Corn vs Wood Pellet vs Gel Stoves

[wjmst]

This is our second year with a wood pellet stove. We have it in our basement and does a good job of heating it. However, it does not really heat the rest of the house (1st/2nd floors). It does provide enough warm air that the oil furnance doesn't kick on as much.

I am sure if I cranked it up to max and burn through 4 bags of pellets a day it would the the first floor a little better, but a day's worth of oil is cheaper than 4 bags of pellets.

Wes

 

[PA hayseed]

I have had two pellet stoves, one a couple of years ago, and one that I bought recently for my basement. I didn't buy the super expensive kind like the quadrafires or the harmons, I bought el cheapos from Lowes. The one I have now says it will heat 2k sq ft, but that thing better be ran at the highest setting for that to happen. I use the one in my basement now for taking the chill out, not to be read heating the basement.

Both pellet stoves require maintenance, the better versions (harmon/quadrafire)require less maintenance, so you get what you pay for. The pellet stoves at low settings do not put out alot of heat, just check the BTU's on the stoves. I would go with a multifuel stove, something that has some auger system in the burnpot. I bought an el cheapo this year (not multifuel) that I could move into the garage in a couple of years. The newer technologies (switchgrass, garbage, coal pellets) are not standardized yet. I can wait a couple of years to see how this shakes out. Nothing is as warm as a coal or wood stove, with coal putting out the most BTU's.

Corn stoves and pellet stoves can not normally run other types of fuel with out a burnpot change. Mutlifuel stoves can normally run just about anything. Get something with a nice sized hopper, you want to be able to leave it alone as much as possible. My hopper is 120lbs.

My basement is about 2k sq ft, and with the pellet stove on high it will heat it, but I go through about 4 bags at that setting. depending on where you buy, pellets avg about $4.00 a bag/200 a ton.Only buy hardwood pellets. Oil is cheaper for me than 4 bags of pellets a day. But I also like to have a backup.

I won't get into all the other things like rice coal fireplaces, all the required chimney systems, power vents, etc. but they all play a role in what system you can put in and at what pricepoint. You can pick up a good refurbished system (pellet) for well under 2k, or a new el cheapo for about 1500 or less. I paid 1300 for mine (2K sq ft el cheapo) new. In about another 25 days or less Lowes will start clearing out their fireplaces, stoves, and inserts.

 

[yooperdave]

The cottage is 1,000 square feet over a full basement. The kitchen, dining, and living areas are all one big open room with a couple of ceiling fans.

The insert would be for supplemental heat only. It is also not uncommon for a squirrel to short out the fuse at the top of the power pole leaving us without electricity for a very long time. A battery backup sounds like a good idea.

I can't figure out how one of these inserts costs as much as a full fledged forced air furnace.

Yooper Dave

 

[Johndeere3720]

Well my dad happens to own a fireplace shop so i can help with this question. Here in NW Oregon, pellets are the "big thing" when it comes to fireplaces. In my Dad's store, we have learned that is is only good to run 1 stove at a time as it will cook you out of the store. Pellet stoves kick out a lot of heat. My dad has 2 pellet stoves in his house and at times it gets so hot upstairs that i sleep downstairs where is it cooler. I have heard that the corn stoves dont just fire up, you have to put some gel on it to get it going. Also, the corn stoves gum up the system, making it harder and dirtier to clean out. Pellet stoves have little ash, fire right up, and heat the area good. My dad sells models with batteries and the batteries last up to 2 days. Wood stoves kick out a lot of heat as well, like the Kuma models, but they can get messy when you load the wood in and you have to go out and cut, chop, and store it. A ton of pellets take up a 4x4 square of area. I like the pellet stoves a lot, I think you would to. I guess listening to the sales pitch was well worth it. Here is the link to my Dad's site, I know we may be far away but atleast you will have an idea of what is out there. Hearth

 

[20 20]

The cottage is 1,000 square feet over a full basement. The kitchen, dining, and living areas are all one big open room with a couple of ceiling fans.

The insert would be for supplemental heat only. It is also not uncommon for a squirrel to short out the fuse at the top of the power pole leaving us without electricity for a very long time. A battery backup sounds like a good idea.

I can't figure out how one of these inserts costs as much as a full fledged forced air furnace.

Yooper Dave

Even a small pellet stove would work for and be cheap. With that said though go with the biggest{output} you can it will be much better.

 

[Window Geek]

I've been burning wood pellets for more than 15 years now. My small stove, now in the garage, will run on a deep cycle battery for up to three days. The St Croix hot air furnace in the house works really well with pellets or corn. You have to change the burn pot, but it's not a big deal.
The biggest issue with corn is that it is *way* more corrosive than pellets. If you plan to burn corn, get chimney pipe that's rated for corn or you'll be replacing it every few years. Corn around here is typically more expensive than pellets.

