoors / get dirty savvy that they once did. They seem sort of afraid of nature. The same people that buy pellet stoves have copies of Audobon and National Geographic on their espresso table yet probably destroyed a wet land or vernal pool with their house and scream when they see a sow bug or ant cross their path. Next they'll come up with a tofu burner.

Hi,
I live in New Jersey. Do you recommend going to a local contractor to buy the pellet stove and have it installed or can it be purchased anywhere and have someone locally install it? Also: any recommendations as to a good stove? Thanks.

Can anyone tell me if it okay to burn coal rice in a Harmon Invincible stove? Also, it does not seem to be putting out heat on the right side of the stove. I have cleaned the inside and the pipes but don't know if I am missing something. Lastly, where can I buy cheery pits as I know this stove will burn them?

I just bought a Englander stove about 2 months ago.My dad has the identicle model,and has had it for about 5 years.So I kinda had a leg up on these pellet stoves.Any way I have been going thru hell trying to get pellets.I got a couple of bags 2 days ago,and am on my last bag.So I had the bright idea to try the corn.I went down to the local feed store,and bought a $4.00 bag of feed corn.I mixed it about 70/30 more corn than pellets.I filled the hopper up at noon and it's 9:00pm now.I'm here to tell everyone,the corn works good.The fire is like running it on 5 or 6 when burning just pellets.And the setting is on 1.Adding the corn deffinately makes it hotter.I havn't tried running streight corn yet.Can someone tell me what to expect,when running streight corn with a pellet stove.I was even wondering about pea cole.

In response to the question about running streight corn in a englander pellet stove, I will tell you. Corn clumps together when it burns forming "rock hard" "clinkers" that disolve in water. If your englander is a bottom feed model, it may force the clinkers up and out over the top of the fire. I am very curious to hear if it works for you in your stove. Mixing in "oyster or "poultry" shells" in can minimize the clinkers.

Let me know how it works.
I am very curious if it works because an englander bottom feeding stove only costs a fraction of a corn stove.

Call me
Mark
mmarussich@yahoo.com
973-670-0483

test

In response to your question about pea coal.

Coal is difficult to light but burns VERY hot and produces lots of ash.

Also, I am curious, but I do not think I would ever burn 100% coal in a pellet stove fearing it would meltdown and break. I saw a Harman pea coal stove once and it was much more heavy dutly looking, like a wood stove.

Mark

From what I have read wood pellets burn very efficiently. In addition you are using a byproduct of the wood industry so you are using a waste product, (Is this still true, now that demand is high?). I was told that woods have a natural resin that when they are spun at high speed will stick together to form the pellets so nothing artificial holds them together. I don't have the sources to list, this is some of what the dealer told me and what I read online.

What is all this non-sense about cherry pits, corn and pellets? Many of you are over-analyzing the simple task of heating a house. Get a wood stove and be done with it! The other "solutions" will only make you feel like an idiot down the road when you realize that you can't buy your cherry pits or they are too expensive (not to mention the people pointing and laughing at you for being a freak). Wood is in those tree things outside...very common and cheap!

I just had a Europa pellet stove installed. It is made by Dell-Point in Canada. I did a lot of research and like this stove because it has settings for wood, corn or wheat. Additionally, if grass becomes an option I can have the stove updated for that setting. I was using forced hot air (oil) before now and the upstairs was never warm. I used to close off the top bedroom but now my whole house is warm with wood pellets at the lowest setting. I made sure that I bought my stove from a pellet retailer and they seem to have a large supply (230/ton here in Maine).

The Europa was definately made by men since it is all about function and beauty was not a high priority. I still put it in my living room and am proud as a biology teacher to have a better fuel source. I have a marine deep cell battery hooked up behind the stove in case the power goes out.
My basement has a propane vented heater and I do have oil backup in case I need to go away.
The hopper does not have to be closed like some pellet stoves so it is possible to build a hopper extension if you need to go away for a few days.

Hi, New to this group but not new to wood burning. I have a 2800ft raised ranch in NY and heat mostly with oak and ash in a very inexpensive boxwood stove. The exhaust is clear and no smoke when burning wide open. I place a small fan near the stack to extract some otherwise waisted heat. Heat is also free if I clean up the yard and no problem with supply. I get around 6 hrs out of 6-8 logs for overnight operation.

There are a few other challenges with pellet stoves. I own two of them that are five years old and have replaced multiple electric motors and bearings on the auger systems. I didn't imagine that I would become an 'expert' in troubleshooting and repairing pellet stoves.

Something to consider.

hi...just started visiting this website, very informative!! i live southeast of tucson (4,600 ft. elevation) and would like to buy a pellet stove to heat a 950 sq.ft. one bedroom polysteel house. have heard englander (sold here at sutherlands) are garbage, and harmon or enviro-fire are the way to go. what about quadra-fire? is there really a huge difference between top or bottom feed models? does anyone have experience with tucson stove dealers? thank you

Dave,
Wood is ?questionable? here's why:
Wood is NOT FREE, you either have to own the land & pay taxes on it or have a free source.

