?? About Pellet Stoves -- are they really worth the cost

[maryssasmom]

We bought a fireplace insert in February - I love it. It is a Quadra Fire, Castile style and I really like it. We do still have oil and use it only for showers and such like that. We just filled to 3/4 a tank and that will last a really long time. The pellet stove should pay for itself in 2 or so years. No fumes, it is cool to the touch - Definitely worth it in my book.



Now, if only you could run your car with pellets too, that would be nice.

 

[heartbeeps]

Honestly, I've never heard of a pellet stove so I had to google it. It doesn't look right for our family.

I did have a guy out today to give me an estimate on a heat pump. The oil is just too expensive and I don't see it ever going down. Luckily, my house is set up to easily install the heat pump and we should get back the cost of it in a couple of years.

Now what do I do with the whole tank of oil I have outside? We're on an automatic refill plan and they've already topped it off to be ready for next fall.

I didn't realize that VA was far enough south to use a heat pump? (My BFF had one in NC and there were nights we were REALLY cold when we stayed with her so I'd recommend you keep the oil as a backup if you're serious about getting a heat pump!)

 

[DisFlan]

I didn't realize that VA was far enough south to use a heat pump? (My BFF had one in NC and there were nights we were REALLY cold when we stayed with her so I'd recommend you keep the oil as a backup if you're serious about getting a heat pump!)

For a good heat pump set up, you really need to look at getting a well-engineered heat pump furnace/cooling system. The heat pump is also a COOL pump in summer. A heat pump is (simply put) an air conditioning compressor that works backwards in the winter.

When the temp outside falls below a certain number, our electric furnace automatically clicks on to augment or take over for the heat pump - when the heat pump can't "pump" enough heat out of too-cold air. And then only PART of the furnace's heating elements fire up - only as many as needed to bring the temp up. Which saves money. It's amazing how well the heat pump works even when it's fairly cold outside - like 10 degrees! You wouldn't think there's any heat in air that cold, but I guess there is.

We live in one of those "questionable" climates, too. The full furnace is rarely needed, but it's nice when we need it. We've had our heat pump system for about 10 years and it saves a ton. It paid for itself a LONG time ago.


DisFlan

 

[mavslab]

WOW! I am really surprised at the responses. We have a pellet stove insert and we love it. We have had it for 10 years and I can't imagine how we would stay warm without it. We have electric heat, so the first winter we were in our 1800 sq ft house (with no kids and being out of the house all day at work) we payed $350 a month for electric (and that was 10 years ago)

We bought 3 tons of pellets this year for $220/ton so for the entire winter we only paid $660 to heat our whole house for the entire winter. We were very warm too.

It's very easy to take care of. The stove will hold one full bag of pellets so it can run all day, unlike wood stoves where you have to keep feeding it wood to stay on. We can be gone all day and come home to a warm house. We clean it once a week which takes about 15 minutes.

 

[DisFlan]

WOW! I am really surprised at the responses. We have a pellet stove insert and we love it. We have had it for 10 years and I can't imagine how we would stay warm without it. We have electric heat, so the first winter we were in our 1800 sq ft house (with no kids and being out of the house all day at work) we payed $350 a month for electric (and that was 10 years ago)

We bought 3 tons of pellets this year for $220/ton so for the entire winter we only paid $660 to heat our whole house for the entire winter. We were very warm too.

It's very easy to take care of. The stove will hold one full bag of pellets so it can run all day, unlike wood stoves where you have to keep feeding it wood to stay on. We can be gone all day and come home to a warm house. We clean it once a week which takes about 15 minutes.

Honest, I'm not being sarcastic...but where do you keep 3 tons of pellets?

DisFlan

 

[HeatherC]

DisFan - We have a place here that you contract with for a certain amount of pellets...just like you would do with your oil company. They will either store them for free in their temperature controlled warehouse and you can pick them up as needed or they will deliver them to you if you want to store them yourself in your garage. But...if you do that, you have to be careful of moisture. So you don't necessarily get tons of pellets dropped off at your house.

I think that in colder climates like Maine, Minnesota, etc., you will find many people that love them. I also think that in places where electricity and such are cheaper, they may not be as cost-effective.

We are in Massachusetts and even with purchasing two stoves (one for our finished basement and one for the main house) and pellets for the entire winter, we will still save money over last years oil bill. So with oil rising we will save even more this coming winter. To me that is worth it.

 

[VWLMember]

Honest, I'm not being sarcastic...but where do you keep 3 tons of pellets?

DisFlan

I have three ton in my garage. I still have one vehicle in there and have moved my lawn tractor outside under a cover.

We had our pellet fireplace insert (Harman Accentra) installed this March. We were paying close to $800 a month for oil and had enough of it. We also liked the idea of a renewable source of energy that is not as harsh on our atmosphere. We now keep our house 5-10 degrees warmer and have only used a third of a ton since it was installed (~$80) compared to 3/4 of a tank of oil which would have cost ~$550. It is quiet, does not get hot on the outside, and is heating our entire 2000 sq ft home. We only use oil for hot water at this point and could not be happier with our choice. Granted I have to clean the stove once a week but I can live with that compared to the cost savings.

As for the possibility of the price of pellets increasing.... It is true that the slowdown in the real estate market has pushed the price of sawdust up and pellets as well. But oil is increasing at an astronomical rate that wood will never see. There are plenty of other sources of wood for pellets that there is for oil. They are now predicting $200/barrel for oil by the end of next year. That could translate to oil at $6-8 a gallon. That would be $1800 to fill my 220 gallon oil tank once! Even if pellets doubled to $500 a ton that would still only be $2000 for the ENTIRE WINTER. That one tank of oil would last me 5 weeks.
On another note, the pellets I am buying are from the US, the profit is going to someone in the US and it is NOT the oil companies.

