Winter heating season is here, Wood stove TIP

   / Winter heating season is here, Wood stove TIP #11  
I heat with firewood and LP, burning wood is definitely more expensive than LP.
I believe wood pellets is probably the most expensive heat you can buy, it’s very nice heat but very expensive.

I didn't buy pellets this year, I bought extra last year ... My pellet stove is in my basement, and it's not loud, even if I'm down there ...

IMG_20241016_055106213.jpg


I put in my pre-buy price of propane this year, and cost of last years pellets into link above ...

Screenshot_20251031-075202.png


Not quite twice as expensive to burn propane for me!
 
   / Winter heating season is here, Wood stove TIP #13  
I put in my ...cost of last years pellets into link above ...
Wow, we pay wholesale price for pellets (because we supply raw material to the company that makes pellets) and last year we paid $290, $305 this year. And that's just delivered in a dry van that we have to unload (with our forklift).
 
   / Winter heating season is here, Wood stove TIP #14  
I don't remember the exact price but it was slightly less than $5 a bag when buying a pallet at a time ... I think with tax it was $4.93 a bag, but I just rounded it up to $5 ...

It was on sale, plus a 10% off for a new account ... I had a account before, but they got bought out, or merged, so I had to start a new one ...

Showing $6.49 today, by the bag, IIRC it is a 5% discount by the pallet ...
 
   / Winter heating season is here, Wood stove TIP #15  
I have a slightly different version of the OP's solution... a 3 month old puppy who gets me up to go out at around 2:30.
Of course that won't last through the winter, so I also have a thermostat. :D
 
   / Winter heating season is here, Wood stove TIP #16  
Showing $6.49 today, by the bag, IIRC it is a 5% discount by the pallet ...
That's still about our wholesale price.

Until I visited, I never realized how much wood business there is in the Ozarks. Must trickle down to stuff like pellets, and maybe labor costs are less as well, although I expect most of the costs of making pellets is capturing the capital investment, and energy.

The pellet place pays us $23/ton for dry, mostly hardwood chips/shavings, or the equivalent of $0.46/bag. However that is for supplying a 48-53' trailer, replacing it when full, and transport both ways to/from their facility which is more than a 1 hour drive away.
 
   / Winter heating season is here, Wood stove TIP #17  
What percentage of you run double wall stove pipe on your stoves? I have been running single wall for about 9 years. Our stove is going to now be installed in our new family room in a different configuration and I'd like to get it closer than 18" to the wall (18" min. for single wall). Our stove has lower than average clearances. 10" with single wall and 8" with double wall. But from all the info. I have found the clearances for the single wall (18") trumps the clearances of our stove. I am going to add a 4-5' high airwashed heat shield behind the stove and could probably add a shield on the single wall pipe above the walls heat shield to get away with it. But I think I am sold on going the double wall route even though it will cost more, here is why. The single wall throws so much extra heat into our space that I have to keep the stove choked way down or our house get too hot, like 85+ degrees. My wife loves it, but I am dying. With the double wall I think I can keep more air going into the stove with more fuel and higher BTU wood and get a more efficient burn with more controllable temps in the house. Our house is bigger now and the new room has vaulted ceilings but I fear I will still have the same problem with too much heat if I don't go double wall. After all, we live in Tennessee, not Wisconsin. Any thoughts on this?

I only need about 9' for the interior space before it goes to Class A chimney. So it is not crazy expensive. I found 4' sections of double wall for $119 from "Walmart". I want to do this once and not deal with it other than cleaning the flue. I am also going to refurbish the stove (Englander 17-VL). I had some broken refractory boards on the inside I am replacing, new door gasket and a fresh coat of paint. After that we should be good for another 10 years.
 
   / Winter heating season is here, Wood stove TIP #18  
What percentage of you run double wall stove pipe on your stoves? I have been running single wall for about 9 years. Our stove is going to now be installed in our new family room in a different configuration and I'd like to get it closer than 18" to the wall (18" min. for single wall). Our stove has lower than average clearances. 10" with single wall and 8" with double wall. But from all the info. I have found the clearances for the single wall (18") trumps the clearances of our stove. I am going to add a 4-5' high airwashed heat shield behind the stove and could probably add a shield on the single wall pipe above the walls heat shield to get away with it. But I think I am sold on going the double wall route even though it will cost more, here is why. The single wall throws so much extra heat into our space that I have to keep the stove choked way down or our house get too hot, like 85+ degrees. My wife loves it, but I am dying. With the double wall I think I can keep more air going into the stove with more fuel and higher BTU wood and get a more efficient burn with more controllable temps in the house. Our house is bigger now and the new room has vaulted ceilings but I fear I will still have the same problem with too much heat if I don't go double wall. After all, we live in Tennessee, not Wisconsin. Any thoughts on this?

I only need about 9' for the interior space before it goes to Class A chimney. So it is not crazy expensive. I found 4' sections of double wall for $119 from "Walmart". I want to do this once and not deal with it other than cleaning the flue. I am also going to refurbish the stove (Englander 17-VL). I had some broken refractory boards on the inside I am replacing, new door gasket and a fresh coat of paint. After that we should be good for another 10 years.

Running single wall, at least in Nevada, is prohibited by code. So I've used double wall inside the house and triple wall outside for the 40 years I heated with wood. The big advantage with the double and triple wall is that the inner pipe retains so much more heat that creosote buildup is not a problem so you don't have to clean the chimney nearly as often.
 
   / Winter heating season is here, Wood stove TIP #19  
I don't remember the exact price but it was slightly less than $5 a bag when buying a pallet at a time ... I think with tax it was $4.93 a bag, but I just rounded it up to $5 ...

It was on sale, plus a 10% off for a new account ... I had a account before, but they got bought out, or merged, so I had to start a new one ...

Showing $6.49 today, by the bag, IIRC it is a 5% discount by the pallet ...

You guys east of the Mississippi are spoiled with those prices! Here's what a bag of pellets costs at Lowes in Reno today. That's $464 a ton!

Lowes pellets.jpg
 

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