Thinking of Buying a Pellet Stove? We Can Help!
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 10. 8.08
Modern Wood Burning Pellet Stoves
With high energy prices and constant talks of economic recession, wood stoves are back in vogue in many parts of the world where wood can be had cheaply. But they have downsides, especially if we're talking about old and inefficient wood stoves that can create a lot of air pollution.
Which Pellet Stove to Buy?
Pellet stoves can be a greener alternative to traditional wood stoves and fireplaces: "Pellet stoves pollute so little that they don't require certification from the EPA, they create no creosote (chimney fire fodder), and fall well within clean air standards. And the pellets? Most are made from compressed sawdust and other wood waste, though some stoves can also take wood, recycled paper waste, and biomass pellets." Read on for more information on pellet stoves.
Pellet Stove Buying Guide
We have just published a Pellet Stove Buying Guide on our sister site, Planet Green.
5 models of pellet stoves are recommended: The Englander by England Stove Works (around $1,650), The Woodland, by Kozy Heat Fireplaces (around $2,000), the PB105 Pellet Boiler, by Harman Stoves (around $6,000, but it's heavy-duty - see the second picture in this post), the Magnum Baby Countryside by American Energy Systems (around $2,000), and the Pellet Stove NPS40, by Napoleon (about $2,350).
For more details on why we like each model and where you can buy these pellet stoves, head over to the Pellet Stove Buying Guide.
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I wonder what they do with all that saw dust and wood waste if they don't make it into pellets.. probably landfill it, so I guess these are pretty good. At least you get heat out of it! and it's carbon neutral.
I have thought about getting a pellet stove to use for heating and cooking instead of using electricity. I wonder how the energy cost (cost of pellets) would compare with the cost of electricity and which would be greener. My electricity comes from a hydroelectric source. I haven't been able to find any reliable data on the subject and the local wood stove salesman would have a biased opinion.
Pellet stoves are so efficient at heat transfer to air that they have little potential for metal to pan contact cooking unless that feature is specifically designed in. Iv'e never seen one that features a hot top
For that matter, fireplace inserts come in two varieties: some that stick out a few feet have cooking surfaces on top; those that are more recessed do not.
Pellet stoves require electricity. This fact is often overlooked.
When you have a pellet stove you can't use it during a blackout, and, if you get your electricity from coal fired powerplants then your green choice isn't so green.
So, if you do choose a pellet stove, then always choose clean, renewable electricity.
"Pellet stoves require electricity. This fact is often overlooked."
I've seen versions that run on backup battery power, presumably 12V.
Not a cheap or easy setup, but not too difficult.
Considering how only the augur uses electricity, and very little and infrequently, power use should be minimal and of the least concern with a pellet stove.
The other drawback to pellet stoves is that in areas where winter is harsh, pellets are becoming a commodity. Suppliers are buying out large stock of pellets and then setting their own prices. Where I am there are people who pre-bought 4 months ago and are still waiting for delivery. We just had several nights of below freezing temperatures and I know at least two families who spent the night huddled around a space heater in fear of using up all the pellets they had on hand.
The debate will go back and forth forever, but I still prefer wood. I use scrap wood from an FSC logging site. (The branches and pieces that could not be used for other purposes.) My wood furnace has a gasification system to reduce emissions, and wood stoves (which are burned as hot as I can to burn cleaner) work with or without electricity. The water pump on my furnace is highly efficient, and can run up to three days off a car battery in case of an outage. Within a few years I'll have solar and wind power to offset that problem.
The cost of wood has not increased anywhere near as much as pellets, oil, electricity or any other heating fuel. If it's responsibly collected, and cleanly burned, I much prefer wood as my source of heat.
My parents (and my aunt in VT) have a couple of wood stoves in their house. Since the wood comes from our property, and split by my dad, it's all self sustaining. No need to rely on people to deliver the wood pellets or have the electricity on. An ice storm shut down the power for a week a few years back, and my folks were fine.
Where does one purchase corn (and exactly what type of corn works best?) for the biomass pellet stove--the Magnum Baby Countryside?
http://www.hedon.info/KachelOvens
One of the best ways to heat your home is with a Kachel Oven. You can use a pine cone to heat your house for about 12-14 hours. Everything gets fully combusted, so there's almost no pollution.
While this is most likely an unpopular perspective, the greatest down side to pellet heating I am finding is bad hardware DESIGN. Even wood stoves, which are much more inefficient than pellet stoves, and dirtier, have a few really modern and attractive designs.
But pellet stoves look ugly. It's hard to find a good design that isn't extraordinarily conspicuous in any average home that doesn't come with a grandma (nothing against grandmas).
I would love to use pellets and will continue to try to track down some better designs - but there is no reason I see that people like us can't have attractively designed alternatives.
(p.s., pellet stoves are a bit more complicated than other stoves and take consistent maintenance and upkeep. But still seems worth it to me)