 

[cndij]

I have an uncle in Northern NY State that put in a Corn Stove last winter. Is that way different than a pellet stove? i know the cost of corn is going up, but he has a farmer who rents some of his land and raises corn on it, and he just made arrangements to trade corn for the amount of the rent, so he gets it for free (loses the amount of rent he was getting though). Just thought I would throw that option out there if no one had heard of a corn stove. I know he has to have the corn stored where it has a low moisture content, but I can't remember the details.
Cindi

 

[DisFlan]

I see why you guys get pellet stoves! The price you pay for oil is . Very few houses around here use oil - thank heavens!

DisFlan

 

[goldenears]

We just bought a pellet stove for our house this weekend. With oil prices close to $4.00/gal here, my husband figured if it does heat our house well, it will pay for itself in 1 1/2 years. Looking forward to trying it out next winter

p.s. we were between Harmon and Lopi. The Harmon insert wansn't powerful enough to heat our house, so we bought a Lopi.

 

[mavslab]

Honest, I'm not being sarcastic...but where do you keep 3 tons of pellets?

DisFlan

Unbelievably, we fit all 3 ton in our garage, and still fit both our vehicles in there, and the snowmobiles fit too.

I can't see how everyone in the northeast doesn't have one. I can't imagine paying for oil or electric heat, and that's what most of the houses around here are.

I LOVE my pellet stove.

 

[First timer]

We just went to price one with installation this past weekend. I had never heard of them before. We definitely think it will save us a lot of money - considering how bad the cost of oil has been and will only be getting worse. Glad I found this thread because it was good reading genuine experiences rather than what a sales person will tell you.

 

[malibuconlee]

My FIL has one, but instead of pellets he burns field corn in it. I think he grows it to burn, otherwise I think he gets it from his SIL.

 

[rlnlandal]

We stored 6 tons (plus about 30 other bags from las year) in our basement. It was FULL but no matter we were warm haha there were times hubby would come home and it was 82 in here (I like to be warm grew up with a wood stove and dad kept the house at 90) and we still have about 25 bags left for next year (plus the 3 sitting in the stove now).

 

[wdwfanatic80]

Ok We have a pellet stove and we only use it occassionally. The reason being is because I am under the impression that we can't just keep it on 24/7. Is this correct or is it safe to run all the time during the winter? If it is then maybe we will give it a go only using it this winter. We have 4 or 5 bags of pellets left from last winter and have a place where we can order and they deliver. They will store it as well. It is in our basement, but we live in a contemporary house so the heat easily comes to the upper floors. Do you that have them and have electric heat turn off your heat and just run the pellet stove all the time? I have never known anyone else with one so this is the only place I know to ask this. The house had the pellet stove when we moved in so we didn't purchase it ourselves the previous owners did. We were actually thinking of getting rid of it because it takes up so much space, but if we are just using it incorrectly (as in turning it off all the time) then maybe we would keep it because it does heat the house very nicely!!

 

[shirleyb]

I've beeen looking at them for about a month, and plan to get one sometime before fall. A friend at work heated his whole 2000 sq ft house this year for $450.

 

[PatsMom]

Ok We have a pellet stove and we only use it occassionally. The reason being is because I am under the impression that we can't just keep it on 24/7. Is this correct or is it safe to run all the time during the winter? If it is then maybe we will give it a go only using it this winter. We have 4 or 5 bags of pellets left from last winter and have a place where we can order and they deliver. They will store it as well. It is in our basement, but we live in a contemporary house so the heat easily comes to the upper floors. Do you that have them and have electric heat turn off your heat and just run the pellet stove all the time? I have never known anyone else with one so this is the only place I know to ask this. The house had the pellet stove when we moved in so we didn't purchase it ourselves the previous owners did. We were actually thinking of getting rid of it because it takes up so much space, but if we are just using it incorrectly (as in turning it off all the time) then maybe we would keep it because it does heat the house very nicely!!

You might want to find the specific instructions for your stove but the people I know with pellet stoves use them just like I use my regular wood stove - they run all the time. My brother heats his house almost exclusively with the pellet stove. I'd look into one but I have a great wood stove and own my wood lot so it is free - just a lot of work!

 

[wdwfanatic80]

Thanks Patsmom! I will look into it further, but this might be a nice savings!!

 

[mavslab]

Ok We have a pellet stove and we only use it occassionally. The reason being is because I am under the impression that we can't just keep it on 24/7. Is this correct or is it safe to run all the time during the winter? If it is then maybe we will give it a go only using it this winter. We have 4 or 5 bags of pellets left from last winter and have a place where we can order and they deliver. They will store it as well. It is in our basement, but we live in a contemporary house so the heat easily comes to the upper floors. Do you that have them and have electric heat turn off your heat and just run the pellet stove all the time? I have never known anyone else with one so this is the only place I know to ask this. The house had the pellet stove when we moved in so we didn't purchase it ourselves the previous owners did. We were actually thinking of getting rid of it because it takes up so much space, but if we are just using it incorrectly (as in turning it off all the time) then maybe we would keep it because it does heat the house very nicely!!

We run ours all the time. We haven't run our electric heat in 10 years! Our hopper will hold 1 bag of pellets so if it is on low (which is most of the time) it will run 24 hours with that one bag, so even if we aren't home, it's running. We turn ours off once a week for about an hour to cool it so that we can clean it out.

 

[wdwfanatic80]

For those that leave it on all the time - I am asking because my dh is a worry wart - is it safe then? No worry of fires or anything??? Man I have lived here four years with that thing. Ours can hold a bag at a time as well. Thanks all for your imput I am so glad I found this thread!