You have to have a saw to cut it a Splitter to Split it, a truck to move it in. A carry canvas or wheel barrow to move your stack. A Rack to help with the stack. And what's left of your BACK to move it into the house ^~^

Wood harbors insects & worms in it & when you carry them into your house they come to life , because you keep it warm in there.

Wood Chimneys cause the Insurance on your house to be at least $1000 per year,or go UP ! Depending on how far you are from the nearest water hydrant & Fire House; in the rural areas this means a whole lot!

Wood may be too hard to tote when your 80- 90 but it is easy to tote when you are forty (40)
Wood makes you buy expensive gasoline saws, oil , fuel in order to cut the logs necessary for your fire.

Unless you use a Masonry Heater or High Perfomance Firebox, you are polluting the air the rest of us BREATHE.

Wood may be renewable resource for some and cheaper for others. But with ALL those disadvantages above are driving every one I know to both a Corn/Pellet Burner, Quadrafire has a whole collection of them Harman only has one, the P45 which lists that it burns BOTH Corn & Pellets as burning material.

When is harmon going to make that bottom init qualified to burn Corn?

Hi. I have an older free standing Whitfield Advantage pellet stove. How much air should be blowing out of the front vents? It doesn't seem like much air is blowing out. I've cleaned the heat exchanger tubes and the baffles (behind the firebrick) etc. The blower fan is working and everything sounds/looks right? Any suggestions? Is there a way that the blower air passages could be restricted? Thanks in advance.
Jill DiMauro

well here is my two cents
I own ten acres in south VT ( I live in northeast CT) and had it logged - left many cords of easy access hardwood ( I gave it to some guy via craigs list) Why? because the work,gas and body damage at 50 is too much. I can still bench 260 and am in good shape but pellets have been a money saver and so much more. I have two Harmon stoves - one in a sun room ( 1 and 1/2 tons for that one) and one in my fireplace ( 2+ tons for that one) - I just bought another stove ( Whitefield AKA Lenox - Montage) and this is going in the finished basement. I now only will need oil for hot water. yes I spent about $6,800 on stoves and pipes but the first year in my home I used 1300 gallons of oil - so even at todays "low" price of $3.09 that is over $4,000. Last year I used 400 gallons. This year I bought 150 gallons and it looks like I will need about 100 more gallons or so to get me through to April. I bought and buy all my pellets in the spring. (paid 180 a ton April of 2008 for 5 tons) So if you shop right and plan ahead pellets are still good. I will do the same this year. But the price will not be nearly as good because of the demand. Remember there will be more produced and more companies gearing up so the competition will return in one year or so. Pellet manufacturers will be stupid to over price and have us all return to oil - which is always an option!

We have had 2 pellet stoves in our home since 1992 and love them. The problem we're having this year is obtaining pellets. In the past we've ordered them from Home Depot and they had them brought in from another store. About a month ago we went to the local store, ordered them and was told to call them on Oct 20th. We called on the 20th but never heard back. Today we went in and after an hour of waiting was told they no longer will special order or bring items in from another location. So now we have 2 units and cannot obtain fuel for them as we apparently live too far south for stores to order the item in. Tractor Supply wouldn't even attempt to order them in from a different DC - even though they showed 4400 bags in stock at the other DC.

Very Frustrating!!!

Does anyone manufacture a pellet stove which can be used for cooking? Are any pellet stoves designed with low voltage draw, i.e. suitable for solar power systems? Thanks!! Andy Miller, Fraser, Colorado

Hi everyone, i too have an Englander stove that i burn 70% pellets and 30% corn in. Yes she gets really hot exactly as the one person stated- " using a corn mix on heat range 1 is like an all pellet burn on 6" if not even higher. Yes there are clinkers but i found something to reduce them. I have a paper shreader that makes match sized strips and mix a few healthy handfulls in each hopper. (with or without corn) I get free heat from my old junk mail and it reduces the clinkers significantly. I also put a handfull into the burn pot topped with a hand full of pellets on startup. I have a squirt bottle of diesel fuel that i trickle on to it vrs jellied alcohal to start all my burns. I have also burned as a 30% adder to my pellets screened wood chips from my gas powered machine. The screenings drop past a window fan onto a tarp. The fan takes the small dusty fines away and the bigger stuff that stays behind in the screen gets re run thru the flail knived vaccum shreader.

am a two year owner of model 55 shp 10 l mfd 06 englander summers heat pellet stove.i have a broken heat/thermal sensor wire (at the terminal nearest the heat box). can these two wires coming from the ceramic center of the terminal(aprox 1/4 inch long) be soldered or otherwise remedied? what type of metal are these made of? can or how can the sensor wire be circomvented? would appreciate your time and trouble for your knowledgable assistance mr thrifty thanks

I wish to say that this is a very good forum or platform to share ideas and information on green earth planet. There are friends who have difficulty in obtaining wood pellets. We are producer and exporter of hard and medium hard wood pellets and are able to export 400 tonne to 1,000 tonne per month of quality wood pellets. Importers and large stores are welcome to contact us at autilig@hotmail.com, for more information on this product. AutiligCheong