Oh yeah. I still have the wood stove. When I started pellet burning I could buy pellets for about $90 per ton. Now it's $250 per ton. Cutting my firewood cost me just as much time as before. Other than time, that's it. The wood stove works without power and in times like these, is the cheapest heat since I've got 13 acres of red oak in the back yard. I'll never get rid of the wood stove.

 

[scesnick]

Well, I guess I will chime in here with a different view than most.
I had a pellet stove and hated it. It worked well enough but I live way back in the sticks and my power goes out on a fairly regular basis. When this happens, the pellet stove is just an ornament. When I last bought a ton of pellets (4 yrs ago) they were roughly $1.60 a bag, now they are what, close to $5.00 a bag?
I have since installed a Harman Mark II wood/coal stove. I love it. It throws WAY,WAY more heat then my pellet stove did and it will heat my home when the the power is off also.
I also have a very large wood/coal boiler in my garage for when it gets brutally cold. It is exactly like an outdoor wood boiler but more efficient and inside so I don't feeze to death. I use the Harman stove for when it isn't all that cold and mostly to heat my finished basement. I buy coal for $65 a ton and cut my own wood.

 

[yooperdave]

I am now strongly considering my original thought - propane.

I could hook up to a new stove, fireplace insert, grill outside on the deck, space heater in the shed, water heater, etc. Propane would burn pretty clean as well - in comparison.

I am considering a few 100# tanks to satisfy the minimum delivery requirements. Fill once in the summer, and be good for the year.

I added a second fuel oil tank next to the original in the basement so I could rest easy through the winter knowing the furnace had plenty of fuel. Buy once a year when the prices are lower.

Yooper Dave

 

[dave1949]

I am now strongly considering my original thought - propane.

I could hook up to a new stove, fireplace insert, grill outside on the deck, space heater in the shed, water heater, etc. Propane would burn pretty clean as well - in comparison.

I am considering a few 100# tanks to satisfy the minimum delivery requirements. Fill once in the summer, and be good for the year.

I added a second fuel oil tank next to the original in the basement so I could rest easy through the winter knowing the furnace had plenty of fuel. Buy once a year when the prices are lower.

Yooper Dave

Propane can be expensive fuel. One gallon of propane produces about 90K btu. If you divide the kbtu/hour rating of a propane stove/log set into 90k, you will have an approximation of how many hours one gallon of propane will last.

If you have the floor space in front of your current fireplace, you can get freestanding propane stoves. Looks like a regular cast iron wood stove. Jotul makes some nice ones. Perhaps not very pretty since they look odd sitting in front of a fireplace opening IMO. Plus it requires some serious chimney mods. But, that would give you decent heat without power present.

I think most inserts no matter the fuel, really benefit from a fan to kick the warm air into the room. That takes more than battery power.
Dave.

 

[FortClatsop]

I am curious how much time you spend at this cottage, how much do you value the comfort of sitting in front of a warm heat giving appliance, and how much you do, or don't enjoy handling wood/wood substitute?

The reason I ask is that when I was a kid I hated my parents wood stove. I vowed I would never have one. And until I was 37 I didn't. Then I moved into a place with two wood stoves and a fire place. I took both the old stoves out and used the fire place for several months just because the place came with dry wood. Then I bit the bullet and bought a modern wood stove with a glass door and had it professionally installed as a fireplace insert with a six inch insulated flexible liner blah, blah, blah. I too balked at the idea of spending $2,300 on something that I wasn't sure I even wanted. But its not my parents wood stove. In my work I have had to deal with a lot of poorly done home made wood stoves and inserts. It's way better. It burns clean and hot and is a pleasure to watch. It is so much better than the old fire place. I virtually never have to clean the chimney. There is no reason to because other than up at the cap there is no accumulation of creosote. I got the smallest stove I could get. My only complaint is that it is hard to bank a fire over night. Like a said in another post I manage to run almost four cords a year through it-hats off to the wood boiler guys who can cut a dozen cords a year. If I had a better floor plan I could heat more of the house. Right now I have more wood than I can store or burn in a year. Left outside it will eventually rot here.

About four years, and two major wind storms, ago I thought that I might someday run out of wood at my place. I bought a pallet of Bear Mountain logs that are made by a pellet manufacturer. Imagine a giant pellet. My wife absolutely loved them. Almost no mess, very reliable and predicable burn rate etc. At that time they penciled out cost wise against buying wood. In terms of comfort heating I wouldn't hesitate to go that way if I didn't want to cut my own or ran into supply problems. Decades down the road I might change to a gas insert of some sort. I can buy a lot of pellet logs before I get too feeble to lift them.

So are you just trying to lower your energy costs or do you want to feel warmer too?

If you have been using a traditional fire place, even with glass doors, I would encourage you to upgrade to something more modern. Things have changed for the better.