Let's Talk About Pellet Stoves

i am a fan of swirly designs, gyres, maelstroms, http://tshirtinsurgency.com/wintry-mix

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Peace,
Stefan

noooooooo.......don't buy a pellet stove! if you loose power (which happens frequently during storms and exactly when you need heat) then your pellet stove is inoperable. Just invest in a good wood stove period.

noooooooo.......don't buy a pellet stove! if you loose power (which happens frequently during storms and exactly when you need heat) then your pellet stove is inoperable. Just invest in a good wood stove period.

I really like wood stoves/masonary stoves/pellet stoves, but please do your research and buy an efficient model.

The best ones aren't all that great in terms of pollution.

When we build our house, I hope that the hot air solar heating systems come down in price, as it's quite sunny here and NO air pollution that way!

mims: The electricity needed to operate a pellet stove is minimal, AFAIK, so it could probably be served by a solar-charged battery bank. Or perhaps a UPS.

The big issue with pelleted wood, it seems to me, is the significant amount of energy wasted in turning the wood into sawdust and then reforming it into pellets. Since only a small amount of the necessary feedstock can come as a by-product from manufacturing of wood products, the majority has to come from raw wood supplies. I can appreciate that pellets are more convenient to transport, store and feed into the boiler, but surely the emissions (not to mention cost) penalty of all the processing significantly outweighs this?

@mims
i agree, as it happens i was researching several wood stoves for a client yesterday and was pretty shocked to see that pellet stove require from 300W to 500W (startup) to run. granted this could be supplied by a battery bank / solar system or even UPS, but why bother really?

When a great wood burner from say Pacific Energy achieves ~70% efficiency with no power required. Although every wood stove becomes that much more practical with a blower fan aiding the natural convection flow.

Iburnpellets.com has some good info, but check out the Pellet Fuels Insitute (www.pelletheat.org). They are the industry association who can give non-biased info on all things pellet. Also, if you just want to find a cheap price for wood pellets in your area check out www.pelletsales.com. They have a live quoting system that will give you a few pellet options in your area, current price and the cost to deliver - pellets are heavy!

To the entry of don't buy a pellet stove because of power outages, they now have battery back ups that last as long as 12 hours and you can buy addition packs that last up to a week.

yo, you guys waste so much energy trying to save a few trees. Whats the point?

What's the point?

Because I burn corn I've slashed my heating bill. I'm burning less fossil fuels. I have an alternative heating system for when the power is out (PV-power easily meets the stove's AC needs). I'm supporting the local farmers instead of buying foreign oil. etc. We love our corn-burner! Why would I want to pollute by burning fossil fuels, or heating with electricity that comes from a coal-fired power plant? Visit my blog for more information on this subject: http://solarjohn.blogspot.com

John

I joined the biomass stove bandwagon this year and glad I did. I like the corn burners and pellet stoves the best. Check out my blog on these guys at http://www.wiseheat.com. Offering up user reviews on stoves with much more to come. Thanks for this coverage of the pellet stoves, Treehugger.

I just posted in another topic about how disappointed I've been with wood pellet stoves manufactured in America. I don't think I'd buy a Country Stove or Regency Stove because of how homely and noisy they are.
I've been looking at the European market and found an Italian made pellet stove called Ecoteck http://www.ecoteck.it/ and after a bit more investigation I found they are starting to sell them in America http://www.ecoteck.us/
All I can say is *drool* they are so gorgeous looking. Maybe this will make the companies over here manufacture a better looking and more efficient stove to compete with these things. Guess I can only hope.

I've had a pellet stove for 14 years - an Austroflamm - and it's the best decision I ever made. If you are at all handy, you can service and maintain the stove yourself. It's just not that hard. I burned wood in this house for 7 years and was never satisfied. The house was always dirty and cold. Now I have a warm house all winter and never use any other heat source. And - very important - my pellets are absolutely a manufacturing by-product. Nobody is cutting down trees just to make these pellets.

One thing no-one ever mentions is the cleaning.

I have a pellet stove. I asked before buying and was told it was very easy to clean, I have to disagree.

With mine you have to take out the cast iron inside section which is really heavy and invariably microfine ash dust gets knocked out as you do this and then even more as you clean the inner area. The makers suggested using a vacuum cleaner but it completely ruined my Dyson (should have bought a cheapo just for the stove). I now use a paintbrush to get the thickest layers off before giving a little vacuum but I have to wear a face mask because of the dust that gets in the air.

It's quite a sticky dust, once it settles on something it can be hard to remove so I'm planning to construct a circular shower curtain type of thing to pull around when it's being cleaned. I know, this sounds crazy! But as an artist I can't have smeary black dust falling around my work area (the blower on the stove ensures that any unsettled dust gets blown across the room).

Definitely something I wish I'd known about before I bought it.

I got a really high end pellet stove last year before all this hype really started. I got it mainly to help offset the consumption of oil. Thankfully I'm able to duct the unit into two other rooms.

Anyways, I'm figuring I'm going to save myself over $3,000 on heating cost this winter. I know it was about that last year as well. I don't mind the cleaning as long as I'm not forking out so much cash for something that's far to over priced. On top of that the wood pellets do save trees to a degree. The pellets are made from the waste that would other wise being going to the dumps.

I get about 3 tons of pellets for about $675, and that's enough for the entire heating season.

I got a really high end pellet stove last year before all this hype really started. I got it mainly to help offset the consumption of oil. Thankfully I'm able to duct the unit into two other rooms.

Anyways, I'm figuring I'm going to save myself over $3,000 on heating cost this winter. I know it was about that last year as well. I don't mind the cleaning as long as I'm not forking out so much cash for something that's far to over priced. On top of that the wood pellets do save trees to a degree. The pellets are made from the waste that would other wise being going to the dumps.

I get about 3 tons of pellets for about $675, and that's enough for the entire heating season.

How many shovels of coal are put into the furnace to produce the electricity to power this website. A genuine tree hugger wouldn't even own a computer considering their toxicity.

For a lot of info on wood burning and pellet burning stoves and inserts go to http://www.hearth.com you will find several users giving out good advice. Pellet Stoves are not for everyone, you have to lug 50lb bags and do daily and weekly cleaning and maintenance on the stove. I have a Harman XXV and It is saving me money but you have to keep up with the cleaning. The daily maintenance is scraping the fire pot and heat exchanger once a day and weekly turning off the stove and giving it a more thorough cleaning about 20 minutes.

Great discussion here!

I think many people are exciting about having pellet stove because it is environmentally safe and clean.

Perhaps if the price can be lower, it would hit the market harder.

Has anyone heard of coal power plants starting to use wood pellets to reduce the harmful gases expelled by burning coal, in the US?

I have read several articles about the use of wood pellets for this purpose in Europe, but have not seen any in the US.

We just had our pellett stove installed this fall. So far we have liked the warmth that it gives our lower level, however, we were never told that every ton we burn we have to tear apart the stove to clean out the stove pipe. It started blowing black sout out our chimney. We have had it cleaned out by the company who sold us the stove, but now we have discovered a black sout on our walss and ceiling, humitifier, cupboards and more. Does pellett stoves blow out the fine ash into your house?

I don't think the prices of pellet stoves are going much lower than they are now. When the economy recovers, so will the price of oil and interest in pellet stoves forcing up their price.

If you're seriously considering a pellet stove, the best deals can be had during the summer when no one else is looking.

Dawn,
you probably have a leak, where your pipe seals on the stove.High temperature silicone, metal tape and screws should do the trick